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Apple has released iOS 8, the latest version of its mobile operating system, for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Users can download the new software by navigating to the "general" tab in their device's settings menu and selecting "software update." If you don't want to download the update wirelessly — perhaps you're on a restrictive data plan and have limited Wi-Fi access — you can also connect your phone to the latest version of iTunes to download the update. The iOS 8 update pack weighs in at 1.4GB and requires a staggering 5.7GB of free space to install on an iPhone (6.9GB on an iPad), so you may need to delete something like half a dozen games to free up some room before you get started.

The new operating system brings subtle but...

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Android: If you often forget to call your parents or make important calls, you need Call Planner. It's a simple app with one purpose: to maintain a list of people you have to call and remind you of that.

Choose a person from your contact list, assign a color and priority, and decide whether you want a reminder to call them or not. By default, each such entry goes into a to-do list. If you add a reminder, it will go into the "Planned" list.

Sure, you could use any to-do list manager to do this too, but a few features make Call Planner more convenient. Its reminders give you the option to place a call directly from the notifications pane, saving you a few taps—especially useful with recurring calls. It automatically declutters your to-do list since the people you need to call are handled elsewhere.

Also, you can set Call Planner to automatically add missed calls to your to-do list, and it will also auto-remove finished calls. Finally, the app also auto-adds entries for contacts with upcoming birthdays (as long as those birthdays are noted in your phone book).

Call Planner (Free) | Google Play Store via I Love Free Software

Apple has made it so that that iOS 8, which goes out to the public today, will work on iPhones reaching all the way back to the venerable 4S. Which is good! But as Ars Technica found out the hard way, subjecting your elderly iPhone to new software can be downright cruel.

The 4S, which first hit the streets nearly three years ago, does its damnedest to keep up with the software designed for its bigger (and even biggerer) younger siblings. But it just plain doesn't have the hardware to support some of iOS 8's biggest features, like Touch ID, AirDrop, and the Metal graphics API.

And even with the stuff it can handle, the poor 4S gets winded pretty quickly. Ars points out that the phone's guts offer about a quarter of the performance of the iPhone 5S, and an even smaller fraction compared to the newest iPhone 6. Apps launch more slowly—sometimes taking 50 percent longer to load—with herky-jerky transitions that hang and hesitate.

All of which is kind of secondary to the main problem: The 4S was the last of Apple's phones with a 3.5-inch screen. That size was once considered the golden rectangle of smartphones. But everything is bigger in the future, including iPhones, and the added rows of buttons and bars that appear in iOS 8 eat up valuable screen real estate on the great-granddaddy iPhone.

So yes, it's entirely possible for you to download the brand new iOS on your brand-old iPhone. And by doing so you'll get a lot of goodies like more keyboard options (finally) and fun widgets. It's a trade-off you might be willing to make. But cramming that shiny new software into the 4S's cozy yet slightly musty house is a tight fit that will leave phone and user alike groaning. Have some pity on the old warhorse, and let it stay pleasantly outdated, for its sanity and your own. That least, until iOS 8.1 hopefully takes older devices into account. [Ars Technica]

Paperwork is almost always a hassle, particularly when you can't do it online. Avoid the stacks of junk and keep things moving with this four folder system to prioritize every piece of paper you have to touch.

As organization blog Organized Creatives explains, just about every piece of paper you have to deal with can be sorted into one of four categories: Hot, Bills, To Review, and Inspiration. Each folder has a much different purpose (as well as a different timeline on when to review them):

1. Hot: In this folder, put anything you need to address in the next few days, such as background on a new client project that you need to review or a coupon that you don't want to forget for an upcoming oil change.

2. Bills: In this folder, put any bills that you receive in the mail, or which you receive via email but want to retain a paper copy.

3. To Review: In this folder, put anything that you don't need to deal with right now, but that you do need to process eventually, such as a tax receipt that needs to be entered or a magazine that you want to read.

4. Inspiration: In this folder, put anything that inspires you and which you don't want to lose. Interviews with other creatives you admire. Ideas that may some day mature into new projects. Ads for vacations you may want to take someday. As creatives, it's important to gather the stuff that inspires us, and review these periodically.

The key detail is how often you come back to each one. Hot implies what its name suggests: you need to deal with this immediately, so Organized Creatives recommends reviewing this folder every day. Bills should be checked once or twice a month, To Review every week, and Inspiration is something you can probably come back to once every quarter or so. You don't need those papers all the time, but you should probably check back at some point to see if they matter.

Long-term storage is another matter (sorry, if you keep paper bank statements, you'll still need a filing cabinet), but for the stuff coming across your desk, this system should handle just about everything you need.

A Simple Four-Folder System | Organized Creatives via Rockstar Finance

Photo by Phil.

With the launch of legal streaming services such as Netflix, movie and TV fans have less reason to turn to pirate sites.

At the same time, however, these legal options invite people from other countries where the legal services are more limited. This is also the case in Australia where up to 200,000 people are estimated to use the U.S. version of Netflix.

Although Netflix has geographical restrictions in place, these are easy to bypass with a relatively cheap VPN subscription. To keep these foreigners out, entertainment industry companies are now lobbying for a global ban on VPN users.

Simon Bush, CEO of AHEDA, an industry group that represents Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony Pictures and other major players said that some members are actively lobbying for such a ban.

Bush didn’t name any of the companies involved, but he confirmed to Cnet that “discussions” to block Australian access to the US version of Netflix “are happening now”.

If implemented, this would mean that all VPN users worldwide will no longer be able to access Netflix. That includes the millions of Americans who are paying for a legitimate account. They can still access Netflix, but would not be allowed to do so securely via a VPN.

According to Bush the discussions to keep VPN users out are not tied to Netflix’s arrival in Australia. The distributors and other rightsholders argue that they are already being deprived of licensing fees, because some Aussies ignore local services such as Quickflix.

“I know the discussions are being had…by the distributors in the United States with Netflix about Australians using VPNs to access content that they’re not licensed to access in Australia,” Bush said.

“They’re requesting for it to be blocked now, not just when it comes to Australia,” he adds.

While blocking VPNs would solve the problem for distributors, it creates a new one for VPN users in the United States.

The same happened with Hulu a few months ago, when Hulu started to block visitors who access the site through a VPN service. This blockade also applies to hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens.

Hulu’s blocklist was implemented a few months ago and currently covers the IP-ranges of all major VPN services. People who try to access the site through one of these IPs are not allowed to view any content on the site, and receive the following notice instead:

“Based on your IP-address, we noticed that you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tool. Hulu is not currently available outside the U.S. If you’re in the U.S. you’ll need to disable your anonymizer to access videos on Hulu.”

It seems that VPNs are increasingly attracting the attention of copyright holders. Just a week ago BBC Worldwide argued that ISPs should monitor VPN users for excessive bandwidth use, assuming they would then be pirates.

Considering the above we can expect the calls for VPN bans to increase in the near future.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

 Apple has two new iPhones debuting today, including the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6 is the heir apparent to the flagship line of Apple smartphones, as it comes in at the same price point as the iPhone 5s, but Apple has done something new this year by introducing a premium priced iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 is still plenty premium, however, and its 4.7-inch screen is likely going to be a better fit… Read More

 Apple is launching not one, but two premium smartphones today, and the iPhone 6 Plus is the one many probably were skeptical even existed just a few short months ago. With a screen size measuring 5.5-inches across the diagonal, it’s well into the territory labeled “phablet” on the ancient sea charts of mariners who’ve braved the Android waters. However, Apple’s… Read More

 Amazon, the e-commerce giant that recently added smartphones to its growing mobile empire, is now turning on another element to bring more users and usage into its mobile business. It will now enable carrier billing, so that when people buy paid apps and make in-app purchases through Amazon’s appstore, they can charge that directly to their phone bills. Working with UK… Read More

 Gousto, the UK recipe kit subscription and grocery delivery service that competes with Rocket Internet’s HelloFresh, has announced the closing of £5 million ($8.3m) Series A round, led by Unilever Ventures, with existing investor MMC Ventures also participating. The investment adds to around £2 million previously raised by Gousto and shows how far its come since first being rather… Read More

Amazon appears to be preparing to launch new Kindles. Several listings spotted on the German version of Amazon show a new "Kindle Voyage" e-reader with a 6-inch high-resolution display (300 ppi) and a release date of November 4th. An image of the Kindle Voyage has been unearthed from a user manual by allesebook, and the specifications suggest it will have a new page press sensor to turn pages by pressing lightly on the bezel, alongside "intelligent front lighting."

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Tiny, delicate, and precious without being--well, precious. Read the rest

Today, Google unleashed a new, overhauled version of its well-loved (and little known) custom maps tool, called My Maps. It's pretty powerful and cool.

With it, you can create a trip itinerary, note hotspots in any location, and otherwise personalize Google Maps.

The updated My Maps lets you customize the map to a great extent—choose different colors for the markers, create layers to organize places, add labels on the map, and import locations from a spreadsheet.

There's also an Android app now so you can change your maps on the go and also view them (something the old version didn't allow).

And you can share your personal maps too so others can benefit from your plans, as well as check out some interesting custom maps in the Google Maps Gallery (crime rates by county, Sherlock Holmes' famous sites, and Lewis and Clark maps).

Head to the link below to try it out.

My Maps via Google Maps blog

Barclays has today announced that its bPay wristband will work with the entire London transport network, requiring noting more than a quick wave of the wrist. What's more is only a Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card is required to link everything up to the bPay band. As an added bonus, the bPay band is completely free and the first 10,000 people to sign up for the band will receive one by the end of this month.

The bands don't steal fees from users, enabling travellers to really make good use of London's transport network at no extra cost. Payments are taken directly from the cards too, removing issues with card clashes and fumbling for an Oyster card. Will you be picking one up for London, or is the EE mobile payment app right up your street?

See more details on the Barclycard bPay website.

Google’s range of smartwatches have only been available for a few months, but that’s not stopping Microsoft from throwing its support behind Android Wear. A new Android version of Microsoft’s popular OneNote application is being released today with Android Wear support. Initiating the "OK Google, take a note" voice command will trigger OneNote to listen and take notes accordingly. It’s fairly simple functionality, but it’s another example of Microsoft’s willingness to support rival platforms.

Alongside the Android updates, Microsoft is also improving its iOS version of OneNote for iPhone and iPad owners today. A new share extension requires iOS 8, but it allows you to share content from any app to OneNote. You can clip websites from...

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 A nationwide injunction issued against on-demand ride-hailing service Uber in Germany has been lifted by a local court in Frankfurt during an appeal hearing. Read More

Adobe has brought EchoSign over to Android, so now workers can use the mobile app to close deals with clients, job applicants can use it to sign contracts, and just about anyone can use it to put their John Hancock on any of the myriad of documents that require a signature. The app lets people e-sign documents using either their fingers or a stylus and/or request signatures from others. Even better, it happens to integrate with a number of cloud storage providers (Google Drive and Box make the list, but Dropbox, oddly, isn't mentioned).

Adobe Releases EchoSign App Into The Play Store So Android Tablet Owners Can Put Their E-John Hancock Right Here was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The Fire Phone might be underperforming, but its accompanying earbuds are great. Gizmodo's Eric Limer had great things to say about them that you can read below, and you can pick them up for just $10 today, with a $1 MP3 credit thrown in for good measure. That's an easy recommendation for pretty much anyone, even to just have as a backup set. [Fire Phone Earbuds]

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Microsoft has created a keyboard designed for iOS, Android, and Windows tablets. It’s the latest in a series of moves that underlines the company’s focus on providing software, services, and even hardware for rival platforms to Windows. The new Universal Mobile Keyboard is very similar to Logitech’s K480 keyboard, and Microsoft’s version also includes a button to switch between iOS, Android, and Windows Bluetooth modes.

No Windows logo in sight

Supporting iOS and Android isn’t unusual for Microsoft’s keyboards, but the company has gone a step further this time. The Universal Mobile Keyboard includes an Android home key and a cmd key typically found on Apple keyboards. Although it also works with Windows tablets, Microsoft hasn’t even...

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 Apple had an interesting patent granted to it today by the USPTO (via AppleInsider), which describes a graphic user interface on the iPad that more closely resembles a desktop arrangement of files and folders than the current app-based iOS UX. The most interesting part of the patent might be that it uses physics-based animations and interactions to manipulate those files and folders, however,… Read More

Rightscorp -- a firm that asks ISPs to disconnect you from the Internet unless you pay it money for alleged, unproven copyright infringements -- was finally challenged in court by an ISP, Texas's Grande Communications; as soon as it looked like it would have the legal basis for its business-model examined by a judge, the company cut and ran, withdrawing its threats. Read the rest

Call it The Bourne Reunion, perhaps.

In a twist worthy of the agent himself, it appears that Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass are making deals for a return to the Bourne franchise. According to Deadline, the pair is likely to slot in a Jason Bourne-focused fifth entry to the series in place of the developing sequel to the Jeremy Renner/Aaron Cross story.

It’s something of a shocker, as both Damon and Greengrass have said on the record that they had no plans to revisit a story they felt they had already told. But then, they have both also mooted a potential return if the right script could be written and they could work together again, and it appears that that’s the case now.

Universal, which has yet to officially confirm anything, is apparently so enthused by the idea of the pair returning that it wants them to have the film ready for the July 15, 2016 release date that had previously been given to the Bourne Legacy follow-up that Justin Lin was developing to direct. That film apparently remains in development, so it could well appear after the latest Damon outing, assuming this all actually goes ahead. Lin, meanwhile, may take the opportunity to work on True Detective’s second season, which he has also been linked to.

So what do you make of this new revelation? Do you want more original flavour Bourne, if it features a reunion of the series’ most popular director and star? You know where to sound off.

Your Flipboard experience is going to change a little bit today. Users of the social-magazine-thing are going to start seeing full-screen video ads, which Flipboard kindly describes as "a deeper brand moment." It's not as annoying as it seems at first, though.

 

If you've been using Flipboard for any length of time, you've no doubt seen the ad pages pop up. Well, now some of those pages will include a video.

Flipboard Will Now Show You Video Ads, But Thankfully They Won't Autoplay was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

In the early 20th century, ethnologist Edward S. Curtis made 10,000 wax cylinder recordings of Native American language and music and took 40,000 photographs of people from more than 80 tribes, such as these. Read the rest

 The FCC has received more than 3 million comments concerning the current net neutrality notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). That figure is dramatically higher than the previously reported 1.5 million figure that was released last week. The massive jump comes from the FCC chewing through a deluge of comments that were filed last week as part of a public campaign that saw large websites ask… Read More