iPhone 5se to go on sale as early as March 18

                          

The iPhone 5se will go on sale three days after its big reveal, hitting shelves on Friday March 18, according to new reports.

Apple is preparing to unveil the 4-inch smartphone on Tuesday March 15 alongside the iPad Air 3 and some new Apple Watch straps, and will be available as early as the Friday after, 9to5Mac has reported.

The Californian company typically leaves two weeks between the announcement of an iPhone and its retail date: for example, while the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were launched on September 9 last year, they did not go on sale in the UK until September 25.

The iPhone 5se is expected to sport new features including  an upgraded camera, Apple Pay and Live Photos, catering to customers who may remain unconvinced by the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays introduced with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in September 2014. It will come in the same range of shades as the 6s range - rose gold, gold, silver and space grey.

$500 Tesla Model S for kids coming in May!

                               

he Tesla Model S has gotten a kid-friendly makeover.

Radio Flyer, which makes the famous little red wagons and tricycles, announced on its website that it will soon begin shipping mini Tesla Model S cars for kids for $499 each.

Pre-orders are now open and the cars will ship in May.

The one-seater cars were created in collaboration with Tesla (TSLA)and are for kids between the ages of three to eight. The cars come in three colors: red, blue and "midnight silver metallic." They boast special lithium ion batteries that are supposed to charge faster and last longer than any other battery-powered kiddy car.

"This baby Model S really is quite fun," tweeted Tesla's CEO Elon Musk.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp to stop charging $1 subscription fee

                           

WhatsApp knows nothing beats free.

The company recently announced that it would stop charging customers a $1 subscription fee. WhatsApp had previously given people just one free year of the service before charging the $1 annual fee.

News of the change was made in a blog post on the WhatsApp website.

The company, which is owned by Facebook (FB, Tech30), said it had nearly a billion customers around the world who use the app to stay in touch with friends, family and even patients.

WhatsApp said it had decided to stop charging because "as we've grown, we've found that this approach hasn't worked well" -- many users don't have a debit or credit card.

The change will take effect over the "next several weeks."

WhatsApp also addressed concerns about third-party ads -- it doesn't plan to use them. Instead it will "test tools" to help customers contact and respond to businesses and organizations of their choice.

"That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight," the statement said. "We all get these messages elsewhere today ... so we want to test new tools to make this easier to do on WhatsApp, while still giving you an experience without third-party ads and spam."

Microsoft pledges ‘cloud computing for public good'

                               

Computing giant Microsoft has pledged to provide $1bn-worth (£700m) of cloud computing resources to organisations it deems to be working for the "public good".

The resources will be shared out over the next three years to about 70,000 non-profits and 900 university research projects.

In simplest terms, cloud computing is the term given to storing data on the internet, rather than on a local computer.

As well as making data more easily accessible, the added promise for non-profits is that the resources will provide vast amounts of computing power that would ordinarily be out of reach for all but the biggest businesses.

In a blog post explaining the initiative, Microsoft's chief legal officer Brad Smith wrote: "Cloud services can unlock the secrets held by data in ways that create new insights and lead to breakthroughs, not just for science and technology, but for addressing the full range of economic and social challenges and the delivery of better human services."

The crunching of so-called "big data" is seen as a major opportunity for non-profits dealing in social issues that pose a cumbersome problem without the kind of processing power cloud computing can provide.

In that respect, Microsoft's pledge isn't for a tangible product, or cash, but instead access to servers and services that normal businesses would need to pay considerable fees for.

The money will also be spent on improving "last mile" internet connectivity - the hope is countries that are under connected will begin to enjoy some of the luxuries more developed internet nations have - such as broadband at home.

You can finally disable the iPhone's default apps

The newest versions of Apple's iOS 9 allows you to delete more than 30 stock apps included on the iPhone

It started with Stocks, then Apple added iBooks, Maps, Watch, Health, Tips and more. There are now 32 apps on the iPhone that users are unable to get rid of.

Many of these are essential, like Settings, Phone and App Store. But others, such as Find Friends and Podcasts, are rarely used by many users.

For years people have been calling for a way to delete some of the phone's default apps. Others squirrel them away in a folder, hoping to ignore them as much as possible.

But now there is finally a way to remove the iPhone's default apps, although it is only available to Apple developers, requires a bit of technical confidence and a full reset of the phone. Although it is complicated, it suggests that Apple might finally be ready to allow users to remove default apps.

For users who want an easier way to remove apps, there is a method that allows you to do it without downloading any special software, although the apps return when the phone is turned off and on again. For this method, scroll further down.

Reddit user bfodder revealed how iPhone users who have downloaded the beta version of the new iOS 9.3 software, using a beta version of Apple's Configurator program that lets businesses and schools manage the devices, can get rid of stock apps.

How default apps can be removed

Doing this requires a computer and a bit of technical confidence, so if you're not happy with doing it, you can try the method further down.

1. Sign up for the iOS beta programme so that you can download the iOS 9.3 public beta - the full release is not out yet. There's a full guide on signing up for the beta programme here, including backing up your device.
2. Once you've done that, go to Settings -> General -> Software Update to download the iOS 9.3 beta.
3. Download Apple Configurator 2.2 beta. This requires an Apple developer membership, which costs £79.
4. Users can then set up a configuration, selecting an option that says "Do not allow some apps". By entering commands for these apps, like "com.apple.stocks" for Stocks, they can be removed from the iPhone. A full list of the commands is here.

The easy way to remove apps (temporarily)

This method, introduced in iOS 9 last year, can remove apps, but they return when the phone is restarted. Here's how it works

1. Put the apps you want to delete in a folder
2. Press and hold on those apps so they begin jiggling, as if you were to delete or move an app
3. Drag that app to the edge of the folder to move so it moves the next page of the folder, but keep the app in place when the page has moved
4. While still holding the app, press the home button. It should fly off the edge of the screen.

China Heading To Dark Side Of The Moon

                            

China has announced that it will land the first ever probe on the dark side of the moon in 2018.

Other spacecraft have observed the far side of the moon - which is not visible from Earth - but so far none has landed on it.The probe will study the geological conditions on the moon, and could lead to the placement of a telescope there.

Radio transmissions from Earth cannot reach the moon's far side, which makes it a good spot for sensitive instruments.Its ambitious space programme is focused on lunar exploration, and two years ago it made the first "soft landing" on the moon since 1976.

President Xi Jinping has called for China to establish itself as a space power, and the country insists it is for peaceful purposes.
However the US Defense Department says China is pursuing activities which could prevent its adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis.Back in 2007 China destroyed its own defunct satellite, scattering debris that continues to orbit the planet.And in May 2013 an object was launched into space which the Pentagon said could have been an anti-satellite system.

In March, the Chinese government said it would open up its lunar exploration program to private companies rather than simply relying on the state-owned sector.

Apple Music closing the gap with Spotify, reaches 10m subscribers!

Apple Music has amassed 10 million subscribers within six months, a landmark which took Spotify six years, it has emerged.

The streaming service, which was launched at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last June, is rapidly closing the gap between its closest rival Spotify, sources told the Financial Times.

Sweden-based Spotify, founded in 2008, had some 20 million paying subscribers as of last June, with 55 million using the platform's limited free tier. The number of subscribers is now likely to be closer to 25 million, according to the Verge.

Apple last announced official user figures in October, when it said it had 6.5 million paying users and more than 8.5 million participating in a three month free trial, equating to some 15 million users in total.

The rapid ascent of Apple's platform has been boosted by a number of high-profile celebrity endorsements and exclusives, most notably its status as the only streaming service to host Taylor Swift's repertoire. Swift also recently recorded a concert of her 1989 World Tour in Sydney which is available exclusively to Apple Music users.

Behind the scenes, it's likely both platforms were locked in a bitter struggle to be the first to secure exclusive rights to the Beatles' back catalogue, but the Fab Four finally embraced streaming on all services, including Google Play and Deezer on Christmas Eve last year.

Spotify has previously been reported to be considering allowing certain artists to stream their material only to paying customers, bypassing millions of users who listen to music on the platform for free.

The music streaming service has reportedly told record executives it may release some artists' new material only to its 20m subscribers who pay £9.99 per month for unlimited access to more than 30m songs free from adverts.