sincity

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/internet/Hacking/hacking-usethisone-470-75.jpgA group of Russian government-backed hackers dubbed "The Dukes" have been pilfering information from a range of different sources to help inform policy in the country. First reported by V3, the group has targeted various ministries of defense across parts of Eastern Europe, foreign affairs ministers in Asia and Africa, and political think tanks. "The Dukes are a well-resourced, highly dedicated and organised cyber espionage group that we believe has been working for the Russian Federation since at least 2008 to collect intelligence in support of foreign and security policy decision making," stated a report from F-Secure. How it worksThe attacks have a huge element of 'smash and grab' about them and have used a range of different 'Duke' malware variants such as MiniDuke, CosmicDuke, OnionDuke and CozyDuke to carry out the attacks. "The Dukes have been known to engage in campaigns with unaltered versions of tools that only days earlier have been brought to the public's attention by security companies and actively mentioned in the media," F-Secure said. "In doing so, The Dukes show unusual confidence in their ability to continue successfully compromising their targets even when their tools have been publicly exposed, as well as in their ability to operate with impunity." Targets have so far included the ministries of defence in Georgia and Estonia, foreign affairs ministers in Turkey and Uganda, and political think tanks in the US, Europe and Central Asia. Russia is a top threatRussia is listed by the US as one of the top cyber threats anywhere in the world and the latest revelations come just days after Kaspersky uncovered a campaign that used satellite connections to hack targets. In that case the Ouroborus malware (also known as Snake or Turla) used commercial satellites to access hidden receiving stations in Africa and the Middle East to mask malware attacks against western military and governmental networks. Meet the chip that beats hackers by exploding into millions of pieces http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385992357/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e06/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385992357/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e06/sc/7/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385992357/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e06/sc/7/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385992357/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e06/sc/7/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385992357/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e06/sc/7/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49ef9e06/sc/7/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/GXPOcBmj-cU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/facebook-atwork-470-75.jpgFacebook is finally ready to let more people onto its Facebook at Work social network designed specifically for enterprises and businesses. First reported by Re/code, the closed beta trial of the service that has been open since January is ready to give way to a freemium version of the office-based social network before the year is out, according to Julien Codroniou, head of Facebook at Work. At its heart, the service lets companies create their own social networks using Facebook's familiar technology and its popularity is likely to depend on users knowing what they see and more importantly liking it. More than 100 companies have been using the product as part of the closed beta and it's a number that is continuing to expand. Plenty of competitionEncouragingly for Facebook, early adopters have already started to expand its use internally. Taking Heineken as an example, testing was restricted to 40 of its top executives in the first instance but by the end of September it will be used by all 550 of its US-based employees. There's no lack of competition in the social enterprise collaboration space with the likes of Microsoft's Yammer (and Delve), Podio, Huddle, Salesforce's Chatter and a number of others jostling for position. Facebook wants businesses to embrace social with Facebook at Work http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385992356/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e16/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385992356/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e16/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385992356/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e16/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385992356/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e16/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385992356/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ef9e16/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49ef9e16/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ggTe1raRW2Y

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBCNews/Send-on-Android-470-75.jpgMicrosoft is finally bringing Send to Android phones months after the service arrived on iOS. The app that lets users text and email from the same place is available now in preview form to those that have Outlook and Office 365 business/school email accounts with further functionality expected in the coming months, according to ZDNet. Send, which was once codenamed 'Flow', was released from the Microsoft Garage back in July for iPhone users in the US and Canada. Since then Microsoft has been feverishly adding features to the "in-and-out" email service that encourages short and snappy SMS style messages. New stuffSome of the newest features to grace Send in the past six weeks or so include the ability to add people to conversations, delete conversations, share locations, make phone calls and various other new sharing features. When you first open Send, it feels like you've stumbled into a mix of iMessage, WhatsApp and Hangouts, however, it exclusively relies on email communication and has the advantage that the short messages show inside Outlook alongside regular emails. Send only shows messages that have been sent using the app and you can message anyone that has an email address registered with the service. Windows Phone absentAlongside the Android expansion, which concerns devices running version 4.2 or higher, Microsoft is opening Send for iPhone up to users in the UK, Brazil and Denmark. Send for Android, meanwhile, is available in the same places plus the US and Canada. A Windows Phone version is conspicuous by its absence and there was no news beyond the "coming soon" line that Microsoft trotted out back in July. Surface Pro 4 release date, news and rumours http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385921191/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49f01732/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385921191/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49f01732/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385921191/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49f01732/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385921191/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49f01732/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385921191/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49f01732/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49f01732/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/csiX7rfMwdo

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/world%20of%20tech/Tesla%20Powerwall-470-75.jpgWe always knew that Australia's plentiful sun and abundance of houses with solar panels already installed would make it a perfect launch market for the Tesla Powerwall, and now we know Tesla feels the same way. Today, the electric vehicle maker took a break from rolling out its latest Model X electric cars to announce that Tesla Power will be launching in Australia, (plus Germany, Switzerland and Austria), before the end of the year. That means that Australian homeowners will be able to purchase the wall-mounted Tesla battery solution for Christmas, although there's no indication of local pricing just yet. Both the 7kWh and the 10kWh solutions will be available down under, although the former will be much more targeted at residential users, with the more powerful solution recommended for rural homes. Commercial customers looking to grab the 100kWh Powerpack will also get their chance to go off the grid with Tesla. That's the power of sunTesla justified its decision to prioritise the Australian market thanks to the already high-price of electricity and the abundance of solar panels already in place. In a statement, the company said that "Powerwall will enable solar customers to store solar energy they produce during peak sunlight hours with a newly announced power of 3.3kW, continuous and peak. They can then use this energy in the night time hours, rather than purchasing electricity at the retail price and selling their solar back to the grid for the feed-in-tariff rate." Telsa is working with local energy partners, from solar supply companies to major electricity companies, with more details of the launch of the product expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iPhone%206S/apple-iphone-6s-hub-hero-470-75.jpgAussie Apple iPhone 6S Plus plansWith the Apple iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus now available for pre-order and all set for launch on September 25, questions have moved from "when can I get it?" to "how much will I pay?" And while we know that the iPhone 6S Plus can be purchased outright for $1,229 for 16GB, $1,379 for 64GB or $1,529 for 128GB, the telcos have since announced their contract offerings for the new plus-sized Apple handset. Over the next few pages, we've broken down the pricing offerings firstly by the phone's storage capacity, and then by telco. Each plan's pricing is the total for the plan and the handset repayment. 16GB iPhone 6S PlusTelstraGetting your hands on the bigger iPhone through the nation's largest carrier isn't the cheapest way to get your iOS 9 fix. Telstra's plans start at $95 a month for 24 month, including 1GB of data and $550 worth of talk time. If the paltry 1GB of data doesn't cut it for you, the next plan up brings the bundled data to 2.5GB, with an included $1,000 worth of talk time for $102 a month. Moving up to the larger plans, $118 per month will get you unlimited talk plus 6GB of data (7GB if you get in early for the bonus data offer), while the biggest plan includes 10GB (or 15GB with bonus data) and unlimited talk for $150 a month. OptusOptus' starting plans are significantly cheaper for the iPhone 6S Plus, woth $79 a month including unlimited talk and text plus 500MB of data. If you want gigabytes of data, you'll need to spend at least $88 per month, which delivers 3GB, up to 150 minutes of international phone calls plus unlimited talk and text. $94 a month will double the data to 6GB a month, double the International calls to 300 minutes and maintains the unlimited talk and text (you can't really double unlimited now, can you?) For $108 a month with Optus, things start getting interesting. International calls jump to 400 minutes, plus you get 12GB of data (10GB plus 2GB bonus). Naturally, unlimited talk and text are included. The top of the line Optus offering – and the first that includes the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus for "free" with the plan – costs $135 a month and offers 20GB of data (16GB plus 4GB bonus), up to 500 minutes of international talk time, unlimited talk and text and a bonus of up to 10 days of Optus Travel packs. VodafoneVodafone's 16GB offerings start at $87 a month, with the standard 500MB of data doubled to 1GB for the plan. Vodafone offers unlimited talk and text on all its plans, and also offers its $5 a day roaming offering. For an extra $6 a month at $93, you'll get 3GB of data for your troubles, 120 minutes of international calls and unlimited talk and text, plus the $5 roaming offer. $97 a month will earn you 8GB of data (6GB plus a bonus 2GB if you sign up before November 3), and then includes unlimited standard calls to 10 selected countries on top of the 120 minutes. $5 roaming comes in standard too. Pumping the repayments up to $110 a month sees you inherit the same plan as the $97 offering, except with 12GB of data to play with each month (10GB plus a bonus 2GB for signing up before November 3). And if 12GB isn't enough data for you each month, why not go for 20GB (15GB included, plus a bonus 5GB for signing up before November 3). $130 a month and it's all yours. Virgin MobileVirgin has the cheapest offering when it comes to the 16GB iPhone 6S Plus. For $67 a month you get a shiny new handset, $300 worth of talk and text and 300MB of data. For $79 a month, you'll get $450 worth of talk and text plus 1GB of data. Or for the same price on the same network for the same amount of money, you can get $500 worth of talk and text and 2GB of data. (Yeah, we think something might be broken on the Virgin site here). $88 a month gets you unlimited talk and text with 4GB of data, but spend an extra $1 (to $89 a month), and you'll find yourself with unlimited talk and text and 6GB of data. If you need more data than that, $93 a month gives you unlimited talk and text and 9GB of data. And for the heaviest of data users, Virgin delivers unlimited talk and text plus 13GB of data each month on a fresh iPhone 6S Plus for $100 a month. 64GB iPhone 6S PlusTelstraBumping the iPhone 6S Plus up to 64GB naturally boosts the Telstra pricing up too. The small plan , with $550 worth of talk and text and 1GB of data starts at $102 over 24 months. $109 a month will buy you $1,000 of talk and text, plus 2.5GB of monthly data. For $125, you'll get unlimited talk and text and 7GB of data (6GB plus 1GB bonus). And if you're a data hog, $157 a month buys you unlimited talk and text plus 15GB of data (10GB plus 5GB bonus each month). OptusWant 64GB in your iPhone 6S Plus from Optus? You'll be dropping a minimum of $85 a month. For that you'll get just 500MB, plus unlimited talk and text. Pump those repayments up to $94 a month and enjoy 3GB of data, unlimited talk and text and up to 150 minutes of international calls each month. $100 a month will buy you 6GB of data, unlimited talk and text plus 300 international minutes, while $115 gets you the same unlimited talk and text plus 400 international minutes and 12GB of data (10GB plus a bonus 2GB). The truly data hungry will need to drop $142 a month, with 20GB (16GB plus a bonus 4GB) of data accompanied by unlimited talk and text, up to 500 international minutes and a bonus Optus travel pack. VodafoneVoda's entry level offering for the 64GB iPhone 6S Plus offers a decent 1GB of data (500MB plus 500MB bonus) for $93 a month, which also includes unlimited talk and text plus Voda's $5 roaming. But knocking up the payments to $98 a month lands you a respectable 3GB of data, unlimited national talk and text and 120 standard international minutes as well. $103 a month will deliver the 64GB phone with 8GB of data (6GB plus 2GB bonus), plus the $5 roaming and 120 international minutes and unlimited talk and text. The final two Vodafone plans keep all the same trimmings, but include 12GB (10GB plus 2GB bonus) and 20GB (15GB plus 5GB bonus) for $115 a month and $134 a month respectively. Virgin MobileVirgin's plans for the 64GB iPhone 6S Plus model are all fairly closely priced, but with a wide-ranging set of inclusions. $73 a month includes $300 of talk and text and 300MB of data. $85 a month bumps that up to 1GB and $450 of talk and text. But for an extra $1 (or $86), you'll get $500 of talk and text and 2GB of data. $94 a month shifts to unlimited talk and text, plus 4GB of data, while an extra $2 boosts that data to 6GB a month. $99 a month has 9GB of bundled data alongside unlimited talk and text, while $106 a month will give 13GB of downloads and unlimited talk and text each month. 128GB iPhone 6S PlusTelstraIf you need a lot of space but a small amount of data and want to use Telstra's 4GX network, then the smallest amount of cash you'll be paying is $112 a month. For that, you get 1GB of data, $550 worth of talk and text and the handset, of course. If you're willing to spend $118 a month, then you can get the 128GB handset with 2.5GB per month and $1,000 worth of talk and text. If decent data is a prerequisite, you'll need to spend at least $135 a month. That will get you 7GB of data (6GB plus a bonus gig) and unlimited talk and text. And for the heaviest users, Telstra offers 15GB (10GB plus 5GB bonus) with unlimited talk and text on a $165 a month plan. OptusThe Optus plans for a 128GB iPhone 6S Plus start at $91 a month. You'll get a fairly restrictive 500MB of data every month, but unlimited talk and text in Australia. Upping your repayment up to $100 a month will give you a full 3GB of data and up to 150 minutes of International calls in addition to the unlimited national talk and text. At $107 a month, you'll get 6GB of data, unlimited talk and text and up to 300 minutes of international calls. But an extra $15 a month on top of that will double the data to 12GB (10GB plus 2GB bonus data) and 400 minutes of international talk time. The top of the line Optus plan for the 128GB iPhone 6S Plus comes in at $149 a month, and gives users 20GB of data (16GB plus 4GB bonus), unlimited talk and text, 500 minutes of International calls and the bonus of up to 10 days of Optus travel Packs. VodafoneThe entry level plan for Vodafone customers wanting the largest capacity of iPhone 6S will set you back $98 a month, a plan that incorporates 1GB of data (500MB plus 500MB bonus), along with unlimited talk and text and access to Vodafone's $5 roaming offer. Of course, with a phone that big, most people will need a larger data plan. The next step up delivers 3GB of data each month, unlimited talk and text and $5 roaming, plus 120 standard international minutes to selected countries. All for $109 a month. 8GB of data (6GB plus 2GB bonus) is included in the $110 per month plan, which improves the international call offering to unlimited for calls to 10 selected countries, plus 120 minutes to others. It also includes the unlimited talk and text in Australia and $5 roaming deal. The next two plans are identical to the $110 a month plan, except with bigger and bigger data offerings. For $121 a month you'll get 12GB of data to use (10GB plus 2GB bonus), while $140 a month will deliver a massive 20GB of data (15GB plus a bonus 5GB). Virgin MobileIt's actually quite amazing that you can grab a 128GB version of the iPhone 6S Plus for $79 a month. Admittedly you only get 300MB of data and $300 worth of talk and text, but still, it's a decent way to get the top of the line Apple smartphone. Of course, if you want to actually use the device, you'll need to pay up at least $91 a month, which delivers $450 worth of value and 1GB of data. An extra buck (or $92 a month) will double that data to 2GB, as well as boosting the talk and text value to $500. But start paying $100 a month and you'll get unlimited talk and text plus 4GB of data each month. The next three plans all offer unlimited talk and text, but with varying quantities of data. At $102 a month you'll get 6GB of data to use every month, $105 a month delivers 9GB and $112 a month gives 13GB of data to use. http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385899491/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ed7392/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385899491/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ed7392/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385899491/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ed7392/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385899491/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ed7392/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385899491/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49ed7392/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49ed7392/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/cUM7-oR8rOQ

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/audio_systems/Amazon/Echo/Petnet%20SmartFeeder-470-75.jpgThe next step for the Amazon Echo on its path to becoming the center of your smarthome might not be the place you'd expect: your dog's food dish. Amazon announced today that Petnet, an internet of things pet care company, is the latest project to receive funding from the Alexa Fund - Amazon's developer-facing investment firm. The funding will go towards creating products that integrate with the Echo, including smart food dishes that "keeps owners informed of proper feeding portions and delivers insights to them about compatible ingredients specific to their pet's age, weight and level of activity." The device Petnet currently makes is called the SmartFeeder, which until now used an app to track meal frequency and food levels inside the device. The only example command listed by the company so far is, "Alexa, how much has Max eaten today?", though it doesn't appear to be out of the question that you'd be able to ask how much food is left in the feeder and when the last time 'Max' has eaten. While it's still early in development, the idea sounds cool for pet owners looking for stats on their furry friends. Petnet joins nine previously funded companies - Musaic, Rachio, Orange Chef, Scout Alarm, Garageio, Toymail, Dragon Innovation, MARA, and Mojio - alongside other IoT devices like the Philips Hue lightbulbs and Samsung Smart Hub to get Echo support. iOS 9 tips and tricks to get you started on launch day!

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Windows%20Phone/Windows%20Phone%208/Cortana/Cortana-470-75.jpg"Hey, Cortana, save me money." That's what a lot of you might as well be saying thanks to a new Windows 10 feature. If you use Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 you'll be able to go to a retailer's site, click on the Cortana icon in the address bar and you'll be shown the best available coupons for products and services. Think of this as a way to take advantage of technology like RetailMeNot without actually having to go to a third-party site. What else? The coupon feature is a pilot program that Microsoft will be testing over the coming months as it expands its retail participation. The current list of partners includes Staples, Macy's and Best Buy. The technology is made possible by a company called Shopular, which provides coupons to customers via a mobile app. Additionally, Cortana will help you find additional information on restaurants, such as operating hours, directions, a menu, reviews and reservation options. How this is differentCortana has been traditionally used to search for static information or to automate tasks within the Windows 10 operating system. For example: you could ask Cortana for the weather, or you could ask it to start an email to a friend. Recent Cortana developments have made the system smarter by allowing it to scan your email to automatically track flights and shipments. But the new feature requires third-party partnerships and (I assume) exclusive discounts and opportunities available to Windows 10 users. So instead of logging onto Groupon or RetailMeNot in search of a coupon or deal, you can simply click on the Cortana icon without ever having to leave the retailer's website or the Edge browser. Read our Windows 10 review http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385914510/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8baff/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385914510/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8baff/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385914510/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8baff/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385914510/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8baff/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385914510/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8baff/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49e8baff/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/7M6s_Z0Ls1E

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Windows/Windows%208.1%20hands%20on/81forRT/81forRT%20(8)-470-75.jpgMicrosoft has sneakily treated Windows RT to a popular feature that will make early Surface tabs feel a lot more like Windows 10. First reported by WinSuperSite, the long-awaited Windows RT 8.1 Update 3 brings a Windows 10-esque Start Menu to Microsoft's Surface RT and Surface 2 tablets thus giving owners a reason to hang onto the outdated tablets for a while longer. Getting hold of the new update is as easy as checking Windows Update, however, Microsoft slate owners are advised to be patient as the Redmond-based firm is bringing the update to users in stages. The update doesn't come completely out of the blue as Gabe Aul, head of Microsoft's operating systems group, revealed in July that the update would arrive in September, over a month after Windows 10's debut. Embrace the ARMWindows RT first arrived on the scene back on the original Surface tablet and was largely panned due to a plethora of problems including poor implementation, failure to attract developers and high prices. The low marketing spend also contributed. The idea behind Windows RT was to allow manufacturers to move away from Intel chips to fully embrace ARM chips, which had the potential to bring lower costs and power consumptions plus better functionality. Windows 8.1 RT review http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385914509/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8bb03/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385914509/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8bb03/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385914509/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8bb03/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385914509/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8bb03/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385914509/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e8bb03/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49e8bb03/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/JS7RFu3Itjg

http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/ios9_hero-470-90.jpgGet to know your iOS 9 tweakshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/ios9_hero-420-90.jpg After eight years of upgrades and interactions, we've come to expect certain things with iOS updates. Each time around, Apple offers a few new apps, a couple marquee features, some fresh wallpaper, and a host of minor speed and usability improvements that give users plenty of reasons to seek out the upgrade button. Apple's ridiculously high adoption rates aren't just a result of its handle on fragmentation; downloading a new iOS release can be just as exciting as peeling the plastic screen cover off a new iPhone, breathing new life into old devices and offering at least one or two must-have apps and features. iOS 9 slows things down a bit. While there are lots of new things to try out (particularly for iPad users), many of its changes are of an intuitive nature. iOS 9 is a so-called maintenance release, focusing on improving the foundation and making it smarter rather than rebuilding and adding to it. There are far more noticeable little changes in iOS 9 than big ones — like, for example, using watchOS's San Francisco as the main system font — and while it doesn't smack you in the face with its newness like iOS 7 did, there's still a lot to absorb. In some ways, version 9 feels like something of a culmination of what Apple started with iOS 8, smoothing many of the rough edges and bringing a greater sense of coherence and navigation. In a former time, it might have been called iOS 8.5. But even though you won't find very many revolutionary changes, the usability and accessibility tweaks throughout iOS 9 make it feel like a complete, polished operating system rather than a work in progress. And as always, if you've missed anything, we've got you covered with 50 tips and tricks. 1. Enter proactive assistanthttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/01-420-90.jpg Back when iOS 7 launched, Apple changed the position of the search bar from its original spot at the left of the first home screen to the top of anywhere you are (accessible by pulling down on the screen). In iOS 9, Apple has rebooted the leftmost search in a big way. Now, when you swipe right on your first home screen you'll enter the Siri-powered proactive assistant, which offers a series of app, contact, location and news suggestions based on how you use your phone each day. For example, if you check your email first thing in the morning, it'll offer a shortcut to your favorite email client, and when you go to make your nightly phone call to your mom, her contact info will be front and center. 2. Turn off proactive assistanthttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/02-420-90.jpg It might be one of iOS 9's premier features, but if you don't find proactive assistant useful, you can disable it by going to the Spotlight Search settings (in Settings > General) and flipping the Siri Suggestions toggle. You'll still be able to search by swiping right at the first home screen, but all of the app, contact and news suggestions will be gone, as will the app suggestions that appear below the usual pull-down search. 3. Un-animate the keyboardhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/03-420-90.jpg iOS users have struggled with the shift and caps-lock key since Apple changed its behavior in iOS 7.1, but iOS 9 should settle it once and for all. Now, when you tap the shift key, the keys will animate their case so you can plainly see the type of character you're going to type. But if the case-changing letters are too distracting, you can shut it off by heading to Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard and flipping the Show Lowercase Keys toggle from green to white. 4. Turn off character pop-ups while you typehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/04-420-90.jpg Speaking of the keyboard, Apple has always featured a useful bit of animated feedback via pop-ups when you tap one of the keys. But if you've always hated it, you can finally turn it off. Just take a trip to Settings > General > Keyboard and toggle off the Character Preview. 5. Draw, make lists and format text in Noteshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/05-420-90.jpg Apple has beefed up its Notes app in a big way in iOS 9. With last year's update, it was nice that Apple finally added rich-text support for using bold, italicized or underlined text, but now Notes might actually be an app we use to, well, take notes. Inside every file you'll see a gray plus sign just above the keyboard that opens a new menu of options; tap it and you'll be able to easily create a list, add a photo, change the formatting and even sketch a quick doodle. And when you're done you can even organize your notes into folders. 6. Save an attachment to a notehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/06-420-90.jpg iOS 8 changed the way the apps we use share data and interact with each other, and now Notes is getting in on it, too. Whether you're looking at a photo, reading an article or working on a document in another app, you can quickly save it to any of your notes (or create a new one). And if you lose track of what you've clipped, you can see an overview of every link and snap in the new Attachments Browser by tapping the grid icon in the lower-left corner. 7. Get public transit directions in Mapshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/07-420-90.jpg Maps has made great strides since its melted Brooklyn Bridge days, and if you live in or frequent Baltimore, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, London, Mexico City, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Toronto or Washington it's about to get even better. When iOS 9 launches, those cities will include full transit information built right into Maps, including routes, directions, transfers and times. It'll take some time before it stretches across the world (or even the US), but it's a great start. 8. Find nearby Apple Pay locations in Mapshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/08-420-90.jpg When you go to search for a location in Maps, you'll notice a new series of buttons offering shortcuts to places nearby, like restaurants, bars, shops and hotels. It's a quick way to find something good to eat in a strange city — and if you've forgotten your wallet, you can tap on any suggestion to see if it accepts Apple Pay. 9. Plan tomorrow's subway triphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/09-420-90.jpg If you're going to be traveling to one of the cities supported by Apple Maps transit directions, you don't have to wait until you get there to plan out your route. When you're looking at transit directions in Maps, you'll see a More Routes button next to the one suggested; tap it and then hit the Options button and you'll be able to set a date, time and method of transportation for your travels. 10. Turn on low-power modehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/10-420-90.jpg There's nothing more frustrating than a red battery icon on your iPhone. But in iOS 9 it doesn't have to send you into a panicked search for an outlet. Much like Apple Watch, Apple has introduced a new Low Power Mode in iOS 9 that helps squeeze out every bit of juice remaining in your battery. Flip it on (inside the battery settings, which has moved to its own tab under Touch ID in the main Settings) and your iPhone's battery icon will turn yellow, indicating that it is conserving energy by reducing performance and networking activity, including Mail fetch, background app refresh, motion effects and animated wallpapers. And if you don't turn it on yourself, Apple will prompt you once your battery dips below 20%. 11. Customize the News apphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/11-420-90.jpg No matter what you like to read, chances are you do a lot of it on your iPhone. And now Apple has given us a better way to do it. Among the new apps you'll get in iOS 9, you'll find that Newsstand has been replaced with News (and your Newsstand mags have been moved into an ordinary "Newsstand" folder). But News is very different from the app it's replacing; inside you'll be able to create a personalized feed of headlines from hundreds of sources around the web, from major publications to specialized blogs. Much like Apple Music, you'll be able to pick your favorite genres and sources, and the app will learn and offer "For You" suggestions based on what you read. But if you want to give it some help, you can always edit your feeds in the favorites tab. 12. Fill your Wallethttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/12-420-90.jpg Just like Newsstand, the Passbook app has a new name and a new look in iOS 9, and it's a whole lot more useful than it was before. You can add cards using the same method, but in addition to the boarding passes, tickets and gift cards it used to store, Apple's new Wallet app is also the home for your Apple Pay credit, debit and store cards, as well as soon-to-launch rewards cards from stores such as Dunkin' Donuts, Walgreens and Panera. And now Discover customers can get in on the fun, too. 13. Pick a payment card without unlockinghttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/13-420-90.jpg Apple Pay has transformed the way we pay for things - especially on the Apple Watch, where we can quickly choose a card just by double-clicking the side button. Just like Apple Watch, you can now double-click the home button while on the lock screen to bring up your cards on your iPhone, even if you're not in range of a NFC reader. 14. Navigate open apps more quicklyhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/14-420-90.jpg Apple has changed the way we multitask in iOS 9. Along with things like Split Screen and Picture in Picture on the iPad, you won't see a carousel anymore when you double-click the home button. Instead, Apple has designed a series of sliding cards to help switch between apps. But you won't be using it as much; when you open a link or tap a notification you'll see a new "Back to..." button at the top left of the screen; tap it and you'll be instantly transported back to the app you were just using. 15. Show iCloud Drive on the home screenhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/15-420-90.jpg When Apple unveiled iCloud Drive as a key component in iOS 8, it seemed like it was finally bringing back iDisk, the pre-Dropbox drop box that let us quickly transfer files from our Macs to anywhere they needed to go. And it was, except for one major flaw: we couldn't access it on our iOS devices without going into a supported app first. Apple has changed that in iOS 9. Head over to Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive and you'll find a Show on Home Screen toggle. Turn it green and you'll be able to access everything inside, just like in the iTools days. 16. Find the new apps (and bury them)http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/16-420-90.jpg With every new iOS update comes a couple more apps Apple thinks we all need. This year two apps that were previously available as App Store downloads have apparently risen to level of essential: Find My Friends and Find My iPhone. If you didn't use them before, however, you probably won't now, since there isn't much different from the old versions, save better Siri integration and a new Find My Friends Notification Center widget. Oh, and you can add two more apps to the list of ones you can't delete. 17. Remove apps from deep Spotlight searchinghttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/17-420-90.jpg Apple has dramatically improved the intelligence of our searches in iOS 9, adding a natural language engine and the ability to find content stored deep within apps. And it's all under your control. Visit Settings > General > Spotlight Search and you'll be able to choose exactly which apps you want to include in the search results. 18. Set a reminder about what's on the screenhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/18-420-90.jpg Siri is great for setting reminders, but in iOS 9 it's using its newfound intelligence to do it even quicker. If you're looking at something on your screen that you want to be reminded about - whether it's a website, calendar appointment or point of interest - just tell Siri to "remind me about this" and it'll scan the page for the relevant information and add it to the Reminders app. 19. Search photos with Sirihttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/19-420-90.jpg iCloud Photo Library has given us access to every single shot we've ever snapped on every device we use, but with so many pictures to scroll through, finding things can be a pain. Now, Siri can help. Just ask to search photos taken on a specific day at a specific place or whatever criteria you've assigned to them, and it'll take you right to them. 20. Silence Sirihttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/20-420-90.jpg We all love Siri, but we don't always want to hear its mellifluous voice. In iOS 9, you don't have to. A new setting called Voice Feedback (under Settings > General > Siri) lets you choose when you hear an audible voice, with three options: always on, hands-free only (which will only allow audio when using "Hey Siri" or connected to a Bluetooth device) and an all-new option, control with ring switch, which will prevent Siri from speaking when your ring switch is switched to silent. 21. Search inside Settingshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/21-420-90.jpg As our iPhones have gotten more powerful, the Settings app has become overloaded with so many switches and selections it can be hard to remember where they are. But once you install iOS 9 you won't have to blindly hunt through tabs to find what you're looking for anymore. Apple has finally built a live search field into Settings, so all you have to do is type a few letters and it'll start filtering through the hundreds of toggles and titles in an instant. 22. Boost poor Wi-Fi signals with LTEhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/22-420-90.jpg We've all experienced that no-man's land between the time our Wi-Fi signal drops and LTE takes over, and Apple understands our one-bar pain. Way at the bottom of Settings > Cellular (past all the installed apps asking to use cellular data), you'll find a new toggle named Wi-Fi Assist. Turn it on and your phone will seamlessly switch to LTE whenever your signal is weak - even if the network hasn't completely dropped off. 23. Make a six-digit passcodehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/23-420-90.jpg Apple has always taken security seriously, and in iOS 9 it's beefing up one of the easiest ways to prevent theft: the passcode. Instead of the four-digit passcode that has been in existence since the beginning, Apple has expanded the passcode to include six numbers, raising the probability of cracking it from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in a million. Upgraders won't be prompted to change their old passcode, so if you want to take advantage of the stronger security take a trip to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode > Change Passcode, then select Passcode Options once it's available and set it to 6-Digit Numeric Code. 24. Quickly trash all in Mailhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/24-420-90.jpg Finally! With each iOS revision, Apple has added little tricks and tweaks in Mail that help us navigate our messages faster, and there are a few in iOS 9, too. The first is a new Trash All button. Where you previously had to use wonky workarounds to trash everything at once, in iOS 9 simply hitting the edit button will let you clear out your Inbox with just a single tap. 25. Add an attachment to a message in Mailhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/25-420-90.jpg We've always been able to insert photos and videos in our Mail messages, but getting other attachments required a few more steps. Apple has eliminated all of those steps in iOS 9 with the adding of a simple Add Attachment button to the text menu. Tap it and you'll be able to browse and attach anything that's in your iCloud Drive, just like you would if you were using a real computer. 26. Remove unknown contacts and events from http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/26-420-90.jpg Part of iOS 9's expanded intelligence involves suggesting things that might be useful to you, whether it's an event you haven't scheduled or a contact you might want to add to your address book. But if you're not too keen about your iPhone snooping through your messages, you can limit its access. Inside Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars you'll find a pair of toggles: Contacts Found In Mail and Events Found in Mail. Turn them off and it'll prevent any unwanted data from creeping into the suggestions you get. 27. Stream high-quality Apple Music trackshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/27-420-90.jpg Apple Music may have made its debut in iOS 8.4, but Apple isn't resting on its laurels. In iOS 9 you'll find a slew of little changes to the interface, most notably in the way of simplified menus and a general cleaner look, plus you'll also find a few new settings to tinker with. Check out the Music settings and you'll see a new Playback & Downloads section, which lets you choose the quality of your streams over cellular networks. As it stands, Apple Music tracks play at 256Kbps when you're not connected to a Wi-Fi network in order to save data, but in iOS 9 you'll be able to listen to your favorite songs in all their hi-fi glory wherever you may roam. 28. Upgrade without deleting your favorite appshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/28-420-90.jpg Back when iOS 8 was released, the relatively slow adoption rate was blamed on all those 16GB iPhones in the wild. The problem was that iOS 8 needed a hefty 4.6GB of free space to install, which many would-be downloaders didn't have. But rather than scramble to delete enough photos and apps to install iOS 9, Apple is helping this time around. For one, it only requires less than 2GB of free space, which should eliminate the upgrade problem for most users. And for those pushing maximum capacity, Apple has added a new feature that will automatically delete enough apps to properly download and install the new update, then put them back when it's all finished. 29. Use Health to have a babyhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/29-420-90.jpg The Activity app has taken on a greater role in iOS thanks to Apple Watch, but Apple hasn't forgotten about Health. In addition to the myriad things it already tracks, Apple has added a new Reproductive Health tab, which lets women and couples keep tabs on basal body temperature, cervical mucus quality, menstruation and ovulation, among other things. Inside you'll find your data plotted on the same gorgeous charts, and here's a bonus tip: now you can rotate your phone to get a more detailed landscape view. 30. Use CarPlay without plugging in your iPhonehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/30-420-90.jpg If you're lucky enough to drive a vehicle with Apple CarPlay integration, you're probably a little bummed that you need to plug it in each time you settle into the driver's seat. But that won't be the case for very long. The next generation of CarPlay will automatically recognize your iPhone when you enter your vehicle. It's not entirely clear whether manufacturers will be able to upgrade existing wired systems, but iOS 9 brings some good news for current CarPlay users too: Apple is opening up the SDK to car makers, so you'll no longer have to switch out of the CarPlay app to access your navigation system's main controls. 31. Disable Shake to Undohttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/31-420-90.jpg Some people might not even realize it, but Apple has had an undo gesture baked right into iOS since version 3. In apps like Mail and Messages, all you have to do is shake your phone to undo your last action (and if you change your mind, just shake again to redo it). But if you don't want this function on your phone, there's now a way to disable it. Hidden inside Settings > General > Accessibility is a Shake to Undo toggle that will turn it off. 32. Ungroup notifications by apphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/32-420-90.jpg Each of iOS 8's two Notification Center view options — sorting manually or by time — creates an unwieldy list of everything you've missed for a specific app rather than showing the most recent (and presumably relevant) notifications first. Apple's changing that somewhat in iOS 9. Inside a new Sort Order tab under Settings > Notifications, you'll be able to switch your view between Recent and Manual. Choose the former and a new Group By App toggle will appear. Turn it on and it will essentially mimic the Notification Center's old behavior, with bunches of notifications organized by app. But leave it off and you'll get a neat running list of your notifications as they arrive, letting you quickly catch up on what you've missed. 33. Keep your battery levels in checkhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/33-420-90.jpg Speaking of the Notification Center, there's a new widget in iOS 9. When you tap on the Today view, you'll be able to see the battery life remaining in your iPhone and, if you have one paired, Apple Watch. And if you hate it, removing it is no different than any other widget - tap the Edit button at the bottom of the screen and hit the red minus circle. 34. Change the speed of your slo-mo movieshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/34-420-90.jpg When Apple introduced slow-motion video with iOS 8, it wasn't the all-or-nothing affair it seems to be. You might not have realized it, but if you tapped the fps number in the top-right corner of the screen, you could switch between 120 and 240 frames per second. In iOS 9, Apple has moved the options to Settings > Photos & Camera > Record Slo-mo, where perhaps more people are apt to find it. 35. Change resolution of recorded videoshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/35-420-90.jpg Don't worry, Apple hasn't forgotten about those who want to record videos at full-speed. Scroll to the bottom of the Camera settings and you'll see a new Record Video tab. Inside you'll be able to change the quality of your videos to either 720p HD at 30 frames per second, 1080p HD at 30 fps or 1080p HD at 60 fps. But be warned: Apple notes that recording at the highest setting will be about three times larger than the lowest option, so make sure you have some gigabytes free. 36. Zoom a video while it's playinghttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/36-420-90.jpg If you've ever tried to zoom in while watching a video you recorded on your iPhone, you probably were confused; in previous versions of iOS, pinching to zoom only paused the video, as your pinch was misinterpreted for a tap. In iOS 9, you zoom in on a video (and reposition it on the screen) just as you would a photo, whether it's playing or not. 37. Quickly return to your photo libraryhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/37-420-90.jpg Browsing your pictures in the Photos app has gotten a little faster in iOS 9 thanks to the addition of a small gesture. Now when you enlarge a photo to see it full screen you don't have to reach all the way to he top left corner to get back to the album your were viewing. Just swipe down on the screen to whisk it away and return to the grid. 38. Use smart albums in Photoshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/38-420-90.jpg If you take a lot of selfies and screenshots, Apple has given you an easier way to organize them. Inside your Albums tab in Photos, you'll find two new smart folders, appropriately labeled Selfies and Screenshots. While they won't remove them from your camera roll, the two albums collect all of your screen grabs and front-camera snaps where they can quickly be shared. 39. Quickly select batches of photoshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/39-420-90.jpg We all know about the shift shortcut when selecting large batches of files on our Macs, but on our iPhones, we've always had to tap each individual photo to select more at a time. That's no longer the case. In iOS 9, you can simply glide your finger over the photos you want to select and they'll all get blue checkmarks, ready to be shared, moved or deleted. 40. Hide photos from your photo libraryhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/40-420-90.jpg It's happened to all of us. We're showing our friends a bunch of photos we took while on vacation and they grab your iPhone to get a closer look. Panic sets in when they start swiping over fear they'll come across something they weren't supposed to see. Now you can stop that from happening. If there's any photo you don't want in your main library, you can tap on the Share button, then the Hide button at the bottom, to hide it from plain sight (though it will stay in the All Photos album and any others you've added it to, so you can always unhide it later). 41. Customize your photo slideshowhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/41-420-90.jpg Apple has always had a nifty slideshow feature baked into its Photos app, but in iOS 9 it's gotten a bit of a surprising makeover. For starters, the controls are no longer in Settings; after you initiate a slideshow via the action inside the share sheet, you'll see a new Options button in the bottom right corner. Tap it and you'll be able to change the theme, music and speed. A set of five new transitions are available to choose from, as well as matching music to accompany them, in case you don't want to use something from your Apple Music library. 42. Request desktop site in Safarihttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/42-420-90.jpg iOS 8 included a feature to request the desktop version of a site in Safari, but it was fairly hidden; however, in iOS 9, it's built right into the share sheet menu (just slide the bottom row to the left to find it). And here's an extra tip: tap and hold the reload button in the address bar and a Request Desktop Site shortcut will appear at the bottom of the screen. 43. Disable frequently visited siteshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/43-420-90.jpg iOS 8 introduced a new Safari feature that displays shortcuts to your most visited websites for quick access to them. Individual icons could be deleted by using the usual tap-and-hold method, but there was no way to turn them off entirely. Now there is. Take a trip to Settings > Safari and you'll see a new Frequently Visited Sites toggle. Turn it off and all of the shortcuts will disappear forever (or at least until you flip it back on). 44. Use two apps at oncehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/44-420-90.jpg Multitasking on our tablets has always come down to the ability to quickly switch between apps, but Apple is improving it in a big way in iOS 9. While working on your iPad, just swipe from the right edge of the screen to bring up the new Slide Over feature, which lets you browse a second app inside a skinny panel. And with the iPad Air 2, you can pull the window further to enter Split View, letting you run two apps simultaneously, side by side. 45. Watch a video while you workhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/45-420-90.jpg Speaking of multitasking, Apple has added more than split-screen apps. When you're watching a video on your iPad, you'll see a new icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Tap it and your video will shrink to a small player that floats above your home screen and any other app you open. It's like a little taste of OS X right on your iPad. 46. Turn your iPad keyboard into a touchpadhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/46-420-90.jpg The last tidbit about iPad multitasking pertains to the keyboard. Along with a new shortcut bar that puts the controls for cut, copy, paste right at your fingertips, Apple has turned the keyboard into a new kind of virtual touchpad, letting you select text without needing to move your fingers off the keyboard. And if you use a Bluetooth keyboard, you'll find a full new set of keystrokes and an OS X-style app switcher. 47. Quickly delete an alarmhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/47-420-90.jpg Apple has brought the super handy swipe-to-delete gesture to most of its apps, but for some reason it neglected the Clock app. To delete an alarm, you needed to tap the edit button first, wasting precious seconds on extra steps. Now all you need to do is swipe on a clock or an alarm to delete it. 48. Find on page in Safarihttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/48-420-90.jpg Find on page has always been a sort of hidden feature in Safari. To get to it before iOS 9, you needed to tap the address bar, type the word you wanted to look for, scroll down to the bottom of the suggestions window and tap on the word you typed. In iOS 9, it's gotten a lot easier. Just hit the share button and you'll see a new Find on Page activity button in the bottom row. Select it and a new search bar will pop up right over the keyboard. The old way works too, however. 49. Customize Safari Reader modehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/49-420-90.jpg If you use Safari's Reader to view articles on the web, it's gotten whole easier on your eyes. After you enter Reader mode, you'll see a new button at the right on the address bar. Tap it and you'll get a menu of options that includes eight fonts, two sizes and four color themes. And whatever you select will become the new default until you change it. 50. Adjust the touch sensitivity of the screenhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/iOS9_50_Tips/50-420-90.jpg Accessibility has always been a major part of iOS's superiority. In addition to everything it does for blind, low-vision and deaf users, in iOS 9 Apple has expanded its technologies geared for those with physical or motor challenges. A new section called Touch Accommodations lets users change how the screen responds to your taps. A series of options can tell your iPhone to ignore repeated touches, increase the duration of taps before recognized, and turn on Tap Assistance to allow any single finger gesture to perform a tap. http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385885394/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e23632/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385885394/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e23632/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385885394/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e23632/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385885394/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e23632/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385885394/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e23632/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49e23632/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/hhs5XswDspI

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel2016Mac-hero-470-75.jpgThe new Excel for Mac is herehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel2016Mac-hero-420-90.jpg After a long, long wait, the 2016 version of Microsoft Excel has finally arrived on Mac. Like the latest version of Word for Mac, Excel is available now to Microsoft Office 365 subscribers and will be coming later this month as a one-time purchase. The latest version of the popular spreadsheet application delivers a long list of new features including support for Retina Display, a streamlined user interface, full-screen view, and multitouch gestures. But that's only scratching the surface of what individual Office components like Excel 2016 have to offer, which is why we've compiled this gallery of six ways to improve your spreadsheet experience while learning a few tricks at the same time. Windows keyboard shortcutshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel_shortcuts-420-90.jpg The dual-platform nature of Office 365 means some users will be required to jump between Windows (for work) and Mac (for home) — an experience that has been quite exasperating over the years when it comes to keyboard shortcuts. The good news is Excel 2016 has brought some sanity to this dilemma at long last, with many shortcuts that require the Windows CTRL modifier key now working the same way on the Mac. Most common functions like cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, and save also retain the equivalent Command key shortcut as well. Microsoft has a full list of Excel 2016 keyboard shortcuts on its support website, should you need a refresher. Formula Builder to the rescuehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel_formula-420-90.jpg Those who use Excel day in and day out certainly don't need hand-holding when it comes to crunching numbers. For the rest of us, Excel 2016 introduces Formula Builder, a new feature that helps novice users overcome daring financial acrobatics with the greatest of ease. A click on Shift-F3 calls up this handy option, which offers the complete range of formulas, along with the kind of hand-holding novices need to overcome their unnatural fear of mathematical computations. Charts made simplehttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel_charts-420-90.jpg Converting a spreadsheet to a chart hasn't always been the most simple or intuitive task, even in an application as powerful as Excel. That's why Microsoft added a new Recommended Charts feature to Excel 2016, which assists in the process by offering suggestions for a chart based upon the data selected in the worksheet. To use it, click the Insert option on the Ribbon, highlight the data to be included, and click the Recommended Charts button; a drop-down menu serves up one or more samples of the chart Excel will create for you in just a click. From there, the chart is added to the spreadsheet for the user to do as they wish with it. Slice those PivotTableshttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel_slicers-420-90.jpg We're not hardcore number crunchers that use PivotTables on a daily basis, but if we were, we'd probably be dancing on the ceiling over Excel 2016's new slicer tool. Now PivotTables can be set up with options to limit the type of data being viewed — for example, only displaying relevant data from specific years, category, or just about any other way you desire. This new feature can be initiated by clicking the Insert Slicer option when using PivotTable Analyze mode on the Ribbon. Analyze thishttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel_analysis-420-90.jpg Most Excel users won't have a huge volume of data in any given spreadsheet, but those in the engineering or academic fields are another story entirely. Microsoft has come to their aid with an optional Analysis ToolPak, which can be enabled in Excel 2016 for Mac by heading to the Tools > Add-Ins menu, selecting the Analysis ToolPak option, and clicking OK. Doing so will add a new Data Analysis feature to the Tools menu, and from there you can scrutinize massive sets of data in a wide variety of different ways. Clean or greenhttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/Excel2016_newfeatures/Excel_themes-420-90.jpg You've seen the screenshots and may have wondered, "Why does their Excel 2016 window have a green header and mine is plain white?" Glad you asked. New to all Office 2016 applications is the ability to select themes, which can be found by navigating to the Excel > Preferences menu and clicking General. At the bottom Personalize section, you'll see a pulldown menu for Office theme, which is probably set to Classic by default. Select Colorful instead, and a pop-up will appear reminding you this choice applies to all Office apps; click OK and bask in the warm glow of forest pine green for Excel. http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385811608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e1a2e2/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385811608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e1a2e2/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385811608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e1a2e2/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385811608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e1a2e2/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385811608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e1a2e2/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49e1a2e2/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Sne26SbHLZ8

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/people/salesforce/Mark%20Benioff%20Salesforce%20CEO%20at%20Dreamforce%202012%20close-470-75.jpgOrganizations that want to take advantage of outside-of-the-box customer data will be excited by Salesforce’s latest release. The CRM giant has unveiled its Internet of Things Cloud, which is geared toward pulling in sales and service information from sensors and devices. Similar to how Salesforce has traditionally enabled businesses to log customer interaction data across smartphones, email, websites and web-based applications, the Internet of Things Cloud can gather data information from devices like refrigerators, lightbulbs and thermostats, among others. This means that any internet-connected device can provide organizations running Salesforce with information to respond to customer service inquiries, or to initiate upsell opportunities, without having to manually input data into the CRM system. Salesforce will leverage a new tool called Salesforce Thunder to gather and process all the data coming from the devices. The connected worldSalesforce has been a huge proponent of the Internet of Things, specifically in the wearable space. The San Francisco-based company was one of the first enterprise partners for the Apple Watch. Apple and Salesforce have co-developed more than 20 business-focused applications for the smartwatch, most of which focus on enabling customer service reps to more quickly gather information on customers in order to provide better feedback. With Thunder, Salesforce can now apply the same principles to devices that are connected to the web, but not necessarily worn or carried by customers and professionals. Why? The worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) market will increase 133% to $3.04 trillion (about £1.8 trillion, or au$3.3 billion) in 2020, according to IDC. The number of IoT-connected units will reach approximately 30 billion in 2020. Salesforce competitor Cisco has been an aggressive evangelist of IoT technology. over the past year, Cisco has invested $1 billion (about £605 million, or au$1.1 billion) to build out a network to tackle what it calls the Internet of Everything. 10 CRM systems small businesses should know http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385807267/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e0cd4a/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385807267/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e0cd4a/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385807267/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e0cd4a/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385807267/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e0cd4a/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385807267/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49e0cd4a/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49e0cd4a/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/LZHPO9L5qbo

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/MacLifeWebContent/HowToDeleteTimeMachineBackups/TimeMachine-hero-470-75.jpgDo you have a single Time Machine drive that you use to back up multiple Macs? Or a Time Machine drive you were using before upgrading computers? If these apply to you - or for other reasons - you may risk running out of drive space. Fortunately, there's an extremely easy way to get that space back by deleting these old backups, and you can do it right from within the Time Machine interface. Continue reading and we'll show you how to delete your old Time Machine backup files. To begin deleting your old Time Machine backups from your drive, perform the following steps: 1. Plug in your external drive containing your Time Machine backups. 2. Open the Finder. 3. Activate Time Machine with the Finder visible by clicking the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and selecting Enter Time Machine (or by launching the Time Machine app from /Applications). 4. Navigate to the drive containing your backups from within the Time Machine interface and open the Backups.db followed by the computer you wish to delete backups for. 5. Select an old backup folder (titled by date of backup). 6. Click the Action (gear) icon in the Finder window, and select "Delete Backup." http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/HowToDeleteTimeMachineBackups/TimeMachine_1-420-90.jpg When you click this, Time Machine will spring to live, and will begin to delete the old backup files. Keep the drive connected while the old files are removed. Once they are removed, you can unplug the drive. This will only remove the selected backups, but use caution to delete only the backups that are no longer in use. By doing this, you free up space that Time Machine is currently using. Time Machine will periodically remove old backup files during the backup process, but doing this can help free up space on a shared drive even quicker. http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385796812/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49d8ecc8/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385796812/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49d8ecc8/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385796812/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49d8ecc8/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385796812/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49d8ecc8/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385796812/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49d8ecc8/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49d8ecc8/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/bX4-ifGPloA

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/TRBC/Software/Microsoft/Office%202016%20Windows%20Touch%20and%20Mac/the%20new%20Office%20themes-470-75.jpgAfter announcing that Office 2016 will become available for consumers starting September 22 and for business users starting October 1, Microsoft reveals that it is adopting the same update strategy that it is taking for Windows 10. When the Microsoft switched to offering Windows as a service, rather than as a software product, it revealed that updates will automatically download and install in the background, and consumer users cannot opt out of these updates, bringing security patches, fixes or new features to the OS. With Office 2016, enterprise customers will be placed in similar Current Branch or Current Branch for Business, following a similar upgrade cadence as Windows 10. Unlike Windows, however, there will not be a third Long Term Service Branch, or LTSB. Keeping current Users on Current Branch will receive new updates and features faster. They trade off a little bit of stability as the new features may not have undergone large scale testing, but they also have access to new features sooner. Current Branch customers will receive updates on a monthly cycle. On the other hand, Current Branch for Business, or CBB customers, will get updates every four months. Microsoft will still deliver security fixes as needed in the months where there isn't a CBB update. Penalties for not keeping currentLike Windows, customers must stay current to receive future product updates, security fixes and new features. In a similar strategy to Windows 10, Microsoft is forcing CB and CBB customers to install updates as they're ready, but CBB can delay updates if needed. Unfortunately, this means that like Windows 10, CB customers cannot skip an update. CBB users can defer one cycle of updates, which gives them four months to decide. If CBB customers defer updates, they must deploy the subsequent round of updates or else they would not receive further updates from Microsoft. Your placement in CB or CBB will vary depending on the Office 365 package your organization subscribes to. Office 365 Business and Office 365 Business Professional users fall under the CB track, while Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Enterprise E3 or Office 365 Enterprise E4 users can switch to CBB for greater flexibility on when to deploy updates. The CBB plans are pricier, costing about $12 to $22 (£7-14, AU$16-31) per seat monthly, while the CB plans cost $8.25 to $12.50 (£5-8, AU$11-17) per seat monthly. Owning OfficeThe CB and CBB policies only apply to customers who sign up for the Office 365 subscriptions. Individuals and organizations who prefer to purchase a perpetual license won't be able to join the CB or CBB track, Microsoft said. Once Office 2016 is released, users of Office 2013 will continue to receive updates and security fixes for 12 months, and Microsoft is urging those users to migrate to Office 2016. Office 2016 will be available on September 22 for CB users, and the first CBB update will occur in February 2016. Business customers can start downloading Office 2016 in October through Software Assurance. There is also a separate version of Office 2016 for Mac. Via: ComputerWorld Read our Office 2016 review http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385617060/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c787d5/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385617060/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c787d5/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385617060/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c787d5/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385617060/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c787d5/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385617060/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c787d5/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49c787d5/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/U8qywdUsdOw

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/MacLifeWebContent/HowToRestoreRingtones/RestoreRingtones-hero3-470-75.jpgGot an Apple, Mac, or iOS tech question? We have the answer. This time we have a reader whose custom-made iPhone ringtone library has seemingly disappeared. But that doesn't mean those tones are gone for good! Here are the steps you can take to track them down on your Mac, then restore them to your iPhone. QuestionI had a library of homemade iPhone ringtones on my Mac that disappeared during the last OS X software upgrade. All my friends and family members had a ringtone assigned to them. I knew exactly who was calling me without having to look at the phone. About 5 months ago I exported my iTunes library to my Desktop: File > Library > Export Library. Is there a way to isolate the ringtone files and restore them to iTunes? Or would it be better to just do a complete restore? Also, is it possible to backup the ringtones to a CD to prevent this from happening again? AnswerAck! That's never fun when files go missing after a software update. Furthermore, Export Library doesn't actually backup your iTunes media files — it contains metadata such as your playlists and ratings. Fortunately, you might still have some options available. Your best bet would be to access an actual backup that you made through Time Machine or other means, but even if you don't have one of those, the ringtone files could still be on your computer even if iTunes isn't showing them. A Finder search can help you track down the missing files since all ringtones end in a ".m4r" extension. Hit Command + F to begin a search; type "m4r" in the search field, then, when the result completions appear, you'll see "Kind: Ringtone." Select this type. http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/MacLifeWebContent/HowToRestoreRingtones/RestoreRingtones-420-90.jpg By performing this search, you should be able to find your missing files if they're backed up anywhere on your Mac. Once you have them, simply drag and drop those ringtone files onto the iTunes icon in the Dock, and they will be re-imported. Once re-imported, they can be synced over to your iPhone and re-assigned to the contacts. In regards to backing up to a CD, yes, ringtones can be put on a CD (or other type of storage media) just like any other files. Simply insert a blank CD into your Mac, then burn the ringtone files to it for safekeeping. For further information on how to burn files to a disc on a Mac, here are Apple's instructions on the matter. Got an Apple tech question? Email ask@maclife.com. http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385586055/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c6f1d8/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385586055/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c6f1d8/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385586055/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c6f1d8/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385586055/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c6f1d8/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385586055/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c6f1d8/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49c6f1d8/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Vs5L5YhFkjY

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/iPhone/iPhone%206S/iphone-6s-pink-gallery-470-75.jpgApple's Live Photos aims to add a fun twist to your still photography, but could gobble up your precious onboard storage very quickly. The new feature, which works by automatically shooting video with sound up to three seconds prior and after a photo is taken, will take up twice as much storage as a single photo consumes, MacRumors reports. It's logical that a photo that's sugar-coated in full motion and sound would take up more room, but it creates even more of a storage conundrum for future iPhone 6S owners. Especially those who are looking to nab the 16GB options. On the other hand, if you're considering, or who have already pre-ordered, the 64GB or 128GB flavors of the iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus, you'll be able to take tons of Live Photos before you need to offload them onto your Mac. Thankfully, the on-by-default feature can be turned off if you're hoping to get the most out of your storage space. Stay tuned for our full review of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus to see more in-depth findings on the impact of Live Photos on storage. Check out our hands-on review of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385582139/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c66c26/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385582139/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c66c26/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385582139/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c66c26/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385582139/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c66c26/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385582139/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c66c26/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49c66c26/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ICSyslsuV6w

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Microsoft/Lumia%20Denim/10%20things/Lumia-Denim_feat-470-75.jpgWant to test the next Windows 10 Mobile preview build? Don't hold your breath. The next sneak peak of the mobile operating system was supposed to come out today, but it has been delayed, according to Gabriel Aul, Microsoft's Vice President of WDG Engineering Systems. Aul posted the news on his Twitter feed this morning. Essentially, Microsoft discovered an issue that would have caused subsequent versions of the beta system to not install over the proposed current build. Users would have been required to "reflash" in order to move onto the next build, Aul said. So what's next? In order to remedy the issue, Aul said his team will be "working over the weekend here" in order to "get it out as soon as we can while ensuring quality." Aul said the issue could only have been discovered by installing a subsequent build, which is why Microsoft was so late in catching the issue. Aul apologized to his Twitter followers and said the issue will be resolved "early next week." "As Insiders you're seeing the real process of making an extremely complex piece of software. There are bumps," he added. The vocal minorityAul's apologies didn't dissuade some of his followers from vocalizing their displeasure. Stelios Kalitzis said in response to the news that the delay is a "Totally failure [sic] one more time for Microsoft and [Aul] personally!" A Twitter user named Das Jessy said the delay could prompt Windows users to move to competitors: "We fully understand but at some point you are promoting folks to move over android/iphone..You are giving them the proper reason to." Some users were more forgiving. "Thanks for the update. Don't let the haters get you down. Complex system with lots of chances for errors - we get it," Fritz Pabst posted. Previous buildsThe last major Windows 10 Mobile build was released last month. The updated preview, Build 10512, featured improvements to overall performance, as well as interface changes and bug fixes. Windows 10 Mobile was initially rumored to go live in September. However, recent reports indicate the operating system likely won't reach the masses as a final product until November. Given the recent hiccup, it's clear the build process is fluid and Microsoft is dedicated to creating a system of transparency. "In the past, and with other companies, you see nothing, then an event, and final product. Bumps all hidden from you," Aul explained. If you're interested in previewing the mobile operating system, check out this primer on how to download the preview today. http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385658389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c64eed/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385658389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c64eed/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385658389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c64eed/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385658389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c64eed/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385658389/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c64eed/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49c64eed/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/jCOlqyEJvGM

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/logos/ibm-470-75.jpgIBM has made another acquisition to bolster its enterprise cloud offering in the shape of StrongLoop. The deal, for which terms have not been disclosed, gives IBM a top player in the application developer software for enterprise sector and, in particular, it focuses on the popular open source programming language Node.js. What the technology does is provide enterprises with the chance to develop cloud based and mobile apps equipped with APIs that are able to handle huge streams of data whilst at the same stage possessing the ability to plug-in to other enterprise apps at the back end. Node.js is an incredibly popular framework to perform this task and it goes some way the helping enterprises handle the huge volumes of data that come with operating in markets focused on the internet of things, mobile and web applications. From StrongLoop's side of the deal, it has reiterated to the Node.js community that it expects to continue as it has done for some time except that becoming a part of IBM will give it increased resources with which to go about business on a daily basis. "With this acquisition, the industry benefits from Node.js' formal entry into the mainstream enterprise," said Juan Carlos Soto, CEO of StrongLoop. "As leaders in the Node.js open community, we plan to further advance open, community-driven innovation coupled with global, enterprise class software and services offerings to grow client value in the API economy." Investment on the upIt will come as no surprise that StrongLoop is planning to increase its investment in the Node.js ecosystem at a faster rate than is currently the case. As a result of the deal, Node.js developers will be able to access IBM Bluemix as an operating environment and StrongLoop's tools will be combined together with IBM WebSphere and Java to give Node.js developers to best offering possible. IBM sets aside £2bn for new IoT division http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385659608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c51184/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385659608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c51184/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385659608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c51184/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385659608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c51184/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385659608/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c51184/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49c51184/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/2yqO4EBVTWE

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Microsoft/Windows%2010%20on%20Dell/P1010930-470-75.JPGWindows users are pointing fingers at Microsoft for presuming that they want to one day jump aboard the Windows 10 bandwagon. First reported by The Inquirer, one user spotted the BT folder that is home to images of the new operating system on his hard drive even though he has yet to 'reserve' a copy of the new OS. "The symptoms are repeated failed 'Upgrade to Windows 10' in the WU update history and a huge 3.5GB to 6GB hidden folder labelled '$Windows. BT'. I thought Microsoft [said] this 'upgrade' was optional. If so, why is it being pushed out to so many computers where it wasn't reserved, and why does it try to install over and over again?" he said. The same user went on to say that he knew of a couple of instances where the massive file caused users to go over their internet data allowance for the month. It's also a worrying development for anyone that owns a 2-in-1 with 32GB of flash memory or less as the tablet will, in all likelihood, run a lot slower with that amount of storage taken up. Microsoft's reply to the story basically confirmed that anyone with Windows Update turned to automatic updates is open to receive the file. Ready to be installed"For individuals who have chosen to receive automatic updates through Windows Update, we help upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they'll need if they decide to upgrade," Microsoft said. "When the upgrade is ready, the customer will be prompted to install Windows 10 on the device." Even though Windows 10 has already been installed onto 75 million PCs worldwide, the install base of Windows is enormous and many won't want to upgrade to Windows 10 yet, if at all, thus making it a risky assumption for Microsoft make. Windows 10 review http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385646183/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c45a82/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385646183/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c45a82/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385646183/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c45a82/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385646183/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c45a82/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385646183/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49c45a82/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49c45a82/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/Vmi4F4MF25E

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/AAevents/Apple%20WWDC%202015/PR%20images/OS%20X%20El%20Capitan-470-75.jpgOS X El Capitan is nearly ready for release, after Apple pushed the Golden Master version of its latest operating system to developers and its public beta program members. The Cupertino-based firm sent a mass email out to its public beta program members to inform them of the exciting news and it also thanked everyone that has participated in the program by providing feedback along the way. As for the eventual release date, Apple publicly stated on the OS X El Capitan preview site that September 30 will be the promised day. OS X El Capitan won't drop with a huge set of new features, however, there are a few notable additions. Split View will enable snapping together app windows, a Spaces Bar to revamp multi-desktop management, and a new graphical API known as Metal - which brings 50% better performance at up to 40% higher rendering efficiency. 'Experience' and 'Performance'Instead of new features, more focus has been paid to "Experience" and "Performance" for faster performance than ever before. As ever, OS X El Capitan will remain free, but this year it now has a competitor in that department in the shape of Windows 10. Apple fans are a loyal bunch and will likely upgrade to El Capitan even faster than PC users have taken to Windows 10. OS X 10.11 El Capitan: news, release date, and features http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385596142/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd465e/sc/28/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385596142/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd465e/sc/28/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385596142/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd465e/sc/28/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385596142/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd465e/sc/28/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385596142/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd465e/sc/28/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49bd465e/sc/28/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/2OBd2u51RZE

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Microsoft/Windows%2010%20Lenovo/Embargoed%20until%209PM%20PDT%20on%2028%20JULY/Start%20Menu%20Jump%20List-470-75.JPGCould Windows 10 really be the last ever version of Windows? That is will it be an operating system that upgrades and evolves without needing a major version increase? If you currently have Windows 7 or 8, you can find out for yourself, as Microsoft is giving you the upgrade for absolutely free. Read on to find out more, including how to cleanly and safely install Windows 10 on your machine. Which edition?Windows 10 is currently split into seven different editions, the key two being Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro edition, which mostly mirror the home versions of Windows that we're used to. Windows 10 Home ($119, approx £77) is the standard version that Microsoft intends for use in, yes, the home. There's little left out: you'll get hot new features such as Cortana and the Edge web browser, as well as Windows-standard security tools such as secure boot and Windows Defender. If you're currently using Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic or Home Premium, or the standard Windows 8.1, this is the version you'll get as part of your free upgrade. Windows 10 Pro ($199, approx £128) is designed for slightly more advanced operation, and includes a few more features, including the ability to host a Remote Desktop session, additional data security with Bitlocker and the Encrypted File System (EFS), additional networking components, and Hyper-V, which allows the creation of virtual machines. In addition, the Pro edition will offer the option to defer updates for a limited time (the Home version applies updates automatically without user intervention) and ups the RAM support from 128GB to 512GB. Professional or Ultimate versions of Windows 7 and 8.1 will tick over to Windows 10 Pro. Other versions include Windows 10 Enterprise, which is tailored specifically for business use on stability-critical systems, and a similar skew for academia, Windows 10 Education – both are available only to those who qualify for volume licensing, so they're unavailable for use in the home. Windows 10's core code is also making its way to mobile devices with the Mobile and Mobile Enterprise editions, which will replace Windows Phone 8. Proving Windows 10's versatility even further, there's Windows 10 IoT Core, a stripped back version tailored to small devices that make up the Internet of Things; think the likes of the Raspberry Pi, low-powered computers designed for specific tasks. Future releases will see Windows 10 reaching other devices, such as the Xbox One, and Microsoft has trademarked 'Windows 365', which may suggest that a subscription option is in the offing. Get installingInstalling, as you'll find out, is a reasonably straightforward process, akin to version upgrades you may have previously performed. Upgrading from within Windows is even easier – it's a slick and seamless process that requires little to no input. In our testing, we lost no files or installed programs, although be aware that you may see a few default Windows apps disappearing – Windows 7's versions of, for example, Solitaire and Hearts will not transfer to Windows 10, because Windows 10 has its own. Thankfully Windows 10 maintains a high level of compatibility with previous versions, and we're yet to encounter any software that doesn't work exactly as it did on the Windows 8.1 desktop. If you're eligible for the free upgrade – that is, if you're running a properly licensed copy of Windows 8, 8.1 or 7 with at least Service Pack 1 installed – you'll see a windows logo in the taskbar at the bottom-right corner of your desktop. Click it, register your intention to upgrade, and you'll get the full, unfettered Windows 10 absolutely free. For more tips and tricks on Windows 10 like this, buy: Windows 10 Beyond the Manual http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385596141/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd4664/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385596141/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd4664/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385596141/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd4664/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385596141/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd4664/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385596141/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd4664/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49bd4664/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/KnioNITeqN4

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/software/Microsoft/Office%202016/powerpoint_office2016-470-75.jpgThe truth is out! Microsoft will finally pull the wrapping off Office 2016 for Windows on September 22. After months of waiting, Windows 10 customers will be able to take advantage of the refreshed version of the productivity suite in a little under two weeks. The refreshed software brings with it a range of collaborative features that will have enterprises and regular old folks alike eager to get going. The release date isn't a huge surprise, given that marketing materials leaked late last month mentioning the very same date. In terms of new features, real-time editing in Word across different computers, simple file sharing and Insights in Office are all part of the fun. It will also be free to smartphone and smaller tablet users, with Office Home & Student 2016 edition costing approximately £95 ($139.99) at the lower end and the price level increasing for all versions above and beyond that. Alongside the release date news, Microsoft also confirmed various new tools that will help enterprises to better manage the roll out of Office 2016 both now and in the future. Businesses that currently use Office 365 ProPlus will see the update process rebranded as 'Current Branch' and 'Current Branch for Business'. Current Branch is the always up-to-date approach and does what it says on the tin. Check back for moreCurrent Branch for Business, meanwhile, is made up of three feature updates each year and gives enterprises a chance to better test out features and customisations before rolling them out organisation-wide. There are also a number of other enhancements for the IT community, and administrators are urged to check back on September 22 and beyond to find out about exciting new features as they are announced. Microsoft Office 2016 release date, price, news and features http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385544848/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd1c74/sc/15/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385544848/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd1c74/sc/15/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385544848/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd1c74/sc/15/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385544848/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd1c74/sc/15/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385544848/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bd1c74/sc/15/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49bd1c74/sc/15/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/AIiU6Qlv3lU

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/EE/EE-Store-Logo-470-75.jpgEE is ready to beam machine to machine (M2M) communication into the stratosphere through the world's first 4G-enabled platform. The UK-based cellular carrier has launched EE Connect with the intention of providing a high-speed network over which the smart devices of the future can communicate with a real focus on the huge growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. EE projects that over four million machines will be communicating with each other over its network by 2017. This is double the amount presently doing so over its 2G and 3G network, illustrating the dire need for bandwidth expansion. That's before you consider the higher bandwidth requirements that new use cases will call for in the future, such as remote video distribution, and in-car diagnostics and entertainment. Customers that decide to jump aboard EE Connect will use the EE Control Centre to remotely monitor and manage devices to ensure the maximum level of efficiency. It can also help to remotely diagnose and repair issues with machines that are out there in the field. Huge investment in 4GM2M communication, which is defined as any type of communication between two different devices, is becoming even more important with the huge influx of IoT, or simply "smart", devices and a number of sectors are investing heavily in it. EE's latest raft of investment is all part of its pledge to invest some £1.5 billion (around $2.3 billion, or AU$3.2 billion) in its network over the next three years. EE Connect is available to all EE business and public sector customers from today and there are trial packs available on request. All you ever wanted to know about M2M technology

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/mobile_phones/Carphone%20Warehouse/Safe%20phone/CBN09.safe.illo-470-75.jpgRussian-speaking hackers have been using commercial satellites to mask malware attacks on western military and governmental networks in an escalation that has high-level security staff worried. A report from Kaspersky Lab claims that the group behind the Ouroboros malware (also known as Snake or Turla) has been using commercial satellites to access hidden receiving stations in Africa and the Middle East Satellites have been a favored front for cyber attacks on military and governmental networks in the West because they mask the location of the command and control servers that hackers use to issue instructions to malware on infected systems. It exploits the fact that most communications being sent downstream from satellites to Earth are unencrypted and therefore vulnerable to spoofing. Even though there are a number of further steps involved, the escalation of this method has members of the security community concerned. "We in security are always accused of spreading FUD, but this is the reality of the connected world we live in." said TK Keanini, CTO at Lancope, a company specialising in flow analytics for security and network performance monitoring. "These are talented well-funded threat actors whose job it is to not make the news; so when one does, consider them the sloppy ones." It's also incredibly hard to trace this kind of attack as the trail often dies quickly and trying to stop it completely is also proving incredibly tricky. Only one way to stop it"Using a cloned modem makes it harder for ISPs to block the traffic since it would impact legitimate users," added Ian Pratt, CEO and co-founder, Bromium, an endpoint protection and security firm. "The miscreants can simply switch to cloning a different legitimate user's device." "Strong authentication of access modems using a key unique to each device is the only way to block this kind of attack, but can only realistically be done for new deployments," he said. With governmental organisations, embassies and firms in Russia, China and a dozen other countries targeted plus research groups and medical firms, the security community is right to be worried about this method of spreading malware. Flash, malware and ransomware top list of online threats http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385598917/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bc1f43/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385598917/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bc1f43/sc/7/rc/2/rc.img http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385598917/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bc1f43/sc/7/rc/3/rc.img http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385598917/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bc1f43/sc/7/a2.imghttp://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385598917/u/49/f/415085/c/669/s/49bc1f43/sc/7/a2t.imghttp://rss.feedsportal.com/c/669/f/415085/s/49bc1f43/sc/7/mf.gifhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/prDjHVA1O6w

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/Connected%20home/Samsung%20SmartThings/SamsungSmartThingsHub-470-75.jpg Samsung first announced its range of SmartThings connected home devices at IFA, and now they're available to buy in the UK from Currys PC World and Samsung.com. The SmartThings platform is based around the Samsung's Hub, which will be the new beating heart of your connected home. The Hub plugs into the back of your router and wirelessly connects hundreds of compatible devices, letting you monitor, control and secure your home from a single app. The main manifestation of SmartThings' openness is that the platform will be compatible with existing smart home/automation protocols, such as Zigbee and Z-Wave. SmartThings DevicesOf course, as well as third party products Samsung has also developed its own SmartThings range of devices. These include: A Multi-Sensor (£30) which detects whether doors, windows, drawers and so on are open or closed. A Motion Sensor (£30), which detects motion. A key fob-like Presence Sensor (£30) to alert you if your phone or children stray too far, or let you know when the latter have returned home from school. A Power Outlet (£45), which lets you turn on plugs remotely. If whatever's plugged into the outlet turns on as soon as it receives electricity, this effectively makes previously dumb appliances smart. Because they're plugged into the mains (the other devices use watch batteries), these also draw enough power to act as Wi-Fi repeaters. One of each of the above can also be bought as a Starter Kit for £199. Not included in that, but available for £30, is the Moisture Sensor, which tells you if you have had a leak. Apphttp://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/art/Connected%20home/Samsung%20SmartThings/SamsungSmartThingsApp-420-90.jpg All of these devices, as well as all third party devices, will be controlled from the SmartThings app. The app will be available on Android devices, Windows Phones, and iOS (yes, you read that correctly).

http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/art/av_accessories/Apple/New%20Apple%20TV/new-apple-tv-remote-470-75.jpgAfter years of rumors, the new Apple TV has officially been announced and as expected, Siri has wormed her digital presence into the new remote for voice control and search. But according to the Apple TV developers page, it appears that only those lucky enough to live in eight selected countries will get to enjoy the power of the digital assistant when the new Apple TV launches around the world. Users in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US will all get to control the new home entertainment hub with their voice, pressing the microphone button to enable Siri control. But for everyone else around the world, pressing the microphone button on the new controller will instead "open the onscreen search app". Exactly what that entails is yet to be seen, although we'd expect it to resemble the current search function on the Apple TV, with a more integrated approach across the new range of Apple TV apps. That's not to say that Siri support will never come to countries outside of those initial eight, but it's definitely worth taking into account before you rush out to pre-order the device. Here are the 8 key moments from today's Apple launch