How to turn a PC or laptop webcam into a CCTV system for free

If you want to monitor your property, or keep an eye on pets left at home, all you need is a laptop or PC with a built-in – or USB-connected – webcam.

Then you need some software which can record the feed from a webcam either continuously or – more usually – when motion is detected. There are good free applications, such as iSpy Connect, as well as paid-for software such as SightHound (formerly Vitamin D)

When you install the software, it should provide a list of connected webcams, and may support multiple cameras. You can then configure ‘zones’ which are rectangular areas within the webcam’s view which will be used for detecting motion.

You might select your baby’s cot, a cat flap or door, or the space where you park your car. You want to avoid including objects that move, such as trees swaying in the wind or passing traffic. Otherwise you’ll end up with too much footage to review.

Good software will provide a playback console which shows recorded clips on a timeline so you can quickly watch clips recorded when movement was detected. Depending on the software, there might be options to send an email (along with a jpg image) or a text message when motion is detected, upload the clip to YouTube or an FTP server, or even play a recorded message, such as you telling your dog to stop barking (iSpy can be configured to respond to audio triggers as well as motion).

It’s worth trialling a webcam for security or home monitoring before investing in an IP camera since it needn’t cost you a penny if you already have a webcam.

The downsides to using a webcam is that you’ll need to leave your PC on constantly, which could make for an expensive electricity bill as well as the potential shortening of your PC’s life, especially if it gets hot after running for long periods.

Another issue is that your PC may not be near the spot you want to monitor, and USB extension cables will get you only so far.

Finally, if you place a webcam facing out of a window, you may get reflections at different times of the day as the sun’s position changes. Plus, the vast majority of webcams will be useless at night unless there’s good street lighting or – if you’re monitoring indoors – you keep a light on.

Use a webcam as CCTV: IP Cameras

The advantage of using an IP camera instead of a webcam is that you won’t need to leave a computer running. The IP stands for Internet Protocol, and essentially means that they connect to your router (usually via Wi-Fi) and therefore can be mounted anywhere in Wi-Fi range where there’s a power source.

As they connect to your router, you can view the real-time footage from any computer on your home network (or a smartphone or tablet if it works in their web browser or has a dedicated app). As with webcams, you can install software on a PC to record footage when motion is detected, but it’s better to opt for a camera with a microSD card slot for recording footage. You won’t need to remove the card to view the footage: it should be possible to do this via a web browser or dedicated app or Windows software.

Features to look for include infrared night vision, which will record lower quality but usable footage in almost complete darkness. You may also want one with all-weather housing that won’t be damaged by rain if mounted outdoors. Finally, pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) cameras allow you to remotely adjust where the camera is pointing and zoom in to see more detail.

The cheapest IP cameras (around £60) may not have HD resolutions, and it’s well worth spending extra for better image quality, rather than opting for a cheap PTZ camera with poor image quality.

Don’t assume that IP cameras can record audio – check before you buy.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release date, price and specs: first 4K smartphone for September unveiling

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4, tipped to be the first 4K smartphone, is likely to be unveiled at a Samsung Unpacked event on 3 September

The Galaxy S5 smartphone is now on sale so Samsung's next big handset launch will be the Galaxy Note 4. Here we look at the rumours surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release date, price and specs, including rumours that it could be unveiled at a Samsung Unpacked launch prior to IFA 2014.

Ok, Samsung hasn't mentioned the Galaxy Note 4 by name but it's not hard to work out what the next model will be called. So far, the Korean smartphone giant has only referred to it as the next or new Galaxy Note.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Release date

Previous versions of the Galaxy Note have been released in and around September and it looks like the Galaxy Note 4 will be no different. Indeed, industry insiders have suggested the Note 4 will be unveiled at a pre-IFA 2014 Samsung Unpacked event on 3 September, with invitations expected to go out in August.

Yoon Han-kil, senior vice president of Samsung's product strategy team, told Reuters that the firm is planning to launch a new Galaxy Note handset with a "new form factor" in the second half of the year.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Price

There's no leaked information on the Galaxy Note 4 yet and that's not too surprising since we're a few months away from its expected launch. We'll bring you any information as and when we hear it but in our expert opinion it is likely to come in between £550 and £600 – similar to the Galaxy S5.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Specs

The Galaxy Note series is deliberately big, what we would regrettably call a phablet. The Galaxy Note 3 stands at 5.7in and that's bigger than the Galaxy Note 2's 5.5in display. Well the Galaxy Note 4 is going to reportedly continue that trend with an even bigger screen – perhaps 5.9in or even 6in matching the LG G Flex.

As you would expect, the device will come with Samsung's S Pen stylus and will be powered by Android's Google's Android operating system. It is rumoured that the device will be able to recognise personal handwriting to unlock it and perform functions like calling contacts.

By September we could well have a new version, 4.5 or maybe 5.0 codenamed 'Lolipop' so the hope is that the Galaxy Note 4 will come with the latest software.

Under the hood, the Galaxy Note 4 will supposedly wield the recently announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor. That's a quad-core Krait 450 chip which can be clocked up to 2.7GHz and has an Andreno 420 GPU.

Qualcomm calls it the 'Ultra HD' processor because it supports 4K resolution (aka Ultra HD) capture and playback. Potentially then, the Galaxy Note 4 could be the first smartphone with a 4K screen. However, the firm could opt for Quad HD instead which is what the LG G3 is expected to feature. Samsung is working on both Quad HD and Ultra HD displays for smartphones.

Another titbit about the screen is the possibility it will be three-sided so messages can be read from an angle. That's hard to imagine but sounds interesting and is what Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of mobile at Samsung, told Bloomberg.

Like the Galaxy S5, the Galaxy Note 4 is thought to be coming with a dust- and waterproof design. It's something we're seeing more of after Sony made it an almost standard feature for higher end devices like the Xperia Z1 Compact.

YouTube in talks to buy Video game Streaming service 'Twitch'

Google's video streaming service YouTube, is said to have reached a deal to buy Twitch, the most popular videogame streaming service. YouTube is said to have offered Twitch $1 billion as an all-cash offer even though both the companies have declined to comment on the deal. Google had acquired YouTube for around $1.65 billion in 2006.
Twitch is a San Francisco-based video streaming service that lets users upload and watch live gameplay videos for free. The videos can be streamed from Microsoft Xbox 360, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.
Twitch is also reported to have received offers from Microsoft and other companies but preferred YouTube as its partner. If the Microsoft-Twitch deal had gone through, the software giant would most likely have made the service as an Xbox exclusive which could have harmed Twitch's traffic from other consoles.
Despite not a well-known name except in gaming circles, Twitch is known to push more traffic than Facebook and Amazon in its peak hours. The company was launched in 2011 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear who are the co-founders of Justin.tv. Shear is currently the CEO of the company. At the time of its foundation, the service raised about $35 million in funding from investors like Bessermer Venture partners, Alsop Louie Partners, WestSummit Capital, Take-Two Interactive Software, Thrive Capital and Draper Associates.

Even though Twitch is still available on Xbox, it will be interesting to see how YouTube deals with the Microsoft-owned platform as the two companies have had a bad relationship in recent times. Previously, Google had declined to develop a YouTube app for Windows and Windows Phone platform. Later, when Microsoft developed the app itself, Google revoked the developer API of that app.

Twitch is available on iOS and Android mobile platforms as an app as well. The service streams content in high definition and offers browsing option of the top streamers. Users can browse the service by game titles and also allows registered users to follow their favorite channels. On the PC, Twitch has been integrated into PC as a software as well (other than the in-browser support) through EA's Origin Software, Ubisoft's Uplay, and Nvidia's ShadowPlay feature.

Wall Street Journal on the other hand, has also confirmed the reports but says that the deal might not be finalized soon. Despite the rumors, YouTube and Twitch haven't denied the reports either.

Source: DIGIT.

War Games! U.S. military turning Oculus Rift into cyber weapon

The possibilities for the Oculus Rift are so vast and wide-ranging it was somewhat inevitable those involved in the defence businesses would strap on the headset and it exploit it for their own means.

Even less surprisingly, it's the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) who've figured out a way to harness the power of the Facebook-owned technology.

DARPA has released a proof-of-concept demo which may eventually allow to cybersoliders to use the Oculus Rift to view computer networks in three dimensional space, making them easier to attack.

Remember when people were just excited about Virtual Reality gaming?

Facebook to launch 'I'm a voter' feature worldwide after India election success

Facebook is rolling out its "I'm a voter" feature worldwide, after the app's success in the Indian elections in early May.

More than four million Indian voters clicked the button, registering that they had voted during the country's parliamentary elections, according to Reuters. Thanks to that success, the company is rolling the feature out for a number of upcoming elections.

Facebook users in the EU, Colombia, South Korea, Indonesia, New Zealand and Brazil will all have the option to broadcast their status as voters. Scottish voters will have the chance to click the button twice, in both the European parliament elections and the referendum for Scottish independence.

The feature was first introduced for the 2010 US mid-term elections, and by 2012, more than nine million voters had clicked it to report that they had taken part in the US presidential election.

Now that the feature is active worldwide, Facebook estimates that a third of its active users will see the message in their news feeds at some point this year – more than 400 million people.

And it's about more than just over-sharing. In 2010, the feature was credited with encouraging 340,000 people to vote who would otherwise have stayed at home.

According to a study published in Nature by UCSD professor James Fowler, the "social, non-partisan ‘get out the vote’ message" had such a strong effect that 60,000 people who directly saw it will have been encouraged to vote. A further 280,000 users who saw the message when it was shared by their friends were also motivated to vote. "The social network yielded an additional four voters for every one voter that was directly mobilized," Fowler said.

Source: theguardian.com

UK Police take down largest torrent search engine Torrentz.eu

The internet’s largest torrent search engine, Torrentz.eu, has been taken down in the latest attempt by UK police to curb illegal file sharing.

The site’s domain was suspended by the registrar of its domain after a request from the UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit.

Police have been sending warning letters to the sites for some time. It made a fresh round of requests last week, including to the registrar ofTorrentz.eu, and the site was taken down from this morning.

A similar site, FileCrop, has also been taken down, and others may follow. Torrentfreak, a website close to the community, reports that several allegedly infringing sites were contacted before the weekend.

Many competitors have also been taken offline recently. Two ofTorrentz.eu’s most significant peers — isoHunt and The Pirate Bay — have been taken down completely or blocked in many countries.

Torrentz.eu acts as a search engine for torrents rather than storing the files itself, making the move unusual among police shutdowns. The site receives millions of visitors a day and is thought to be one of the largest torrent sites on the internet.

Two alternative domains, registered in Switzerland and Montenegro, are still in use by the company. It is likely to be able to recover its domain or get it transferred to a new registrar, reported Torrentfreak.

The police began to block websites rather than targeting individuals towards the end of last year, when it asked Internet Service Providers to block 21 sites that link to infringing material. Unlike that move — which meant that Torrentz.eu was already banned on many ISPs — the ban on the domain means that users will be unable to access the site through any ISP.

Source: The Independent

Expert says Mobile Banking apps are easiest way for hacker to hack

Love fund transfers or bill payments via mobile banking as you think two-step authentication process is secure? This may not be the case.
A mobile security expert here has shown how a banking app can be hacked using free internet tools.

To prove the point, Winston Bond from Maryland-based mobile security firm Arxan Technologies set up a dummy banking app to demonstrate how the technology can be hacked.

As he signed into the mobile app, the password was automatically revealed on the hacker's server.

The server was able to piggyback onto the payment and even transfer money to the hacker's account at the same time, Daily Mail reported.

"It is the same process hackers are using to access official banking apps on mobile devices. The hacking technique used is called reverse engineering," Bond was quoted as saying.

Reverse engineering is the process of taking an object apart to see how it works, either to replicate or improve the object.
It is often used by programmers to find mistakes or errors in code in order to fix them.
According to security experts, to avoid any fraud, keep an eye on bank statements and report any irregularities.

Also, check in the phone's settings for any unusual looking processes running in the background.

Installing anti-virus apps on mobile devices is a good idea.

Sources: Times Of India Tech

How to set any song as a ringtone on your iPhone. Plus: how to get a custom text tone

You may have already tried some of the many apps which claim to create ringtones for your iPhone. However, you've probably also found their claims to be somewhat untrue because none have access to the necessary folders on the iPhone and therefore can't add those tones to your tones list. 

Instead, you have to sync your iPhone with iTunes to get those tones to appear.

The one exception to this rule is Garageband, which can create and save ringtones on an iPhone without needing a separate computer at all. 

However, in this article, I'll show you how to use iTunes to make your ringtone (or other alert tone - including for text messages), then sync your iPhone to import the tones and set them as your ringtone or text tone. Yes, Apple hasn't made the process easy and whether that's because it wants to sell you a ringtone from the iTunes Store or for other reasons, it's far more difficult than it should be. But, if you're determined to turn that catchy riff into your ringtone, here's how to do it.

We're using iTunes 11 on a Windows PC here, but it's a very similar process in older versions, and on a Mac.

Step-by-step: make a custom iPhone ringtone

1: On your PC, launch iTunes by double-clicking its shortcut or by finding it in the Start menu.

2: From your library, right-click on the song you want to use as a ringtone and then select Get info.

3: Select the Options tab and then tick the Start Time and Stop Time boxes. Enter times at which you want the ringtone to start and stop. You will have to listen to the track first and note down the time you want it to start. The stop time must be within 30 seconds, as this is the maximum length for a ringtone.

4: Click OK. Right-click on the track again, and then select Create AAC version. iTunes will convert the song. It will appear as a duplicate track - you can identify it by the track length in seconds. If you don't see an option to Create AAC version, it's likely because your rip settings are for creating MP3 files. To change this, click the menu at the very top-left corner of iTunes and choose Preferences... Then click Import Settings... next to 'When you insert a CD' and choose Import Using: AAC Encoder.

5: Right-click on the original track, and then using the Options tab from the Get info menu, return the start and stop times to their original times. Otherwise, when you play that track, it will only play the section between your start and stop times!

6: Right-click on the short ringtone track and click Show in Windows Explorer.

The file will be highlighted. Right-click on it and choose Rename. Now change the extension from .m4a to .m4r. Click Yes when asked if you want to change the extension.

If you can't see the .m4a extension (i.e. you just see 01 Dancing Queen and not 01 Dancing Queen.m4a), it's because Windows is set to hide the extensions.

If file extensions are not showing you cannot simply add .m4r when renaming the file. All you are doing here is changing 01 Dancing Queen.m4a to 01 Dancing Queen.m4r.m4a. This will not work!

7: Double-click the file to add it to the Tones section of your iTunes library (or add it using the 'Add file to library' menu option in iTunes).

Windows users: You don't need to delete the ringtone 'song' from your music library within iTunes for this to work, but you should do so as a housekeeping task. If you leave it there, it won't play, since you changed the filename that the 'song' linked to (in the previous step).

Mac users: Lots of people have commented saying that in the latest iTunes, the ringtones simply won't show up in the Tones section. There are two things to try here:

1- Delete the ringtone 'song' entry in your iTunes Music library (don't delete the actual file on your hard drive - choose to keep it when prompted). Then double-click on the .m4r file in Finder and it should show up in Tones.

2- If that doesn't work, try moving the .m4r file outside of your iTunes folder on your hard drive (such as to the desktop). Then double-click on it. At least one person found that worked and it showed up in Tones.

To see if your ringtones have been added to iTunes, click the drop-down arrow to select the Tones section of your library as it will probably be showing your Music library. You should see your ringtone there. If you don't have a Tones section at all, it's because Tones is not selected in your iTunes preferences. To enable Tones, click the menu at the very top-left corner of iTunes and choose Preferences... and make sure the Tones box is checked. Click OK and try again.

Then you'll see the list of tones:

8: Connect your iPhone to your PC and click on 'iPhone' when it appears on the right-hand side of iTunes. Click on the Tones button in the menu running across the top and make sure Sync Tones is checked. If you choose 'selected tones' rather than 'All tones' make sure you tick the tones you want to appear on your iPhone. Click Apply at the bottom to start the sync.

9: When the sync is finished, tap Settings on your iPhone, then Sounds, then Ringtone and select the new tone. It should appear at the top of the list, above the default Ringtones.

10:  If you want have a custom tone for text messages, tweets, Facebook posts, new voicemails, reminder alerts or anything else, it's exactly the same process as above.

The only difference is that you'll need to select the appropriate section under SOUNDS AND VIBRATION PATTERNS on your iPhone. Tap one, say Text Tone, and you'll see the Alert Tones list.

Scroll down past these, keep scrolling and you will see your Ringtones list, at the top of which are all your custom tones that you've synched in step 8.

Obviously, I wouldn't recommend using a 30-second song as a text message alert, but each to their own. And, in case you're wondering, there's no difference between a 'song' and a sound effect in iTunes, so there's no need to use part of a song as your custom alert tone. As long as you have a sound effect in a format iTunes can import (usually MP3), it treats it just like any other song. Then, go to Step 2 and use the same process to create and sync the sound effect to your iPhone.

iPhone 6 release date, price, specs and new features: When is the iPhone 6 coming out?

We round up everything there is to say about the iPhone 6 including release date and new features

The iPhone 6 is one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2014, and with Apple's iPhone 5s now more than half a year old, iPhone 6 rumors are flooding in. So, we've rounded up everything there is to say about it until Apple actually announces the device. We've looked into the iPhone 6 release date, price, spec and new features but have the salt pot ready to take a pinch or two for some of the rumours. 

iPhone 6 release date: June, August or September 2014?

We've been covering iPhone launches and release dates since way back in 2007, which has stood us in good stead for what to expect from Apple with regards to its new smartphones. The most obvious thing that jumps out to us is that Apple hasn't launched a new iPhone outside of the five months between June and October - with a particular foundness for September. We're coming up to the beginning of that five month window, so expect iPhone 6 talk to heat up from now.

While the history books suggest that there will be an new iPhone 6 release date around September/October 2014, recent rumours are starting to gather pace that Apple is set to launch the next generation iPhone as early as June this year - at Apples WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) keynote on 2 June.

Another rumour, this one from unidentified supply-chain sources who spoke with Taiwanese media, is that the iPhone 6 will now launch in August, according to Reuters. That's a month earlier than we expected and a little unusual. The reports also suggest that a larger model with a 5.5- or 5.6in screen will arrive in September, but again, the idea that Apple will launch two iPhones so close together seems unlikely. 

Previous iPhone release dates:

To help you get a better idea of Apple's iPhone history, here are the release dates of its iPhones since the very first one was unveiled in 2007.

iPhone 1st gen		June, 2007
iPhone 3G		July, 2008
iPhone 3GS		June, 2009
iPhone 4		June, 2010
iPhone 4s		October, 2011
iPhone 5		September, 2012
iPhone 5s/5c		September, 2013

iPhone 6 rumours at a glance

• iPhone 6 Release date: September 2014
• iPhone 6 Screen sizes: 4.7- to 5.5-inches (or both)
• iPhone 6 Price: Same as existing: 16GB £549, 32GB £629, 64GB £709
• iPhone 6 possible new features:
  • Up to 128GB internal storage or expandable storage
  • Better camera
  • New iOS 8 operating system
  • Heart rate EarPods
  • NFC chip
  • A8 processor
  • Wireless charging
  • Will work with Apple's rumoured iWatch

iPhone 6 rumours: Screen size

One of the most talked about elements of the iPhone 6 is its screen. Pretty much every rumour report, expert and source out there suggests that the iPhone 6 will be bigger than the iPhone 5s, and there are a surprisingly large number of reports that say we'll get two new iPhones this year, with one of those iPhones falling into the 'Phablet' category.

Among those set on the idea that Apple is working on a bigger iPhone is KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a very impressive track record when it comes to predicting Apple launches. He expects two new iPhones to arrive this autumn, one with a 4.7in display and the other with a 5.5in display.

That same rumour has been reiterated by numerous others who agree that we should expect a 4.7in and 5.5in iPhone, including UBS analyst Steve Milunovich, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster and several other analysts, as well as Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, so we're beginning to believe it might be true.

Plus, images reportedly confirming a bigger iPhone (above) emerged in May, showing what is claimed to be the official schematics for the iPhone 6 that have been leaked from Apple supplier Foxconn. The dimensions of the iPhone 6 shown are 138 by 67 mm, compared with the 123.8 by 58.6mm of the iPhone 5s.

The allegedly leaked schematics match up closely with many 3D dummy models of the iPhone 6 that have appeared in recent months, so they could well be the real thing.

Interestingly, there's very little talk of an 'iPhone 6c' so it's possible that Apple will leave out the 'c' line of its iPhones this year, or perhaps drop the colourful, cheaper model from the iPhone line-up completely.

iPhone 6 rumours: Design

In addition to the bigger screen, we expect that the iPhone 6 will have a bit of a new design. The latest rumours and leaked images suggest that the iPhone 6 will have little or no bezels, and many suggest that the iPhone 6 will have a thinner, lighter chassis.

The thinner, lighter chassis could be made possible with the use of Liquidmetal, a material that Apple has exclusive rights to. It's extremely strong and durable, and therefore can be used in smaller quantities to get the same level of build quality as aluminium.

Other design rumours include rounded edges more reminiscent of the latest iPod touch, as well as a relocated power button on the side of the device.

iPhone 6 rumours: Price

We won't know the price of the iPhone 6 until Apple announces it, but it's thought that the firm will keep the same pricing system as the iPhone 5s for the next generation of iPhone. That means the iPhone 6 price will start at £549.

iPhone 6 rumours: iOS 8

One thing which isn't so hard to work out is that the iPhone 6 will almost certainly come pre-installed with iOS 8, Apple's latest mobile operating system which it's set to reveal at WWDC in June.

iPhone 6 rumours: Camera

It's highly likely that the iPhone 6 will have a better camera than the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 5s has an 8-megapixel camera with an f/2.2 aperture, but rumour has it Apple is planning on boosting that to a 10-megapizel camera with an f/.8 aperture and an improve filter, according to Chinese website IT168.

Rather than adding loads of new pixels to the camera like some of its rivals, Apple is apparently going to focus its camera improvements in other areas such as image stabilisation and image enhancements.

iPhone 6 rumours: NFC?

Until recently the idea of having an iPhone with NFC technology was desirable, but ultimately wishful thinking. Well, it looks as if the tide may have changed with sources now suggesting that the iPhone 6 could feature some sort of NFC chip.

Our friends over at Macworld UK, reported on Apple filing for a new patent covering NFC, that could be used for mobile payments and also for iPhones to talk to each other.

Plus, the aforementioned trustworthy analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also thinks NFC is on the way with the iPhone 6.

iPhone 6 to have 128GB storage?

Until now Apple has set the top limit of its smartphone storage at 64GB, which is pretty good internal storage for a smartphone. However, if you are using your iPhone as your main camera and primary source for music consumption, then this will soon fill up – if Apple choses not to equip the iPhone with expandable storage then 128GB would be a welcomed addition to its lineup.

The company has already expanded the storage of the iPad to offer a 128GB option, so it's certainly possible that Apple will choose to do the same with the iPhone this year.

iPhone 6 rumours: Sapphire display

Right now, it's not unusual to see an iPhone with a shattered, smashed or cracked display, but that could all change with the iPhone 6 if rumours are to be believed. It's thought that Apple is planning to use Sapphire glass in the iPhone 6, which is a "virtually scratch free" and "nearly indestructible."

This rumour is backed up by Apple CEO Tim Cook's confirmation that the company has built a new factory in Arizona that is being used to manufacture the sapphire glass. Currently, the material is only used in the iPhone 5s's Touch ID Home button and the cover of the iPhone's rear-facing camera, so we're pretty certain that Apple has bigger plans for the glass if it needs an entire factory to make it.

According to Digitaltrends.com, Apple has spent $578 million on a deal with GT Advanced technology, the sapphire glass maker, to speed up the development of sapphire glass displays destined for the iPhone 6. 9To5Mac says that there are 518 furnaces at the Arizona factory, which would be enough to make sapphire displays for up to 200 million iPhone units per year.

Where this rumour goes a bit crazy, though, is when a solar charging screen is mentioned. 3M and SunPartner demonstrated screens at MWC that do exactly that, but it is understood that the technology won’t be ready to market until 2015, which according to our maths makes it a bit of a long shot for the iPhone 6.

 

iPhone 6 rumours: Heart rate EarPods

Instead of sticking a heart rate monitor on the back of the phone like the Samsung Galaxy S5, Apple is rumoured to be integrating the technology into its EarPod headphone. According to secret.ly, they will also measure blood pressure and iBeacons to avoid losing them.

"Apple's new EarPods will have sensors in them, for heart rate & blood pressure. Also iBeacons so they don't get lost. They will require the lightning port, it's why the audio jack was moved to the bottom," says the site.

iPhone 6 rumours: Expandable storage

This is a contentious issue, because Apple have both a very successful pricing structure based on storage options and also an ever developing iCloud. But expandable storage is still the most popular way and unrestricting way that the majority of people would chose to expand the storage capabilities of their smartphones. An iSD card and slot would be a great way for Apple to tackle this current flaw of the iPhone. It almost definitely won't happen though.

iPhone 6 rumours: Wireless Charging

This is almost too Apple, it's almost shocking it hasn't been included yet. Apple's big rival, Samsung, already has the feature and other smartphones are sure to catch up soon also. Will Apple introduce wireless charging with the iPhone 6? Maybe, but there's no real evidence to back this up yet.

iPhone 6 rumours: Flexible screen

A flexible screen, that's crazy talk! Apparently not. Those chaps over at Samsung are already making noises suggesting that there will be a smartphone with a flexible smartphone coming out in 2014. If it's a hit, then it won't be long till Apple joins the party. God knows enough people have smashed their existing iPhone screens.