CDs and vinyl are outselling digital downloads in the US for the first time since 2011. That’s something of a misleading statistic however. The figures come from the Recording Industry Association of America and aim to cover all revenue derived from recorded music. They only cover money that comes directly from customers, so don’t include […]
Google is letting users try out Android games without installing them. It builds on an existing system for trying less demanding apps. The Play Store already has a “try before you install” option for some apps. It’s based on the idea that some users have limited space and want to see if it’s worth installing […]
The Internet Archive has added 75 handheld games to its collection of playable archived games. While there’s a big omission, the collection does have some wonderfully obscure games. The archive already included thousands of PC, console and arcade cabinet games, but this is the first time it’s added standalone handheld games. Popular in the 80s, […]
If you bought an original ‘Fat’ model PS3, you could get up to $65 from a class action lawsuit. The damages are compensation for Sony withdrawing the ability to easily run Linux on the system. The ‘OtherOS’ feature let users partition the hard drive and install Linux on the spare space. Sony withdrew the option […]
A man who implanted a transport card’s contactless payment chip into his hand has been fined for fare evasion. The man, whose legal name is Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow, had cut the chip out of an Opal Card, which works in New South Wales, the Australian state that includes Sydney. Passengers can pre-load the card […]
An astronaut who spent a year in space now has seven percent of his DNA different to that of his identical twin. Scott and Mark Kelly were part of an experiment into the effects of space travel as part of planning for Mars trips. Scott (pictured right) spent a year on the International Space Station, […]
Professor Stephen Hawking, who has died aged 76, had a combination of skills arguably unparalleled in his lifetime. Not only was his work in theoretical physics truly exceptional, but few matched his ability to communicate complicated ideas and engage the general public. Hawking’s work encompassed ideas that are simultaneously fundamental and yet difficult to describe […]
Donald Trump has blocked Singapore’s Broadcom from taking over American’ chipmaker Qualcomm. He says it’s for security reasons rather than a business matter. As well as manufacturing a huge range of semiconductors, processors and communications devices, Qualcomm has played a key role in the development of several mobile data standards. Broadcom operates in similar areas […]
A burger-flipping robot is on a break from work after it appeared to be too slow to meet demand. But ‘Flippy’ might not be to blame. The robot, made by Miso Robotics, was set to work at a Cali Burger restaurant in Pasadena. It uses image recognition to keep track of the burgers on a […]
Valve is getting back into game production after several years of concentrating on running Steam. But there’s no word on completing any trilogies. The first will be Artifact, a virtual card game themed around the Defense of the Ancients world. While promoting the game, Valve president Gabe Newell said “Artifact is the first of several […]