A Tool released by Apple to remove free U2 album from iTunes

NEW YORK: Some iPhone users are not happy that U2's new album, "Songs of Innocence," was automatically added to their iTunes music library, free of charge. In response, Apple has released a special tool that lets people remove the album from their collections. 

U2 played at an Apple event last week that included the unveiling of the iPhone maker's new smartwatch and updated iPhone models. In a surprise move, the Irish rock band performed at the event and put out its 11-song release. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the new album would be given to the company's 500 million iTunes users. The release showed up in users' iTunes music libraries. The company said Monday that 33 million iTunes account holders have accessed the free album. 

But some iTunes users took to Twitter to complain and ask how to remove it. While it was already possible to delete the album, Apple's tool makes it possible in one step.

Google: Data requests from governments worldwide up 150%

Google said it was facing increasing pressure from governments around the world to reveal user information in criminal investigations amid ongoing revelations about national surveillance programs.

The number of requests increased 15% sequentially in the first half of this year and 150% in the last five years, the company said in its semi-annual transparency report.

In the US, demand for information jumped 19% in the first six months of 2014 and more than tripled since 2009, when it started publishing the report.

President Barack Obama asked Congress in January to rein in the bulk collection and storage of records of millions of US domestic telephone calls after revelations last year by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Many American technology companies also have been clamouring for changes after seeing their international business suffer as foreign governments worried they would collect data and hand it over to US spy agencies.

YouTube videos to soon be available offline in India

In the coming few weeks, much of YouTube is going to be available offline in India, said Caesar Sengupta, vice president, product management at Google in the capital on Monday. "It's a very common way to use YouTube. You find videos you like, you tend to watch them over and over again," he said at the launch of Android One in the capital.

A Google spokesperson says that the offline availability will be the content owner's prerogative. "It will be available by default. Content owners can decide if they want to opt into it," the spokesperson said, adding that views of the videos and ads will be kept track of offline as well. 

Kanan Gill, who runs a YouTube series called Pretentious Movie Reviews along with fellow film reviewer Biswa Kalyan Rath, says that while the idea itself is "awesome", it is something that will need testing for content uploaders like him once made available. "It probably makes sense to have longer videos and podcasts made available offline so that people can watch it or listen to it at leisure," says Gill, who has nearly 85,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. 

Standup comedian Rohan Joshi, part of the group AIB that uploads humorous videos on YouTube regularly, says that if there is an accurate way to monitor views and ads, the new feature would work well. "There are a lot of internet connectivity issues in India. So that way, it is good, more people will watch these videos," says Joshi. AIB has over 6 lakh YouTube subscribers. 

So far, web services like "keepvid" and "clipconverter" could be used to download YouTube videos on to a laptop or a desktop. However, the legality of using such services is questionable. In this case, a user would have the content owner's consent to have the video available on their device, offline.

Microsoft to acquire Minecraft maker Mojang for $2.5 billion

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it has agreed to acquire Stockholm-based games developer Mojang and the company's wildly popular Minecraft video game franchise for $2.5 billion. 

Microsoft said in a statement it expects the acquisition to be break-even in fiscal year 2015 on a GAAP basis. The deal is expected to close in late 2014. 

"Gaming is a top activity spanning devices, from PCs and consoles to tablets and mobile, with billions of hours spent each year," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. 

"Minecraft is more than a great game franchise — it is an open world platform, driven by a vibrant community we care deeply about, and rich with new opportunities for that community and for Microsoft."

Microsoft said it plans to continue to make Minecraft available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation.

iPhone 6 Pre-Orders Break Record

A new iPhone, a new record.Apple said Monday that it sold more than 4 million new iPhones 6s in the first 24 hours they were on sale, breaking the previous record for pre-order sales.The news is hardly surprising. Each time a new iPhone model has come out, it has broken sales records. Apple last week announced two new iPhones, both with bigger screens than their predecessors: a 4.7-inch model called the iPhone 6, and a bigger, 5.5-inch model dubbed the iPhone 6 Plus.Analysts expect the new iPhones will be Apple's best-selling iPhones ever, garnering marketshare from rival Samsung, which has made a smartphone with a larger screen for years.Apple did not -- and likely will not -- break out how many of each model it sold.The iPhone 6 Plus, the 5.5-inch "phablet" (nicknamed because it's so large that it's part phone, part tablet) was listed as out of stock on Apple's website just hours after it went on sale Sept. 12.Two million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 were placed when that phone was announced in 2012.The phone will be available in stores starting Friday.

Google Earth to help predict malari on maps

Scientists are developing an online platform,using data on Google Earth Engine, that health workers around the world can use to predict where malaria is likely to be transmitted. The goal is to enable rescue poor countries to wage more targeted drives against the mosquito-bore disease, most of them children, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco said.

Panipat teen develops a device that converts breath signals into speech

Arsh Shah Dilbagi is also the participant from Asia to enter this year's Google Global Science Fair.

Arsh Shah Dilbagi, a 16-year-old from Panipat, has been selected for this year Google's Global Science Fair. The teenager will be showing a device that enables people with developing disabilities to communicate using only their breath. Arsh is the only finalist from Asia to participate in the Google Science Fair.

Arsh will showing a device called 'Talk', which features a sensor that picks up person's breath via Morse code, and then translates into speech. According to Arsh,  the device will help speech impaired and paralysed people to communicate. The teenage points out that his Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device is world's fastest and cheapest.
"AAC devices available in the market are very expensive, slow, bulky and not generic. I decided to find a better solution — an AAC device which is faster, portable and generic and costs only $80 (Rs 5000), making it affordable to the large population," he explains.

He adds, "In future, I would like to add auto-predictions to my computing engine and integrate TALK with modern technology like Google Glass to make it easier for people with development disabilities."

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