Month: August 2021

Buds have good sound, battery life, compact shape without stalks and work with Android or iPhones The latest Apple Bluetooth earbuds from its Beats brand offer active noise-cancelling and cross-compatibility that goes beyond its competitors – even for Android users. The Studio Buds cost £129.99 ($149.99 or A$199.95) and are Beats’ smallest earbuds to date, …

Beats Studio Buds review: Apple’s Android-loving noise-cancelling earbuds Read More »

The creators of the Aibo robot dog say it has ‘real emotions and instinct’. This may seem over the top, but is it? In today’s AI universe, all the eternal questions have become engineering problems The package arrived on a Thursday. I came home from a walk and found it sitting near the mailboxes in …

A dog’s inner life: what a robot pet taught me about consciousness Read More »

Billionaire Lee Jae-yong will be released in South Korea on Friday having served 18 months in prison The billionaire boss of South Korea’s Samsung empire will be freed from jail on Friday after serving part of a 30-month sentence for bribing former South Korea president Park Geun-hye. Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s vice-chairman and de facto leader, …

Samsung boss to be freed from jail after bribery sentence Read More »

This weekend, tens of millions will watch and interact with an Ariana Grande avatar for a concert in video game Fortnite – the latest in a growing, lucrative market A shimmering Ariana Grande emerges from the starry night sky as she begins to run through her biggest pop hits. Dressed in a glistening sequinned two-piece …

‘Limits are non-existent in the metaverse!’ Video game concerts become big business Read More »

Project that could bring fibre broadband to remote areas while monitoring pipes for water leaks The government has launched a £4m fund to back projects trialling running fibre optic broadband cables through water pipes to help connect hard-to-reach homes without digging up roads. The money will also be used to test out monitors in pipes …

UK launches £4m fund to run fibre optic cables through water pipes Read More »

The social media platform was once a favourite of artists and photographers, but a shift towards TikTok-type videos and shopping could leave them looking for a new home online In late July, hobbyist photographer and self-proclaimed “sunrise hunter” Sam Binding conducted an experiment. After visiting Somerset Lavender Farm to catch the sun peeking over the …

Why Instagram’s creatives are angry about its move to video Read More »

California’s legal action could mark step towards fixing culture of harassment, experts say For women at Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s most famous video game companies, showing up to work meant navigating near daily episodes of humiliation, sexual harassment, and even physical abuse, according to a bombshell lawsuit that has prompted a reckoning within …

Activision Blizzard scandal a ‘watershed moment’ for women in the gaming industry Read More »

Seek help for a mental health issue today and you may find yourself referred to an online app or talking to a robot therapist. Is this welcome democratisation of an expensive resource – or the ‘Uberisation of therapy’? She’s sitting on a purple armchair, nodding slowly as she talks. “When was the last time you …

Is robot therapy the future? Read More »

The social media magnate has evidently decided that the ‘metaverse’ is the way forward. But should we be worried? Brace yourselves: Mark Zuckerberg has a new pivot for Facebook. The visionary genius who brought us the pivot to video, the pivot to privacy, the pivot to trusted news and the pivot away from trusted news …

Now Zuckerberg wants Facebook to be master of the virtual universe | Alex Hern Read More »

On the surface Apple’s new features sound both sensible and commendable – but they also open a Pandora’s box of privacy and surveillance issues Privacy. That’s (no longer) iPhone. Continue reading… On the surface Apple’s new features sound both sensible and commendable – but they also open a Pandora’s box of privacy and surveillance issues …

Apple wants to check your phone for child abuse images – what could possibly go wrong? | Arwa Mahdawi Read More »