Internet of Things

Facebook, Google and Amazon are eager to get their new devices under your tree. But will they give away your privacy?If you’ve so far withstood the temptation to install a smart speaker in your home, worried about the potential privacy pitfalls and a bit embarrassed about the notion of chatting aimlessly to an inanimate object, brace yourselves. This Christmas, the world’s biggest tech giants, including Amazon, Google and Facebook, are making another bid for your living room, announcing a range of new devices that resemble tablets you can talk to.Facebook’s is called Portal, Google’s the Home Hub, and Amazon has unveiled the second version of its Echo Show

Heating controller cheaper than previous model and consumers will not require a boiler engineer to install itGoogle’s latest smart-home product is a cheaper smart thermostat that anyone can install themselves without the need for a boiler engineer.The new £199 Nest E learning thermostat is a two-part system consisting of a battery-powered heating controller called the Heat Link E, which replaces an existing wired thermostat or heating controller, and a smart thermostat that can be placed somewhere else in your home.Nest Learning Thermostat third-gen: the simple, effective heating gadget Continue reading

Excellent smart device comes with optional 24/7 video recording with facial recognition – and works as a doorbell too Google’s new Nest Hello is a video doorbell that aims to be smarter than the rest with constant recording, face and object recognition.The Hello is a direct replacement for a wired doorbell, working with an existing chime and requiring constant power, making it one of the high-end options for smart doorbells.The Nest app runs you through full installation instructions that you can’t skip, even if you’ve had an electrician install the doorbell for you. Tedious

The energy used in our digital consumption is set to have a bigger impact on global warming than the entire aviation industryIt was just another moment in this long, increasingly strange summer. I was on a train home from Paddington station, and the carriage’s air-conditioning was just about fighting off the heat outside. Most people seemed to be staring at their phones – in many cases, they were trying to stream a World Cup match, as the 4G signal came and went, and Great Western Railway’s onboard wifi proved to be maddeningly erratic. The trebly chatter of headphone leakage was constant

US tech giant admits audit of Foxconn factory in Hengyang found irregularitiesAmazon has admitted that thousands of agency workers who make its Echo smart speakers and Kindles in China were hired and paid illegally.The US giant issued a statement regretting “issues of concern” following an investigation by the Observer and the US-based China Labor Watch into the “unethical and illegal” working conditions at its supplier factory in Hengyang. Related: Underpaid and exhausted: the human cost of your Kindle Continue reading

Smart home appliances send data to manufacturers and third parties, Which? warnsBritish homes are vulnerable to “a staggering level of corporate surveillance” through common internet-enabled devices, an investigation has found.Researchers found that a range of connected appliances – increasingly popular features of the so-called smart home – send data to their manufacturers and third-party companies, in some cases failing to keep the information secure. One Samsung smart TV connected to more than 700 distinct internet addresses in 15 minutes. Continue reading

Smart speakers influence debate about switching off analogue signal in UKThe popularity of Amazon’s Echo smart speakers has helped push the audience for digital radio past that of FM and AM in the UK for the first time. The milestone, which was reached in the first quarter of this year, could prompt the government to launch a review to evaluate whether it should switch off the FM signal.Digital, which covers listening via digital audio broadcasting (DAB) sets in homes and cars, televisions and through services such as Echo, hit a record share of 50.9% of all radio listening in the three months to March

Can a robot fold towels? Could your toaster turn against you? And will Amazon know when you’re hungry and drone-deliver a Chinese takeaway directly to your mouth? Find out as we step into the home of the futureIf the invention of the ship was also the invention of the shipwreck, as the French philosopher Paul Virilio suggested, then what does that make the invention of the Nest learning thermostat? As our homes fill up with more connected devices, funnelling every aspect of our lives into the great cloud of big data, the answer could be something much more alarming than just a few more faulty appliances cluttering up our cupboards.This is one of the unsettling questions at the heart of The Future Starts Here, an exhibition about to open at the V&A in London. It promises to be less of a showcase of Tomorrow’s World-type gadgetry than a thought-provoking probe into where exactly this new generation of smart technology is taking us. “People seem scared of the future at the moment,” says Rory Hyde who, with co-curator Mariana Pestana, has spent the last two years trawling university laboratories and touring Silicon Valley to gather 100 hot-out-of-the-factory innovations, from a low-cost satellite to a solar-powered shirt that can charge a smartphone

‘China’s Apple’ turns focus to west and is set to raise $10bn on Hong Kong stock exchangeThe Smartphone maker Xiaomi will begin selling its smartphones in the UK under a partnership with Hutchinson’s Three as “China’s Apple” turns its attention to the west.The news came as the firm announced its IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange seeking to raise at least $10bn (£7.3bn), in what could be the largest offering since Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba’s $25bn listing in New York in 2014. Related: Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo: the challengers leading China’s charge against Apple Continue reading

Latest in Amazon Key programme sees newer Volvos and General Motors vehicles become lockboxes for Prime membersAmazon has begun offering deliveries direct to car boots for members of its Prime subscription service.The new Amazon Key In-Car service is available in 37 US cities for owners of 2015 or newer Volvo or General Motors vehicles, including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac brands. The cars require GM’s OnStar or Volvo’s On Call connectivity services. Continue reading

Retailer celebrates by slashing prices on smart doorbells, while deal includes transfer of customer data to companyAmazon’s reported $1bn acquisition of video-doorbell maker Ring has closed, giving the company a significant lead over rival Google in the potentially lucrative home security market.The deal, announced in February and closed today, means Amazon now owns a leader in DIY video security systems. Ring makes popular wireless doorbells with cameras and a range of home security cameras, recently launching a wireless home security system with keypads, contact sensors and motion detectors. Continue reading

We’ve come a long way since the web was just a fun place to share cat gifs – now it’s a place mostly dedicated to finding and selling your personal info. Here’s what you need to know in this new eraOn the internet, the adage goes, nobody knows you’re a dog. That joke is only 15 years old, but seems as if it is from an entirely different era. Once upon a time the internet was associated with anonymity; today it is synonymous with surveillance

The company acknowledged the issue after some reported their devices had developed an unsettling new skillThe robot wars are coming, and Alexa will have the last laugh.Amazon acknowledged on Wednesday that some of its Alexa-enabled devices have developed a new skill: creeping out their owners with unexpected and unwarranted bursts of robotic laughter. So Alexa decided to laugh randomly while I was in the kitchen. Freaked @SnootyJuicer and I out

Firm says shift to more connected and ‘concierge-like’ experience needed to combat smartphone-obsessed societyWe need to return to being the masters of our technology and stop being slaves to our phones, says Samsung’s head of mobile for the UK.Following increasing unease from technology insiders and development experts that young and old alike are becoming increasingly addicted to smartphones, social media and the constant need for messaging, Samsung’s head of mobile in the UK says that something needs to change to stop the constant heads-down relationship we have with our devices. Continue reading

MPs cast doubt on whether energy efficiency gains can keep offsetting rising power demandA cross-party group of MPs has raised doubts over whether the growing energy demand from digital technology and the proliferation of internet-connected gadgets can continue to be offset by energy efficiency improvements.More efficient smartphones, networking gear and data centres have so far largely staved off increased power demand from the internet and computing – which now accounts for about 6% of global electricity use. Continue reading