Google might Announce a new Chromecast this mont

Rumor has it a second-generation Google Chromecast will be available later this month. 9to5 Google reports it acquired internal Google documents detailing and updated video streaming dongle coming this month.

Chromecast is an HDMI dongle that streams content from your iOS and Android apps directly to your TV screen. The device was first introduced two years ago, and it later launched Google Cast SDK allowing third-party apps on iOS and Android to add Chrome Cast support.

The new Chromecast will be announced at a Google event on Sept. 29, according to the report. Until then, here's a rundown of the new features:

• The hardware itself might depart from its current look. It'll come in three colors, although it's hard to describe what shape it is based on the photos. Will it be a flat, short upside-down lollipop or mini kettle bell?
• Google is looking to improve Chromecast's WiFi and introduce "Fast Play." Fast Play will establish a quicker connection and play content more smoothly when you're casting from your device.
• Google also has plans for "Chromecast Audio," which would allow the device to plug into any speaker or audio system in your home via an aux cord. Apparently, it'll have multi-room support and "high-quality audio."
• Chromecast might support Spotify, allowing it to join Google Play Music, Netflix, Pandora and other subscription services already offered on Chromecast.

Another major change is an update to the Chromecast companion app. Currently the app helps you set up Chromecast and connect it to your Wi-Fi, change up your home screen and manage settings. The updated version will have a feature called "What's On," the report says. What's On is another way for you to discover content such as movies and videos to stream from Chromecast-supported apps.

The "new Chromecast" will also support content feeds, though it's unclear what sort of feeds Google is referring to. Twitter feeds? Facebook feeds? We'll have to wait and see. Currently, you can personalize the Chromecast home screen with images, art and weather updates [Source : Mashable].

Lionel Messi Scores twice as Barcelona ease past Levante at Home

Barcelona kept their place at the top of the Primera Division and maintained their 100 percent start to the season by beating Levante 4-1 at the Nou Camp.

The visitors managed to keep the Spanish champions at bay until half-time, but Marc Bartra soon broke the deadlock before a double from Lionel Messi and a goal from Neymar increased Barca's advantage, while Victor Casadesus netted a consolation for Levante.

Luis Enrique rotated his side following the 1-1 draw with Roma and with a difficult trip to Celta Vigo coming up in three days' time. Sergi Roberto, Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez all dropped to the bench, while Munir El Haddadi, Sandro Ramirez and Marc Bartra came in, and Dani Alves returned after spending a month out injured.

Although Barcelona predictably dominated possession throughout the game, they struggled to break Levante down in the opening 45 minutes. Neymar flashed a shot wide of the far post after being played in by Messi, and the Argentinian was then denied by a double save from Ruben Martinez.

The goalkeeper kept out another shot from Messi later in the half, and to his relief Sandro blasted the loose ball into the side netting. There were also a couple of scares for the hosts, who found themselves caught on the break on two separate occasions, but they were grateful for the wayward finishing of Levante forward Nabil Ghilas and midfielder Verza.

Barca finally took the lead on 50 minutes through the unlikely figure of Bartra, who controlled a curling pass from Messi with his chest before tucking the ball in at the near post. Levante's resistance had finally been breached, and six minutes later Barca struck again, this time Neymar getting on the end of a ball from the right-hand side from Alves, and striking the ball beyond three Levante defenders at the second time of asking.

Messi had been playing a deeper role in the game than usual but was able to get on the scoresheet via the penalty spot after Neymar was tripped by Angel Trujillo. Casadesus made the most of some sloppy goalkeeping from Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to pull one back for Levante but the visitors then conceded another penalty when Zouhair Feddal tugged Messi's shirt in the area.

This time the Argentinian sent the ball flying into the stands behind the goal, missing his second penalty of the season. However, he made amends in the last minute with a trademark run through the defence and a low, driven, left-footed shot into the bottom corner [Source : ESPN FC].

Pinterest hits 100 million users, proving the addiction is real

Pinterest reached 100 million monthly active users, the company announced in a blog post on Wednesday, a big milestone for the visual bookmarking treasure chest.

In March, the company was valued at $11 billion, which put it right behind Snapchat — but ahead of Dropbox and Airbnb — at the time.

Additionally, 70% of those 100 million monthly active users aren't just on Pinterest for the pins; they're saving links or clicking through to learn more. The number of Pinterest searches also grown 81% in the last year, according to the company.

People are also adding 24 million fashion pins daily, according to the company.

Pinterest has become a place for users to rack up ideas on what they want to buy — or build — next, and advertisers have been helping with that. In January, the company introduced Promoted Pins to users' home feeds. They work just like regular pins, but businesses pay for them to show up.

The company also rolled out Buyable Pins in June, which let users buy products directly within the Pinterest app.

Despite Pinterest's growth, it still lags behind its social networking counterparts. Its user base is one-third the size of both Instagram and Twitter, according to New York Times [Source : Mashable].

Facebook Will let You Buy Products from Retailers Pages

You'll soon be able to buy a lot more stuff on Facebook. The social network is testing a shopping experience that allows users to buy items directly from business' Facebook pages. The new shopping feature, first reported by BuzzFeed, will allow retailers to turn their Facebook pages into mini storefronts outside of their main websites.

Facebook confirmed the new shopping features to Mashable Wednesday, saying it's currently being tested among a small number of users and a handful of retail and e-commerce companies.

On mobile, the shopping features will appear in a new "shopping" section on the page, as pictured in the mockup image, below, while on desktop the shopping section will appear as a separate tab on the page in the same area where the Timeline, About, Photos and other tabs are currently located.

In the shopping section, companies will show off products in a format that appears to be similar to the way photos are laid out. If you want to buy one of the products, the retailers will be able to choose whether the actual transaction will take place within Facebook or whether you'll be redirected to the company's website.

For those that choose to keep the shopping experience inside Facebook, the checkout process will be very similar to the one already in place on Facebook ads that use the buy button.

Facebook spokesperson Mike Manning said it's too early to offer a timeline for when it will expand more broadly to include more retailers or be surfaced to more users. He declined to name the businesses participating in the initial test, but noted there are a range of different-sized retailers and e-commerce companies currently involved.

The news comes as other social platforms are looking to increase engagement — and, eventually, revenue — with native shopping experiences. Pinterest rolled out buyable pins earlier this year, and Google announced Wednesday it would be experimenting with a "buy" button in its search results.

Meanwhile Facebook has been increasingly experimenting with payments and shopping features. The company added peer-to-peer payments in Messenger earlier this year, and rolled out a business version of Facebook Messenger that allows customers to interact with businesses, including retailers. Recent reports have suggested the social network is also in the midst of testing a shopping assistant feature for Messenger.

It doesn't sound like Facebook plans to make money directly off shopping transactions for now, but all these new shopping and payment-related features fall in line with the company's larger goal of keeping users in its apps and website as long as possible [Source : Mashable].

Twitter Accused of Eavesdropping on direct messages in New lawsuit

Sending direct messages are a way for Twitter users to communicate out of the public eye, but a new lawsuit alleges those communications are not really so private.

A class action suit, brought in federal court in San Francisco by Wilford Raney, claims that Twitter "surreptitiously eavesdrops" on users' direct messages without consent via its algorithms, and benefits from the surveillance.

This undisclosed surveillance, the suit alleges, takes place when a user writes a direct message and includes a hyperlink.

Using a New York Times link as an example, the suit says that Twitter’s algorithms identify hyperlinks and replace them with its own custom links, so that the person clicking on the link travels through Twitter’s analytics servers before reaching the destination website.

"For example, Twitter changes links like "www.nytimes.com" to links like "http:/t.co/CL2SKBxr1s" (while still displaying the text "www.nytimes.com" to its users). Should someone click on this new link (http:/t.co/CL2SKBxr1s), they would first be taken to Twitter’s "t.co" website and then forwarded to the original "www.nytimes.com" website."

In its privacy policy, Twitter discloses that it may keep track of how users interact with links, so it will be interesting to see if the courts consider this sufficient to cover its bases. "We do this to help improve our Services, to provide more relevant advertising, and to be able to share aggregate click statistics such as how many times a particular link was clicked on," Twitter writes.

The suit alleges the company benefits from replacing user hyperlinks with its own, as it allows the platform to track links for advertisers. "In the example given, the New York Times would identify Twitter as the source of internet traffic, whereas without replacing the link the source would be anonymous. The end result is that Twitter can negotiate better advertising rates," it explains.

The suit calls for Twitter to stop intercepting, reading and altering direct messages without user consent. It also seeks redress and statutory damages under the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California privacy law.

Twitter is not the only technology company that's had to deal with accusations of message scanning.

In 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google had stopped scanning student Gmail accounts to serve them ads after being hit with a lawsuit from a group of California students. The suit alleged the company's monitoring of Gmail violated federal and state privacy laws [Source : Mashable].

Developer Shows iPhone 6S likely has 2GB of RAM

Finally — after being stuck with only 1GB of RAM memory since iPhone 5, which came out in 2012 — iPhone users get an upgrade.

The recently launched iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus apparently both have 2GB of RAM.

While this hasn't been officially confirmed (and likely won't be confirmed until someone opens the device up and inspects the memory chip), we know it thanks to developer Hamza Sood, who did some tinkering with the latest version of Apple's development platform Xcode.

Sood did this by creating a simple app, which displays an image based on the iDevice's memory. While not an entirely foolproof way to prove that the new iPhones indeed sport a 2GB RAM chip, it's a good indication that this is indeed the case.

Furthermore, the iPad Pro has 4GB of RAM (twice as much as other new iPads), which was already leaked by Apple itself.

So what does this mean for the consumers? Despite the fact that Apple doesn't publicize these numbers, it's very good news. It means the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will have a lot less trouble handling memory-hungry apps, and actually makes them a decent upgrade over the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively (Source : Mashable).

8 things Apple didn't tell you about the iPad Pro

The iPad Pro is gargantuan. Its 12.9-inch Retina HD display dwarfs the iPad Air 2. Its Hulk-powerful, but still thin and light. It's basically Apple's version of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

Apple dedicated a big chunk of its September Apple event to highlight the biggest iPad ever. But in the product-packed event (new iPhones, Apple TV and Apple Watch news) that ran over two hours, there wasn't enough time to get to all the details, so we dug them up for you.

Here's what you may not know about Apple's huge new iPad.

1. No 3D Touch for you!

The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus' marquee feature is 3D Touch. Pressing harder on the screen will bring up shortcuts or previews (called peeks and pops). It's basically the Apple Watch's pressure-sensitive Force Touch, but for the iPhones.

You'd think the new expensive iPad Pro would have it, right? Nope. There's no 3D Touch on the iPad Pro. Maybe next year's model?

2. Apple Pencil charges up fast.

Pricey $99 price tag aside, the Apple Pencil can recharge via the iPad Pro's Lightning port super quick. Apple's spec rates a 15-second (yes, second) charge at 30 minutes of Pencil usage time.

The Apple Pencil has a 12-hour battery life. Doing the math, it would take 6 minutes to fully charge the Pencil for 12 hours of use. Not bad.

3. The Lightning port is now a gadget charger.

Speaking of the Lightning port on the iPad Pro, it's now bidirectional (like USB Type-C ports on future Android devices), meaning it can be take in power and output power. Until now, no other Apple device with a Lightning port has been bidirectional.

At the moment, we only know the iPad Pro's Lightning port can charge the iPad Pencil. What we don't know is if it can output enough power to charge up other accessories. It would be pretty neat to be able to charge up future Fitbits or other fitness trackers with a Lightning connector.

4. Apple Pencil is iPad Pro only.

As we noted on Apple's big day, the Apple Pencil doesn't just cost $99, but only works with the iPad Pro because its tip is not capacitive. You won't even be able to use it as a regular non-pressure-sensitive stylus on old iPhones and iPads.

5. Bluetooth keyboards are second-class citizens.

Apple didn't outright declare Bluetooth keyboards unwelcome on the iPad Pro, but it might as well have. The iPad Pro has a new magnetic port called the Smart Connector. The new connector can connect Apple's Smart Keyboard and supply it with power — no Bluetooth connection required.

That's great news because Bluetooth keyboards can be finicky and have connection problems at times. The connector also means third-party keyboards like Logitech's CREATE keyboard for the iPad Pro can be thinner and lighter since they don't need to have batteries inside.

6. Smart Keyboard is spill- and stain-resistant.

Go ahead and eat your chips and burrito all over Apple's Smart Keyboard. And while you're at it, you can feel free to use it as coaster and spill as much soda and beer on it as you want. For $169 keyboard, it damn well better be soda-resistant.

You can be a little piggy because the Smart Keyboard has no gaps and is resistant to spills and stains. To clean, just wipe it with a damp cloth.

7. The cameras still kind of blow.

No matter how stupid it looks in public, people are using their iPads to take photos and video. The iPad has always had a crappy camera and the iPad Pro is no different.

It's saddled with an 8-megapixel back iSight camera with an f/2.4 aperture lens. In other words, the quality is pretty meh and low-light performance is going to be garbage — like on the iPad Air 2.

The front-facing FaceTime HD camera is a measly 1.2-megapixels. Sure, it records 720p HD video, but those selfies are going to look like crap.

It's time Apple stops crippling the iPad with cameras that are inferior to the iPhone's. There's really no good reason why the 12-megapixel back camera and the 5-megapixel selfie camera on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus aren't on the iPad Pro. This is tablet starting at $800 for crying out loud.

8. There's a ton of RAM.

RAM, short for Random Access Memory, is the memory every computer needs to read and write data. Memory is not to be confused with storage, which is the amount of bytes used to store data.

Without going down the nerd rabbit hole too much, the more RAM a device has, the faster the data can be retrieved, and thus the smoother the experience will feel; you can open more apps, usually experience fewer crashes and run more processor and graphics-intensive apps (like editing video clips) quicker.

Historically, Apple has saddled its iOS devices with very little RAM. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus only have 1GB of RAM and the iPad Air 2 has 2GB of RAM. The iPad Pro, however, reportedly has 4GB of RAM.

In a press release for its Creative Cloud apps, Adobe originally stated the iPad Pro has 4GB of RAM. Though the release has now been edited to remove the spec, well-connected Apple bloggers like John Gruber strongly believe it has 4GB of RAM as well [Source : Mashable].

Messi Dedicates "Winning Goal" to Newborn Son in Barca win at Atletico

Lionel Messi returned to Barcelona from international duty with Argentina this week and skipped the club's only training session on Thursday to attend the birth of his son Mateo. But even the world's best player doesn't go straight back into the starting XI without training.

So when Barça kicked off Saturday's big La Liga showdown at Atletico Madrid, Messi began the game watching from the bench. Judging by Messi's expression, he wasn't thrilled.

But Little Leo came on as a substitute in the 60th minute and, as has been the case for most of his encounters with Atletico Madrid, he scored – the 20th goal of his career against Atleti – finishing a nifty combination play in the 77th minute to cap Barcelona's comeback for a 2-1 victory.

Messi marked the occasion by doing the requisite thumb-sucking celebration to honor his baby boy. Remarkably, he entered the day having gone goalless in his first two La Liga matches like his Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo took care of his "goal drought" in impressive fashion with a five-goal explosion in a 6-0 destruction of Espanyol.

Overshadowed by Messi's heroics was the brilliant free kick by Neymar that brought Barcelona level at 1-1. Four minutes after Fernando Torres gave Atleti the lead, the Brazilian produced this thing of beauty [Source : Yahoo Sport].

Lionel Messi: "Wayne Rooney is a Once in a Generation Player"

Many tributes have flooded in for the Manchester United and England captain after the striker became England’s all-time leading goalscorer on Tuesday — he scored his 50th goal in 107 games for the Three Lions to surpass Sir Bobby Charlton’s long-standing record — but perhaps Messi’s glowing praise will stand out above them all.

Messi, the captain of Argentina and a Barcelona legend who has been crowned the best player on the planet on four different occasions, had the following to say about Rooney.

“Wayne Rooney is for me a once in a generation player. One of those special players, who is not comparable to any other,” Messi said. “There are many special players, but Rooney has exceptional quality and technical ability as well as being one of the strongest players I have faced with an exceptional work rate – there is nobody like him.”

With Messi, 28, just a year younger than Rooney, we have barely seen their talents grace the same field over the years with only fleeting appearances against each other in the UEFA Champions League and on the international stage.

However, if Messi rates Rooney so highly, does he deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Argentine magician, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Luis Suarez in terms of his greatness?

In a few years time, despite all the doubts and off-the-field issues during his 13-year career to date, fans of England and United may well look back and realize they didn’t truly appreciate what they had with Rooney until he’s gone [Source : NBC Sport]..

Hands-On With the Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus

At least, not until you press a little harder on the Camera icon. That’s when you get 3D Touch, which is what’s really worth talking about. 3D Touch basically enables the phone to measure not just when you move your finger up and down, left and right, but now also through. When you press a little harder, you get what’s called “Peek”—a pop-up of the contents of an email, or the status of a flight, or a quick way to call the business you’re tapping on in Maps.

Press more, and you “Pop.” That’s when you jump to a new place in the operating system. You can press on icons on the homescreen, too, and jump straight to the selfie cam or call your mom without ever actually opening the Phone app. It’s an over-branded way of giving you quick access to the things you’re probably looking for by opening that app, or flipping into that email. I’d call it right-click for the iPhone, but that feels like a dig, so…actually yeah, it’s right-click for the iPhone.

But that’s great! For a lot of users, it might remain a completely invisible piece of the software, an interface shortcut you never discover. If you never use it, your iPhone will work as it always has. But when you discover it, everything feels faster, more direct—it makes the iPhone a less like a collection of apps and more like a single, cohesive thing. 

That’s not always true, though. The problem with 3D Touch is that you never know where the hidden menus are—some apps don’t support it, neither do some menus, and you never get a hint. So you’re forced to hunt around looking for this buried treasure, which I’m worried I’d just stop doing after a while. 3D Touch lets you “see” what’s inside whatever you’re looking at; but how far it will let you look is difficult to say so far.

The other big upgrade seems to be the camera, as per usual. The new 12-megapixel camera and 4K video recording are hard to measure in any useful way inside this gigantic demo room. But the photos and videos I’ve seen look insane. Like, incredible. But again, hard to say for sure what they’ll be like in the real world. Live Photos are another interesting update, giving 1.5 seconds of video on either end of the photo you’ve shot. (Apple picked that amount of time figuring that any longer, and you’re catching people turning away from the shot, or doing something else.

1.5 seconds is about how long they’ll stay engaged.) It’s a pretty small feature compared to the attention it received, but it’s a neat way to make your photo gallery feel a little more interactive. (How much these animated compilations—which are turned on by default—kill your storage remains to be seen.) Despite the noteworthy bits, this is the same S cycle upgrade we’re used to: You’re getting a lot more power, a few new ways to go about using your device, and a couple of small things that make the phone more fun. Oh, and that rose gold looks pretty good [Source :Wired].

Floyd Mayweather Defends Decision to face Andre Berto over Amir Khan

Floyd Mayweather says Andre Berto will be "no pushover" and has defended his decision not to face British welterweight Amir Khan. Mayweather (48-0-KO26) faces his fellow American at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday and has vowed to call time on his outstanding 19-year professional career following their bout in Las Vegas.

The unbeaten 38-year-old, who has held world titles in five separate weight divisions, has faced criticism for choosing to face Berto (30-3-KO23) in his final fight. IBF world welterweight champion Kell Brook accused Mayweather of "playing it safe", while Khan has continually spoken of his frustration at being overlooked for a clash with the American.

Brook and his fellow Brit Khan were among the candidates touted as potential opponents for Mayweather following his unanimous points decision victory over Manny Pacquiao in May. Mayweather, however, has defended his choice of opponent and even claimed there is no difference between the credentials of Berto and Khan.

"Berto is not a pushover, but no matter who I chose, the media was going to have something to say. The critics were going to have something to say. He's no different from Amir Khan," he said.

"Amir Khan has three losses and Berto has three losses. He's a two-time world champion just like Amir Khan. Virgil Hunter (Berto's trainer) is a remarkable trainer and he's done remarkable things with Andre Ward's career.

"I know what it takes to win a fight of this magnitude. So no matter what anyone says, it comes down to the two competitors and I know what I can do. One thing I can do is fight." If Mayweather overcomes Berto, he will equal former heavyweight world champion Rocky Marciano's record of 49-0. But Mayweather insists there is no chance of complacency creeping into his psyche as he prepares for his boxing curtain call [Source : Sky Sport].

iPhone 6S and 6S Plus Cameras Will Take Your Photos to The Next Level

Apple held a huge event in San Francisco on Wednesday to announce the new iPad Pro, new Apple TV and, of course, the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Like every year, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, are the most powerful iPhones yet. They've got faster processors, run iOS 9 and support 3D Touch — all amazing new features. But the new cameras have us more excited than ever before.

Both the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus have higher resolution 12-megapixel iSight cameras (that's the camera on the back) with dual-LED flash. The megapixel bump means your photos will look even sharper than before with more details when you zoom in on them.

The aperture on the back camera lens is f/2.2, which is a little disappointing since the Galaxy S6/Note 5/GS6 Edge+ and LG G4 have f/1.9 and f/1.8 apertures, respectively. The aperture controls how much light the camera absorbs, which affects how well the camera performs in low-light situations. Still, Apple says the back camera will take better low-light photos than those on its other phones.

It's not just the back camera that's better — the front-facing FaceTime HD camera has received its biggest update ever, jumping from a 1.2-megapixel camera to a 5-megapixel one. To help capture even better selfies, Apple's incorporating a new software function it calls Retina Flash. Basically, right before the front camera snaps a shot, the screen will quickly flash a white screen to help illuminate your face. Apple says selfies will have "true-to-life colors and more natural-looking skin tones."

Another new camera feature is called Live Photos. When you take a photo, the camera records a few seconds of video before and after — complete with sound. It's basically a GIF (not a video), or if you really want to go into the geek world, it's like a live photo from Harry Potter. The downside to Live Photos is that they'll only be viewable on iOS devices on Macs through the Photos app. The Facebook app will also support Live Photos.

And finally, for the first time on any iPhone, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus can record video in 4K resolution at 3,840 x 2,160 resolution at 30 frames per second — four times the resolution of full HD's 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. This brings the iPhone on par with Android phones that have been able to record 4K video for years.

Frankly, we're skeptic of 4K video recording; to really appreciate the 4x amount of details over HD, you need to own a 4K TV or computer display. And from previous experiences, 4K video recording is a big battery drainer. While recording 4K video, you'll be able to snap 8-megapixel still photos.

The two cameras retain the iPhone 6/6 Plus's slow-motion video recording at 1080p resolution at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps and timelapse recording. Fans holding out for Apple putting optical image stabilization (OIS) on the smaller iPhone 6S won't find it there. OIS is exclusive to the larger iPhone 6S Plus [Source : Mashable].

How to Watch Apple's iPhone 6S Live Stream

Apple's newest line of iPhones are about arrive. Apple will hold one of its most anticipated events of the year Wednesday at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The Cupertino company is expected to unveil a pair of new iPhones, an updated Apple TV and possibly a larger iPad.

All of the updates will begin Wednesday at 10 a.m PT when Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to take the stage to kick off what's sure to be a jam-packed keynote. For those not lucky enough to be able to watch the event live from the San Francisco auditorium, Apple will host a live stream of the entire event on its website.

As usual, Apple limits its live video feed to those running Safari on an iOS device (iOS 7 and later), Mac OS X (10.8.5 with Safari 6.0.5 or newer) or those with a second or third generation Apple TV with 6.2 or later. Interestingly, Windows users have it a lot easier this year compared with previous events — at least, if you're running Windows 10.

Apple is making its live stream available to Windows users for the first time in years through support for Edge, Microsoft's new browser introduced with Windows 10. But, if you don't have a supported browser or device, you're not out of luck. There are several different methods to get around Apple's restrictions. One popular tactic is to change the required settings in your browser in order to fool Apple's live stream into thinking you're using a supported browser.

The simplest way to do this is to use an extension or add-on that changes your browser's user agent settings. The User-Agent Switcher extension for Chrome and User Agent Switcher for Firefox allow you to easily "switch" your settings to Safari, which will enable you to access the live stream. You can also change your user agent settings manually, though it's a bit more complicated. See steps for changing your settings manually here.

If all else fails, you can also watch the event using the free VLC media player, which is available for Mac, Windows, Linux and Android. Once you've downloaded the software, select "Open Media," open the Network tab, and enter Apple's URL for the live stream (you will need to wait for the event to start before you can grab the exact URL.)

Apple's live streams have encountered technical problems in the past so it's a good idea to get your setup ready at least a few minutes before the start of the event. Mashable will also be on the ground in San Francisco for the event so follow our live blog for real-time updates and analysis [Source : Mashable].