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British broadcaster Sky is launching a TV that streams content via the internet, removing the need for a satellite dish.

The company describes Sky Glass as a “no-fuss” streaming TV.

One expert said it would put the broadcaster in direct competition with TV makers such as Samsung and Sony.

Another said while ditching the “outdated satellite dish” was long overdue, it was “an expensive way to watch TV”.

Sky Glass eliminates the need for an external box – and with built-in Dolby Atmos, there is no need for a sound bar either.

Other specs include:

three versions – 43in, 55in and 65in
a single wire and just one plug
4K ultra-high-definition quantum-dot screen
10-bit high dynamic range to support Dolby Vision HDR
voice-activated interface
available in five colours
“Sky Glass is the streaming TV with Sky inside, providing the total integration of hardware, software and content,” group chief executive Dana Strong said.

“We believe this is the smartest TV available.”

Although it will require a Sky subscription, content from BBC iPlayer, Amazon, Netflix, Disney+, ITV Hub and All4 will also be available.

Sky has not yet named the hardware partner who will make the device.

It has also not explained how exactly it plans to stream its content over the web, without delays or buffering.

If someone wishes to cancel their Sky subscription after purchasing the TV, they will still be able to use the TV but will lose some of the more advanced features, such as voice control and playlists.

‘Extremely lucrative’
While the move to deliver content over the internet rather than via satellite would bring “its own challenges”, Sky’s decision made a lot of business sense, independent technology analyst Paolo Pescatore said.

“By not having a satellite dish, you lower costs and increase margins,” he said.

“Providing your own TV set and persuading people to sign up for a subscription, that is extremely lucrative for Sky.”

In future, Sky may offer discounts on the TV with its broadband offerings too, he said.

Sky already offers TV via broadband in Italy, and Germany, via its Sky Q set-top box.

This bolder move into hardware would also put it in direct competition with TV-makers such as Samsung and Sony, who bundle Sky content with their devices, Mr Pescatore said, and hasten “the demise of the set-top box”.

The TV can either be paid for as part of an existing subscription or bought outright.

Users who already have a £26 Sky Ultimate TV subscription will pay £13 extra per month for the smallest TV. The 55in screen will be £17 and the 65in £21.

Buying the smallest version of the TV upfront will cost £649 and will need an additional subscription to Sky. The larger versions will be £849 and £1,049 respectively.

Magic dust
That made it “an expensive way to watch TV,” Ernest Doku, of Uswitch, said.

But he added the market was due a shake-up.

“It’s about time that Sky sprinkled some magic dust over the outdated satellite dish,” Mr Doku said.

“This all-in-one solution finally does away with the set-top box and dish, which historically have put off many potential customers.”

Sky also claimed the Glass would be the world’s first carbon-neutral TV.

Mr Doku said details about how it would achieve that “were thin on the ground” but added: “Encouraging consumers to get rid of working televisions in order to get Sky’s version could generate a lot of unnecessary electronic waste.”

The TV is available from 18 October in the UK, and in other markets next year.

Amazon is expanding its presence on the High Street by opening its first non-food store in the UK.

The shop, in the Bluewater shopping mall near Dartford, will sell around 2,000 of its most popular and best-rated products.

It’s called Amazon 4-star, because every item has been given more than four stars by customers.

However, one retail expert said the shop could be “muddled and uninspiring”.

This will be the first Amazon 4-star store outside the US, where there are already more than 30 outlets.

The range of products, which takes in books, consumer electronics, toys, games and homeware, reflects what Amazon customers are buying online.

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There’s a “Most Wished For” section, for instance, showing the most popular products from customers’ wish lists.

Digital price tags are used to ensure the prices are the same in-store and online. Shoppers don’t need to have an Amazon account to use it.

And customers will also be able to collect items ordered online as well as return items without the need for packaging and labels.

Andy Jones, director of Amazon 4-star UK, declined to say how many more stores he plans to open in the UK.

Amazon effect
This global giant is often accused of killing the High Street by undercutting traditional retailers and paying less tax.

Now it’s moving onto their physical patch as well.

However, retail expert Natalie Berg said the Amazon move “is purely about experimentation”.

The giant’s aim, she said, is to encourage more online shopping.

“This is not about shifting more product; it’s about baiting shoppers into Amazon’s ecosystem,” Ms Berg said.

“It’s about getting shoppers to engage with Amazon’s devices, reminding Prime customers of the value in their memberships, and offering additional choice when it comes to collection and returns of online orders.”

Amazon has already opened six grocery convenience stores in the UK with checkout-free technology.

But Ms Berg said the jury is still out as to whether the world’s most disruptive retailer can do one of the most fundamental retail tasks – run stores.

“The 4-star concept has the potential to be a bit muddled and uninspiring,” she said.

“The store features a smorgasbord of products, the result of Amazon’s very scientific, data-led approach to physical retail.

“But when you strip out the high-tech touches, I struggle to see how it differentiates from any other retailer,” says Ms Berg.

Landlords, though, may welcome the move as they try to find new players to take on empty shops, driven largely by our shopping habits moving online.

The methods Amazon and other employers use to monitor, reward and discipline warehouse workers are being shaken up in California.

State governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill prohibiting the workers from being fired for failing to meet a quota that does not allow for rest breaks.

Amazon workers have complained of having to work gruelling hours, with harsh penalties for being “off task”.

The online retailer has not commented on the new law.

Bathroom facilities
The bill, the first of its kind, comes into force in January 2022.

Companies will have to detail the number of tasks they expect warehouse workers to complete within a certain timeframe and any penalties for failing to do so.

“An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, or occupational health and safety laws,” the bill says.

Amazon has about 150,000 employees in California.

‘Arduous workloads’
Its pay and benefits are considered generous for the industry.

But some complain conditions are not and arduous workloads create mental and physical problems.

One of its most controversial policies is time off task (TOT).

Amazon’s algorithms calculate which hours of a shift are off task, based on the number of items scanned, with penalties for those who underperform.

Previously, the system had sent an alert if workers were off task for half an hour.

But in June, Amazon tweaked its policy to average scanned items over a longer period.

At the time of the change, worldwide operations vice-president Dave Clark blogged the tool “could be easily misunderstood” but was primarily to “understand whether there are issues with the tools that people use to be productive” and only secondarily to identify underperforming employees.

One of the biggest criticisms of Amazon is its use of technology, including a large number of robots, dehumanises workers.

It uses an array of technology to keep an eye on workers, including cameras in delivery vans and an app that monitors driving.

‘Union-busting tactics’
In April, workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted for the first time on whether they wanted to be represented by the National Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

The vote went against the union but amid allegations Amazon had used union-busting tactics, including:

altering a traffic-light system outside the warehouse to give union officials less time to leaflet workers
bombarding workers with texts, posters and signs encouraging them to vote no
The National Labour Relations Board found enough evidence Amazon had interfered with the process to warrant a second vote, yet to be held.

RWDSU president Stuart Applebaum welcomed the new California legislation but said a union contract “is better”.

Transparency about what warehouses required of its workers was needed, he said, but “many other issues” had to be addressed.

In June, the US Teamsters Union announced it was also aiming to recruit Amazon workers.

Amazon is launching Astro, its first household robot, powered by its Alexa smart home technology.

The company said it can be remote-controlled when not at home, to check on pets, people, or home security.

It can also patrol a home automatically and send owners a notification if it detects something unusual.

Amazon said it was more than “Alexa with wheels” and had been programmed with a range of movements and expressions to give it personality.

It demonstrated asking Astro to “beatbox” – and the robot bopped its head and made expressions while playing hip-hop beats.

Amazon was also keen to pre-empt privacy concerns.

It said Astro can be set with “out of bounds” zones, so it cannot go into certain areas, or could be set to “do not disturb”. It also features buttons to turn off cameras and microphones – though it loses its ability to move around when they are switched off.

The small robot also comes equipped with an extendable “periscope” camera that pops up from its head. Amazon showed an example of using it to check if a gas hob had been left on after leaving the house.

The technology and retail giant suggested that the $999.99 (£740) robot could be a help to the elderly.

“Astro is a bold move by Amazon, but a logical step given its expertise in robots and desire to become more integrated into consumers’ daily lives,”said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight.

Unlike some rivals, Amazon “is willing to bring highly experimental products to market” and see how customers react, he said.

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“Offering products resembling something from a science fiction novel positions Amazon as an innovative company in the eyes of consumers and investors,” he said.

The robot will ship later this year, Amazon said – but only in the US. And after the initial, limited run, its price will go up to $1,449.99, it said.

“I believe the Astro robot will sell out in minutes when it becomes available in the US market,” Mr Wood said. “I’m just gutted that it won’t be shipping in the UK in the foreseeable future.”

Amazon wants a slice of the robotics market, boldly stating that it believes all homes will have one in five to 10 years.

It wants Astro to be that must-have new member of the household, and there is no denying that the little wheeled robot is pretty cute – although the periscope that pops out of its head is a little creepy.

But we have seen other cute humanoid robots – such as Pepper – fail to make a mark.

This is largely because the price tag means it will be a toy for the rich for some time to come. And while Amazon was keen to convince us that for that you get more than “Alexa on wheels”, it was hard to see a compelling use case for this other than to curb that ever-present paranoia that you left the oven on.

But building robots is hard. And if the home robotics market is ever going to take off, people will have to be convinced to spend a lot of money.

This first foray offers Amazon a chance to hone its skills. And arguably, there is no company already as firmly embedded in our homes as Amazon.

Presentational grey line
The company is known for occasionally making unusual smart home tech such as its Alexa-controlled microwave from 2018.

At last year’s event, Amazon turned heads with a flying indoor alarm drone. The Always Home Cam launches from its deployment bay if it detects a potential intrusion, and can fly around a home to check with a video feed. But it was not launched and no more details were released in the past year.

Instead, Amazon on Tuesday said it was opening up the invite list for early adopters to buy the drone on a limited basis – but did not give dates for widespread availability.

Among the other devices unveiled at the event was the the Amazon Glow: a video calling device that has the ability to project an interactive “touchscreen” on the floor or table in front of it.

The idea is to engage children during long video calls, as they can play games or draw on the 19-inch projected “screen” while on the video call. Relatives on the other end can also interact with the projection through a tablet app.

In one example, Amazon said children could “scan” a favourite toy using the Glow’s camera, and turn it into a jigsaw puzzle to reassemble.

Other new products announced included:

a Disney-themed Alexa version, featuring the voices of Disney characters, to be rolled out next year
updates to the Amazon Halo workout band, with a new model called Halo View.
a new model of Ring smart alarm with a built-in wifi router
a paid “virtual security guard” Ring subscription which allows a remote operator to check cameras triggered by motion detection
The event also coincided with the launch of Amazon’s much-delayed video game New World, its second attempt at a big-budget title after the high-profile failure of its shooter Crucible last year.

Unlike Crucible, however, New World received some favourable feedback during a popular beta test in July which attracted hundreds of thousands of players.

Plans to make an “Instagram experience” for under-13s, dubbed Instagram Kids, have been paused.

Facebook would use the time to listen to “parents, experts, policymakers and regulators”, Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote.

It follows leaked internal research the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said showed Instagram was “toxic for teen girls”.

But in a recent blog, Facebook head of research Pratiti Raychoudhury called this allegation “simply not accurate”.

Instagram requires users to be at least 13 before they create an account – but many children under that age use the platform anyway.

And the company previously told BBC News Instagram Kids would be a “practical solution to the ongoing industry problem of kids lying about their age to access apps” and enable children to connect with family and friends in an “age appropriate way”.

But in April, a letter from the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood, signed by 99 groups and individuals, claimed the “image-obsessed” platform was dangerous for children’s health and privacy and called for the project to be scrapped.

Supervision tools
In the new blog post, Mr Mosseri said he still believed it was better to have a version of Instagram for 10-12-year-olds, rather “than relying on an app’s ability to verify the age of kids who are too young to have an ID”.

“The reality is that kids are already online,” he said.

While the project is paused, Instagram will expand its work on new opt-in parental supervision tools, to cover 13-19-year-olds currently on Instagram.

There would be more announcements on that in the coming months, Mr Mosseri wrote.

And while he disagreed with the WSJ’s interpretation of the leaked research it had “raised a lot of questions for people”.

Facebook urged to end Instagram for children idea
Facebook Files: 5 things leaked documents reveal
In 2020, teenage girls were asked when they felt bad about their bodies did Instagram make them feel:

worse – 32%
better – 22%
“no impact” – 46%
But Facebook said the survey:

“relied on input from only 40 teens”
was deliberately focused on the most negative aspects of Instagram, to help the company make improvements
showed body image was the only one of 12 possible teenage problems Instagram made worse for girls
In other areas such as eating issues, loneliness, anxiety and sadness, “teenage girls who said they experienced these challenges were more likely to say that Instagram made these issues better v worse,” it said.

“The research actually demonstrated that many teens we heard from feel that using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard moments and issues teenagers have always faced”, Ms Raychoudhury wrote, two weeks after the WSJ report, part of its Facebook Files series.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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But technology news site The Verge said Facebook’s response “ignores many of the issues raised in the WSJ piece, including that teens claimed they felt addicted to Instagram”.

Commentators have challenged Facebook to make public the research.

And on Monday, a Facebook representative told BBC News it planned to release some of the research material to Congress.

“Our plan is to release the two most noteworthy source decks to Congress and we’re looking at a potential public release,” they said.

“Our intention is that they will become public.”

Facebook global head of safety Antigone Davis will answer questions at forthcoming US Senate committee, where she is expected to be asked about the WSJ report and plans for Instagram Kids.

This week, Facebook has faced a series of accusations about its internal workings, based on revelations in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere.

Much of the information comes from Facebook’s own internal documents, suggesting the company now has some whistle-blowers in its ranks.

The documents will provide governments and regulators with plenty to pore over as they consider their next moves.

However, Facebook has defended itself against all the accusations.

Here are five things that were revealed this week:

Celebrities were treated differently by Facebook

According to documents reported by the Wall Street Journal, many celebrities, politicians and high-profile Facebook users had different rules governing what content they could post, under a system known as XCheck (cross-check).

Facebook has admitted criticism of the way it implemented its cross-check system was “fair” – but said it was designed to create “an additional step” when posted content required more understanding.

“This could include activists raising awareness of instances of violence or journalists reporting from conflict zones,” it said.

It said a lot of documents referred to by the Wall Street Journal contained “outdated information stitched together to create a narrative that glosses over the most important point: Facebook itself identified the issues with cross-check and has been working to address them”.

Despite its pushback, Facebook’s own Oversight Board, which it appointed to make decisions on tricky content moderation, has demanded more transparency.

In a blog this week, it said the disclosures had “drawn renewed attention to the seemingly inconsistent way that the company makes decisions”.

It has asked for a detailed explanation of how the cross-check system works.

It warned a lack of clarity on cross-check could contribute to perceptions that Facebook was “unduly influenced by political and commercial considerations”.

Since it began its work looking into how Facebook moderates content, the Facebook-funded Oversight Board has made 70 recommendations about how the company should improve its policies. It has now set up a team to assess how the social network implements those recommendations.

Its response to employee concerns about human trafficking was often ‘weak’

The documents reported by the WSJ also suggested Facebook employees regularly flagged information about drug cartels and human traffickers on the platform but the company’s response was “weak”.

In November 2019, BBC News Arabic broadcast a report highlighting the issue of domestic workers for sale on Instagram.

According to internal documents, Facebook was already well aware of the issue. The WSJ reported that Facebook took only limited action until Apple threatened to remove its products from its App Store.

In its defence, Facebook said it had a “comprehensive strategy” to keep people safe including “global teams with native speakers covering over 50 languages, educational resources and partnerships with local experts and third-party fact-checkers”.

Critics warn that Facebook does not have the means to moderate all the content on its platform and protect its 2.8 billion users.

David Kirkpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect, told the BBC’s Tech Tent podcast that he felt Facebook had no motivation “to do anything to mediate the harms” outside the US.

“They have plenty of things they have done, including hiring tens of thousands of content reviewers,” he said.

“But one statistic that jumped out for me from the Wall Street Journal was that for all their disinformation and misinformation work in 2020, only 13% of that work was outside of the United States.

“For a service that is 90% outside of the United States – and one that has had enormous impact, in a very negative way, on the politics of countries like the Philippines, Poland, Brazil, Hungary, Turkey – they are not doing anything to remediate all that.”

Mr Kirkpatrick suggested Facebook was only “responsive to PR pressures” in the US because those could affects its share price.

Facebook faces a huge lawsuit from shareholders
Facebook is also facing a complex lawsuit from a group of its own shareholders.

The group alleges, among other things, that Facebook’s $5bn (£3.65bn) payment to the US Federal Trade Commission to resolve the Cambridge Analytica data scandal was so high because it was designed to protect Mark Zuckerberg from personal liability.

Facebook said it did not have anything to say about the continuing legal matter.

Has Facebook been promoting positive stories about itself?
This week, the New York Times suggested that Facebook had started an initiative to pump pro-Facebook content into people’s news feeds in order to boost its image.

The newspaper said Project Amplify was designed to “show people positive stories about the social network”.

Facebook said there had been no changes to its newsfeed ranking systems.

In a series of tweets, spokesman Joe Osborne said the test of what he called “an informational unit on Facebook” was small and only happened in “three cities”, with posts clearly labelled as coming from the firm.

He said it was “similar to corporate responsibility initiatives people see in other technology and consumer products”.

Facebook knew Instagram was ‘toxic’ for teens

Another significant revelation from the Facebook Files was the discovery that the company had conducted detailed research into how Instagram was affecting teenagers but did not share its findings when they suggested that the platform was a “toxic” place for many youngsters.

According to slides reported by the Wall Street Journal, 32% of teenage girls surveyed said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.

Fox News reported this week that the whistle-blower behind the leaked document will reveal their identity and co-operate with Congress.

Whether that happens, the fact that Facebook failed to share its own detailed studies on the harm its platforms cause will give US politicians plenty of food for thought.

Manufacturers will be forced to create a universal charging solution for phones and small electronic devices, under a new rule proposed by the European Commission (EC).

The aim is to reduce waste by encouraging consumers to re-use existing chargers when buying a new device.

All smartphones sold in the EU must have USB-C chargers, the proposal said.

Apple has warned such a move would harm innovation.

The tech giant is the main manufacturer of smartphones using a custom charging port, as its iPhone series uses an Apple-made “Lightning” connector.

“We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world,” the firm told the BBC.

It added that it aims to make every Apple device and usage carbon neutral by 2030.

Most Android phones come with USB micro-B charging ports, or have already moved to the more modern USB-C standard.

New models of the iPad and MacBook use USB-C charging ports, as do high-end phone models from popular Android manufacturers such as Samsung and Huawei.

The changes would apply to the charging port on the device body, whereas the end of the cable connecting to a plug could be USB-C or USB-A.

Around half of chargers sold with mobile phones in the European Union in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29% had a USB C connector and 21% a Lightning connector, a Commission impact assessment study in 2019 found.

The proposed rules will apply to:

smartphones
tablets
cameras
headphones
portable speakers
handheld video game consoles
Other products including earbuds, smart-watches and fitness trackers were not considered for technical reasons linked to size and use conditions.

The proposal also standardises fast charging speeds – meaning devices capable of fast charging will be charged at the same speeds.

Preventing waste
EU politicians have been campaigning for a common standard for over a decade, with the Commission’s research estimating that disposed of and unused charging cables generate more than 11,000 tonnes of waste per year.

In the European Union, around 420 million mobile phones and other portable electronic devices were sold in the last year.

The average person owns around three mobile phone chargers, of which they use two regularly.

In 2009, there were more than 30 different chargers, whereas now most models stick to three – the USB-C, Lightning and USB micro-B.

“Having one common charging standard would be a victory for common sense in the eyes of consumers,” Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight said.

“Although Apple has made a strong argument for keeping its Lightning connector, given the one billion active iPhone users, some of its products including Mac and iPad now support USB-C.

“Hopefully it will eventually become a non-issue if Apple keeps adding USB-C to more devices.”

It may be a number of years before the proposals come into effect.

The legislative proposal, known as a Directive, will be debated by the European Parliament and national governments.

MEPs and member states may suggest amendments to the proposal. Only once the EC has agreed these amendments, will the directive be enacted.

The EC hopes that will happen in 2022 – after which member states usually have two years to enact the rules into national law, and manufacturers will have 24 months to change their charging ports.

“We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger. This is an important win for our consumers and environment and in line with our green and digital ambitions,” Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said.

Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, will limit use of the platform for children to 40 minutes a day.

The rules will apply to users under 14, who have been authenticated using their real names, and who will be able to access it between 06:00 and 22:00.

Parent company Bytedance announced the app’s Youth Mode in a blog post, saying it is the first short-video company in the industry to have these limits.

It comes as China cracks down on teenagers’ use of technology.

According to Douyin’s user agreement there is no minimum age on the platform, but under 18s must obtain the consent of a legal guardian. On sister app TikTok the minimum age is 13.

New educational content – including science experiments, museum exhibitions and historical explainers – has been launched by Douyin as part of Youth Mode.

“Yes, we are more strict with teenagers. We will work harder to provide quality content so that young people can learn and see the world,” the post said.

Tech crackdown
Last month, under-18s in China were banned from playing video games during the week, and their play was restricted to just one hour on Fridays, weekends and holidays.

And in February, Chinese children were banned from taking their mobile phones into school.

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Analysis – Kerry Allen, BBC China media analyst
These regulations on China’s version of TikTok have been a long time coming.

For the last three years, official media has been warning that the growing amount of time young Chinese people are spending on the internet is having an impact on their physical and mental health.

Data from social media agency We Are Social suggests that Chinese people frequently spend more than five hours a day online, two hours of which is on social media.

Although this data doesn’t include those under the age of 16, online learning has been very present in young Chinese people’s lives over the last year because of Covid-19. Added to that, official broadcaster CGTN says 95% of China’s youth population is online nowadays – 183 million minors.

Back in 2018, China’s regulators said that they were seeking to limit the amount of time that minors spent online, because of rising levels of near-sightedness among children.

Douyin, much like TikTok, is particularly popular with young audiences, and so China’s top regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, has urged it to “create a good cyberspace environment for the healthy development of young people”.

Back in 2019, Douyin and rival service Kuaishou began trialling “anti-addiction measures”. They introduced child locks, and experimented with functions that could limit the amount of time children spent on these platforms.

A novel way of delivering high-speed internet via beams of light through the air has successfully transmitted data across the Congo River.

It means that citizens in Brazzaville and Kinshasa could get faster and cheaper broadband.

Project Taara is one of Alphabet X’s (formerly Google X) so-called moonshot ideas.

It grew out of Project Loon, a broadband project using balloons in the stratosphere, since shut down.

The latest experiment means that a “particularly stubborn connectivity gap” between the two African cities – Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo – has been filled, said the team in a blog.

The cities lie only three miles apart but connecting them is tricky because traditional cable has to be routed around the river, making broadband prices five times more expensive.

The wireless optical communications (WOC) system provided nearly 700 terabytes of data in 20 days with 99.9% availability, the team at X reported.

“While we don’t expect to see perfect reliability in all kinds of weather and conditions in future, we’re confident Taara’s links will continue to deliver similar performance and will play a key role in bringing fast, more affordable connectivity to the 17 million people living in these cities,” it said in the blog.

It is the latest iteration of the project which has been in development for three years. X is working with Econet Group and Liquid Telecom to bring high-speed internet to sub-Saharan Africa and has begun a commercial rollout in Kenya.

The system uses very narrow, invisible beams of light to deliver high speeds, similar to the way traditional fibre in the ground uses light to carry data but without the cable casing.

The technology, known as Free Space Optical Communications, grew out of experiments the team had previously used to beam lasers between balloons in Project Loon, which was shut down by Alphabet in February because it was no longer seen as commercially viable.

It is not perfect and the team admits it will not offer full reliability in challenging conditions, such as fog, haze or when birds fly in front of the signal.

But it has been improved by adjusting the level of laser power being transmitted, which works a bit like a telescope, relying on mirrors, lights, software and hardware to move the beam to exactly where it needs to be. The team have also found ways to reduce errors due to interruptions such as birds flying through the link.

“While places like foggy San Francisco may never be an ideal spot to use WOC, there are many, many places around the world with ideal weather conditions for Taara’s links,” the blog read.

The technology has also be trialled in Kenya, India, the US and Mexico.

Other projects Alphabet X is working on include:

Mineral – an attempt to develop new technology to build a more sustainable food system
Tidal – looking at improving ocean health
Everyday Robot Project – aiming to develop robots that can do useful tasks to help in daily life

Wikipedia has suffered an “infiltration” that sought to advance the aims of China, the US non-profit organisation that owns the volunteer-edited encyclopaedia has said.

The Wikimedia Foundation told BBC News the infiltration had threatened the “very foundations of Wikipedia”.

The foundation banned seven editors linked to a mainland China group.

Wikimedians of Mainland China accused the foundation of “baselessly slandering a small group of people”.

‘Rapid response’
“This case is unprecedented in scope,” foundation vice-president Maggie Dennis said, in a note to volunteers.

And she told BBC News the foundation had been investigating the infiltration of Chinese-language Wikipedia for nearly a year.

But this summer, “credible threats” to volunteers’ safety had “led us to prioritise rapid response”.

The foundation was battling against “capture”, where a group gains control of the editing of the Wikipedia to favour a particular viewpoint, Ms Dennis wrote.

And it has recently set up a disinformation team.

‘Controlling content’
In this case, the infiltrators had tried to promote “the aims of China, as interpreted through whatever filters they may bring to bear”, Ms Dennis told BBC News.

“Controlling content was an aim,” she said.

But she also said: “I am not in position to point fingers at the Chinese state nor in possession of information that would lead me to do so.”

However, “long and deep investigations” into Wikimedians of Mainland China, a group claiming to have about 300 members, had resulted in the banning of seven users and the removal of administrator privileges from a further 12, Wikipedia said.

And there had been concern elections for powerful administrator roles were being manipulated and the process of editing risked being overwhelmed.

Other editors have also been asked to modify their behaviour.

Wikipedia at 20: The encyclopedia in five articles
China and Taiwan clash over Wikipedia edits
Wikipedia blocked in China in all languages
In a post in response to the bans, Wikimedians of Mainland China accused the foundation of acting contrary to the “feelings and opinions of the community”.

But Ms Dennis said the foundation had acted in awareness of conflict between mainland China based Wikimedians and volunteers in Hong Kong.

In July, the Hong Kong Free Press reported “battles between competing editors” over articles describing political events.

And the situation worsened after the closure of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper and the arrest of its top executives,

Mainland editors were increasingly “pushing for the use of Chinese state media as reliable news sources” in Wikipedia articles, the Hong Kong Free Press alleged.

And it revealed some had discussed reporting Hong Kong editors to the city’s national security police hotline, in online chat groups.

Some members of the Hong Kong Wikipedia community were now fearful of “commenting on politically sensitive articles”, Hong Kong Free Press reporter Selina Cheng told BBC News.

“Hong Kong users feared they may be targeted as a result of their identities being known,” she said.

And they asked the Wikimedia Foundation’s Trust and Safety team to help them.

‘Biasing information’
Weeks earlier, the foundation, responding to a security warning, had restricted access to personally identifiable information in two jurisdictions where access to Wikipedia was blocked – including China.

It had feared volunteers – some of whom are young – could be exploited or compelled to share personal data by “state actors or others with an interest in biasing information”.

Ms Dennis said the “software” showed the foundation’s actions had worked and no data had been misused.

But the latest action to counter infiltration had been necessary because individuals had inadvertently put themselves at risk by sharing information about themselves, “such as attending local meetings or sharing personal email addresses” with other users.

‘Risked harm’
“When the foundation has credible information that some volunteers may not be interacting in good faith – and in this case, there was plenty – we may feel it necessary to protect the community by removing those individuals from access,” she said.

“In such cases, users are banned.”

Ms Dennis said she was keen none of the steps taken to protect Wikipedia should discourage Chinese-speakers from joining the community – or volunteers in China who had worked “for free and open knowledge” and may have risked harm by doing so.

To the 4,000 Chinese language Wikimedians she wrote: “We are committed to supporting you in doing this work into the future, with the tools you need to succeed in a safe, secure,and productive environment.”