Twitter to raise 140-character limit for direct messages

Twitter has announced that it will raise the 140-character limit in direct messages to 10,000 characters next month, allowing users to conduct longer private conversations on the social network.

Until now, the limit on direct messages has been the same as the limit on public tweets, forcing people to send several messages in a row if they are unable to get everything they want to say into 140 characters.

The change, which will be made in July, is likely to make the direct messaging function on Twitter a lot more like Facebook Messenger – which many people now use as an alternative to email for keeping up with friends.

"You may be wondering what this means for the public side of Twitter. Nothing!" wrote Sachin Agarwal, product manager for direct message at Twitter, in a developer blog post. "Tweets will continue to be the 140 characters they are today."

The news comes after Twitter introduced a new option in April that allows users to receive direct messages from people they don't follow. Previously, users could only direct message people they followed, and who followed them back.

Twitter said the change helps users connect more easily to the people, causes and businesses they care about. Users can choose whether or not they want to receive messages from strangers using the site’s privacy settings.

Earlier this year, Twitter also introduced group messaging, allowing users to have private conversations with groups of their followers simultaneously. The members of a group do not all need to follow one another in order to chat.

Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo announced last night that he wasstepping down, after coming under pressure following lacklustre financial results. He will be replaced in the interim by co-founder Jack Dorsey.

According to Jason Mander, Head of Trends at GlobalWebIndex, this is likely to prompt a rush of new features from Twitter, as it looks to give existing users more reasons to keep on using it.

Microsoft Surface Pro tablet 'faster than iPad Air'

The iPad Air 2 may be one of the world’s best-selling tablets but, when it comes to speed, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is king.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is 20 per cent faster than any of its rivals, beating the Apple iPad Air 2 and Google Nexus 9, according to new research by the consumer watchdog, Which?

Apple also lost out in the smaller tablet stakes, after the iPad Mini 3 (£319) was beaten by the more-affordable Tesco Hudl 2 (£99).

The tablets were tested using industry-recognised Geekbench software, which tests how quickly each tablet can complete simulations of real-world tasks such as downloading apps and running multiple programmes at the same time.

Each workload's performance is compared against a baseline to determine a score. These scores are then averaged together to determine an overall score for the system.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 achieved the highest score of 5,069, followed by the Apple iPad Air 2 with 4,046 and the Google Nexus 9 with 3,537.

Meanwhile, the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX was in fourth place with 3,060, followed by the Apple iPad Air with 2,687, the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro with 2,650 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S with 2,594.

"Our tablet speed test is a great indication of how fast tablets can run when downloading apps or using multiple functions at once," said Which? editor Richard Headland.

"Nowadays we expect everything in a swipe or a click of the button, so understanding how quickly a tablet is able to process information is important to buyers.”

Analysts have predicted that the global tablet market will continue to grow slowly throughout 2015, as demand falls. Gartner expects sales to reach 233 million units in 2015, up from 216 million in 2014 – a rise of just 8 per cent.

The sharp decrease in demand for tablets can be attributed to a lack of innovation in hardware, and an extension in the lifetime of tablets, according to Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

Apple Music: Streaming Service Unveiled

Apple has announced its long-awaited music streaming service, promising subscription access to tens of millions of tracks.

CEO Tim Cook revealed Apple Music - seen as a rival to the likes of Spotify - at the company's annual developers conference.

"It will change the way you experience music forever," Mr Cook told the audience.

Users will be able to stream songs or save them for offline listening.

Apple Music will also feature a 24/7 global radio station called Beats One, broadcasting from LA, New York and London.

Former Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe is one of the figures involved in that project.

Apple Music will also recommend songs.

The company boasts the suggestions will be curated by the "world's leading music experts", rather than relying solely on a computer algorithm. 

The price in the US will be $9.99 (£6.50) per month, with the first three months free. UK pricing has not yet been announced.

Unlike Spotify, it will not offer a free service supported by adverts

It launches on Apple devices on 30 June in more than 100 countries, and on Windows and Android devices in the autumn.

A Connect feature, designed to let musicians share photos, music and other updates with fans, is also a key part of the service.

Apple Music will appear as an update to the existing Music app on iPhones and iPads.

Rapper Drake and Beats headphones co-founder Jimmy Iovine were among the music industry big-hitters who appeared on stage to promote the new service.

Apple bought Beats Electronics and online music streaming service Beats Music for $3bn (£1.8bn) last year.

The San Francisco event also saw Apple announce that its Pay system is coming to the UK in July.

It means people will be able to tap their iPhone, Apple Watch or iPad to instantly purchase goods.

More than 250,000 individual outlets will support the system, including M&S, Costa, Waitrose, the Post Office and Boots.

The system will work with nearly 70% of UK credit and debit cards by the autumn.

HSBC, NatWest, Santander, TSB, Lloyds, Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland are among the banks on board.

Passengers on London's transport network will also be able to use it to pay for travel.

Apple also revealed the new version of its Mac operating system, El Capitan, and announced a raft of new features for its latest mobile operating system, iOS9.

These include split screen apps for iPad and a more intelligent Siri 'personal assistant' that Apple says is 40% faster and more accurate.

Apple's recently launched Watch is also getting a boost.

Apps will now able to run 'natively' on the watch itself, rather than a linked iPhone doing most of the work.

The company says it will allow developers to come up with more sophisticated, powerful apps that take full advantage of the device.

Apple's news aggregation app was also shown off at the San Francisco conference.

It curates a personalised version of the news based on a user's interests and will launch first in the UK, US and Australia.

Microsoft announces Windows 10 release date: July 29

                           

Unlike previous Windows releases, you won't have to go to a store -- whether online or brick and mortar -- to get it. Windows 10 will come as a free upgrade to anyone with a Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 PC. Customers with Windows Phone 8.1 will also be eligible for a free Windows 10 upgrade on their smartphones.

Windows 10 will be Microsoft's first major update to its operating system in three years. Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) understands that Windows 8 wasn't well-received by customers, and most of its updates to Windows 10 reflect that.

The new Windows offers a familiar experience to Windows 7 users who never made the jump to Windows 8, while still bringing some innovations to the PC that tablet and smartphone users have 

Start is back: Windows 10 brings back the Start menu, which organizes all of the PC's program files, folders and settings as well as tiles that were abundant in Windows 8.

The desktop is back too: Windows 10 boots straight to the desktop, and it stays there. You can run multiple desktops too, if you'd like. If you have a tablet or a tablet-laptop hybrid, Windows 10 will automatically adjust to deliver the best experience for the screen it's running on through a feature called Continuum.

Edge: Internet Explorer is taking a backseat to a new and improved Web browser called Microsoft Edge. It supports extensions and applications, offline reading and reading mode, lets you write directly on websites, and integrates Cortana to give you directions to restaurants and other locations.

Cortana: Microsoft's Siri-like Cortana voice assistant will live in the task bar. You can ask it to do a number of tasks either by typing or saying "Hey Cortana" and then speaking your command. When you click on the "Ask me anything" search box next to the Start button, Cortana will give you a list of weather, news and other events tailored to your interests. It can tell you about your computer and launch apps.

Notifications: A new Action Center gives you a quick glance at your PC's status. Emails, updates and app messages all appear in a drawer that pulls out from the right hand side of the screen.

Security: You can even unlock Windows 10 with facial recognition software, finger print scans or an iris reader. The feature, called "Windows Hello," requires some special equipment -- most PCs don't come with biometric scanners installed.

Phone-like updates: if you upgrade to Windows 10, you'll get free Windows upgrades for the life of your PC or phone.

To reserve a free installation of Windows 10, Microsoft will be sending existing Windows customers notifications. Look for an icon that will pop up in your system tray at the bottom of your screen. If you click on the icon, Microsoft will allow you to complete the reservation process.

WWDC 2015: what can we expect?

Apple Music, iOS 9 and updates to Apple TV are among the expected announcements at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this year

Next week Apple executives will take to the stage of San Francisco's Moscone West Centre to discuss the company's latest software innovations and new projects.

As with last year's event, which saw the introduction of iOS 8, OS X Yosemite and new programming language Swift, we're unlikely to see any glitzy product launches. Instead, the spotlight will be squarely on system upgrades and new features, hopefully with the odd surprise thrown in. Here's everything we can expect from the year's most exciting developers conference.

• iOS 9: all you need to know about Apple's new operating system

When does it kick off?

Countdown to WWDC - and (probably) iOS 9

03	:	20	:	50	:	55
Days		Hrs		Mins		Secs

The introductory keynote, likely to include presentations from chief executive Tim Cook, senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi and senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue, will take place at 10:00 PT on Monday June 8 (18:00 GMT). Apple will be livestreaming the speech on its website.

"We've got incredible new technology for iOS and OS X to share with developers at WWDC and around the world, and can't wait to see the next generation of apps they create," said Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller.

Apple Music

^{Florence Welsh of Florence and the Machine}

Apple purchased the audio equipment and streaming divisions of Beats Electronics for $3bn (£1.8bn) a year ago now, and we're still waiting for an official first partnership announcement. The company is likely to use WWDC as a platform to announce a long-rumoured revamped version of Beats Music, either integrated into iOS 8.4 or iOS 9 under the reported name Apple Music. It remains to be seen whether the new service is integrated into the existing Music app, or given its own icon on the homescreen.

The cloud streaming service will reportedly prioritise a user's music library, integrating personal playlists and deploying a new search function for locating tracks within the iTunes/Beats catalogue.

Existing Beats Music accounts will supposedly be able to merge with iTunes or Apple ID accounts, though this only applies to US users as Beats Music is currently still unavailable to those based in the UK.

Apple purchased UK music analytics start-up Semetric, whose services are used by major record labels and rival Spotify, in January. The purchase was believed to be be part of Apple's efforts to gain insight into the industry ahead of the launch, including data on a band or artist's sales, social media demographics and most popular songs online.

Sources allege that the company has approached artists including Taylor Swift and Florence and the Machine about exclusive streaming partnerships, which could limit how much of their music will remain available on other streaming platforms. Jay Z, who owns Tidal, has suggested that Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine has attempted to lure artists away from Tidal with lucrative contracts.

Reports suggest Apple Music will maintain the pricing structure of Beats Music at around $10 (£6) per month, with the possibility of up to a three month free trial which users could opt into using Touch ID verification.

iOS 9

^{An iPhone 6 running iOS 8 - what does iOS 9 hold?}

iOS 8 was the undisputed star of WWDC 2015, and its a fairly safe bet to say we'll see the introduction of iOS 9 this time round. Key features are predicted to include Force Touch support, new kernel-level security system Rootless, which has been designed to put an end to jailbreaking iOS devices, and split-screen mode support to turn the iPad into a business-focused beast.

It's expected the first device to ship with iOS 9 will be the next generation of iPhones - likely to be called the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus - which are slated to go on sale in late September, if recent release cycles are to be believed.

Apple Pay updates

^{Apple Pay: the death of the wallet?}

While US customers have been able to use Apple Pay on their iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (and more recently, Apple Watch) since October last year, we in the UK have been left waiting. There's a chance we could see an announcement declaring the contactless payment system is being rolled out to select parts of Europe and Canada, allowing UK shoppers to pay for goods and services using our phones as contactless devices.

Negotiations between Apple and UK banks over the introduction of Apple Pay to these shores have been fraught over the level of personal and financial information Apple wants to collect about its customers, sources told the Telegraph last year.

It's also believed a rewards scheme to incentivise customers to use Apple Pay could be rolled out at the event. Google used its I/O developers conference last week to launch Android Pay in the US, which also uses NFC technology and hopes to replicate the widespread early adoption rates Apple Pay has seen.

A new Apple TV

^{Is a new and improved Apple TV in the pipeline?}

One of the strongest pervading rumours about WWDC this year is that we'll see a new fourth-generation Apple TV. Given that 2013 was the last time it was updating, a new offering is well overdue.

It's been reported for a while that the company is looking into launching anonline TV streaming service in partnership with broadcasters including Fox, ABC and CBS via an online subscription costing from $30, which could stand to boost sales of Apple TV set top boxes.

Back in March Apple announced at the Apple Watch Spring Forward event that it had secured exclusive early access to the forthcoming HBO Now streaming service, allowing Apple device owners to watch popular series such as Game of Thrones.

Apple Watch updates

^{The Apple Watch: apps ahoy}

With the Apple Watch comes a whole new app eco-system for developers to play with, and with this year's WWDC the first since its launch, the event is unlikely to go unmarked. The company is already catering for its Watch-wearing faithful, after updating its WWDC app with Apple Watch support in late May.

Apple's senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams revealed in an interview last week that a software development kit designed to create Watch-native apps would be released during WWDC, meaning third party apps won't need to bat back to the paired iPhone all the time, but run independently on the Watch itself.

The first Watch OS update 1.01 was issued in mid-May, offering improved Siri performance alongside third party apps and calorie calculation amendments. Due to this extremely recent roll-out, we probably won't be witness to any significant software rollouts.

A new typeface

^{The San Francisco font first used on the Apple Watch}

A slightly more random announcement is the potential decision for Apple to replace favoured font Helvetica Neue across iOS 7 upwards and OS X Yosemite with a custom-designed San Francisco typeface. First debuted on the Apple Watch, San Francisco was designed "specifically for legibility", and scales more dynamically to “maintain clarity and legibility”, according to9to5Mac.

HomeKit

^{Apple's Craig Federighi talking through HomeKit at WWDC 2014}

First announced at WWDC 2014, HomeKit is a framework designed to house Internet of Things apps, such as Google-owned Nest's smart thermostats and wireless door locks, in a unified Siri-integrated dashboard through the Home app. The company has previously hinted that HomeKit accessories will make an appearance by June, but the app and framekit have yet to fully launch.

OS X 10.11 Gala

^{The 2015 MacBook running OS X Yosemite}

The latest version of OS X, believed to be codenamed Gala, is a safe bet. Like iOS, it's probable a short preview will be given during the keynote and it will be made available to download for free from October or so.

Like its predecessors Mavericks and Yosemite, the new software is likely to bear a California-related name, given that Apple has trademarked the use of location terms including Big Sur, Sequoia and Mojave.

Any updates are unlikely to be as dramatic as last year's Yosemite, which was a significant aesthetic departure from Mavericks. OS X 10.11 will probably place a greater focus on stability optimisation and improving performance overall.

And one more thing....Apple Car?

^{A car bearing a photograph of former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is parked outside an Apple store in Tokyo}

Okay, this is a massive long shot, but as reports Apple is developing a cargather credence, this year's keynote may extend beyond CarPlay. Jeff Williams recently admitted "Well the car is the ultimate mobile device, isn't it?", hinting heavily at the possibility we'll see a fully Apple-designed car in the future, but it almost definitely won't make an appearance next week. Given that Sir Jony Ive has been freed up of his day-to-day management responsibilities due to his recent promotion to chief design officer, maybe an automobile will become the new Apple of his eye?

iPhone ownership surges in UK as Android splutters

Sales of iPhones have risen in the UK as consumers turn to Apple over handsets running Google's Android operating system.

Market share of Apple's iOS system rose 6.3 per cent in the three months ending April compared to the previous year, while Android share fell by 4.9 per cent, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The percentage of sales for Windows Phone and Other operating systems, including BlackBerry OS, fell by 0.5 and 0.9 per cent respectively.

The figures demonstrate how Apple is gradually narrowing the gulf between itself and Samsung, Google, LG and HTC handsets running Android. Android UK market share stands at 54.2 per cent, compared to iOS' 35.8 per cent.

Numerous high-profile Android handsets, including the Samsung Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 Edge and the HTC One M9 were released in the UK during this time, while the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have been on sale sinceSeptember last year.

“Samsung’s new flagship products became available in April, and while sell-in numbers were already positively impacted in the first quarter, being available in stores for less than a month was not enough to make a significant difference in the sell-through volume,” said Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar.

Google self-driving car involved in another crash

Google has increased the number of accidents its self-driving cars have been involved in, as its co-founder defended the hi-tech programme.

Sergey Brin told shareholders on Wednesday that one of its automated vehicles had been rear-ended in the past week, taking the total number involved in collisions since their launch six years ago to 12.

Mr Brin said he would not release reports of the crashes to protect those involved, but said that "seven or eight times we were rear-ended”, while on another occasion a human driving one of the test vehicles rear-ended another car.

“Our greatest learning is that people don’t pay attention, even trained drivers.” he said. “The other three were situations where the car was not driving itself, we were at a stop light or we were sideswiped.

"I’m very proud of the record of our cars. We don’t claim to be perfect, our goal is to beat human drivers.”