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• Running Man of Tech: The best triathlon kit for beginners: what do I actually need?
• UPDATED: iPhone 6S price: how much will Apple's new iPhone cost?
• Review: UPDATED: iOS 9
• Get your best look yet at the BlackBerry Venice in this new video
• UPDATED: How to download iOS 9 on your iPhone and iPad right now
• Updated: iPhone 6S release date, news and features
• Updated: Android Marshmallow release date: when can I get it?
• Updated: Android Marshmallow release date, news and features
• Updated: Nexus 6 2015 release date, news and rumors
• Updated: Nexus 5 2015 release date, news and rumors
• Are these the official names for Google's new Nexus phones?
• Should you upgrade to Windows 10?
• Here's how you can eat your way to a limited edition gold PlayStation 4
• In Depth: The first-ever VR film festival showed me the future of movies
• Here's when Google will likely unveil new Nexus phones, Android Marshmallow
• A music-only Chromecast might be on the way
• Explained: LG Watch Urbane: 10 things you didn't know
• Go on an aerial tour of Pluto in new video
• EXPLAINED: How to watch the Emmys live stream online
• iOS Tips: iOS 9 Multitasking: Be more productive on iPad

Running Man of Tech: The best triathlon kit for beginners: what do I actually need? Posted: 19 Sep 2015 05:20 AM PDT Best triathlon kit for beginners It's been nearly three months since the horrendous ordeal of entering my first proper triathlon – and I'm still only just managing to not wake up in the middle of the night screaming, the memory of the swim still plaguing my dreams. That aside, one of the hardest things about the whole nightmare was right at the start, when I had to start training and realised I didn't have any of the stuff I needed – so I've made a list for anyone else that's starting out. I THOROUGHLY do not profess to know it all, and in fact I've only done a couple of these, so please read this as a checklist from someone who's very new to it to, rather than having been around the block a few times and perhaps forgotten how terribly horribly perplexing this all is. (For instance, I spent 40 minutes queuing for NOTHING when trying to rack my bike. I was just standing with people just having chats and I thought I was waiting in line. See, it's hard). Should I ever invent time travel (or someone else does, and they choose me as their plucky assistant to help them out with reaching the necessary speeds) I'll make sure I print this out and take it with me. You're welcome, past Gareth. If you've got any tips, tech you want tested out or just want to mock me, I'm @superbeav on Twitter, and you can see my stumblings on Strava too. If you want to see more data, follow me on Smashrun - if you want to sign up, please use this link - once you see the service, you'll work out why... Read the rest of the Running Man of Tech story here The essentials - tri suit Let's begin this gallery with the must-haves. Up first, the tri suit. You've seen these. Men and women wearing something with looks like a cross between a leotard and an adult romper suit. These are worn beneath the wetsuit, meaning when you peel of your water skin you're already dressed for the cycle. Make sure you get something that's moisture wicking, quick drying and DEAR GOD make sure it's got good padding in the crotch. You're going to be on the bike for a while, and soggy too, so anything to make the experience more palatable is vital. Depending on how cold the day will be, you can opt for a decent pair of cycling shorts instead – this had the benefit of being more comfortable and warmer, as you'll pair them with a t-shirt, but does add time to your transition as you have to think about putting on an additional item of clothing. It's harder than it sounds when you're disorientated and soggy after utterly failing at the swim. Watch As the Running Man of Tech, you can't expect me to not recommend some decent technology here. Some might argue it's not essential, but I couldn't have got through my novice experiences with cycling and swimming without it. Getting yourself a good triathlon watch is an absolute must in my mind, as with so many disciplines and training styles to be thinking about you'll want something that takes the effort out of recording your efforts. I love the Garmin 920XT as the battery just lasts forever, it can track everything and auto uploads to Strava too. TomTom's Multi Sport (and forthcoming Spark) is a decent choice too. The annoying thing is that in the water, most watches can't track heart rate if you're using a chest strap as the Bluetooth signal can't get through – you can use wrist sensors, but the constant smashing into the water can disrupt the readings. The Polar A300 can, somehow, connect to a Bluetooth heart rate monitor in the water, so that's an option for swimming training, although I'm hoping other brands work out how to do that soon too. Wetsuit This is something that seems to put a lot of people off triathlons, and I get why. You're basically trying to work out how it feels to be a sausage in human form, with bits that aren't supposed to be squished getting heavily flattened. I'll answer the two main questions I had in my mind for you: No, your flabby bits aren't as exposed as you think, as the suit is fairly thick. And as a result, guys: no, you can't see the outline of anything. I checked. A lot. After the bike, your wetsuit will probably be the biggest outlay you'll face, but like the bike, you can save some money through hiring it on the day. There are different levels ranging from the simple outer skins all the way through to hyper-buoyant mega-zip options that slide off, but I'd suggest going for one with a decent level of buoyancy (the 2XU A:1 option I used was impressively floaty) and sticking there. Lube This. THIS is the best tip I got through training. One of the things you'll notice when using a wetsuit for the first time is your neck gets absolutely rubbed raw (especially if you don't match up the Velcro fasteners) and it's horrible. Get some lube (I used BodyGlide sitck) and rub it all over your neck and suit and the pain is removed. Seriously, it's genius and you can also rub it on your arms and legs to make the wetsuit peel off more easily. If there is ONE THING I can get you to buy from all this list, please let it be this. Although you won't have bought a wetsuit or a bike, so you won't be allowed to actually do the triathlon... so essentially I'm just urging people to buy lube. Goggles Any goggles will do here, but remember you'll be wearing them in open water, so tinted lenses – which reduce glare from the water and brighten everything up. Try on a few pairs and make sure they're ones that can be flipped up and down easily - you want them snug on your face but if you have to empty them mid-stroke then you'll need something lightweight. Decent bike So you've survived the wet bit – now you're onto the long sitting down section – and if you can nail this bit, you're going to have a decent race no matter what. Most people that come into triathlons are better a single discipline that others, and if cycling is yours, then you've got a better chance of doing well as you can make up so much time. When it comes to choosing a bike, it's really tricky. I was racking my two-wheeler next to a chap who had an awesome-looking bike. He, on the other hand, looked slightly out of shape – yet he was telling me how many people he passed just through having a more aerodynamic machine. My advice: at least get a bike with racing handlebars. You can spend a lot on aerodynamic machines with greater power to weight ratios and the fancy handlebars in the middle that you lean on with your elbows. They'll make you faster just by buying them – but you don't need to go mad at the start and spend billions. While your commute bike probably won't cut it, a trip to your local bike (or, if you're lucky enough to have one, triathlon) store will give you the info you need here. Helmet Don't sweat this one too much – it's mostly there for your safety. However it's hugely important that you remember to put this on before even touching your bike (likely disqualification else) and don't remove it until you've racked at the end of the cycle section. I went with the Lazer Z1 for fit and as it was visible (a godsend when you're sprinting through looking for your bike out of millions), lightweight and full of ventilation (do not start out with one of those time trial aerodynamic helmets - they're a nightmare and you'll look foolish). . If you want to spend a little more, something like the S-Works Evade from Specialised has magnetic clips to get it on your head even easier so you don't waste time fumbling for the clasp like sweaty teenager. Enhancements - Race belt OK, in this section it's all things you don't NEED, but by golly, having them makes things so much easier. Let's start with race belts: these are super cheap and also vital. In my first triathlon I tried to pin the race numbers to my shirt and jacket, but it's a right faff. Get a race belt, snake the ties through the number and use the toggles to hold it in place. Then simply clip it on in the first transition and you can have your number on your back for the cycle and spin it around to your front for the run – saves time and looks pro. Try to invest in a good quality one so the ties don't fall off. Swim hat While many races will give you this to signify your wave by colour, get a nice easy-on silicon one for training, even in the pool. You'll be taking it on and off a million times and trust me: a bit of investment here pays dividends. I was tempted to put this in the 'essentials' section, but in reality you can get away without one if your race is going to provide it. Cycling pack While I'm eternally grateful this didn't happen to me, a puncture will ruin your entire triathlon. So either take a spare tube and a mini canister of CO2 to inflate it (with a saddle bag to seal it away), or something like Vittoria Pit Stop Tyre Sealant. It's latex in a can, means you don't need to take the tyre off and fills your rims with tasty (no, wait, not tasty) latex to get you back up and running in no time. You'll naturally lose some time off your end result, but it's much, much better than a DNF. Definitely have a play with it first though – this isn't something you want to figure out on the go when you've just been pushing yourself to the edge, have got horribly tired and sweaty and then spend twenty minutes fannying about with on the side of the road. Easy on shoes or elastic laces When it comes to running, there's very little to worry about thankfully. Get yourself a decent pair of shoes and you're laughing. Hahahahahaha, you'll say, while people swiftly sidle away from your general direction. However, you do have to attach the things to your feet in transition, which munches valuable seconds. I'm going to assume you've already got trainers, otherwise I'm worried about your preparation for this three-pronged challenge. I've said it before, but I love the Adidas UltraBoost for this task. Tongueless design means they slip on and off like slippers, and the cushioning is magic. However, if you've got a favourite pair of trainers, some elastic laces are a secret weapon here, allowing you to size them up before you take off the shoes and then slip them on without a worry. Then it's just the lung-sapping, mind-crushing, when-will-this-end-is-that-the-end-no-it's-a-turning-board-wait-is-that-the-end-oh-my-god-it-is-this-is-all-nearly-over run to get through before you get to go home and eat EVERYTHING EVER. Drinks bottle and nutrition Get yourself a drinks bottle and bone up on what to fill it with. Getting two will slow you down a little and are only needed for longer cycling sections, where you can have one chock-full of electrolyte drink and the other packing some good quality H2O. If you're going to use gels, make sure you've tried them first. You don't want to be 30 minutes in and suddenly realising 'Oh, THAT'S why Paula did that'. A good tip is to tie the gels around the handlebars of your bike with an elastic band you've cut in half. They'll stay on but come out really easily. A cycling computer Do you need one of these if you've got a watch already? Nah - but if you've got a bike with a powermeter built in or a cadence sensor, then you can get many cases that will hold your phone (generally the iPhone for most) and turn it into a natty cycling computer. Probably better for training, this one, as you won't want to leave your phone on the bike when it's racked in a race, right? Tips: Get in the open water These aren't kit tips per se, but things I'd love to go back and tell myself: firstly, get in the open water as soon as you can. Don't fool yourself that you need to spend more time in the pool as you're poor at swimming. Get a wetsuit, get in the water. Go do it. Now. I'll wait. The reason for this is you cannot begin to understand the difference between sploshing about in a nice warm pool, where your feet can touch the ground and you can see the bottom, and the feeling of being in a body of water nature created and doesn't really want you in there. You'll be facing weeds. Shockingly cold temperatures (although the wetsuit really helps here… it's like being in a rubber blanket). Other swimmers battering you. And of course: the real fear of monsters lurking beneath the surface. If I could go back to the start again and do one thing differently I'd have got in my local lake right at the beginning instead of with two weeks to go. Learn to love your bike Yes, you've been riding since you were a child. But at the same time, you've been able to run to the bus, but that doesn't mean you're a decent runner. Spend as much time with your bike as you can - especially if it's a triathlon one. Make sure it's serviced. Know how to take the important bits on and off, and always think about ways you can improve your time on the bike. If you're anything like me you'll have to pour yourself into getting better at the wet bit, but don't neglect the cycling part. Enjoy it This is the cop-out tip for every single challenge in the world ever - but that's the one thing I wish I could have done more of. Triathlons are insane. They're you trying to either be good at three things when most people idly wish they could go out on a run and then eat biscuits, or your good-ish at one discipline but terrible at the others. If you cross that line, cherish it. Then wonder what on earth you're doing with your life, before signing up for another one in three months time and start idly glancing at how long the Ironman courses really are.

UPDATED: iPhone 6S price: how much will Apple's new iPhone cost? Posted: 19 Sep 2015 04:39 AM PDT Apple announced the official iPhone 6S price earlier this month, and we also know how much the new iPhone 6S Plus will cost when it too launches on September 25. The good news is that while Apple is updating its phones with new specs, the company is charging the same amount of money as past years, at least in the US and UK. This is, after all, an "S" upgrade, with a refreshed iPhone 7 due in 2016. That doesn't mean the feature improvements will be less dramatic. But it did keep the new iPhone from a price hike, except in Australia. Here's everything we know about the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S price, following Apple's San Francisco live keynote on September 9 and the iOS 9 launch. How much will iPhone 6S cost? The size of the iPhone 6S isn't going to change much, with 0.2mm more thickness, and the same goes for the unlocked price across the board in the US and UK. It costs $649 in the US and £539 in the UK, and that's the 16GB iPhone 6S price, and it's been like that for some time. It only costs a bit more down under at AU$1,079 in Australia. From there it'll increase in price for more storage. The iPhone 6S 64GB is $749, £619 and AU$1,229, and the iPhone 6S 128GB maxes out space for $849, £699 and AU$1,379, according to Apple's official store. iPhone 6S price in the US The US iPhone 6S price needs a special note. Carriers Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile have done away with two-year contracts through its stores, and AT&T wants to do the same. Oddly, through the Apple Stores, the opposite is true. AT&T no longer offers contracts, but Verizon and Sprint still do. Apple is introducing the same deal with additional perks. Calling it the "iPhone Upgrade Program," and only available in the US, it nets you a new 4.7-inch iPhone every year for $0 down, $32.41 a month. The iPhone 6S Plus is $36.58 per month. The best parts of the Apple's "iPhone Upgrade Program" are that it comes with AppleCare+ protection and it's unlocked. You do have to turn in the phone in working condition at the end of your 12 months (or wait out the 24 payment spread), and in order to sign up for this, you need to either be out of your AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile contract. Instead of locking-in consumer for 24 months in exchange for a $199 subsidized iPhone and higher monthly plans, Apple and the four US networks are spreading out the true $649 cost of phones with device payment plans. This makes it easier to understand your bill and upgrade to a new device after one year, though right now it's all a bit confusing. How much will iPhone 6S Plus cost? The iPhone 6S Plus price follow the same pattern, costing more than the iPhone 6S, but not actually serving consumers a price hike over last year's iPhone 6 Plus. It has the same 5.5-inch phablet-sized display as before, the 16GB iPhone 6S Plus cost is $749 in the US, £619 in the UK and AU$1,229 which is an increase for Australia. Upping the internal storage to 64GB brings the cost to $849, £699 $AU$1,379, or for 128GB costs the highest price of an iPhone, $949, £789 and AU$1,529. Again, the iPhone 6S Plus in the US may or may not be subsidized with a two-year contract depending on your carrier. You can pay the upfront price of $299 for the 16GB model, or go with Apple's monthly payment plan that starts at $36.58 for an unlocked iPhone. Ordering an iPhone 6S iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus pre-orders began Saturday, September 12, right at midnight in Apple's home of California. Shipments for the most desirable colors have been pushed back. Unlike with the Apple Watch, the company allowing fans to line up outside of its stores, but strongly encourage online pre-orders or in-store pickup appointments instead. That official iPhone 6S release date is Friday, September 25. Expected lines for walk-ins to be hours long, before stores even open. This is going to be an old-fashioned Apple product launch. In addition to Apple Stores, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will be sold in carrier stores and "select Apple Authorized Resellers" like Best Buy, Target and Walmart. But the "iPhone Upgrade Program" can only be purchased in an Apple Store. Can you buy iPhone 6S unlocked? Yes and no. An unlocked iPhone 6S will be available through the Apple Store in the UK right away and everywhere else eventually, but the US version at least never has a SIM-free new iPhone available at launch. Apple's "iPhone Upgrade Program" does tout an unlocked iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, but it does come with strings attached in which you have to turn in the phone after 12 months in order to upgrade, or serve out your 24 month device plan contract. That makes it problematic for US buyers who want to take their wholly-owned unlocked iPhone 6S to another carrier or go globetrotting by using their new phone overseas on a foreign network. Apple started offering a fully unlocked iPhone 6 at the top of this year, so it took three and a half months to roll out the a SIM-free iPhone. Your best bet is either to go with the "iPhone Upgrade Program," or buy an iPhone 6S at full retail price through one carrier and wait out the 40 or so days (different for each carrier) required before they unlock your phone. See the exciting iOS 9 changes coming to your existing iPhone

Review: UPDATED: iOS 9 Posted: 19 Sep 2015 04:30 AM PDT Siri, design and Apple Maps iOS 9 launched this week and it's already a lot better than iOS 8, thanks to new features that make the iPhone and iPad software easier to use. Siri is smarter, Apple Maps has been improved and the notifications drop-down menu is now sorted logically. Best of all, every device that works with iOS 8 works with iOS 9. iPads get benefit big from this year's operating system update. New iPad multitasking functionality, especially for the iPad Air 2, finally fulfills the tablet's promise of productivity on the go. While iOS 9 lacks some key Android features, there's a lot to like about iOS 9 ahead of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus launch next week, and iPad Pro release date in November. Here how to download iOS 9 on your iPhone or iPad iOS 9 compatibility and download size iOS 9 isn't about a fresh coat of paint like iOS 7 was, it's about rust-proofing glitchy software that launched alongside iOS 8 last year. Everything is designed to run smoother, and it does. There are fewer app crashes and hard restarts required compared to when iOS 8 first came out. I've experienced no white screen of death problems so far, just occasional design flaws. Even better, iOS 9 works with devices as old as iPhone 4S and iPad 2. Apple didn't axe any old phones or tablets from its compatibility list in the transition to the new operating system. It was also a relief to see that this free update is a 1.4GB file and doesn't require the 4.7GB free of space to install on your tiny, 16GB devices. Siri and search The most obvious iOS 9 change involves Siri and spotlight search. Sliding to the left-most menu reveals a robust list of "Siri Suggestions," filled with your most recent contacts and apps. It provides quick access to your four most recent contacts and four most recent apps. There's a "show more" and "show less" toggle to increase that to the eight most recent. Sadly, you can't unpin and disallow certain apps from showing up before your parents see you're on Tinder. Apple Maps gets some attention here, too. "Nearby" shortcuts are a fast way of finding Parking, Restaurants, Gas Stations and even Desserts, which all link to a Yelp review-filled Maps menu. In true Apple fashion, there's no customization or option to re-sort which shortcuts come first. iOS 9 concludes this Siri-run search menu with news snippets from sources like the New York Times and CNN. Strangely, there are four headlines, but if you hit the rather stingy "Show More" text, it reveals a total of five. A glitch to be solved in the future, perhaps? The news presentation here isn't as flashy as Samsung's Flipboard-based menu, which is also the leftmost Android menu on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Apple saves the magazine-style stories for its new iOS 9 News app. Holding down the iPhone or iPad home button to issue normal Siri commands leads to smarter answers. I randomly asked "Bring up photos from May 28, 2015" and Siri immediately opened the pictures I took at Google IO on that date. I still find Google Now to be more advanced overall, but this same phrase on an Android just leads to my Samsung Galaxy S6 Active opening up random web results. That... doesn't really help, Google. Apple is catching up and boasts that Siri is 40% faster and 40% more accurate. It shows. Notifications, recent and photo scrubbing Smaller iOS 9 menu changes have solved big pet peeves I've had with iOS 8, one of which I felt Apple should just steal from Android. Notifications are now sorted chronologically instead of illogically grouped by app. This was always a problem when I accidentally put my finger on the Touch ID home button, forever sending all time-sorted lockscreen notifications into the app-sorted notifications menu. Now they all reside in the swipe-down-from-the-top menu once the phone is open. Apple re-stylized its Recent menu, which is the one you see when double pressing in the Home button. It now sports a larger Cover Flow format, rather than its former zoomed out look. The more important change to the Recent menu is that there's a shortcut icon tucked away at the bottom for Continuity (an app open your nearby Mac, iPad, etc) and location-based apps (if you're at a store like Starbucks and have the app installed). Previously, these icons were stuck on bottom left corner of the lockscreen, which meant locking your phone just to press the wake button again to access the lock screen shortcut. Now it's available in two spots, whether or not your phone is in a locked state. Finally, flipping through the default Photos app is less of a hazard, because there's a mini slideshow at the the bottom of the app. It's the fastest way to scrub through photos and reduces the chance you'll bring up that embarrassing picture while showing someone other photos. Apple Maps iOS 9 is the company's big push to improve Apple Maps, and it does just that... to some extent. Namely, this comes through with long-overdue public transit directions. Routes for buses, trains, subways and even ferries are here, and I put it to the test on the New York City subway while navigating Manhattan. I survived this Apple Maps expedition without booting up Google Maps. Besides New York City, transit directions are available in Baltimore, Berlin, Chicago, London, Mexico City, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Toronto and Washington D.C. About 300 cities in China, including Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai, are also getting the transit treatment. Does it fix everything? No. The problem with Apple Maps wasn't just its lack of transit directions or too-often wrong routes, it was the fact that the app's design just couldn't compete with Google Maps. That's still the case. Google is busy adding ridiculously minute details, like chalking out your vacation dates to the map overtop of your hotel. Apple's cumbersome app won't let you finger ahead to see the next directions. It just springs you back into place. I can go from Los Angeles to London on Google Maps while in the middle of turn-by-turn directions if I wanted to. With Apple Maps, I can't look ahead one block. While I appreciate its new Nearby feature that lets you discover stops along the way, Apple Maps' foundation is a little too flawed for me to give up on Google Maps just yet. It doesn't matter if Siri insists on opening up Maps whenever I ask for direction by voice. iPad multitasking, new keyboard and notes iOS 9 is very much an iPad-focused update, with several of the most exciting new features only available on Apple's 7.9-inch and 9.7-inch tablets. Multitasking True multitasking finally comes to the newer Retina-class slates: the iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 2. This may help Apple's sluggish tablet sales among enterprise users. Slide Out opens a second app from the left, working a lot like the drag-from-the-bottom Command Center gesture, and gives it about a third of the screen. That's been enough space to check my email while already surfing the web, or to respond to iMessages while in the middle of writing a certain iOS 9 review in a Google Doc. While the main portion of the iPad screen can consist of any app, the one-third panel is limited to Apple's app suite of 19 apps. I get it. It's clearly because the apps here are tweaked ever so slightly to fit the abnormal layout, but it's still disappointing. I should also note that while Mail, Reminders, Notes and Photos are useful in this Slide Out view, it's hard to understand why Apple's 19 multitasking apps includes Tips and Feedback. (Actually, scratch that, I may use that last one right now.) Picture-in-Picture is another multitasking mode, one that's focused on continuing to allow you to play videos and and stream FaceTime calls while still using the tablet. It puts the video in the corner of the home screen as soon as you hit the home button, and the small window can be resized and dragged around while you work in other apps. This works fine for all videos playing in Safari, just don't expect it to work in the native YouTube app. Split View is the closest thing there is to computer-grade multitasking on a tablet running iOS 9, and it's only available on the iPad Air 2. It converts the small Slide Out panel into two apps running side by side with equal space. Both are active, with full multitouch support. All three multitasking modes give iPad a much-needed productivity boost and they right the wrongs of Apple's "multitasking" iOS 4 announcement, which ended up being apps kind-of, sort-of running in the background. All of this is limited to the iPad. As much as you may want on a phone in exchange for lugging around that 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, there's no such multitasking in the iOS 9 update for Apple's phablet. Maybe when the iPhone 6S Plus launches. New keyboard The iPad takes the lead here, too, but there are still important changes that makes the iPhone's QuickType keyboard even better in iOS 9. First, it's easier to tell the difference between capital letters and non-capital letters, thanks to the new San Francisco font type. I no longer have to look at the shift key to try to determine whether it's on or off. Second, Apple turned off the pop up animation for every key press. You can still turn it on in the settings menu by following Settings> General > Keyboards and and checking off "Character Preview." However, I found it much less of a distraction without it on. iPad gets the most out of the keyboard changes with new shortcuts that flank the suggestion word bar at the top. They depend on the app, but I found cut, copy and paste almost always appear on the left, and sometimes undo and redo, too. Bold, italics, underline and attachment shortcuts hog the right side of the bar and are sometimes join by up and down arrows. Previously, this was unused space, and now it's put to good use. I really wanted iOS 9 to add right and left arrow keys in this space, but Apple went in another direction. It made the entire keyboard a trackpad whenever two fingers touch down on the display. It turns off the keyboard and lets you move the cursor all around without your finger having to be over top of it (read: in the way of it). This works especially well when trying to highlight text right before hitting that copy and paste shortcut. Notes Notes has never been the most compelling app, but Apple's iOS 9 update makes it less of an Evernote-afterthought with a few new tricks. I was able to add checklist icons for a quick and simple to-do list and include photos thanks to a new attachment icon in the shortcut bar. Maps and URLs can be included, too, but the need for these two tools isn't as pressing in such a "jot something down" app. Right next to the little camera attachment icon is a squiggly line, which of course means I could draw a sketch by using my finger. It's complete with different pen sizes and colors. iOS 9's enhanced Notes app isn't enough to drop my subscription to the more feature-packed and easily searchable Evernote, but it's an important step forward for Apple's ecosystem loyalists. Apple News, Wallet and Verdict Apple is giving two of its existing pre-installed apps a complete overhaul and a name change in iOS 9, and both are improvements over the old way of doing things. Newsstand has been revamped as Apple News, or just News, and it gives us a free, magazine-styled layout. Passbook has become Wallet, and expands instead of changes the idea behind it. Apple News Really, you should get all of your news straight from TechRadar, but if you need to learn about other events happening in the world, Apple has a News app within iOS 9. It has launched in US, UK and Australia when the final version of the operating system releases. It's a slick-looking news aggregator, but, truthfully, it's not the most ground-breaking app design because it does exactly what Flipboard does: lays out RSS content in a magazine-style format. It collects stories from publications and topics I favorite, then does its best to deliver a rich newsfeed I actually care about. It has two things going for it over traditional Safari browsing: it's fast and it keeps my personalized data separate from my Apple ID. Wallet iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users have been waving their phones in front of NFC stations to pay for stuff in the US since last October, and as of July 14 they're doing it throughout the UK. iOS 9 expands Apple Pay by adding gift and loyalty cards, therefore the app that contains it, Passbook, is being renamed Wallet. Goodbye, cumbersome QR codes that few retailers even used. Loyalty cards aren't a part of iOS 9 today, with the first retailers like Whole Foods, Walgreens and JC Penney promising to launch Wallet-integrated app updates later this year. However, the new app icon is here and so is this handy trick: double pressing in the home button on a locked iPhone (but not an iPad) brings up the Apple Pay menu. This is convenient because the Wallet app is so tempting to hide in a folder. There's no reason to keep it on the home screen until you really need it. But it's nice to have quick access to it the few, precise times you actually do need to pull something out of your "Wallet." With loyalty cards launching, shortcuts like this are going to become even more important. I just wish Apple devised a way to access a flight boarding pass when my iPhone screen isn't locked. I have to lock my always-in-use device in an airport line, then press the lock button again to wake it in order to access the lockscreen notification. Apple Watch does it correctly with a shortcut that always rests in the notification dropdown right before a flight. I'm hopeful I don't have to wait for iOS 10 for something similar. Verdict iOS 9 is already worth downloading today? The keyboard is easier to use, Siri suggestions make menu navigation faster, notifications are rightly sorted by time and, on the iPad, there's actual multitasking. Not everything that's new is perfect or worthwhile. Apple Maps still needs a lot of design work, Apple News is a clone and the same old Apple ecosystem problems persist. You still can't delete useless pre-installed apps (and now we know why) and Siri still loves opening Safari and Maps, even if you loyal use Chrome and Gmail. Even with all of the iPad advancements, you won't find multiple accounts like you would on Android, and good luck switching to Google's operating system. Apple makes it tough to leave iMessages, as group conversations fall apart when you switch to those ugly green bubbles your Apple-loving friends hate. Here's how to download iOS 9 on your iPhone or iPad right now That said, iOS 9 is an incremental advancement over iOS 8, which is exactly what Google is doing in the transition from Android 5.0 Lollipop to Android Marshmallow later this year. Much of it is behind the scenes improvements, but we're already seeing the positive effects ahead even more changes in iOS 9.1. Here's our take on the Apple Watch

Get your best look yet at the BlackBerry Venice in this new video Posted: 19 Sep 2015 04:29 AM PDT The folks at Baka Mobile have got their hands on a BlackBerry Venice evaluation unit and they've been kind enough to post a preview video to YouTube for our enjoyment. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2-bR5zFbzw Over the last few weeks we've seen all kinds of leaks related to the upcoming handset, but being able to see the phone in action is something new. When BlackBerry finally does get around to announcing the Venice, there won't be many surprises left. It's set to be the first BlackBerry device to be released running Android, presumably a ploy by the Canadian manufacturer to get a foothold back into the mobile smartphone market. It could certainly use a boost. Android+BlackBerry Based on the hands-on demo, it looks like the Venice has tap-to-wake functionality. The slide-out keyboard also functions as a touchpad, it would appear, so you can get up and down websites and documents more easily. Both Google Now and BlackBerry hub are shown on the device, so it would seem BlackBerry is happy to play nice with Google's software - although bear in mind the final version of the OS may differ from this evaluation unit. It looks like the version of Android running here hasn't had many alterations made to it. Our video guide also notes the thinness of the device, how comfortable it feels in the hand, and the large speaker grill at the bottom. We're currently expecting a release sometime in November. BlackBerry Venice release date, news and rumours

UPDATED: How to download iOS 9 on your iPhone and iPad right now Posted: 19 Sep 2015 04:26 AM PDT Download and install iOS 9 Apple's iOS 9 update is available to download with exciting new features this week, and the company also set the wheels in motion for iOS 9.1 beta and its new emojis. The software launched on September 16, giving everyone access to the iPhone and iPad update. iOS 9.1 public beta came out just before this. But company's instructions aren't very comprehensive. That's why we, not willing to wait for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus release date on September 25, went through the process several times and created this handy how-to guide. It did take a few attempts to install iOS 9 due to everyone taxing Apple's servers all at once, but the new features outweigh those temporary problems and minor beta bugs of being an early adopter. Compatible iPhone and iPad devices iOS 9 is compatible with newer iPhones and iPads, which translates to all Apple phones and tablets that have since launched 2011. That's good news because it means the compatibility list doesn't axe any new devices, including the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and even the iPod Touch 5th generation. If your device can run iOS 8, it can also run iOS 9. Easy. This is where Apple's mobile operating system really cuts into the fragmented Android platform. Backup your iPhone and iPad first It's very important to back up your iPhone and iPad before installing iOS 9. You never know what may go wrong with this unfinished software. It could claim the life of your photos and texts. I recommend using a lightning cable to manually backup to iTunes instead of relying on a Wi-Fi connection or iCloud. It's just faster and more reliable – as long as you don't mess with the cable. It's a little more complicated for New MacBook 2015 owners who have to resort to a USB Type C adapter, but it's well worth the extra effort just in case. Plug your iPhone or iPad into a computer, open up iTunes if it doesn't automatically launch and select the tiny iPhone icon in the top-left of Apple's confusingly designed music software. iTunes' iPhone menu includes a 'Backup' pane in the middle of this page. Select the 'This computer' radio button instead of iCloud for the most secure back-up method. You can switch it back afterwards. Archive before downloading iOS 9 Press the 'Backup Now' button on the right to manually back up your files. Backing up all of the apps on your phone or tablet is optional and less important – I do it every once in a while. Once the back-up process completes its four main steps, double-check that it worked and archive it in the Preferences menu. Click on File in the top menu, Preferences, the Devices tab and right-click on the latest backup. Select 'Archive' to isolate this backup file so that it's not replaced by future backups. If you're extra cautious you can click 'Show in Finder' to locate the folder (with a funny gibberish name) and drop it into an external hard drive. iOS 9 over the air update iOS 9 is currently available to download on your iPhone and iPad through an over the air update, but also through the normal computer via iTunes method, too. Some users have reported better results by plugging their Apple devices into PCs and manually running the update through iTunes software. Apple's servers are being hit hard right now. The iOS 9 OTA update is telling people that can install, estimating to take about 30 minutes and failing midway through the update process. Keep trying or go old-school with a PC and USB lightning cable. While you're at it, you might as well update to iOS 9.1 if you're going to do it manually. There's just a few extra steps in the how to guide for that. Download iOS 9.1 beta software profile If you want iOS 9.1, Apple requires users to download and install an iOS 9.1 beta configuration profile in order to get the new operating system up and running. Select Download Profile from beta.Apple.com/profile via your device's Safari mobile browser, not your computer. It also won't work on Chrome for iOS, or any other browser from the App Store – I tried. You may have to log into your Apple account in order to access this page. You'll know it worked once it asks you to 'Choose a Device' in a menu. Select iPhone or iPad. Installing it on Apple Watch does nothing at the moment since there's no WatchOS 2 public beta, and its official launch has been delayed. Select 'Install' in the top-right corner of the iOS 9.1 beta software profile menu, and enter your phone or tablet's passcode. Agree to the consent form you'll never actually read and hit 'Install'. A restart is required in order to apply the changes, so select 'Restart' in order to make that happen. The profile is now installed and you're ready to update to iOS 9.1. Download iOS 9.1 public beta Once your iPhone or iPad restarts, everything looks the same. That's because you're still running iOS 8. Navigate to the Settings menu, select General, Software Update and you'll see iOS 9.1 Public Beta 1. Download and install this 1.4 GB file, which thankfully requires less free space than iOS 8's 4 GB. This prompts you for your passcode once more and asks you to read over Terms and Conditions you'll blindly agree to. You may see 'Update Requested...' and have to wait several minutes for Apple's servers to deliver the beta firmware update. In my latest attempt, that took six minutes, while the download over Wi-Fi took 22 minutes (it had said '35 minutes remaining' at first). Install iOS 9.1 beta With the iOS 9.1 beta downloaded onto your device, you'll see a prompt to install the software update. It'll automatically install in 10 seconds if you don't select 'Later' or 'Update' first. It'll read 'Verifying update...' and don't be alarmed if it fails. My first four iOS 9.1 beta install attempts came back with 'Unable to Install Update', telling me 'An error occurred install iOS 9.1 Beta 1'. Try, try and try again. After three increasingly nervous attempts at hitting 'Install Now', the verification finally went through and my iPhone 6 restarted on its own. The install and restart took a full 19 minutes, leaving me in the all-too-familiar iOS update white screen limbo until it completed. Setup iOS 9 You're almost there. Continue through the Update Completed menu, log into iCloud with your Apple ID, decide whether or not to share diagnostics with app developers and you're done. There are many subtle new iOS 9 features that you won't see at first. This isn't a full-blown refresh like iOS 7 was, and isn't as feature-rich as iOS 8. It's more about stability this time around. However, you will notice a big change to the Spotlight Search menu that lies to the left of the home screens, and you can enable new Siri suggestions, nearby attractions and news items. News is also a new app that needs to be set up, and it works almost exactly like Flipboard. You can select your favorite topics and publications, and read news delivered in a stylish format. You can read all about the new iOS 9 features that are found within this beta, or set to arrive in the final version alongside iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. iOS 9.1 beta troubleshooting There are a number of problems you may run into when installing iOS 9 and iOS 9.1 public beta. I ran into many of them on both the iPhone and iPad. At first, Apple's servers took forever to deliver the install file. Downloading it on an iPhone during non-peak hours helped alleviate this problem. Failed verifications presented the same issue. Don't fret if the iOS 9 update takes up to a half hour to install and restart your device. You won't be able to use it at that time. That's all normal, too. What simply waiting a few minutes can't fix are the inevitable bugs you'll see with the iOS 9 public beta. A few app crashes and design glitches (see the search bar running into the top status bar). But that just defines being an early adopter. Here's everything to know about the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus

Updated: iPhone 6S release date, news and features Posted: 19 Sep 2015 04:20 AM PDT iPhone 6S release date, concept and design iPhone 6S is how Apple intends to spell success this year, even though the phone's design doesn't look all that different and it isn't really called the iPhone 7 after all. With the new iPhone, it's what's on the inside that counts, as a teacher resembling Apple CEO Tim Cook may have once told you. The same applies to the nearly identical iPhone 6S Plus, too. Update: Our ongoing iPhone 6S review puts Apple's new phone to the early test. Read that and about all its features below. The most important iPhone 6S news is that you're in for a significant specs upgrade, with a faster performing phone, a novel 3D Touch screen and a much superior 12MP camera. Is there enough here for an upgrade? Let's break down all of the details, from the iPhone 6S release date and price, to the design, camera and battery life. iPhone 6S release date Apple's press conference at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco acted as the new iPhone launch date, but it isn't on sale just yet. It'll be out in stores and ship next week. The official iPhone 6S release date is Friday, September 25 in a dozen countries, including the US, UK and Australia. You can order it before then however, starting Saturday, September 12. iPhone 6S pre-orders began at just after midnight in California at 12:01am PDT, and 3:01am EDT and 8:01am BST for everyone else. Siri is counting down the days until the official shipment date. Long lines are expected in front of Apple Stores worldwide in advance of September 25, so the iPhone 6S release will be unlike the subdued Apple Watch launch. Pre-orders are still strongly encouraged. iPhone 6S price Apple answered all of the new iPhone rumors during its live event this week, including the all-important question: how much does iPhone 6S cost? "Any iPhone you want is pretty affordable," according to Apple, which of course means it's going to be just as expensive. Apple never uses soft adjectives like "pretty" when words like "definitely" and "unquestionably" exist. It's thoroughly unapologetic about that. The iPhone 6S price starts at $649 in the US, £539 in the UK and AU$1,079 in Australia. That's the same price as last year's iPhone 6 in the US and UK. It'll be $199 in the US on a two-year contract. That's for the entry-level configuration, which again starts at a paltry 16GB. The iPhone 6S in a more accommodating 64GB is $749 (£619, AU$1,229) and 128GB is ($849, £699, AU$1,379). Once again, there's no 32GB iPhone when almost every Android this year began with that storage size. There's no price change, but a revision is being made to the how US consumers go about buying the new iPhone. Instead of "starting at $199," it'll cost around $27 or more a month from carriers. Apple had to pivot to also mention this monthly device payment plans being offered by Verizon, AT&T, Sprint T-Mobile and others. Apple also introduced an "iPhone Upgrade Program" of its own that starts at $32 a month, includes a new unlocked iPhone every year for $0 and throws in its AppleCare+ protection. You end up spending $384 on the phone over 12 months and trade-in the working iPhone for the next one. iPhone 6S: it won't bend Apple attacked last year's iPhone 6 Bendgate problems head on, almost exactly like it addressed iPhone 4 AntennaGate flaws when the iPhone 4S was announced. iPhone 6S features more durability thanks to less pliable 7000-series aluminum. This is an entirely new aluminum," said executive Phil Schiller, noting it's "the same alloys used in the aerospace industry." Apple didn't go into the science of it, but it likely has corrosion-prone zinc compounds and a thicker anodization coating that prevents said corrosion, as we've seen in this alleged bend test. Your ultra-thin phone may be safe in your back pocket again, although I still wouldn't suggest tempting fate of a dented frame without an iPhone 6S case first. There's good news for anyone who has smashed a phone screen. Schiller talked up the iPhone 6S glass being "the strongest in the industry, made with a dual ion exchange process." iPhone 6S rose gold color and dimensions There's a new rose gold iPhone 6S color, too, and it matches the pale pink tones of the more expensive rose gold Apple Watch. This metal case, however, is still made of aluminum. The rose gold iPhone 6S joins existing colors of gold, space gray and silver, and now the new iPhones are the only way to get gold. The popular color has been discontinued in older models. Other than that, the iPhone 6S looks exactly the same as last year's iPhone 6 on the outside, at least with the naked eye. It's hard to tell, but the dimensions are bigger by a few fractions of a millimeter. It's 0.2mm thicker and 0.1mm wider and 0.2mm taller. There's still an iPhone 6S camera bump, I'm afraid. 3D Touch The next-generation of multi-touch is here, and it's indeed called 3D Touch, confirming all of the rumors in the lead up to this week's Apple press conference. Apple executive Craig Federighi gave the first live demo of 3D Touch, and it works a lot like Force Touch on the Apple Watch or new MacBook trackpad. It's like a "right click" for the iPhone 6S, and it results in a context sensitive pop-up window in front of translucent backgrounds every time you apply a little bit of pressure on the screen. In the Mail app, for example, you never really need to navigate away from the inbox to read or reply to your messages. "Take action on apps without even having to open them," explained Federighi. From the home screen, he was able to make calls to favorites, view directions from an address given to him in iMessages and take "emergency selfies" right from the front facing camera, all without opening the usual app menus. 3D Touch is also going to change playing games on iPhone 6S, with new developers taking advantage of the new multi-touch technology in their interactive apps. Since games are among the No. 1 apps in the Apple App Store, they may put 3D Touch to use the best. New iPhone 6S camera At long last, there's going to be a much-improved iPhone 6S camera, and Apple showed off the accurate skin tones and incredible depth of field possible. This is thanks to photos taken with the new 12MP camera sensor. Everything from beautifully detailed close-up macro shots, to sweeping panoramic photos without visible stitching lines could rival the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 5. Both new iPhones are have the same focus pixels-filled sensor, but only the bigger iPhone 6S Plus has optical image stabilization for photos and video again. Videos are shot in 4K, with 8 million pixels via the rear camera. The front-facing camera will now be 5MP, and a TrueTone flash is simulated thanks to the Retina display that lights up the screen three times brighter than normal. This "Retina Flash" is ideal for lighting up darkened selfie environments. Apple claims to have invented an "entirely new technology" with Live Photos, which are short bursts of moving pictures and sound. At first, it seemed ridiculous, as if it was claiming to have invented video or high-resolution GIFs. But Live Photos are automatically turned on for the iSight camera, capturing 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 second after you press the shutter button. Pressing down on the 3D Touch screen brings them to life, or even swiping through your photo gallery shows a little bit of movement for a really neat effect. It's like Burst Photos put to better use. Don't worry, Apple says that Live Photos won't take up too much space. That's a wise move for anyone brave enough to buy the space-limited 16GB new iPhone. Faster than ever Apple claims that Wi-Fi is twice as fast when using the new iPhone 6S. That means the slowdown on your phone's connection at home and at work can properly be blamed on your ISP. More importantly, the iPhone 6S specs include the all-new A9 processor with with embedded M9 motion coprocessor. It's not as speedy as the iPad Pro A9X chip, but it'll be plenty fast for a new phone. Apple's System-on-a-Chip is snappier than ever, with a CPU that's 70% faster than the iPhone 6, and the GPU sees on 90% performance boost. The co processor has better activity tracking and it enables you to issue "Hey Siri" commands at any time. Previously, your iPhone had to be plugged in to take advantage of this always-listening virtual assistant mode. The iPhone 6S is suspected of having 2GB of RAM. It's a key spec that translates into letting you have more apps and tasks open at once. Since the iPhone 5, we've been dealing with just 1GB of RAM. Apple only likes to go so deeply into its iPhone specs, or maybe it's that the new phone might look bad on paper next to 4GB Android handsets. Either way, we should know whether or not the 2GB of RAM is part of the iPhone 6S when the first teardown happens on the morning of September 25. Battery life Like the iPhone 6S price and the overall look, there's no difference in the "all-day" battery life for the new 4.7-inch phone, according to Apple at least. It has the same 14 hours of talk time and 11 hours of continuous HD video playback. That doesn't mean the battery capacity is the same size, however. Those are two different specs, as an Apple promo video clearly labels the iPhone 6S battery as 1,715 mAh instead of last year's 1,810mAh. How does it maintain the same charge duration without the same battery size? Hardware changes, and also iOS 9 software tweaks are extending battery life across the board for iPhones. Should you buy an iPhone 6S? With the exception of the new rose gold color, this looks and feels like a hard-to-read S upgrade, as we say in our iPhone 6S review. But it does pack in powerful enough specs to consider pre-ordering. The new 12MP camera is important for anyone who takes iPhone photos every day (read: everyone) and the 5MP front-facing camera's Retina Flash is ideal for anyone who only takes selfies (narcissists). It's the most important app to phone users these days, and therefore the biggest upgrade. 4K videos and Live Photos may be fun to play around with, even if they're not revolutionary, and the jury is still out on 3D Touch. Right now, it's a nifty menu shortcut convenience taken from the Apple Watch. The aluminum 7000 build quality, Apple A9 processor and faster Wi-Fi and Touch ID sensor make this a speedier and stronger phone upgrade next to the iPhone 6, especially if you're ready to move on from that two-year old iPhone 5S. Here's what's new in iOS 9

Updated: Android Marshmallow release date: when can I get it? Posted: 19 Sep 2015 03:47 AM PDT Google, Samsung and HTC Update: Android Marshmallow has a confirmed launch event, meaning Google's next mobile software update is closer than ever. Here's when it's likely coming out. Android Marshmallow is now closer to its release date than ever, thanks to its new official name, official press event and a bevy of confirmed new features to all manner of Google-powered phones. Battery life improvements, greater app permission controls, standardised support for fingerprint scanners, more granular volume controls, USB-C support and new Google Now features are all part of a mix that makes this an exciting upgrade for users - but is your phone actually going to get it? It's now known as Android Marshmallow after internally being called Android Macadamia Nut Cookie, and it's well on the way to launching, with a "s'more" themed September 29 launch event, according to Google. But do remember that when Android Marshmallow does launch you won't necessarily have instant access to it, as it's down to device manufacturers and, in some countries like the US, carriers to spend time with the new software before imbuing their phones and tablets with it. If you're using a Nexus device you're most likely to get the update first and some other manufacturers such as Motorola are also good at sending out their updates fast. To make the rollout less of a mystery here's the latest - and constantly updated information - on when Android Marshmallow is likely to land on the various devices out there. Google and Nexus Google's Nexus devices will naturally be the first to get Android Marshmallow. One of their biggest selling points is speedy updates and stock versions of Android. That said, expect Google to launch a Nexus 5 2015 and Nexus 6 2015 to showcase this "Android M" update. After all, they are reference model phones, and there are plenty of rumors to support LG and Huawei being behind this year's devices. So expect any new Nexus device this year to ship with it. Not all existing Nexus devices will see the update on day one, but the developer preview is available now for the Nexus 5 2013, Nexus 6 2014, Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus Player set-top box, suggesting they'll all get updated pretty soon after Android M rolls out. However, earlier Nexus devices may not get the update at all. It's been rumoured that Google will institute a two year update guarantee with Android M and that it will be applied retrospectively, which would mean that while the Nexus 5 will get the update, the older Nexus 4, both versions of the Nexus 7, the Nexus 10 and anything older still probably won't. All hope isn't lost. We've also heard a debunking of rumours that the Nexus 4, 7 and 10 will get Android Marshmallow. This smidgen of hope originated from bits of code found in the older device's update files which referenced "Android M." Case closed? Not quite, as it was found in code that gets pushed to all Nexus devices, regardless of whether or not they are getting Android Marshmallow. This means if you have a Nexus 4, Nexus 7 or a Nexus 10, we wouldn't get our hopes up of getting Android Marshmallow just yet. Samsung Samsung did a pretty good job of getting Android Lollipop on to its phones rapidly, so we'd expect to see it start appearing in major handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 shortly after launch. It turns out that the company's newest phones, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, aren't shipping with Android Marshmallow, after all. So expect these phablets to be in line for the update, too. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha and older flagship devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5 are likely to get the Android Marshmallow update too, though they may have to wait a little longer. Anything older than the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a bit more up in the air as to if or when they'll get Android Marshmallow, but it's a distant possibility that the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will get it. Both of these ex-high-end phones were updated to Android Lollipop, though they'll both be more than two years old by the time Android Marshmallow arrives, so we wouldn't hold our breath. As for tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S range has been updated to Android 5.0 and is recent enough that we'd expect an Android Marshmallow update. The Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 may well get an update too, but we're not optimistic about the chances of most other Samsung slates. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) is still on Android KitKat for example, despite being relatively recent. It's possible that it will simply skip Lollipop and move straight to Android Marshmallow but there's nothing to suggest that's the case. HTC Jeff Gordon, HTC's Senior Global Online Communications Manager, has already confirmed on Twitter that Android Marshmallow will be coming to the HTC One M9 and HTC One M9 Plus. That's not particularly surprising but he did also say that more devices would be announced soon, so stay tuned. No time frame was given, but HTC started rolling out Android Lollipop to its flagships within 90 days of its arrival, so we could well be in for a similar time frame here, in which case it may start arriving sometime in December 2015. Mo Versi, the Vice President of Product Management at HTC also took to Twitter to confirm that the HTC One M8 would be getting the Android Marshmallow update. We'd expect most phones released by HTC in the last 18-24 months will ultimately get the update, especially high and mid-range ones. That means the HTC One M8s and HTC Desire Eye are likely to get it among others. We wouldn't totally count the HTC One Mini 2 out either, though it's yet to get Android Lollipop which doesn't bode well. A question mark hangs over the HTC One M7 though, as while that's still a great phone it's also over two years old. Sony, LG, Motorola, OnePlus, Huawei, Asus and ZTE Sony Sony hasn't confirmed which devices will be getting Android Marshmallow or when, but it seems a safe bet that the Sony Xperia Z3+, Sony Xperia Z3, Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet and Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact will all be in line for it along in all likelihood with recent lower end phones like the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua. Slightly older devices like the Sony Xperia Z2 and Sony Xperia Z1 Compact will probably get it too. We're less optimistic about anything earlier than that, but you never know, the Sony Xperia Z1 and Sony Xperia Z have both been upgraded to Android Lollipop after all. Anything which isn't already on Lollipop probably won't get the update. That means devices like the Sony Xperia T3 and Sony Xperia E3 could be left out. LG LG has stated that it won't be bringing Android 5.1 to the LG G3, which has led to speculation that it will jump straight to Android Marshmallow, but we've heard nothing concrete to substantiate that. However we'd be surprised if LG abandoned its 2014 flagship though, so it's believable. The LG G4 will, of course, get Android Marshmallow and it may do so quite quickly, as LG started rolling out its Lollipop updates soon after the final version of the software was available. The rumoured LG G4 Pro may even launch with Android Marshmallow depending on when it arrives, though if not that will likely get updated quite quickly. We'd expect the LG G Flex 2, LG G4c and other fairly recent LG phones will get Android Marshmallow eventually too, though they'll probably have to wait longer than the G4. It's even possible that the LG G2 will get it, but we wouldn't count on it. Motorola As Motorola's phones run a version of Android which is almost stock there tends to be an expectation that they'll receive updates in a timely fashion and hopefully that will be the case here. After all, the Motorola's new and forthcoming phone are just missing the Android Marshmallow launch, so Android 5.1.1 is the software for Moto X Style, Moto X Play and Moto G 2015. We'd expect, next in line, the 2014 version of the Moto X and Moto G and also this year's Moto E to be on Motorola's list of Android phones to update. Earlier models of the X, G and E range may well get Android Marshmallow ultimately too, though they may have to wait a little longer. OnePlus OnePlus eventually brought Android Lollipop to the OnePlus One, but it wasn't very fast about it and with the OnePlus 2 now launching and a new OS just out the gates, we wouldn't be surprised if the company was a bit busy to be thinking about Android Marshmallow just yet. That said we expect some version of it will arrive on the OnePlus 2 and possibly even the OnePlus One eventually, but probably not until sometime in 2016. Huawei If you've got a Huawei device you might have quite a wait on your hands for Android Marshmallow, as the majority of its devices are still on Android KitKat or earlier. The Huawei P8, Huawei P8 Max and Honor 4X are probably among the most likely handsets to get the update, but even then it may take a while. Asus Asus is another company which often isn't particularly speedy with its updates. The Zenfone 6, Zenfone 5 and Zenfone 4 are only just getting Android Lollipop for example, but nevertheless they are being updated, so we'd expect relatively recent Asus handsets like those ones and the Zenfone 2 will eventually see Android Marshmallow. ZTE ZTE doesn't always bother to update its phones, so if you have one you may have to make do without Android Marshmallow, though the newer and higher profile it is the better your chances of getting the upcoming Android release. So there's a chance the ZTE Blade S6 and the US-focused ZTE Axon will get the update, but the ZTE Blade V and ZTE Blade Q Mini for example probably won't. Every Android Marshmallow features you need to know about

Updated: Android Marshmallow release date, news and features Posted: 19 Sep 2015 03:41 AM PDT Android Marshmallow release date, news and features Update: Android Marshmallow is the official name of Google's next operating system update. Expect it at the end of the month. The sugar rush is on at Google in preparation for the Android Marshmallow release date in a few days. Now that we know the sweet-treat name, we're one step closer to downloading it. Say goodbye to Android 5.0 Lollipop and, soon, hello to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the latest mobile platform from Google. Expect thousands of bugs to have been squashed and a new layer of polish. We tested the Android Marshmallow beta at Google IO 2015 in San Francisco, and while it remained an incremental update, we're still stocking up on all the meaningful news and latest features. Android Marshmallow vs Android Lollipop: 6 things Marshmallow does better Cut to the chase What is it? The successor to Android Lollipop When is it out? Confirmed September 29 launch event What will it cost? As with all Android upgrades it's free Android Marshmallow release date Bad news folks, you won't be able to get your hands on Android Marshmallow straight away - unless you're a developer. If you're a beta tester, you're already playing with Android 6.0 Developer Preview. Good news, everyone else. Google has invited us to a "s'more" filled press conference on September 29 where we're promised "hands-on time." Ready for Nexus devices for this incoming update. The company is likely to also launch the Nexus 5 2015 and Nexus 6 2015 phones at this event, so it'll be a high-profile, Android-filled unveiling in San Francisco. Android Marshmallow release date: when can I get it? Android Marshmallow / Android 6 name Android Marshmallow is official name of the next update, ending speculation that it might be called muffin, milkshake or, less appealingly, malt ball. Internally, it's been previously dubbed Macadamia Nut Cookie and publicly teased as "Android M." But now a marshmallow-carrying Android statue on Google's campus. confirms the big switch. Here's what the TechRadar team want it to be called The Marshmallow version number is Android 6.0, according to Google's developer software documents. It's making the full leap from last year's Android 5.0 update, despite small changes being made. Android Marshmallow developer preview As mentioned, developers were able to get their grubby mitts on a Android Marshmallow preview from May 28, with support for the Nexus 5 2013, Nexus 6 2014, the Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus Player. Some may be disappointed to see a lack of love for the smaller Nexus 7 slate - so fingers crossed Google pushes out the final software to it later this year. Meanwhile at the end of June, Sony became the first hardware maker to offer the Android Marshmallow developer preview for non-Nexus models. According to Sony, the following smartphones and tablets will be able to download the Android M developer preview: Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3 Compact, Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, Xperia Z2 Tablet, Xperia Z1, Xperia Z1 Compact, Xperia Z Ultra, Xperia E3, Xperia M2, Xperia T2 Ultra and the Xperia T3. This list gives us a pretty good idea of what handsets will be upgraded to the final version of Android Marshmallow once it releases. The new Sony Xperia Z3+ is noticeable by its absence, but we're pretty certain that it will get the update as well. Android Pay Android Pay just launched, and so it's technically available without Android Marshmallow, since it'll be supported on devices with NFC running Android KitKat and above. That said, the Google's refreshed digital wallet service will be made better by Android 6.0. The software pushes fingerprint sensor functionality for the first time, just in time for new Nexus phones. Android Pay means there's no need to open an app to make a payment, all you'll need to do unlock and place your handset on a compatible contactless payment terminal. For those rocking Android Marshmallow on their device, you'll also be able to use Android Pay within third-party applications for simple purchases which don't require you to enter all your details every time. Find out more about Android Pay Android Marshmallow fingerprint support We've seen some smartphone manufacturers already include fingerprint scanners in their devices, but with Android Marshmallow Google is looking to make the support standardized across the whole platform. As well as allowing you to unlock your device and pay for media from the Google Play Store the fingerprint scanning tech is also open to developers. That means devs can build it into their own applications, allowing you to sign into them without the need for a password, as well as pay for goods using Android Pay. Android Marshmallow voice controls Android Marshmallow looks like it is getting even better voice control thanks to the new Voice Interaction API, which will allow app developers to build voice control directly into their apps. This means that owners of Android Marshmallow devices will be able to speak to their apps - and the apps will even talk back! One of the examples Google has detailed s with the TuneIn app, which now uses the API. A user can say "OK Google, listen to music on TuneIn", and the TuneIn app will not only load, but will then ask out loud "What genre of music would you like to listen to?". The user can then reply with their favourite genre. This natural way of speaking to your smartphone and the apps installed could revolutionise the way we interact with our smartphones. To demonstrate the potential of Voice Interaction API, Google has released a video, which can be viewed below. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW1A4XFRuyc And there's more, so click the next page button below to find out about power, charging, app permissions and more in Android Marshmallow. Android M battery life, charging and more Android Marshmallow battery life Google has done a load of work surrounding battery life and power in Android Marshmallow, which will be music to many user's ears. First up Google has cooked up Doze - where your device will use motion detection to realize when it hasn't moved for an extended period of time and switches to a deeper sleep which consumes much less power. Your device won't be completely useless in this mode, as Doze still allows alarms and key notifications to come through. The search giant says it grabbed two Nexus 9 tablets, one running Lollipop and the other Android Marshmallow, loaded the same apps and settings on both and then tested the standby power drain on the two. Apparently, the Nexus 9 running Android Marshmallow lasted up to two times longer than its Lollipop counterpart. It sounds impressive and we're hoping it translates to noticeably better battery life on our devices. Android Marshmallow charging As well as making our batteries last longer, Android Marshmallow also brings faster charging to the fore with USB-C support. USB-C is a new type of USB connector which, like Apple's Lightning connector, can be plugged in either way round. No more fumbling in the dark trying to plug in your charging cable the right way round. Google claims devices with USB-C connectors will charge three to five times faster than the current microUSB offerings on the market. Android Marshmallow Now on Tap With Android Marshmallow comes an intelligent new assistant feature called Now on Tap. An enhancement to Google Now, Now on Tap lets users access information anywhere on their Android Marshmallow device, no matter what they're doing. Users can simple tap and hold the home button to pull up a query without leaving the app they're in or website. If a friend emails you about seeing a movie, for example, Now on Tap could pull up info like ratings, the trailer or even let you buy tickets. You can also look at other apps on your phone, like Yelp or OpenTable, to book a dinner reservation or read reviews about a restaurant your friends wants to try for dinner. Now on Tap doesn't just work with a tap for place info: you can also do voice search for more specific queries, like who sings your new favorite song. Android Marshmallow interface Judging by early versions of Android Marshmallow, the new operating system will keep the Material Design look of Android 5.0 Lollipop, but with one key difference. Scrolling through your installed apps in the Apps Drawer used to be a horizontal affair, however with the first Developer Preview of Android Marshmallow, a new vertical scrolling method was introduced. To help you get used to the new way of doing things, and to allow you to find apps easily, letters were included in the interface to help you jump to the app you required - all you needed to know was the letter the name of the app began with. Developer Preview 2 has since been launched, and although the vertical Apps Drawer has remained, the letters have been removed leading to a tidier, but perhaps more confusing, interface. Android Marshmallow permissions It's made app permissions more intuitive, giving users the option to allow/deny specific permissions within an app - rather than having to accept all permissions at once. Currently you have to accept permissions when you download an app, but with Android Marshmallow you won't be asked to grant access to features until you come to use them for the first time in the app. That means, for example, you can give WhatsApp access to your camera, but not to your microphone if you wish. You can even revoke access for a particular permission by diving into the settings if you accidentally allowed it. More new features on Android Marshmallow Google has simplified volume controls once again with the Android Marshmallow update, with more granular control over the various audio settings on your device from ringtones and alarms to music playback and voice calls. Word selection has been made easier too, with Android Marshmallow highlighting text more intuitively, and a floating menu offers controls such as cut, copy and paste at your fingertips, rather than in the toolbar at the top of the display. Fire up the Chrome web browser on Android Marshmallow and you'll benefit from Chrome Custom Tabs, which let websites customize the toolbar and menu of the Chrome tab to provide dedicated buttons and options. An example shown on stage at Google IO was Pinterest, which was able to add a "Pin" button to the toolbar on certain pages. App linking has been vastly improved in Android Marshmallow, with Google's software now more adept at working out whether a link should be opened in a browser or a compatible app. That means fewer "open with" pop up boxes flashing up on screen and generally just getting in the way. A new and improved memory manager was also spotted in Developer Preview 2 of Android Marshmallow. This tool allows you to view what apps are taking up the most RAM and slowing down your device. You can also see the average amount of RAM used by apps - even if they're not running - which lets you identify any memory hogs and rid them from your phone. This should make Android Marshmallow run faster and more reliably than Android 5.0 Lollipop, which can sometimes suffer from memory leaks. Check back for more Android Marshmallow updates leading up to the September 29 launch event in San Francisco. We'll have our Nexus devices ready to start downloading it if it releases that day. See all of the Nexus 6 2015 and Nexus 5 2015 rumors

Updated: Nexus 6 2015 release date, news and rumors Posted: 19 Sep 2015 03:20 AM PDT Nexus 6 2015 release date, price and design rumors Update: The Nexus 6 2015 launch event is likely happening at the end of the month, where we'll cover it in person. Here's what we know. Motorola is out, and Huawei is in, according to the new Nexus 6 2015 rumors that suggest the smartphone is coming with Android Marshmallow onboard in a few days. Yes, even though Google launched a 6-inch phone by Motorola last year and is likely to premier a Nexus 5 2015 built by LG, a new Nexus phablet is being speculated, too. There's certainly a place for such a large device among people who were willing to get used to carrying a Nexus with two hands. It had a niche audience with meaty paws. Here's what we know, based on the rumors of a specs bump, new design features and a better price, in the weeks ahead of Google's official announcement. Cut to the chase What is it? A Google-branded Android phablet When is it out? At Google's September 29 launch date, likely ships October 13 What will it cost? The same or less than the Nexus 6 2014 Nexus 6 2015 release date Android Marshmallow is scheduled to debut Tuesday, September 29, according Google and its highly suggestive press conference invite in San Francisco. Count us in. That almost certainly means the new Nexus 6 will be unveiled alongside the new operating system update on this date as well as the Nexus 5 2015 refresh. The rumors back up all of this. Twice, before we've heard that new Nexus 5 launch date is going to be September 29. It only makes sense for the search engine giant to host one announcement for its phones and the new software. The Nexus 6 is big time, but not big enough for its own event. Of course, we may not actually see the Android phablet delivery date from the Google Play Store until October, with the latest rumor pointing to a pre-order date of October 13. That's a wise decision. There's another phone maker, Apple, hogging up the oxygen with the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus on September 9. Add the fact that the Nexus 6 2014 wasn't announced until mid-October of last year, and you've got yourself a sane-sounding late September-early October release and delivery date. We're being promised "hands-on time," according to Google's invite, so we'll soon be able to tell you whether or not the bigger Google phone is too big for your hand, or just the right size. Nexus 6 2015 price Here's the strange thing about Nexus 6's price. The Motorola-made model from a year ago cost $650 (£500, AU$870) at full retail. That really changed the typically low-cost Nexus program. It made the Nexus 6 just as expensive as rival flagship phones, whereas the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4 before it were affordable considering their higher-end specs at the time. But you really have to take its size, specs and construction into consideration. At 6 inches, the display was bigger and the aluminum frame far superior to many of last year's phones. At the same price for more inches than any other major flagship, it was still a good value, and Huawei's rumored 5.7-inch entry could make a similar argument. Then again, the Chinese phone maker, known for affordable handsets and possibly one with a screen that is 0.26 inches smaller, could be slightly cheaper at $600 (£415, AU$800). Nexus 6 2015 design A high-end design could keep the new Nexus 6 price the same as last year's smartphone in part because it's rumored to made of almost all metal. That's good news for anyone who wants to shed the hard plastic back plate of the Nexus 6 2014 and rubberized plastic chassis of the Nexus 5. This one is likely to go premium. The Nexus 6 2015 dimensions are said to be 159.4 x 78.3 x 6.6 to 8.5mm curved, according to OnLeaks. That's about the same or slightly smaller at some angles than than Motorola's phablet. The same design rumors give it a fingerprint sensor on the back, speakers on the front and a USB Type-C connection, which only the OnePlus 2 is sporting at the moment. Android Marshmallow is pushing fingerprint and USB Type-C compatibility for the first time, so it's a good assumption that Google will want its reference phones to include these features. A new set of photos claiming to be of the Nexus 6 2015 have also been leaked which show a device similar to the renders above, but with some noticeable additions. The most noticeable thing about these images with the large protruding top section which houses the camera and flash. This certainly leads to a rather interesting looking device, while other less charitable people are calling the potential Nexus 6 2015 flat out ugly. At the moment we don't know if these images are of an early prototype or if the bulge will be part of the final design (but perhaps hidden by a case), so we'll have to put our faith in Huawei's designers for now. However new images of a protective case for the Nexus 6 (2015) show the bulge, so if the images are legitimate it means the protruding section is here to stay. The leaked images also show a hole that gives the holder access to a rear fingerprint scanner, so it looks like the new Nexus 6 will support biometric security. Another protective case for the Nexus 6 (2015) has also been leaked online, and it again shows a bulge where the camera will be, along with a hole for a rear fingerprint scanner. Unless this is an orchestrated attempt to trick people, it looks increasingly likely that the final design of the Nexus 6 (2015) will include both of those elements. Page 2: display, specs, camera and battery life Nexus 6 display Google is allegedly sticking with the name Nexus 6, even though the phone's display may only be 5.7 inches. Rounding up or down is normal among phone naming conventions. It's a bit smaller than the 5.96-inch Nexus 6 2014, but rumored to be the same resolution: 2560 x 1440 pixels. That would pack in more pixels per inch thanks to its smaller display size. The technology behind this quad HD display will be WQHD AMOLED, according to sources talking to GizmoChina. That keeps it consistent with last year's model. No word on the Nexus 6's Ambient Light feature returning to partially turn on the screen when the phone is picked up. It was always inferior to Motorola's Active Display and LG's knock-to-wake methods, so it won't be missed all that much. Nexus 6 2015 specs It's going to be a powerful new Nexus 6 if the loftier rumors are true about its processor. There's a Snapdragon 820 processor at the heart of this phone, according to OnLeaks. This could be the first Android to beat current benchmark test leaders, Galaxy S6, Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+. Samsung's own Exynos 7420 chip mightily powers them all. There's also a chance Huawei could utilize Qualcomm's other processor, the Snapdragon 810. But that CPU gets slow and hot under pressure. Just ask any LG G Flex 2 or ZTE Axon owner. Whatever System-on-a-Chip the Nexus 6 2015 ends up with, expect there to be 4GB of RAM backing it all up. That's how much memory is rumored for the Nexus 5 2015, so it's only logical. Whether or not we get anything more than 32GB and 64GB of internal storage is a rumor that we haven't really seen pop up. Without a 128GB size, space is going to be limited for some. Yes, Google is making microSD usage easier with Android Marshmallow, but Nexus phones have routinely spurned the expandable storage format. Nexus 6 2015 camera The new Nexus 6 camera is going to be big, too, at least when you consider all of the pixels it's able to capture. It'll boast a 21MP rear camera, according to OnLeaks and GizmoChina, and pack in the Sony IMX230 sensor. That's the same sensor in the Moto X Style and, rumor has it, Sony Xperia Z4. Huawei would have to put this camera sensor to good use with better post-processing than the fine, but not spectacular Nexus 6 2014. It needs to take a page out of Samsung's playbook. Nexus 6 2015 battery life If there's one area in which the Nexus 6 2015 needs to improve over its predecessor, it's the ho-hum battery life. The previous phone's large 3,220mAh battery capacity only lasted the promised "all day" if used conservatively. I spent a lot of nights with a dying Nexus 6, looking for a charger, especially as I used the phone more and more later in its lifecycle. A proper boost may come to the new Nexus 6 in the form of a larger battery, one that's 3500mAh, according to a rumor from Android Police. That certainly seems credible, considering the new LG Nexus 5 is supposed to contain a 3180mAh battery behind its 5-inch display. My only concern is that if the new Nexus 6 depth measurements are supposed to be 8.5mm at its thickest point, and the old phone was 10.1mm at its thickest point, does that add up? We're going to find out that answer and more at the September 29 press conference in San Francisco, as Android Marshmallow readies for launch, and so does the Nexus 6 2015. Here's what we've heard about the Nexus 5 2015

Updated: Nexus 5 2015 release date, news and rumors Posted: 19 Sep 2015 03:05 AM PDT Nexus 5 release date, price and design rumors Update: The Nexus 5 2015 launch date seems to have been confirmed, with a Google event planned at the end of the month. We'll cover it live in San Francisco. You know what would go perfectly with an Android Marshmallow? S'more of that easy-to-hold Nexus 5 for 2015. It was the reasonably sized, reasonably priced LG-made phone that Google launched 2013, and if all of the new Nexus 5 rumors are to believed, there's a sequel coming in a few days. That's good news for anyone who was disappointed that the Mountain View company stopped selling its acclaimed phone earlier this year, in favor of focusing on the much bigger Nexus 6 2014. Current speculation points to LG giving its phone a specs boost, much-needed camera upgrade, and a high resolution display that packs more pixels into the same likable 5 inches. There's still bound to be a new Nexus 6 2015, but for non-giants who lack meaty paws, here's what we know about the Nexus 5 refresh. Cut to the chase What is it? Google's upcoming Android flagship phone When is it out? A September 29 launch event, point to an early October release date What will it cost? Less than rivals, but it won't be cheap Nexus 5 2015 release date We have an answer for anyone who asks us, "When is Nexus 5 2015 release date?" and it's "as soon as Android Marshmallow launches." They're not amused. Thankfully, we can follow up on that cruel joke by pointing to an official Google press conference and not one, but two rumors that says the new Nexus will launch on September 29. The date makes a lot of sense. Google uses its Nexus devices as a reference design and pushes out a new phone with every major Android update. With Android Marshmallow on its final developer preview as of mid-August, the speculation seems to indicate that it'll be announced in a few short days. September 29 sounds about right. Don't get your Google Wallet ready just yet. September is crowded (see: iPhone 6S). It probably won't be delivered until October, which is the same month the Nexus 6 2014 was unveiled. Rumors point to a pre-order date of October 13 in the US, while its worldwide availability is unclear. Nexus 5 2015 price The new Nexus 5 could once again give us a solid-performing phone at an affordable price, and that's a relief because last year's Nexus 6 bumped up the price considerably. How much will the Nexus 5 2015 cost? While no one is certain, unconfirmed prices range between $300-400 (around £193-257 / AU$406-542), according to GizmoChina. That's very comparable to the SIM-free Nexus 5 from two years ago, which retailed for $349 (£299, AU$399) without a contract. It's also a savings next to the Nexus 6, which cost $650 (£500, $870) at full retail when it came out almost a year ago. Nexus 5 2015 design Phone designs are trending in the direction of premium build materials, like the glass-and-metal Samsung Galaxy S6 and the leather-backed LG G4. That's not what we expect from Google's affordable handset, however. Backing up this theory, we may have just gotten our first glimpse of the Nexus 5 2015, thanks to a leak out of Indonesia, and the photo jives with other rumors we've heard before. Previously, GizmoChina claimed that the new Nexus sports a matte plastic back cover. That's what we may be seeing in the blurry picture. A clearer image claiming to show the back of the Nexus 5 2015 was posted by AndroidPit, and it looks very similar to the previous image we saw. The image is a genuine photo, according to AndroidPit's anonymous source, and not a computer generated render. It shows a rear fingerprint sensor, raised camera lens and an LED flash. There's also further evidence in that photo that there will be a fingerprint sensor on the back. Android Pay, anyone? That image was followed up by a shot showing the side of the phone, this time with an original Nexus 5 below it for comparison. They look very similar, but the new model is quite a bit slimmer and has differently positioned buttons. Another image of the Nexus 5 (2015) was revealed by a case maker, this time giving us a good glance of what the front of the new device could look like. It shows a front-facing selfie camera, front-facing speakers and two pretty thick bezels on the top and bottom of the screen, which means the new Nexus 5 (2015) probably isn't going to be the most compact or svelte of phones. Other Nexus 5 2015 design rumors include front-facing speakers and an aluminium frame, though the side shot we've seen looks distinctly plastic. Android Marshmallow is pushing USB Type C support for the first time, and the Nexus 5 could make a good example of its use. Why let the OnePlus 2 have all of the fun, being the only phone with this next-generation connector? Renowned leaker account @OnLeaks also posted an image on Twitter that apparently shows the new Nexus 5 2015 in all its glory. The image ties in with other rumours we've heard about the Nexus 5 2015, and @OnLeak's reputation is pretty solid when it comes to revealing upcoming phones. Display, specs, camera and battery life rumors Nexus 5 2015 display Expect an LG-made Nexus 5 to stick with a battery-friendly 1080p display instead of going the quad HD route that will likely be chosen for the new Nexus 6 2015. That said, Nexus 5 rumors suggest that the screen technology will change from an IPS LCD to a P-OLED, and that it'll go from the 4.95-inch size we saw two years ago, to 5.2 inches. Yes, it can still be called a Nexus 5, even with this minor adjustment. Phone manufacturers like round up or down when considering a device's name, so larger display isn't all too surprising. Nexus 5 2015 specs The new Nexus 5 may put "premium" in its internal specs instead of its body or display, and that seems to be what new benchmark leaks indicate. It's pegged to have a Qualcomm processor, with rumors hinting at a Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor, like the LG G4 (that makes sense) – or, if we're lucky, a Snapdragon 820. The Snapdragon 820 chip may be saved for the Nexus 6 2015, but a new Nexus 5-linked benchmark test would have you think – and hope – otherwise. The best phones in the latter half of 2015 are boosting their performance with 4GB RAM, and that's what has been tipped for the Nexus 5 2015. That's double the memory two years ago. Nexus 5 2015 camera If there's one thing Google needs to get right with its next Nexus, it's making a phone with a great camera. Nexus fans have consistently complained about mediocre photos. There's a little more confidence behind the Nexus 5 camera knowing that LG may be in charge of the device again. The firm really stepped up its sensor and post-processing game with the LG G4. Rumors point to a 13MP snapper on back, with a wide f/1.8 aperture lens, LG's advanced laser autofocus, optical image stabilisation and a dual-LED flash. Save for the 16MP sensor and the dual-LED flash, these camera specs matches the LG G4. Next to the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the newer Galaxy Note 5, it's the best smartphone camera out there. Nexus 5 2015 battery life The Nexus 5 2013 battery life was the phone's second biggest problem, and LG may address that by upping the capacity from 2,300mAh to 2,700mAh or even 3,180mAh. This giant leap would actually best the LG G4 battery, that's an even 3,000mAh, despite the company's 5.5-inch flagship having more room. Now, if LG could do a better job of reducing its handset battery drain, that would be perfect. The G4 had issues with background tasks eating away at otherwise solid battery capacity. The Android Marshmallow release date looks ready for September 29, and that almost certainly means that the LG-made Nexus 5 2015 launch will be then too. We'll keep updating this page with all of the rumors until Google makes the big announcement. Here's what we've heard about the Nexus 6 2015

Are these the official names for Google's new Nexus phones? Posted: 19 Sep 2015 02:57 AM PDT The trouble with releasing a new device with exactly the same name as an old device (we haven't forgotten you, Nexus 7!) is that it can be hard to get search engines or electronics store employees to understand exactly what it is you're looking for. It seems as though Google might have solved the problem by tacking on extra letters to its 2015 batch of Nexus handsets. Droid Life reports that the names are the Nexus 5X (which we'd heard before) and the Nexus 6P. Is that X for eXtra and P for Plus? Or Phablet? Or Photo-taking capabilities? Obviously we've got no idea but feel free to let your imagination loose in the comments below this article. Everyone's invited... on YouTube It's a move that makes a lot of sense for Google for the reasons we've already mentioned: it means we all know we're on the same page. Imagine seeing a special offer on the Nexus 6 without knowing if it's the 2014 model or the 2015 model... and so on and so on. Based on an official invite that Google's just pushed out to the media, we will be seeing both these new handsets on 29 September. If you didn't get an invite, don't panic - the event will be livestreamed at youtube.com/google from 9am Pacific Time. We're expecting the new Nexus 6P to be the bigger, more expensive and more premium one of the pair, though the Nexus 5X is unlikely to be a bargain basement option. All will be revealed in 10 days' time. Android Marshmallow release date, news and features

Should you upgrade to Windows 10? Posted: 19 Sep 2015 12:08 AM PDT Introduction If you're using Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, you'll be seeing that little Windows icon in the taskbar reminding you that you can reserve Windows 10. You might be reading about long-awaited new features – like being able to sync folders on OneDrive that other people have shared with you – that are only available on Windows 10. But if you haven't already upgraded, chances are that you still have some questions about whether you should upgrade. And with that in mind, we are going to provide some answers, so read on… Also check out: Windows 10 will be the last time you ever upgrade What you get with Windows 10 For many people, Windows 10 is a great release, that goes beyond just bringing back the Start menu or including a lot of security improvements that businesses will welcome. For starters, it will improve performance on many systems. Windows itself takes up a little less disk space but what you'll notice if you're coming from Windows 7 is much faster boot times and longer battery life (the gains over Windows 8.1 are less impressive). It also has a new way of handling memory – when programs are asking for more memory than the system has available, rather than copying what other programs have in memory to disk so it can shift that memory to the new application (which will make it slower to switch back to them later), the kernel compresses the contents of memory to make room without slowing things down. Gaming performance is similar to Windows 7 (and Windows 8.1), but DirectX 12 support means new games will get better performance on existing hardware. Plus you can stream games from your Xbox to your PC to play them and capture snapshots of gameplay in any game to share with friends. If you avoided Windows 8 because of the Start screen, or you just didn't get around to upgrading, Windows 10 is your chance to benefit from a host of improvements. These include more tools in File Explorer and Task Manager, the simple refresh and reset tools that make it easier to fix your PC, having settings automatically sync to other PCs that you use with the same Microsoft account, and the new picture password that makes having a password on your account far less tedious. If you have a new notebook with the Intel RealSense camera built in, Windows 10 makes things even easier by recognising your face. Other big new features in Windows 10 include Passport, which Microsoft hopes will replace passwords by using that secure logon to give websites and services your credentials – that won't work for a while, because the FIDO Alliance standard it's compatible with isn't quite finished. Then there's Cortana, the voice assistant from Windows Phone that also powers search in Windows 10, finding programs and files on your PC, suggesting matching apps from the Store and looking up information from the web, all in one place. Cortana is both fun and useful now, and could get a lot more useful as more apps and services integrate with it. Windows 10 includes free Office apps, although they're more like the Office apps on a phone or tablet than the full version of Office. There's also the new Edge browser – if you want to use sites that don't work in IE, without having to switch to Chrome (which is ever more of a resource hog) or Firefox, Edge is an interesting option, and it's only available in Windows 10. But with no extension support and no ad blocking, Edge is still a work in progress. To a certain extent, that's true of Windows 10 itself. What you have to get used to with Windows 10 Windows 10 is a free upgrade for the first year to entice you to move up to a new version of Windows that Microsoft can keep improving and updating; that's what Microsoft calls Windows as a Service. Especially if you decide to be a Windows Insider, that means frequent updates and frequent restarts – and limited information about what's getting fixed or updated each time. You can tell Windows to warn you about restarts and let you pick the time for them, but it's far harder to just hibernate your PC and keep using it for weeks at a time. The updates are nearly always a good thing; security fixes are important and a lot of attacks use vulnerabilities that have already been fixed – but people haven't installed the patches. However, with Windows 10 Home, you can't avoid getting essential updates – and that might displease some who would prefer to have a choice. If you want to have a PC that doesn't change, you'll need to have a business version of Windows 10 and policies that stop updates. As with any new version of software, there are still issues with Windows 10, including problems with apps like Mail, and sometimes stability issues on different systems. Not everyone will experience problems (a clean install or a system reset will often make Windows 10 more reliable if you do), and Microsoft is working on the various glitches, but it's a good idea to check what users with similar hardware are experiencing before you upgrade. You'll also need to get used to having a Microsoft account. It is still possible to create a local account and use that, but you'll miss out on lots of features in Windows 10 – from the Store to OneDrive file sync to Xbox gaming. If you're going to ignore all of that, you'll need a good reason to upgrade to Windows 10 at all. What you lose with Windows 10 If you don't want to give up Windows Media Center, don't plan to download a crack; skip Windows 10 (or upgrade and find an alternative for the features in Media Center, because otherwise you'll be stuck on an old version of Windows for a very long time). Also, if you need XP Mode to keep an elderly Windows XP program working, don't upgrade to Windows 10 – or upgrade to the Pro version, and run an older version of Windows virtually using Hyper-V, but remember that you're more likely to have security problems because of that. It's unlikely that you'll be so attached to Spider Solitaire that you skip Windows 10 to keep it, especially as there are free versions of all the key Windows games in the Store. But the changes to OneDrive are more significant. If you don't sync all the folders from OneDrive to your PC, you won't be able to work with them in File Explorer any more. If that's key to the way you work, skip the Windows 10 upgrade until Microsoft comes up with the promised features to replace offline placeholders. Is Windows 10 for me? Any new version of Windows has advantages and disadvantages and Windows 10 is no different – except that the free upgrade for the first year makes it more tempting to go for it without necessarily thinking things through. Check how well Windows 10 will work on your PC, look at the new features and decide how useful they are to you, and look at the changes and the features that you'll lose in order to decide if any of those will cause you problems. And while there aren't any major flaws in Windows 10, if you're worried about the niggles, remember that you don't need to rush – the free upgrade will be available for a year after Windows 10's launch and Microsoft keeps adding improvements and fixes. If you're on the fence, you can always upgrade and try Windows 10 for yourself and roll back to your previous version of Windows if you subsequently decide it's not for you (just ensure you make a good backup first).

Here's how you can eat your way to a limited edition gold PlayStation 4 Posted: 18 Sep 2015 06:27 PM PDT Sony is giving away 6,000 limited edition gold PlayStation 4 bundles to fans across the US - but you'll need to head to Taco Bell first. Between September 24 through to November 4 this year, a Big Box from Taco Bell could win you a gold PS4 bundled with a gold DualShock controller, as well as the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and a 1 year PS Plus subscription. All you have to do is text the unique code that comes with every PlayStation-branded Big Box for a chance to 'instantly win' the bundle. With 6,000 bundles to give away, Sony says there will be an instant winner every 10 minutes. But the question is, how many Big Boxes are you willing to go through for a chance to win a gold PS4? At least you won't have to stuff a PS4 down your pants

In Depth: The first-ever VR film festival showed me the future of movies Posted: 18 Sep 2015 05:23 PM PDT Experiencing the first VR film festival The room is dimly lit with a few people milling around, carrying Samsung Gear VR headsets looking anxious as if the impending crowd will hold the golden ticket to their success. I'd been to Public Works in San Francisco before for other events but not for a tech event, let alone the first virtual reality film festival. Held by Kaleidoscope, a virtual reality agency (yes, there are agencies for VR now) a company created by René Pinnell, a filmmaker and director and Michael Breymann, founder of Glyph Software, the film festival is currently showcasing 20 VR short films. There are chairs in different areas of the venue, placed next to each other and separated into sections with a Samsung Note 4 version of Gear VR and Samsung Galaxy S6 Gear VR headsets on each seat. Films on Oculus Rift (DK2) had their own section as well. I was directed to a headset and asked "what film would you like to watch" to which I replied "all of them, but whatever you think is best to start with." The demoer laughed and told me Colosse by Joseph Chen is a good place to start. He wasn't wrong. I have a few VR devices already and I've seen quite a few of the Oculus 360 Degree features but sitting in a room full of other people with a Gear strapped to my face is a completely different experience. Even with the mobile VR, I was still transported to different worlds all the while being surrounded by 30 strangers. It's still a solitary experience right now, but companies like AltSpaceVR - who is part of the traveling VR festival - are attempting meld social interaction with virtual space. Even Oculus itself is trying to remedy the loneliness of virtual reality by adding social functions to Oculus Cinema. Regardless, I was still impressed with the films I watched and excitedly removed my headset to discuss various points with my partner sitting next to me. Once the "movie theater" experiments are fully functional in Oculus Cinema, I can definitely see this as the future of watching movies at home. With the major headsets hitting shelves in 2016, we're going to need a lot of content. Fortunately, that shouldn't be a problem. The Kaleidoscope VR Film Fest is proof that there are brilliant filmmakers breaking the boundaries of the silver screen. Future Spielberg's to watch out for I was able to speak with four directors about their projects in the festival. With live action, experiential and animation thrown in, there's a substantial amount of genres to choose from each with their own filming challenges. Tyler Hurd, director of Butts, never thought he'd be talking to a reporter about his animated short. Originally 2D, Hurd's coworkers at Double Fine wanted to make Butts for VR. Simple, hilarious and yes, even touching, the short was one of the first virtual reality films made. Technically, he says the conversion is tricky, because VR is still in development, "There's a lot of things that break." Creatively however, it's "been fun to explore." Examples include directing the audience's attention to little moments with certain cues to look in different places since you "can't physically turn their heads" you have to provide visual and auditory hints. Audience participation is something director Mac Cauley is familiar with. His piece, The Night Room is a homage to Vincent van Gogh and beautifully captures the artist's style in VR. More experiential, you move forward with the Gear VR touch pad to look at the vibrant items and people in the room. Cauley says he wanted more game-like interaction but as he was developing it, there wasn't enough time and the film became a visual experience. However, depending on where you're "standing" in the room, characters may react differently. Artists inspiring artists seems to be a trend with virtual reality. Bright Shadows, directed by Michael Catalano also brings in art with a more musical tilt. Drawing inspiration from Expressionist art films used by German artists like Paul Klee, Joseph Albers, and Wassily Kandinsky, Catalano focused on bringing music to the forefront of his animated short. His technical difficulties weren't too hard to solve since Bright Shadows is a pre-rendered opposed to real-time animations where moving your head causes the parallax to change. However he did want to sync the visuals with the music in the film perfectly. To achieve his, Catalano devised an algorithm to analyze what was happening in the music and then use that data to move the pieces in the film. While animations are certainly immersive and innovative, live action is breathtaking in its own right. When done well, the film should make you feel like you've just witnessed history or participated in a major event, then compelled to take action - which is what company Ryot is trying to do. COO Molly Swenson explains how the virtual reality documentaries Ryot is creating are creating a social awareness they've been hunting down. Ryot takes news stories and pairs them with actions you can take to actually do something instead of simply reading and moving on. Swenson says Ryot wanted to find what content, medium and format best compels action at the highest rate. She notes, "this medium [virtual reality] is incredible for that because it makes people feel something and want to get involved." Ryot is the company behind The Nepal Quake Project, directed by David Darg. It's the first VR film done in a post-disaster zone and yielded a substantial amount of donations for relief aid. Welcome to Aleppo directed by Christian Stephen was filmed in the similar documentary tone to shed light on the Syrian war zone. This "documentary-style cinema verité," as Swenson describes it, is perfect for the Ryot news outlet. "Once the equipment got durable and small enough to travel with - we just use the GoPro 360 Hero rig - it became the perfect marriage of our filmmaking, our journalism and our action capabilities." Despite the incredible footage captured, Swenson says there are still a lot of challenges filming live action, even documentary-style: "As you're figuring out as a filmmaker how to do it, it's very different. You can't move the camera or you risk motion sickness, you can't have a crew of any sort because they're all in the shot. You can't hide any effects from the audience." Essentially, improvising and improving filming techniques as you go. Swenson notes it's all a learning curve but Ryot will continue down the VR path because of the success they've had with the immersive projects. The Kaleidoscope Film Festival is the first of its kind and surely won't be the last with the upwards trajectory virtual reality is taking. All sorts of films are out now with more on the way. The filmmakers I spoke with are already excitedly in the midst of new projects. With Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR (formerly Sony's Project Morpheus) on the horizon, plus newer innovator editions of the Samsung Gear VR coming out soon (and even more mobile headsets I can keep up with), it's obvious virtual reality isn't a medium that's disappearing any time soon.

Here's when Google will likely unveil new Nexus phones, Android Marshmallow Posted: 18 Sep 2015 05:10 PM PDT Google sent us a not-so-cryptic announcement about an event happening at the end of this month, which is when we'll likely see new Nexus phones, its Android operating system refresh and more. On September 29, the Alphabet company is hosting a presentation that asks invitees to "join us for tasty new treats and much s'more." It doesn't get much "s'more" obvious than that. We'll be there when it all goes down in San Francisco and take full advantage of the "hands-on time to follow." There are a number of new devices Google could launch that day. Anyone who has been following Android phone news will know that today's invite is a major hint at the Android Marshmallow release date. The final beta launched late last month. When Android Marshmallow comes to your phone, however, may remain a mystery long after the event. Google's Nexus phones will get them first, as always, but phone makers and carriers are slower to roll out updates. Nexus 5 2015 and Nexus 6 2015 release dates too Google loves to launch its mobile operating system updates with a new phone. That's unlikely to happen this year - it'll be two phones, according to the latest rumors. Had you for a second. A Nexus 5 2015 made by LG and a Nexus 6 2015 made by Huawei have been part of widespread leaks for months. Expect a pair of easier-to-hold sizes compared to last year's Nexus 6 2014. The bigness is going to come in the form of a flagship-worthy specs bump. Google is thought to be tying Android Marshmallow's fingerprint sensor functionality into its new phones, and there's a chance it'll add a USB B Type C port, too. We'll be at the event, covering the announcement live, and see if any Android Wear smartwatches or a new Chromecast make their debut alongside new phones and phone software.

A music-only Chromecast might be on the way Posted: 18 Sep 2015 04:42 PM PDT Google might soon have two new Chromecast devices for you, and one of them could be just for music. While 9to5Google reported earlier that a next-gen Chromecast would be announced later this month, another report has emerged from the site saying that Google will also be launching another Chromecast which will be called 'Chromecast Audio'. Citing "sources familiar with Google's plans," the report says that this new Chromecast Audio, codenamed 'Hendrix', is "targeted specifically at WiFi-enabling the speakers in your home." It will connect to speakers using a 3.5mm headphone cable that will likely come with the device, and will allow for multi-room support. It can also mirror audio from your phone's Chrome browser and should also support Spotify. Now, we suggest taking all this with a grain of salt until Google does make its announcements during its scheduled later this month on September 29. Until then, here are 13 best Chromecast apps

Explained: LG Watch Urbane: 10 things you didn't know Posted: 18 Sep 2015 04:28 PM PDT LG Watch Urbane tips on the OS and more The LG Watch Urbane remains one of the first truly premium smartwatches on the market. While LG initially positioned it as a sequel to the LG G Watch R, the Urban has shown itself to be a fairly reliable, smart timepiece in addition to looking chic. Not only does the wearable provide a nicely sized, low-powered screen, it has surprisingly long battery life. Don't let the sheen full you: the Urbane is more than just a pretty face. Though the Urbane didn't manager to get particularly positive reviews (most reviewers took issue with ), it has proven popular enough for LG to invest in a series of gold-plated Urbane watches. To get the most out of the Urbane, should you own one, we've gathered up 10 must-know tips. Read on! 1. Use it with an iPhone Prior to iOS 9, Apple updated its mobile operating system with a new feature that lets LG Watch Urbane users (along with other Android Wear owners) sync up their smartwatch with their Apple iPhone. This update does require users to download the iOS 8.2 or higher, and to have an iPhone 5 or newer. 2. Control your phone's camera remotely Using your phone's camera from a distance to get the perfect picture will require a smartphone accessory like a Bluetooth remote. However, the LG Urbane Watch can do the same thing. If you download a compatible Android Wear photo app (such as Remote Shot), you can remotely activate your phone's camera using the Urbane. Many remote phone apps also let users switch between cameras, change flash settings, set timers and even see what the camera sees. 3. Simplify the Urbane interface The latest Android has simplified the news and notification system so users can access all of their new information with a single update on their LG Urbane. If a user wants to view all of their notifications, they can swipe left on the screen to scroll through them. 4. Respond to emails quickly Android Wear has made it significantly easier to respond to emails via the Urbane's watch face. That's because Android Wear now displays emails as cards, or small boxes of subtext that present essential information (such as weather and traffic). If you want to view an email and quickly respond, you can open the email via the Android Wear app, then reply to it with just a few swift motions. The Google voice option also allows users to email friends by telling the watch to "Email [Contact's name]." This will pull up a speech bubble that will transcribe your message and email it to your subject directly from your smartwatch. However, if you need to respond to a particular message, you can swipe right to left on the email in question to pull out the "Reply" tab. If you tap the "Reply" button, you'll receive the options of either picking a pre-written response or letting the watch transcribe your spoken response. 5. Order pizza! Do you feel the sudden need to consume Italian cuisine? The Eat24 Android app simplifies the process, getting grub to your door fast. Eat24 lets you use a few simple commands to re-order food from your favorite vendor. The process does require you to enter orders in via your phone before you can use it. But once you've done that, having your favorite pizza delivered from Domino's will be a lot easier. LG Watch Urbane tips on battery life and more 6. Check the Urbane battery life While the LG Watch Urbane has a fairly reliable battery life, it suffers from the same problem that all smartphones and watches do: unnecessary app activity sucking up battery life. If you're worried that your battery life is too low, make sure you check the Urbane's "Watch Battery" tab in the settings. You should be able to see which apps are consuming the most power, so that you can stop them from running in the background via the Task Manager for Android Wear app. 7. And improve its battery life Once you've figured out what's consuming your battery life, it's time to begin improving it. There are a few tricks out there for modifying your device's battery life, including: Running your phone on Theater mode. This setting will decrease the watch's movement sensitivity and screen brightness. It also silences all vibrating notifications. You can de/activate Theater mode by double-tapping the power button. Decreasing screen brightness. You can adjust this by tapping the "Adjust Brightness" button in the Settings and changing the number accordingly. Deactivating always-on screen mode. This little feature was added during Android Wear's 5.1 update, and is designed so that the app that you're currently using will continue to display the relevant screen until the user says otherwise. You can de/activate this mode in Settings. 8. Find your missing phone We've all misplaced our phones at one time or another. Most people would try to locate it by calling it with a friend or family member's phone, but if you own an LG Urbane, you're in luck. The smartwatch is compatible with a variety of third-party apps that can help you signal your phone. We recommend downloading a third-party app like Find My Android Phone and making sure it is on your LG Urbane at all times. 9. Skip your PIN Screen Most users have a locked PIN screen installed on their device, which helps protect their smartphone from theft, unauthorized access and friendly attempts at "hacking" their network. However, constantly having to input that pin can be annoying. Thankfully, all Android Wear users (including those with an Urbane) can circumvent this screen with a special feature. If a user's Android Wear device is near their phone, then the watch will circumvent the phone's PIN screen and give users instant access to their phone. Android Wear will attempt to activate this feature every time a user connects their device to another via Bluetooth. However, the feature can be activated manually by accessing the Security tab in the Android Wear's settings and tapping "Smart Lock." 10. Use your watch as an MP3 player The LG Urbane Watch has 4 GB of storage memory inside for storing all kinds of things, such as apps, contacts and settings. And, if a user is so inclined, they can store MP3s on it as well! If you have the Google Play Music app installed on your Android phone, then you should see a new button in your settings called "Download to Android Wear." Tapping this will let you transfer music over to the LG Urbane Watch, so that you can listen to your tunes offline whenever your watch is away from your smartphone.

Go on an aerial tour of Pluto in new video Posted: 18 Sep 2015 03:55 PM PDT NASA has released a new Pluto flyby video, following the release of yesterdays's image that showed what a sunset on Pluto looks like. New Horizons has been sending back dozens of images from its flyby of Pluto, and the latest video animation stitches together images that were downloaded from New Horizons from September 11. "I have used the latest images to produce an animation that shows what it might be like to take an aerial tour through Pluto's thin atmosphere and soar above the surface that New Horizons explored," said NASA's Stuart Robbins, a research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado in a blog post. "The mosaic used in this animation was carefully constructed by New Horizons science team members with some of the latest images from the spacecraft to provide an incredibly accurate portrayal of Pluto's surface." YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgl9jJUzITg A better look The images are from near the 'heart' shaped area of Pluto, or Tombaugh Regio, with the images used in the video starting at about 400 meter per pixel, while the rest of the images in the video are about 800 m/px and 2.1 km/px. The video itself was made with the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), and shows Pluto's hemisphere when New Horizons was closest to it on July 14. While the video begins at a fairly low altitude at a height of about 120 miles, we end up about 10 times higher at a height of about 1,500 miles, with about an 80% view of the hemisphere. In his blog post, Robbin's explains that the video begins at the Norgay Montes region, where we can see jagged mountains rise almost 2 miles. The video then flies us north between the Sputnik Planum and Cthulhu Regio areas. "While Sputnik Planum is smooth at this pixel scale, it's in marked contrast to Cthulhu Regio which has many large impact craters that indicate the Regio is much older," Robbins said. "The differences in brightness are some of the largest natural brightness variations of any object in the solar system." The video then shows us Pluto's north pole and the Tombaugh Regio, before we fly further outward to see the dwarf planet's hemisphere. "The concept of this animation arose from a desire to showcase the most recent imagery received from the spacecraft and the huge variety of terrain types that we see on Pluto," Robbins said. And this isn't the last we'll be seeing of Pluto, as images of up to seven times better pixel scale are still to come. Here's another fly over of Pluto's towering mountains and icy plains Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

EXPLAINED: How to watch the Emmys live stream online Posted: 18 Sep 2015 03:35 PM PDT Emmy Awards 2015 The 2015 Emmy Awards are right around the corner. Actors and actresses from your favorite shows like Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Silicon Valley and more will grace the red carpet on Sunday, September 20 at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. But if you're not a Los Angelino, or can't make it to a TV in time for the event, don't worry. You won't have to struggle for years to finally break into the main event - it's all streaming online. So before the clock strikes 8 on Sunday night, we've put together a small feature on how to watch the biggest TV awards of the year without … uh, TV. The pomp and circumstance of the 67th Emmy Awards is being broadcast by Fox this year, which makes their site one of the best places to go to see repeats once the show comes to a close Sunday night. However, Fox won't host the livestream on its website, according to an email sent to TechRadar: "No, the telecast itself is not live streamed. It is airing live across all time zones and then rebroadcasting on the west and mountain time zones. The backstage of the show will be live streamed on the Emmy website." Our recommendation is that you... Watch the Emmys on PlayStation Vue We once thought PlayStation Vue was too small of a venture to cause a blip on the radar for most folks, but in the seven months since launch we've been proven wrong. PlayStation Vue is a cable alternative provided by Sony for PlayStation 3 and PS4 owners that allows you to watch TV without any additional equipment or long-term contracts. It's available in seven markets - Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Dallas, Texas - and is offered in three packages, Access, Core and Elite. The differences between the packages are the amount of premium channels, though, to watch the Emmys all you'll need is the most basic deal. PlayStation Vue, unlike Sling TV, offers local channels including all of the Fox affiliate stations in those seven markets, allowing you to watch the red carpet event from your gaming consoles or online through your iPad. But, if you don't have a Sony console or live in one of the seven available cities, you should... Watch the Emmys on the Slingbox M2 If you want to watch the Emmys on a Slingbox, you're going to need to do some planning. First step, as you can probably guess, is to order a Slingbox. They're available on Amazon for $179.99 or on Sling's website for $199.99. Once it arrives, head over to a friend's house (or parent's, significant other's, drinking buddies, etc) and hook it up to their cable box. Once connected, you'll be able to watch live TV on almost any of your devices anytime you want - including Sunday's big show. The only caveat to using Slingbox is that it directly controls the cable box in the other person's home. That means if you want to watch, say, the Emmys online at home, they'll have it on their TV, too. That said, if this all sounds like too much time and work, we've saved the cheapest solution for last. Watch the Emmys via wireless HD antenna Don't miss the catching epic winning speeches Sunday just because you don't have cable - the cheapest alternative is just a trip to the store away. Remember bunny ears? A wireless HD antenna is the modern equivalent, picking up ultra-crisp HD picture over the air without a subscription to cable. Every local station is required to transmit their content for free, meaning networks like Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS are all just waiting to be watched without a monthly bill. A good, middle-of-the-road option for TV watchers who live in the suburbs or somewhat close to a bustling metropolitan center is the Flatwave Antenna by Winegard. It's incredibly slim, inconspicuous and has no problem hiding behind the TV or behind the window shades. As long as the cord can reach the cable jack in the back of your TV, you're all set. Emmy Award Nominations The Emmy Award nominations happened back in July, with many of the most talented actors and actresses getting the nod that they deserved. We've written extensively about the Netflix and Amazon shows up for an Emmy, but instead of focusing solely on the streaming contenders, here are all the nominees for the big awards. In the Outstanding Drama Series category, nominees include Better Call Saul, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland, House of Cards, Mad Men and Orange is the New Black. Similarly, in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, Louie, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Silicon Valley, Transparent, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Veep are all possible winners come Sunday night. The Lead Actor, Drama trophy will be a tight race with Bob Odenkirk from Better Call Saul, Kyle Chandler from Bloodline, Kevin Spacey from House of Cards, Jon Hamm in Mad Men, Jeff Daniels in The Newsroom and Liev Schreiber in Ray Donovan vying for the top spot. The other really important category, Lead Actress, Drama came down to Taraji P. Henson in Empire, Claire Danes in Homeland, Viola Davis from How to Get Away with Murder, Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black, Elisabeth Moss in Mad Men and Robin Wright in House of Cards. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9F6Hlu5prc 2015 Emmy Awards host and time The Emmys will start at 8pm ET/5pm PT on Sunday, September 20 at the Microsoft Theater (formerly known as the Nokia Theater) in Los Angeles California. The awards will be hosted by former SNL star and Lonely Island front man Andy Samberg. New Apple TV release date, specs, price and news

iOS Tips: iOS 9 Multitasking: Be more productive on iPad Posted: 18 Sep 2015 03:23 PM PDT With iOS 9, Apple has introduced a new feature called Multitasking that takes the iPad to the next level. By running two apps side by side, you can be more productive (or have more fun) than ever before. While this feature is only fully compatible with the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro (and in limited ways on some older iPads), it's an incredibly powerful feature that might be worth the upgrade. (Note that Multitasking does not work on any model of iPhone.) Multitasking comes in three forms: you can have two apps running fully side by side in Split View mode; you can peek at an app and use it in limited ways with Slide Over; and you can run a video in a window all its own in a mode called Picture in Picture. Using Slide Over Split-screen multitasking is a feature introduced in iOS 9 that really takes advantage of the latest iPads' capabilities. However, you don't need the newest gear to use Slide Over - it also works with iPad Air and iPad mini 2 and 3. This handy feature lets you run a second app on your iPad without exiting the app you're currently using. To use Slide Over: 1. Open Safari, Mail, Messages or any other app that supports Multitasking. This includes most apps bundled with iOS, as well as apps downloaded from the iTunes App Store, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), 1Password and Join.me. 2. Slide your finger from the right edge of the screen towards the center. This will "pause" the main app you have open and initiate Slide Over view, allowing you to select from a column of supported apps. Tap one to start using it. 3. While you are in this mode, you can switch apps by swiping from the top of the screen on the Slide Over window (just like you were opening Notification Center). If you want to exit Slide Over mode, either press the Home button or tap the drag bar and pull it back to the right side of the screen and let go. Using Split View After initiating Slide Over, if the two apps you're using support multitasking, then you'll see a drag handle on the Slide Over window. Dragging this handle to the left will let you enter Split View mode for true side-by-side multitasking. When using apps in Split View mode, iOS 9 will remember the sizes of the windows that you're using, so if, for example, you use the Home button to exit to the Home screen, then open another app, then return to one of the two apps that were split in multitasking mode, the windows will open at the sizes they were previously. As with Slide Over, if you want to exit out of Split View mode, simply grab the drag handle and slide it off to the right side of the screen until the secondary app disappears from view. Picture in Picture Picture in Picture (commonly called PIP) refers to the feature in iOS 9 that lets you overlay a small video window on top of all other apps and the Home screen, allowing you to keep the video playing while navigating iOS and going in and out of apps. Apps built for iOS 9 can have this feature built in, and all system apps have this feature (including Safari, Podcasts, and more). Activating PIP can usually be accomplished in one of two ways. The first is to simply play the video in a compatible app, then press the Home button - if the developers have set the app up to do so, then the video will minimize to a PIP window on the Home screen. The second way is by manually activating PIP from the video player window. This is how it's done within Safari and other apps that use the standard player controls available in iOS. If you encounter a player with a PIP button, you can tap this button to shrink the player down into one of the four corners of the screen, allowing you to keep navigating inside of the app or leave the app by pressing the Home button, all while the video remains playable. You can resize this mini player by using a pinch gesture, play or pause the video by tapping it once then tapping the play/pause button, stop the video by tapping the "X" button, or restore the app the video belongs to (and exit PIP mode) by tapping the maximize button. In addition, the PIP window can be moved to any of the four corners of the screen by simply dragging and releasing it. You can also make the PIP window minimize itself further by pushing it further towards the edge of the screen. The audio continues to play, but only a small portion of the video will remain on the screen.

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