Tech Life
BBC World Service
Tech Life discovers and explains the ways technology is changing our lives, wherever we are in the world. We meet the people with bright ideas for rethinking the way we work, learn and play, and get hands-on with the products they dream up. We hold tech giants to account for their huge power to affect our lives, and ask who wins, and who loses, in the technology transformation. Tech Life is your guide to a future being made, and remade, at lightning speed in front of our eyes.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 27, 2022 • 23min
'This is junk science': The UK takes aim at biometric tech
The UK's deputy information commissioner tells Tech Tent why some new biometric technologies are "the modern phrenology", and based on "magical" thinking. We discuss whether the world is too dependent on WhatsApp - and why Big Tech financial results are going down the drain. Our reporter visits a factory making a female crash test dummy, and we ask what next for the self-styled "Chief Twit" Elon Musk as he completes his purchase of Twitter.
Oct 21, 2022 • 23min
This number has been disconnected
Tech Tent explores why millions of SIM cards face being disconnected in Kenya and Ghana as authorities force people to register them. We'll also speak to writer Becky Holmes on why she responds to romance fraudsters and BBC Tech Reporter, Alasdair Keane, visits a cyber security competition where laptops aren't allowed in the room.(Photo credit: Getty Images)
Oct 14, 2022 • 23min
How TikTok syphons off money from some of those most in need
Tech Tent finds out about the BBC investigation into how much money donated through Tik Tok live actually makes it to displaced people’s pockets. Also this week, what should the future of the office be, and why do robots often look like humans?
Oct 7, 2022 • 23min
Elon Musk's Twitter take over rises from the ashes
Elon Musk wanted Twitter, then he didn't - and now he does again. Why has he changed his mind and what does it mean for Twitter? Our Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton guides us through the latest twists and turns in tech's most dysfunctional courtship. Also this week can anyone challenge Google's search engine supremacy?
8 snips
Sep 30, 2022 • 23min
Why are there still so few women in tech?
The boss of Apple, Tim Cook, tells the BBC there are no good excuses for the persistent gender imbalance in tech. We ask women starting their careers in the sector what needs to change. How the EU is making it easier to sue when AI goes wrong. And our Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton takes a ride around the streets of San Francisco in a self-driving taxi.
Sep 23, 2022 • 23min
The protests sending Iran offline
This week: Iran suffers internet blackouts and mobile phone outages as protestors mount angry protests against the country's morality police. Will it help stifle dissent? Wikipedia on their competition to find the sound of all human knowledge. And how one man is still going strong in the floppy disk business.
Sep 16, 2022 • 23min
The Merge: A cryptocurrency revolution
This week on Tech Tent: the Merge - Ethereum, the world's second biggest cryptocurrency, attempts the Merge, a radical new operating model that cuts its energy usage by 99%. Will it work - and how will it reshape crypto? Also - how a carrot emoji became a cover for covid disinformation. And the biggest, brightest satellite ever launched - will it change our relationship with the night sky?
Sep 11, 2022 • 23min
Apple tries to build back the buzz
On Tech Tent this week Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton joins us from Apple's new product launch in Cupertino, California. We hear from the British firm which is ahead of the pack when it comes to making satellite phones mainstream. We interview a senior figure at Cloudflare about the Kiwi Farms controversy. The co founder of an anti crypto conference tells us why he thinks the event was necessary. And art, made in the studio - with the help of some AI.
Sep 2, 2022 • 23min
India's high speed broadband revolution
On Tech Tent this week, we hear about India's ambitions to build the world's fastest 5G network - and why WhatsApp is launching a grocery shopping service there. British regulators take a dim view of Microsoft's plan to buy Activision Blizzard. We ask young people what the appeal of BeReal is. And we meet the talking, humanoid robot helping children open up about how they really feel.
Aug 26, 2022 • 23min
More trouble at Twitter
On Tech Tent this week, reporter Chris Vallance runs us through the serious allegations about lax security levelled at Twitter by its former employee Peiter "Mudge" Zatko. Dr Jon Roozenbeek, of Cambridge University, explains how educating people about how misinformation works appears to be an effective way of informing their online experience. And the makers of a voice changing technology respond to accusations it is increasing prejudice rather than addressing it.
