iPhone SE Hands On It may be Small but it sure is powerful

Hate big phones? Among today’s Sequoia sized devices, Apple has introduced the diminutive iPhone SE, a 4-inch device that pales next to the iPhone 6s Plus. But buoyed by the 30 million 4-inch iPhones it sold in 2015, Apple thought, “Hey, people still want small phones. Here is a small phone. Here is the ‘new’ iPhone SE.”

To be clear, the iPhone SE is essentially the iPhone 5s with guts that are high-end in Apple Land: A faster A9 chip, an improved camera, an NFC module for Apple Pay, and a little scribble on the back indicating that, yes, this is the iPhone SE, not to be confused with the iPhone 5s. It still comes with 16GB of storage, reminding iPhone owners that they will likely be haunted by the low storage option forever.

But, hey, it starts at just $399, or just over $13/month if you do installments. That’s a pretty enticing price for anyone looking to get their first smartphone, but it is by no means the cheapest device around—the 32GB Nexus 6P, a great and powerful handset, is the same price as the 64GB iPhone SE. Jump down a bracket and the Nexus 5X is just $299 (for a limited time).

Seeing this form factor emerge is like running into an old friend; there’s a familiarity here. I’d call it a happy reunion, because the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s were both terrific—great size, great build, great experience. But if you’re looking for the latest technology, you won’t find it here. Sure, the iPhone SE sports the same guts as the iPhone 6s, but it doesn’t have 3D Touch, something that will no doubt be a big part of Apple’s handset future.

Pre-orders for the iPhone SE kick off on March 24, with shipments expected to go out on March 31, or exactly ten days from now. If you want to pick one up, it’ll cost you $399 for the 16GB model, or $499 for the 64GB model.

Article source from Technobuffalo.

As Apple vs FBI looms, WhatsApp and others look to increase encryption

As the battle between Apple and the FBI heats up over encryption, it's increasingly clear this isn't just about one iPhone. A New York Times article on Saturday reported that the Department of Justice is worried about the encryption on apps such as WhatsApp.

According to The Times, the encryption built into WhatsApp has stymied Justice Department attempts at wiretapping. Even with a judge's wiretap order, WhatsApp's encryption prevents law enforcement from reading or intercepting messages sent on its platform.

This is a problem for the Department of Justice, and it's one without a clear solution. 

This is a problem for the Department of Justice, and it's one without a clear solution. A court could order WhatsApp — which is owned by Facebook — to comply with wiretap orders, but it would face technical and legal challenges.

The problem, at least for the Justice Department, may only be getting tougher.

The Guardian reported on Monday that Facebook, Google and Snapchat are all working to increase their own encryption and privacy in the wake of the Apple vs. FBI showdown.

According to The Guardian, WhatsApp plans on adding encryption to its voice calls in a few weeks. The Guardian says Facebook is also looking at increasing the encryption used for Facebook Messenger.

Snapchat is reportedly also at creating more secure messages, though let's be clear: Snapchat hardly has the best track record with securing user data. Google too is said to be looking at ways use its encryption technology in more places.

Tech companies getting serious about encryption

Last week, Medium's Steven Levy wrote an extraordinary piece chronicling the Crypto Wars from the '90s. Two decades ago, law enforcement and technologists battled over the ideas of encryption.

For a time, it looked like cryptography won, with the Clinton administration basically accepting that for the digital revolution to happen, it would have to happen with crypto.

Standards such as AES-128 (and, later, AES-256), SSL and public keys became part of the tech lexicon and the modern computer security industry was born.

Still, as Levy writes, winning the war doesn't mean everything has been great for consumers (emphasis added):

But here's something that didn't happen: a strong crypto infrastructure that protected our information and privacy. The fact is that while the security industry has boomed, our information really isn't much safer than it was when we were fighting the first crypto war. This is because the tech world has been slow to build strong encryption into our systems as a default. It's been too hard to use, and all too often businesses and institutions don't even take obvious steps to secure data. Chronic lapses in our communications software and disasters happen on almost a daily basis.

We simply haven't used our capabilities to make our electrical grids, our credit card systems, and our ISPs bulletproof. As a result, the public has not fully reaped the spoils from winning that first crypto war.

But slowly but surely, that has been changing. Maybe it's the public realization that so much of our data is now stored on the cloud. Or perhaps it's the increase in hacks that leave private information vulnerable.

Whatever the reason, even before the most recent Apple vs. FBI nonsense, we've seen tech companies start to get more serious about building better encryption into their products.

If companies want consumers to trust them with their data, they increasingly have to prove that they are capable of protecting that data. And that's possible with encryption.

Which of course, is the big rub for law enforcement.

Two decades ago, the government agreed that the promises of the Clipper Chip — a chip that was designed to protect communications except if there was a government request for access — were simply infeasible (the Clipper Chip project was dropped in 1996 after its encryption technology was hacked). Today, it does seem that we're having similar conversations, although the stakes are different.

What's next

If Google, Facebook, Snapachat, Apple and other companies do continue to add better encryption to their platforms by default — and it seems like that is absolutely going to happen — we're going to have to have a much broader discussion in Congress about encryption and its role.

There aren't easy answers, and in a perfect world there could be concessions both sides make that balance the underlying challenges of personal information security versus homeland security.

But for now, it will be interesting to see how law enforcement handles the reality that the tools we use to communicate are going to be more and more difficult to intercept.

This article and image source from Mashable.

Google Exec Posts Photos Taken With Nexus 10

Google's Vic Gundotra is having a nice time trying out some new hardware during his beach vacation. At least that's the view from his profile on Google+, where he posted two pictures taken with something called the "Nexus 10."

There currently is no product with that name, but it's been rumored that Google will introduce a new Nexus tablet at the company's event on Monday morning. Also, Korean site Seeko on Thursday posted images of what appears to be a manual for the tablet.

The photos Gundotra posted have a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 (3.1 megapixels), but that's simply the maximum resolution for photos uploaded to Google+ via the service's instant upload, and not necessarily the resolution of the camera on board the device. 

This isn't the first time Gundotra — Google's senior vice president of engineering who and the key executive behind Google+ — has tipped a new product or service on his Google+ feed. Earlier this month he posted a photo taken with Snapseed, an app made by Nik software, which Google acquired last month. But the Snapseed app for iOS didn't have the ability to export to Google+. Sure enough, an Android preview appeared last week (and has been taken down).

At Google's Monday event, the company is expected to reveal the Nexus 10 tablet — a larger version of its Nexus 7 tablet — along with Android 4.2 "Key Lime Pie" software. There may also be a new Nexus smartphone made by LG.

This Article Source From Mashable.

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].

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].

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].

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].

Upgrading Your iPhone Just Got Easier on Another Carrier

With the new iPhone to be announced next month, Sprint has introduced a new iPhone Forever plan that will let its customers upgrade your old iPhone whenever there is a new iPhone out at no additional cost. Of course, while there are no upgrade fees, the plan will start at $22 per month for the handset itself on top of your normal plan costs when you trade in your old iPhone for a new one.

While the offer will let you currently upgrade to a 16GB iPhone 6 for that monthly price, Sprint also has a special promotion right now as well that will drop the monthly handset cost to $15 per month if you upgrade before 31 December 2015.

"We decided how awesome would it be if anytime customers don't have the latest iPhone, they are eligible to upgrade, and have it be as simple as handing us your existing iPhone and picking up a new one – all included in your monthly rate," Sprint's CEO Marcelo Claure said.

While it looks like Sprint is taking big steps to lure in new customers and take on other carriers, a month ago, it seems as though it is taking its cues from T-Mobile. The Uncarrier had also announced a special iPhone plan that would allow customers to upgrade their iPhone for free with $15 monthly handset repayments [Source : Techradar]

Google Hangouts Gets Its Own Site, Just Like Facebook Messenger

Everyone wants to be free and standalone. Remember when Facebook Messenger got its own site that maybe people use but we’re not sure because they don’t talk about it? Google Hangouts wanted some of that action, too. Starting today you can go to Google Hangouts to make a phone call or ping a friend.

Interestingly enough, the product hasn’t broken away from the Google domain yet. It doesn’t even own Hangouts.com. Domain names aren’t a strong suit of Google.

Yes, this is also part of the breaking away that Google+ services are going through, joining the Photos product in all of its “standalone” glory. I use Hangouts in Gmail on the desktop, but I might switch over. Having a big old call button is actually kind of handy.

This is also, of course, a massive branding exercise for Google. It wants to build powerful brands to compete with other micro-products coming out of Facebook, Microsoft and Snapchat. Google has Photos and Hangouts, Facebook has Instagram and Messenger and Snapchat is coming on strong with Stories [Source : TechCrunch].

Google Delays its Modular Smartphone Until 2016

Google's modular smartphone project has been delayed. In a series of tweets Monday, the company confirmed the initial market pilot for Project Ara, which was slated to begin in Puerto Rico later this year, will instead be delayed until 2016.

Project Ara began in Google's secretive Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group. The aim is to create an Android-based smartphone platform where nearly every piece of hardware, including the battery, processor and camera, is a separate piece of the handset that can be replaced or customized without upgrading to a completely new device.

Google said the latest plan is to bring its modular smartphones to a "few locations" in the mainland United States for the initial rollout, but did not elaborate on the cause of the delay or the change of location. a spokesperson for Project Ara confirmed the delay to Mashable, but declined to provide additional details around the updated timeline.

The news comes less than a week after the company confirmed it would "re-route" the planned Puerto Rico pilot to a new location, though the company promised the modular smartphones would eventually make its way to the U.S. territory. Google previously said it chose Puerto Rico as a test ground for the experimental phones due to the island's "incredibly diverse" population, which is divided almost equally between smartphone users and more basic feature phone users.

The company had planned to make handsets available through the territory's two largest carriers, with a variety of devices sold via food truck-like storefronts. It's not yet clear how or where Google plans to distribute Project Ara devices during the mainland U.S rollout, but the company says more details about the changes will be coming soon [Source : Mashables].

BlackBerry Deleted A Tweet That it Accidentally Sent From an iPhone

Someone on BlackBerry's social media team just made an embarrassing mistake. A tweet from the company's Twitter account on Tuesday included a small detail at the bottom of the screenshot, revealing it was sent via iPhone. Clearly, even some BlackBerry employees use Apple products.

The tweet, which was first spotted and screenshotted by The Verge, has since been deleted.

This isn't the first time that a BlackBerry representative accidentally gave the iPhone an inadvertent stamp of approval. Alicia Keys, who was once BlackBerry's "Global Creative Director," ignited a mild social media scandal in 2013 when she tweeted from an iPhone instead of a BlackBerry.

Hours later, Keys dubiously blamed the situation on being hacked. She is no longer working with the company. The smartphone manufacturer, which has floundered in recent years amid stiff competition (mostly notably, Apple), is in the throes of an attempted comeback. It recently launched a throwback device called the BlackBerry Classic, tried to catch eyes with "unconventional" devices and even has a hand in the development of a self-destructing phone [Mashable].

The Features That Would Actually Improve the iPhone 6

Apple lovers will finally get their hands on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on Friday, and the reviews have been glowing. But if you preordered one or plan on waiting in massive lines, you should know: There are a few things missing from the new devices.

CollegeHumor took note of the new features, or lack thereof, and made this bittersweet parody expressing how everybody feels about the new phones (you know, the things nobody actually wants to admit).

Apple lovers will finally get their hands on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on Friday, and the reviews have been glowing. But if you preordered one or plan on waiting in massive lines, you should know: There are a few things missing from the new devices.

CollegeHumor took note of the new features, or lack thereof, and made this bittersweet parody expressing how everybody feels about the new phones [Mashable]