Game of Thrones season 6

2016-05-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

Young Ned Stark returns in Game of Thrones season 6 on Sunday night, and you know what that (probably) means *POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD*.

Actor Robert Aramayo is confirmed to appear in episode 6 ‘Blood of my Blood’ on IMDb, while a recent hometown hero story on him in the Hull Daily Mail confirmed: ‘He will appear again briefly in episode six before another significant showing in episode ten.’

Given the Tower of Joy scene was cut infuriatingly short in episode 3, it stands to reason that the next time we see Young Ned he will actually be inside the tower.

I probably don’t have to tell you how important this is, and how it will probably shape the final season of the show (though there’s an explainer along with secondary theories on it here if you need them).

Fingers crossed episode 6 sees Bran witness his father learning Jon Snow’s true parentage and making his promise to Lyanna, and the episode 10 appearance is related to something else, or comes as Bran manages to get the news to Jon of his true identity.

However, given how brief a look at the Tower of Joy we got in episode 3, it’s possible the show will again cut the flashback off early. This could be down to Bran struggling to control his visions without the assistance of the Three-Eyed Raven, or simply because he is interrupted by pursuing White Walkers.

The trailer for the episode indeed confirms that, despite Hodor’s sacrifice, Bran and Meera won’t be home free yet, and when matched with the original season 6 trailer, it suggests that it is Bran’s uncle Benjen Stark, who we last saw guiding Jon Snow to the Wall seasons ago, coming to their rescue.

Neither the trailer nor the episode synopsis ('An old foe comes back into the picture. Gilly meets Sam’s family. Arya faces a difficult choice. Jaime faces off against the High Sparrow') references the Tower of Joy, but HBO nearly always omits the episodes' biggest moments from these.

Bran’s subplot has become incredibly complicated this season, with the time-travelling elements adding weight to several popular fan theories.

GUCCI MANE Fresh Outta Jail

2016-05-26T23:41:00.003-07:00

GUCCI MANEI'M A FREE MAN!!Fresh Outta Jail

15.6K

EXCLUSIVE DETAILS

Gucci Mane is finally free ... getting sprung from behind bars 4 months early.

The rapper's lawyer, Drew Findling, tells TMZ Gucci was released Thursday

morning from an Indiana prison. We're told he already has a home just outside the city. Findling says the rapper will be on house arrest for a few months and will then be on probation.

Findling and his team filed a motion months ago stating Gucci hadn't received credit for previous time served, and it looks like the judge agreed since he's out early.

Sources close to Gucci Mane -- who's been behind bars since September 2013 on a probation violation -- tell TMZ he's also ready to get back in the rap game.

His girlfriend, Keyshia Ka'oir, just posted a pic holding hands with who we're guessing is Gucci.#FreeGucci #GucciIsFree

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in marriage split

2016-05-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in marriage split

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionThe couple met on the set of the 2011 film The Rum Diary

Film star Johnny Depp and his actress wife Amber Heard are to divorce, US court documents have revealed.

Heard, 30, filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court citing irreconcilable differences.

They married 15 months ago and have no children.

They have recently been embroiled in a legal case in Australia after Heard took two dogs into the country illegally. She pleaded guilty in April to a charge of falsifying documents.

Depp, 52, and Heard met while co-starring in the 2011 film The Rum Diary.

In the court papers, Texan-born Heard listed the separation date as Sunday.

Celebrity news website TMZ reported that Depp had asked a judge to reject Heard's claim for spousal support.

The split comes days after the death of Depp's mother. His latest film, Alice Through the Looking Glass, is due to be released on Friday.

Media captionJohnny Depp and Amber Heard expressed remorse in a video message made public by the Australian Department of Agriculture

The Australian court case started last year when Heard brought two dogs into the country where her husband was filming the latest movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

When the case was settled, the couple released a video apology expressing remorse and advising travellers to respect Australian quarantine laws.

However, Australia's Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce had threatened to have the dogs put down, triggering a war of words with Depp that lasted for months.

The actor recently said on a US TV show that Mr Joyce looks "somehow inbred with a tomato".

Mr Joyce responded by saying he was "pulling strings" in Johnny Depp's head, like film villain Hannibal Lecter

iPhone 5se

2016-02-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

iPhone 5se drawings: nearly identical to 5s with slightly curved edges

We have been reporting since earlier this year that Apple is preparing to launch a new 4-inch iPhone called the iPhone 5se. Our sources have said that the new device is essentially the 2013 iPhone 5s with significant internal hardware and software upgrades. Earlier rumors about a next-generation smaller iPhone model called the device an “iPhone 6c” and said that it would look similar to the iPhone 6 in appearance.

Today, a case maker source provided us with schematics that line up with what we have been hearing from our sources who have used the iPhone 5se: the device looks nearly like a 5s.

The case maker source tells us that the product’s dimensions are indistinguishable from the iPhone 5s, meaning that the new device will fit inside of existing iPhone 5s cases. There are a couple of changes, however, on our drawings. First, these schematics indicate that the sleep/wake/power button has been relocated to the side.

Yesterday one iPhone 5se drawing showed power switch on the side, and one showed it on the top. Source says it is on the top like 5s.

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) February 25, 2016

This change would make sense given that Apple made the shift on the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus beginning in 2014. In line with our sources have been saying since January, the case maker tells us that the edges of the device and the front glass panel are slightly curved around the edges, but not as curved as the sides of the iPhone 6 and 6s. Schematics shown on websiteiGeneration also show these curves, but do not show the relocated power switch. They also oddly show a small camera bump.

Besides those changes, the iPhone 5se is externally essentially an iPhone 5s: a design nearly identical to the 2012 iPhone 5 with metal plates on the back, glass caps on the top and bottom of the back, and a FaceTime camera centered above the front facing speaker.

Also, while these renders don’t show the Touch ID home button, the iPhone 5se will have Touch ID support. The rendering software that the case maker uses simply doesn’t show the Touch ID ring.

As for the insides, sources have said that the new device includes the A9 and M9 chips from the iPhone 6s, the ability to take Live Photos, an upgraded camera hardware system, and an NFC chip for Apple Pay. The only other noticeable external difference will be a new Rose Gold color option, joining the previously available Gold, Silver, and Space Gray options from the iPhone 5s. The new device will come in 16GB and 64GB storage options and sell for the same prices as the 5s.

Sources say that Apple will unveil the new iPhone 5se at an event on March 15th. Apple then plans to release the phone as soon as March 18th, and the company is not currently planning to offer the device via a standard pre-order campaign. At its March 15th event, Apple is also said to be readying a series of new Apple Watch model options (including a new Space Black Milanese Loop and NATO-style nylon straps), as well as an upgraded version of the 9.7-inch iPad with an A9X processor and a Smart Connector.

Harry Styles Splits With One Direction

2016-02-02T00:41:00.001-08:00

Harry Styles Splits With One Direction's Management, Joins Azoff

2/1/2016

Harry Styles performs onstage during One Direction's "On the Road Again" tour opener at Qualcomm Stadium on July 9, 2015 in San Diego, California.

KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE

It looks like Harry Styles is following his former bandmate Zayn Malik in a different direction, away from the band that made him a household name. The One Directionsinger has officially split from his longtime management team, Modest Management, and has signed with CAA’s Jeffrey Azoff, son of industry veteran Irving Azoff.

Modest confirmed the move in a statement provided to Billboard. "We wish Harry the very best. It has been a real pleasure working with him," said Modest execs Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee. "Harry is a total gentleman, and we know our good friend Jeffrey Azoff will look after him."

Zayn Malik Says One Direction Reunion Could Happen 'If Time Was Right'

According to an earlier report in The Sun newspaper, Styles' new team is working on launching the artist’s solo career "by around this time next year." Whether that involves retaining Simon Cowell’s Syco Music as his U.K. label remains to be seen, though sources told the tabloid that "he wants to completely disassociate with [One Direction] and that includes any professional connection."

So does that mean it’s curtains for One Direction? Maybe not. A source close to the band recently told Billboard that ”nothing has changed regarding the hiatus plans for the group, and all will be revealed in due time from the band members' own mouths." Even Malik, who split from the group last May and recently dropped a solo video, has said he’s open to a reunion. "Who knows?...I don't know," he told Culturemagazine. "If the time was right and that was the thing to do, then I would make that decision when it came around."

Zika Virus Symptoms, Diagnosis, & Treatment

2016-02-02T00:31:00.000-08:00

Symptoms, Diagnosis, & Treatment

Symptoms

About 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus become ill (i.e., develop Zika).
The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache. The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) for Zika virus disease is not known, but is likely to be a few days to a week.
The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week.
Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for a few days but it can be found longer in some people.
Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon.
Deaths are rare.

Diagnosis

The symptoms of Zika are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya, diseases spread through the same mosquitoes that transmit Zika.
See your healthcare provider if you develop the symptoms described above and have visited an area where Zika is found.
If you have recently traveled, tell your healthcare provider when and where you traveled.
Your healthcare provider may order blood tests to look for Zika or other similar viruses like dengue or chikungunya.

Treatment

No vaccine or medications are available to prevent or treat Zika infections.
Treat the symptoms:
- Get plenty of rest.
- Drink fluids to prevent dehydration.
- Take medicine such as acetaminophen to relieve fever and pain.
- Do not take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen and naproxen. Aspirin and NSAIDs should be avoided until dengue can be ruled out to reduce the risk of hemorrhage (bleeding). If you are taking medicine for another medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before taking additional medication.
If you have Zika, prevent mosquito bites[PDF - 2 pages] for the first week of your illness.
- During the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to another mosquito through mosquito bites.
- An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people.

Top 10 Tips When Getting Started On Tsū

2015-10-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Tips When Getting Started On Tsū

1) First things first… Upload a PROFILE PICTURE and COVER PHOTO.

I can’t speak for everybody, but I know that I am very picky with whom I accept as a friend. If you don’t have a picture, then how are we going to know who you are?
A cover photo is also a great way to show people who you are, what you do, or what you’re interested in.

2) Get to know your limits.

You can have a total of 5,000 FRIENDS
You can have UNLIMITED FOLLOWERS
You can FOLLOW 1,000 people, initially
You can LIKE 1,000 times per 24 hours
You can COMMENT 1,000 times per 24 hours
You can FOLLOW 500 times per 24 hours
You can have 50 outstanding FRIEND REQUESTS at a time
You can POST 40 times per 24 hours
You can SHARE 12 times per 24 hours
You can MENTION (@username) 10 people per post/comment
You can HASHTAG (#hashtag) 10 tags per post/comment
Read the Tsū FAQ’s Here

3) DO NOT SPAM.
There is nothing more annoying than users who just write “nice”, “like”, or “fine” on everything they see! I understand that sometimes you really DO think something is “nice” and that is OK!… but at least take the time to write 3 or more words. Other forms of spam include posts asking you to comment, like, or share to earn $10. Help us put an end to these and please don’t spread them.
DO NOT USE THE HASHTAGS: #Follow4Follow , #Like4Like , #Share etc…

4) Post Original Content.
The best posts on Tsū are Genuine, Original, and Add Value. I can’t tell you how many times I see the EXACT SAME images posted over and over and over again… You are not contributing to the network and you run the risk of copyright infringement, meaning, you might not be allowed to collect your cheque at $100! Always put 100% into each and every post. Create your own personal brand and use Hashtags relevant to your content in order for more people to find it!

5) Engage With Your Audience.
Always take the time to thank a person for sharing one of your posts when you see it. If you don’t engage with the people commenting and sharing your stuff, eventually they will stop!I make the effort to go through my notifications and see who’s mentioning me in posts, Who’s talking to me in comments, and who’s Sharing and Commenting on my stuff. By thanking these people and showing gratitude, you can build relationships and meet like minded people!

6) Invite Your Friends To Join You.
The benefit to inviting people to this platform is that it helps the entire community grow, thus in turn bringing in more money for the company. The more money there is, the moreShared Economics there are.

When you invite somebody using your Short Code, you partake in their shared economics too!
Your short code is your Username: www.tsu.co/Kimjen

This link not only tracks who you invite, who they invited and who they invited, but the link also tracks how the revenues are earned and shared through your family tree. Be sure to welcome new TsŪsers to the network and shout-out anybody you personally invite via the #nmshoutout

7) Distinguish Between Friends vs. Followers.

Friends
If you are friends with a user, then each of you automatically follow each other, and you will share both levels of content in your feeds (‘Public’ and ‘Friends Only’ posts). We do not yet have ‘Private’ or ‘Restricted’ options to control content visibility to Friends. We suggest only befriending people you actually know or want to know. Trust us on this one!

Followers
If you follow a user, you can see their ‘Public’ posts. Users you follow will not see your ‘Public’ posts unless they choose to follow you. Likewise you can have Followers that you choose not to Follow. There is NO NEED to Follow AND Friend the same person seeing as how there are limits to the amount of people you can have of each and they both accomplish the same thing. Be selective with the people you accept as your friend and make sure they are relevant to your interests or target audience. The number of friends you have on here does not make any difference if they aren’t engaging with you, so don’t feel obligated to follow someone back just because they are following you.

8) Be Patient.
Just remember that while it is possible to make a lot of money on Tsū, you’re going to have to put up with a few pennies along the way. You have to allow time for the COMPOUND EFFECT to sink in, and you have to be CONSISTENT in your activity… If 30 minutes a day is all you have time for, then make sure it’s 30 minutes EVERY day.

9) Join Others In Challenges.
A great way to interact with others, and be productive with your time on Tsū, is to join in on challenges… There are many great, user inspired, challenges happening on a daily basis! These challenges could be anything from; taking a silly picture, to doing some sort of physical activity and tagging others to do the same. Most of the time these challenges are accompanied with a donation to a charity (sort of like the ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge). These sort of post are the best because they follow all of the rules!

They are original and can’t be found anywhere else online.
They are engaging and interactive.
They expand your audience by using relevant hashtags.
They allow you to get to know other users too.
They typically bring in quite a few dollars for charity and raise A LOT of awareness!Be sure to credit the Challenge creator by mentioning them in the post.

10) Step Up And Become A Leader.
One of the most important things, often overlooked by people, is that WE are the ones responsible for the success or failure of this platform! Our CEO is a fantastic guy, and brilliant to say the least, but he understands that it’s the users who encourage and stimulate the growth of the platform by how well they interact and keep people coming back! Keep in mind that this platform is still under 1 year old. There is plenty of room for anybody to emerge as one of the top influencers that people look up to. If you follow all of these tips, you will find yourself building a name in no time! Leaders don’t create followers, they create other leaders, so make sure that the people you bring to Tsū stay plugged in, guide them to this website so they can learn and have fun with this wonderful Social Network.

Tsu Hashtags Your Way To Earn

2015-10-23T23:32:00.001-07:00

Hashtags

Your Ticket to Enter a New Level

When using any social platform, the way that I and a great and growing number of others are using those platforms is with the help of #hashtags!

When I am looking to find content from friends, if that is not being displayed in my feed, then I search a hashtag like #FractalDesigns then all of a sudden -Bam★Pow★Bang★Zoink-, I am looking at the desired content.

The hashtag is a descriptive search in itself, the new hyperlink, just clicking it makes it go get the stuff you want.

Are you doing this;

searching for the content you choose to see, instead of scrolling a long list of content displayed by the time it was posted?

It does come down to Time, unless of course you have a never ending supply of it. Not many people can say they do!

Speeding Up The Process

Hashtags help you to speed up the process by gathering Only content that has been posted with a certain #hashtag in the actual post.

Example:

Here are some of the hashtags that I choose to describe my work with when posting on social sites;

#wallpaper #fractals #jwildfire #fractalart

They are generic and if others also use those hashtags, then when you click it, you get it all!

I am the sort of user who likes to let others use my work as free wallpapers for their devices and pc’s, so I use the #wallpaper hashtag for people searching for that and if they are searching for fractals, then I use #fractals or maybe they want to see what is possible in the program I use to create fractal art, then I use #fractalart and jwildfire.

When of course, your aim is to drive some traffic to your own website, it is a good idea to create a new hashtag just to use for that purpose.

This is my personal hashtag; #FractalDesigns, I use it on nearly every single post that I make.

Another way to use them is for finding your way back to content, especially on tsū, when you get your shares limited daily!

For this type of use, I create something like #comebackCraig and others have their favourite for doing the same like #returninglater or similar.

Anything will work as long as you remember it!

Putting the Hashtag to Work for You

So, if you want to grow your following and get more people sharing your content, then putting the Hashtag to work for you is a lot less effort and saves you spending more Time on the promotion of your content.

If you have cool hashtags that people can find your content faster and more directly, why not list it/them in the comments below!

Don’t forget! GOOGLE is Indexing tsū content and in turn Hashtags found around the Web.

You can also use hashtags to link a series of content together so that others can see a whole series in one place, without other content preventing you from seeing what you want like:

#ThreeTsuSphericalFlames

Wouldn’t that be a good idea to search on Google for a hashtag and see what comes in from the web and not just a single platform like tsū.co ?

PAYMENT PROOF

TSU

2015-10-23T23:24:00.003-07:00

When asking Google if the social network Tsu is legit you may run into this auto suggestion: ‘Tsu is ownership of content’ – but what does this mean? Well, as an content creator you automatically own the copyright to your work. It doesn’t matter if you are an artist with a formal education or just a hobbyist that loves to paint, draw or take pictures with your camera or phone.

You can do whatever you want with your newly created content. Upload it to your website, post it on Facebook and / or Google+, tweet it out to the whole world or just let it sit in one of these dark edges on your hard drive so it can gather some dust. If you want to do so you can even give it away for free. I don’t count how often I get asked if I could give away one of my pictures for a “we don’t have any budget for the photos” project.

But: others need to have your permission to use your photos, paintings and drawings. If anyone finds one of your images in the Google search she / he have to contact you before using it for their blog or website.

So what’s about social networks? You captured this wonderful sunset with amazing orange clouds in a dramatic sky. Your friends should see it! Uploading the picture to a social network of your choice is a breeze. Soon you will get some comments, likes and maybe even shares.

Places like Facebook need content and engagement like this to get their business running. And the goal of this business is very clear: selling advertisements. Facebook is a great place for advertisers to run paid ads, boosted posts and much more. Facebook make lots and lots of money with their Ads and the advertisers may make some Dollars with the very clever ad targeting system Facebook has.

And what’s about you, the user? The person who uploads his own content, likes, comments and shares posts from others? Do you get compensated for doing this? No?

Here is a quote from Tsu founder Sebastian Sobczak: ‘Established social networks have built amazing business models prospering on the total monetization of free user-generated content. Why should anyone commercially benefit from someone else’s image, likeness and work giving no financial return to the owner? The markets we participate in are enormous, growing and can materially compensate each user – we’re simply and uniquely rewarding the users who are doing all the work. This is the way the world should work.’

Tsu gives 90% of its ad revenues to the users. So while doing whatever you do on other social networks you can earn some cash for your content and your engagement.

To say it more precise: Tsu is payed ownership of content. And yes, Tsu is legit – trust me and many other users about this.

Join Tsu Here:

http://www.tsu.co/Kimjen

Microsoft Surface 3 Review

2015-05-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Surface 3 Review: Laptop Destroyer

Previous attempts to cross breed laptop and tablet has spawned some questionable creations that have been rightly consigned to the history books, filed under ‘oops’.

Not so with Microsoft MSFT -1.1%’s Surface range. The tablet/laptop (tabtop?) in question is the Surface 3, the slightly less glitzy version of the Surface Pro 3. It’s aimed at casual users and students I’m told, and the price is supposed to reflect that.

The basic version of the Surface 3 costs $499, but the full, pro version costs $799, which includes a more powerful processor, quad-HD display and larger screen. That $499 rises to $628 when you add the keyboard accessory, which is a lot of money for a tablet. There’s certainly nothing casual or studenty about that price.

But in comparison to its Android and iOS rivals – the iPad Air and the SonyXperia Z4 – it comes in cheaper than both. Indeed, it’s the ‘lite’ version, so you’d expect it to be cheaper, but – for that price - you get a lot more than you would from a standard tablet…

Design and accessories

Image credit: Jay McGregor

What’s immediately clear is that the Surface 3 isn’t a conventional tablet. It’s not obsessed with its silhouette like the ultra thin iPad Air 2 or Sony Xperia tablets. It’s thicker width might put some off, but there’s a functional reason for it: a full size USB 3.0 port. Microsoft is unashamed of that, because this Surface range is squarely aimed at productivity enthusiasts.

With that said, it’s as thin as a full-size USB allows it to be. Given that it’s thinner than the average laptop – and it’s pitching itself as a superior replacement – then there’s no problem here.

The magnesium alloy casing and angular shape makes the Surface 3 feel like an expensive, professional piece of kit. On the back there’s a practical non-flimsy kick-stand that sharply clicks into place when pulled out and pushed back in, underneath the kickstand is a subtle microSD slot. Around the edges are the sturdy volume and power buttons – that reward you with a satisfying click when pushed – the full size USB port, a micro USB port and mini DisplayPort.

Image credit: Jay McGregor

Across the bottom is the magnetic connector that the Type Cover accessory (keyboard) attaches too. The keyboard has been been shrunken from the Surface Pro 3’s to accommodate for the smaller sized device. It’s narrow, but not unuseable. The back-lit touch keyboard is responsive and the keys have a good bounce to them. The trackpad is hilariously small though, you’re better off using touch to navigate around the interface.

There’s also a very swish stylus that accompanies tablet, although it’s sold seperately. It does all of the things you’d expect a stylus to do, but it also has some extra, useful, functionality. In particular, the button at the top of the pen instantly opens up One Note, even when the tablet is asleep, which means you can quickly take notes without having to go through the rigmarole of finding and opening the app – although you do have to be logged in. The idea is that the Surface can replace the speed of using pen and paper to quickly jot down a note.

Image credit: Jay McGregor

Curiously, there’s no way of attaching the pen to the tablet. There’s a clip on the top of the pen and the only thing it kind-of clips on to is the keyboard (with a bit of force). It seems strange that a core accessory has no way to stay connected to the main device, especially when it’s something as easily lost as a pen.

Apple Loop: iPhone 6S Feature List, Android Overtakes Apple, Apple Watch's Fifteen Issues

2015-05-23T10:45:00.002-07:00

Apple Loop: iPhone 6S Feature List, Android Overtakes Apple, Apple Watch's Fifteen Issues

Apple iPhone 6 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (image: Ewan Spence)

Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop looks at the feature list for the iPhone 6S, iOS 8.4 and Beats music, fifteen Apple Watch issues, smartwatch sales projections, security issues over the Apple Watch, mobile advertising breakdowns, the autonomous HD-enabled Lily drone, App Store listing tips, and should Apple buy Greece?

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read our weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).

Eleven New Features For The iPhone 6S

It might not be announced until September, but details of the iPhone 6S are going to become known as it moves through the external design and manufacturing process. Kicking off the first big tranche of information, Forbes’ Gordon Kelly rounds up the information from KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo:

The Talking Point - Force Touch is what will likely prove to be the key selling point of the 6S models. Having introduced it on the Apple Watch and 13-inch MacBook Pro it makes perfect sense for Apple to extend this to the iPhone (and eventually the iPad).

How Apple does this will be crucial. The Apple Watch isn’t immediately intuitive and iPhones already have gesture, swipe and long press commands. Adding another must be done right.

For the eleven bullet points, head on over to his full post.

Beats Still Missing Action With Latest iOS 8.4 Beta

With the ninth updated to iOS (in seven months) being prepared – presumably for WWDC – there are more signs of the integration of Beats software into Apple’s mobile OS. Beta 3 of iOS 8.4 was released yesterday, and Gordon Kelly tries to track down the musical streaming service that is still missing in action:

For a long time iOS 8.3 was rumoured to include the long awaited Spotify rival, but having drifted to iOS 8.4 it is surprising that no test features or even code have given away its existence.

There is still time the Beats streaming service to be dropped in there (Apple typically tends to do four to five iOS betas before official release) or for it to arrive via a dedicated event, but the lack of any telltale signs at this stage is surprising.

Given WWDC is developer focused, Beats might be a better bet for September’s new iPhone launch event – and this would leave more time to negotiate ether deals with the music industry.

Most Stylish Apple Watch Accessories

1 of 14

Nomad Stand and Pod

The Nomad Stand ($60) comes in Space Grey or Silver, and the Pod ($60) provides up to 4 full charges of Apple Watch.

15 Issues With The Apple Watch Resolved?

As the Apple Watch was launched, 9to5Mac’s Jeremy Horowitz highlighted fifteen issues with Tim Cook’s wearable. One month later, were these issues addressed, were they real concerns, or has time with the watch proved them to be early adopter’s planting some tall poppies? Horowitz returns to his list:

Several reviewers flagged the Watch’s auto-on/auto-off screen as an annoyance for various reasons, primarily its tendency to not actually turn on whenever desired. While the complaints were valid — including ones that the screen turns off too quickly when in the midst of use — the problem is not as pronounced as the worst howls suggested. The feature works most of the time, and when it doesn’t, a tap on the screen turns it on.

Solution: Hopefully, a software update will make the accelerometer a little more generous in recognizing “wrist up” motions, and the OS a little less willing to shut the screen off mid-use. Until then, a quick tap on the screen will suffice.

Nineteen Million Apple Watches In 2015

IHS Technologies has been looking at the smartwatch market, and while the headline number for projected smartphone sales in 2020 is a nice 1010 million, I’m more interested in its prediction for sales of the Apple Watch this year… around 19 million. Forbes’ Paul Lamkin:

IHS’ forecasts are based on Apple shifting around 19 million of its just-launched smartwatches this year; resulting in an estimated 56% of the market share.

That’s a pretty conservative prediction as, back in November, Morgan Stanley forecast 30 million Apple Watch sales in 2015. “Our 30m unit estimate implies 10% penetration into Apple’s 315m iPhone 5 or newer installed base exiting 2014, which is lower than iPad penetration of 14% in its first year but higher than iPhone at 7%,” it said.

Back to the IHS forecast and it’s stating, by 2020, the Cupertino tech giant’s share of the market would have shrunk to 38%, with 96 million Android Wear shipments helping Google to a 22% piece of the wearable pie. That leaves 40% of non-Apple or Google smartwatches – with the likes of Pebble, Microsoft and even Samsung, with its own Tizen software, potentially playing catch-up.

The big unknown in all of these numbers is just how the public will take to the smartwatch – the geekerati love the computer on the wrist but that’s not enough users to build a sustainable and profitable market.

Apple Accidentally Posts Photo Of New iPhone

2015-05-23T10:44:00.002-07:00

Apple Accidentally Posts Photo Of New iPhone

Well this is embarrassing…

Apple AAPL +0.92%, famed as the world’s most secretive technology company, has accidentally posted photos of a new, unknown iPhone straight to its Apple Store website.

Interestingly the shot comes as a direct result of Apple launching its newLightning Dock with the last photo in the listing showing what appears to be an iPhone 5C, but one which clearly sports a Touch ID fingerprint sensor (old vs new comparison shot on page 2).

Since the iPhone 5C doesn’t currently have Touch ID, it appears we are looking at its successor – possibly the heavily rumoured iPhone 6C.

There is good and bad news about this.

New iPhone 5C/6C shown with clear Touch ID home button – Image credit Apple

The Good News

Such a phone suggests Apple is very likely to continue its so-called ‘budget’ C range and, in doing so, also continue with a range of 4-inch iPhones. This will please loyal fans who aren’t tempted by the ranges’ move to larger screens.

Furthermore any new iPhone C model is almost certain to get a decent specification boost. The current iPhone 5C is based on the discontinued iPhone 5, so it would make sense for the new model to be based on the iPhone 5S which delivers nearly twice the performance of the iPhone 5, an improved camera and jumps to a 64-bit chipset – uniting the current range.

Perhaps even more important, in Apple’s eyes, is that equipping an iPhone 5C/6C with Touch ID provides greater security and opens up a new Apple Pay revenue stream (NFC seems a likely companion).

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus

1 of 11

The two handsets present very different real world strengths and weaknesses

In fact crowbarring new technology into devices is not without precedent at Apple. The company famously launched the 4th generation iPad in November 2012, just eight months after the third gen iPad. The only difference was generation four added the new Lightning port.

As this is an annual refresh, we shouldn’t expect anything quite so cynical here.

Then again there is bad news…

Rock School star Lil' Chris found dead

2015-03-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

Rock School star Lil' Chris found dead in Lowestoft

Chris Hardman rose to fame as Lil' Chris after appearing in Rock School in 2006

Lil' Chris, who launched a singing career after he found fame on reality show Rock School, has died.

The 24-year-old, whose real name was Chris Hardman, starred in the Channel 4 programme set at Kirkley High School in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

He had his first hit single, Checkin' It Out, after he appeared on the show in 2006.

Suffolk Police said it was not treating the death, reported on Monday, as suspicious.

The force was called to an address in Union Road, Lowestoft, at around 11:45 GMT to reports a man had died suddenly, a spokeswoman said.

A number of musicians paid tribute to Lil' Chris after news of his death was announced

Chris Hardman (second row, right) appeared on the Channel 4 show alongside tutor Gene Simmons

A post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death is due to take place, and a file will be passed to the coroner, she added.

Gene Simmons, who appeared on Rock School as Lil' Chris's music teacher, led tributes to him. "He was loved," the Kiss frontman tweeted.

TV presenter and Strictly Come Dancing champion Caroline Flack tweeted: "He was a regular guest on [CBBC show] TMi Friday. Always always such a polite lovely guy. That's so sad."

Chris Hardman (left) appeared on stage in Loserville

McBusted drummer Harry Judd tweeted: "Shocked and saddened to hear the news about Lil' Chris.

"He supported us a while back and was a little star and an awesome guy."

Lowestoft boxer Anthony Ogogo, who went to the same school as the singer,called him a "super-talented kid".

Debut single Checkin' It Out reached number three in the UK singles chart in 2006

"Thoughts go out to his family. Such a shame. Really nice guy and positive role model for our area," he added.

Pretty Little Liars

2015-03-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

“Pretty Little Liars” took a turn for the super effing weird in its season five finale (“Welcome to the Dollhouse”), and we’re not sure how we feel about it. On the one hand, we know who A is. On the other hand, we have no idea who A is. Do you see why we’re so confused?!

Who is Charles? And is he a DiLaurentis? Again, we have no clue, but the “PLL” Powers That Be did a pretty solid job of convincing us that our favorite pathfinder Andrew Campbell is somehow connected to this mess. But A’s kinda-sorta reveal wasn’t even the most jaw-dropping moment of the action-packed finale!

The Liars get swiped from the police van on their way to prison, only to wake up in A’s deranged dollhouse. He’s basically using the Liars as his own personal plAythings — and its borderline gross. Soul or no soul, this Charles needs serious therapy. And, you know, a butt-kicking from Spencer. Here are the most OMFG moments from the “Pretty Little Liars” season five finale.

Mona is alive.

ABC Family

Just as we previously speculated, Mona is alive. It turns out A has been keeping her in his psycho dollhouse these past few months. But wait. It gets worse. Mona has to pretend to be Ali when A’s looking, which is all the effing time. She even dyed her hair to play the part! While we’re disappointed to see the writers’ use Mona’s “death” as yet another red herring (ugh), we’re so happy to see Mona again. She really is the best. Without Mona, the Liars would have no clue what was happening.
Four chimes means it’s game time.

ABC Family

While locked in A’s dollhouse, the Liars have to play a game of Mystery Date Game. The objective is simple: you play to win a prom date, courtesy of A. Because clearly, A is planning a prom for the Liars. The theme? Night at the opera — AKA Melissa and Ian’s prom theme. But the Liars aren’t so pleased when they discover that Ezra, Caleb and Toby’s lives are at stake. Hanna gives A an ominous warning: touch Caleb, and she’ll kill him. Damn, girl! Where has this Hanna been the last few episodes? We already knew A was sick, but these IRL gAmes take things to an even more effed up level.
Caleb, Ezra and Toby are the ultimate #squadgoals.

ABC Family

When the Liars went missing, Detective Tanner acted shady AF. (What else is new?) So Toby, Caleb and Ezra went rogue to try and track them down because that’s what good boyfriends (and ex-boyfriends, in Ezria’s case) do. Caleb used his hacker skills to find evidence that A tampered with the GPS in the security system, prohibiting the Rosewood P.D. from finding the van. When Toby took his findings to Tanner, she immediately put a warrant out for Caleb’s arrest because clearly Caleb is the only hacker in Rosewood. ARE ALL ROSEWOOD POLICE THIS USELESS? Thanks to a little help from his awesome legal team — Mr. and Mrs. Hastings to the rescue! — Caleb is able to convince Tanner to let him try and track down the girls. Caleb ultimately finds the location of the van, which is conveniently park outside Boo Boo’s Ice Cream factory — AKA “the Campbell’s farm.” Excuse me, Mama Hastings, but did you just tell us Andrew’s family owned a farm in the same location as Boo Boo’s Ice Cream? OMG.
The Hastings know about A.

ABC Family

Finally! The Hastings know about A, and it took all of fourfiveseconds for them to do something about it. Because the Hastings get s–t handled around here. And their first order of business is going through all of the information on A that #TeamBoyfriends has pulled together. If anyone is going to find those girls, it’s Veronica Hastings. Well, and Peter, but mostly Veronica.
It has a name.

ABC Family

And his name is Charles. We already knew Charles had something to do with A when Aria, Spencer and Emily found Mona’s note in the mirror. The typewritten note read: “Chandelier’s rituals/Sister launched lair/A ruler’s list chained.” Each line is an anagram for “Charles DiLaurentis.” This was confirmed in the finale when Spencer puts the pieces — er, alphabet blocks? — together to spell the name “Charles.” So we know Charles is A, but who the eff is he? We think he might be Jason DiLaurentis’ twin. When the Liars shut off the power, Spencer, curious about what A could be hiding, entered his personal vault, and what she found might have just blown this whole A case wife open. She discovered a home video of Mrs. DiLaurentis, outside of Campbell’s farm, holding a baby girl (Ali) and talking to two toddler boys. Sure, one is presumably Jason, but who’s the other little boy? Could that be Charles? And if that is Charles, then that means he’s Spencer’s half-brother too.
Phantom of the Opera

ABC Family

Thank you “Pretty Little Liars” for forever ruining Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” for us. We used to associate that song with convertibles and sunshine, and now we can only picture A’s creepy AF prom. A definitely knows how to make an awkward situation — like a dance floor full of mannequins — even more awkward by having the Liars dance to “Unwritten” at their “senior prom.” Yes, it was just as cringe-worthy as it sounds.
A has a soul.

ABC Family

Mona says this upon entering A’s secret room, where Spencer found the home videos, but we’re not entirely ready to empathize with A just yet. If we know anything about Charles, it’s that he’s a madman — and no amount of mommy issues make it okay to be a total dick to people for no reason. He locked Mona up FOR MONTHS. He made her listen to her mother’s cries from her funeral. That is not okay. Sorry, “PLL.” We’re not ready for forgive A anytime soon.
The Liars are trapped.

ABC Family

The Liars, plus Mona, end the finale just where they started: trapped inside A’s dollhouse. Will the next 11 episodes all take place inside the dollhouse? Or will the Liars escape? We’re not going to lie, the thought of spending the entire summer season in A’s dollhouse does sound kind of amazing… and twisted in the best way possible. Because if there’s one thing “Welcome to the Dollhouse” did right, it was show how strong the Liars can be when they team up against their enemy. More of this, please!

Angelina Jolie Has Ovaries Removed

2015-03-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

Angelina Jolie Has Ovaries Removed After Doctor Detects Possible Sign of Early Cancer

FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2014 file photo, director Angelina Jolie poses for photographers during a photo call for her film

Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday that she has undergone more preventive surgery, having her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in hopes of reducing her risk of cancer.

Writing in The New York Times, the filmmaker and philanthropist said a recent blood test showed a possible early sign of cancer. The news was a blow to the star who had already had a double mastectomy.

"I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt," she wrote. "I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren."

Jolie, 39, revealed two years ago that she carries a defective breast cancer gene that puts her at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Her mother died of ovarian cancer, and her maternal grandmother also had ovarian cancer — strong evidence of an inherited, genetic risk that led the actress to have her healthy breasts removed to try to avoid the same fate.

Only a small percentage of women inherit the same faulty gene, known as BRCA1 — the name stands for breast cancer susceptibility gene. These mutations are most commonly found in women of Eastern European Jewish descent, though other groups, including the Norwegian, Dutch and Icelandic, also have slightly higher rates of these mutations.

The average woman has a 12 percent risk of developing breast cancer sometime during her life. Women who have inherited a faulty BRCA gene are about five times more likely to get breast cancer.

Jolie said that while having the gene mutation alone was not a reason to resort to surgery — other medical options were possible — her family history influenced her decision to have further surgery now. The surgery puts a woman in menopause and Jolie wrote she's now taking hormones.

Her courageous decision to publicly announce her double mastectomy was praised as a watershed moment in efforts to persuade women to get breast cancer screening — and to raise awareness of the need for early detection. The same sense of mission led her to write about her follow-up care, although she said her decision wasn't necessarily the right one for everyone.

"There is more than one way to deal with any health issue," she wrote. "The most important thing is to learn about the options and choose what is right for you personally."

Coming forward to tell her story will play a vital role in raising awareness, those who work for cancer charities say. They hope other women at risk will be encouraged to speak with their doctors.

"Angelina Jolie has made a really brave decision," Katherine Taylor, acting chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Action. "It immediately puts the person into surgical menopause so it is not a decision to take lightly."

Jolie's article makes plain the anguish the results of the new blood tests brought. She said she immediately called her husband, the actor Brad Pitt, who flew home from France within hours.

"The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity," she wrote. "You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful."

Bloodborne Review

2015-03-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

Bloodborne Review — The Most Dangerous Game

Mist obscures the majestic cathedral spires. A distant bell tower chimes the witching hour. A gas lamp spills its pale light onto the damp cobblestones. High overhead, a blood moon lights up the city of Yharnam in unholy crimson. Facing down the interminable night, one hunter stands alone — and that hunter will die. Welcome to Bloodborne.

Bloodborne ($60) is a PS4-exclusive action/role-playing game developed by From Software, the Japanese company that brought you Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II. However, while Bloodborne is an exceptional game for both longtime fans and newcomers, it's also just a little less delightfully vexing than its predecessors.

Gameplay: The Hunt Begins

Once you create a demon hunter (you can customize his or her name, sex, appearance and origin story) and select your weapons, you set off into the city of Yharnam to do battle with the crazed townsfolk, monstrous ogres and skeletal werewolves that dwell therein.

MORE: Bloodborne: Everything You Need to Know

The game's difficulty is one of its defining points. Regular enemies can kill you in three or four hits, and bosses require even fewer. The level design will run you off of cliffs, into enemy strongholds and through ancient labyrinths teeming with traps.

Each enemy you defeat leaves behind "blood echoes" — aspects of its powers that you can use to improve your stats, strengthen equipment and buy items. If you die, the blood echoes you've gathered linger behind. You'll have one chance to retrieve them, but if you die trying, they're gone forever. When you fall prey to a run-of-the-mill villager with a pitchfork while on your way to collect tens of thousands of souls, you will spout curses that you didn't even know you knew.

Both attacking and dodging enemies consume stamina, which recharges between actions. If you run out of stamina when that giant boss has one sliver of health left and is about to pound you flat, you're out of luck.

Managing stamina is crucial to combat, and Bloodborne's wealth of options makes it challenging to do so. From basic attacks, strong attacks and switching weapons, to secondary forms, backstepping and rolling, there are plenty of ways to fight.

Bloodborne speeds up combat through the inclusion of guns and the regain system, which gives you a chance to recover health during battles. By interrupting enemy attacks with a pistol or shotgun blast, you can bring foes to their knees and inflict critical damage. If you get hit, you have a brief window to regain some health by striking back. As always, combat feels precise, demanding and utterly exhilarating.

As before, the game incorporates both synchronous and asynchronous multiplayer gameplay. You can team up with other players to conquer bosses, invade their worlds to slaughter them and leave messages to help or hinder their progress.

New to the game are the Chalice Dungeons — procedurally generated areas full of unique enemies, equipment and bosses. You can tackle Chalice Dungeons alone or with friends, and share online. All of the multiplayer features enhance Bloodborne, but if you prefer to play alone, you're not missing much (except the messages, which are important).

Slow Down; You Move Too Fast

Fast-paced combat comes at a cost. Compared to the studio's previous games, From Software streamlined Bloodborne from the ground up. Your hunter has fewer stats to invest in. There's less equipment lying around, and only one shop. Weapons have only one upgrade path (although you can customize them with gems and runes); you can't upgrade armor at all.

Demon's Souls and the two Dark Souls games could, indeed, get too far into the weeds, but that wonderful, hideous complexity held much of the games' richness. The protagonists were very uniquely yours; in Bloodborne, making your perfect character is pretty simple.

You can hold more healing items right from the start, and they take effect almost instantly. There are fewer multiplayer factions to join. Ranged combat is a complement, not a play style in and of itself. There's no penalty for dying, other than having to regain your blood echoes.

These changes do not actually make Bloodborne any easier than the last three games. The combat is still brutal, and you'll die dozens of times. But the character-building between levels feels much blander than it did in the earlier games.

Story: Something Wicked This Way Comes

The ramshackle city of Yharnam is almost deserted. Inhuman beasts roam its streets. The once-magnificent houses, castles and churches have crumbled into disrepair. Only a few motley demon hunters, who infuse themselves with beast blood, stand between the city and total chaos, and many of them are just as murderous as their prey.

After a blood transfusion, you become a hunter, only to find that death lurks around every corner. Your only respite is the Hunter's Dream — an ethereal otherworld where a forlorn, almost-human Doll can channel blood echoes into strength.

The Souls series has a penchant for minimalist stories, and Bloodborne is no exception. You'll piece together Yharnam's backstory from snippets of dialogue with reticent characters, descriptions of equipment, a few scattered notes and the very occasional cutscene. The story itself is convoluted and opaque, but that's by design; when it all comes together, it's as good a reason as any to explore the city.

The problem with the story actually hearkens back to the game's dearth of equipment. Previous Souls games had so much lore that the loading screens (which, in Bloodborne, are very long) used to show characters, equipment and consumable items, all of which helped flesh out the world. Instead, loading screens now just show the Bloodborne logo, which didn't pique my curiosity about anything except when the game would finish loading.

Graphics and Art: Yharnam Gothic

If you've kept up with the art and trailers for Bloodborne, the game sells itself largely on setting. Yharnam represents a weird fusion of Gothic horror and Victorian London, and From Software makes the combination look effortless. From eerie town squares to haunted woodlands to vast underground cities, every part of Yharnam feels unique and looks absolutely gorgeous — particularly since the game progresses from sundown to evening to midnight and beyond as you travel.

The level design, too, is something to behold. Bloodborne splits the difference between the completely interconnected world of Dark Souls and the four distinct, branching paths of Dark Souls II. Although there are four tiers of areas, and you can often choose the order in which to tackle them, they connect in clever and unexpected ways. Yharnam and its surrounding areas feel authentic and lived-in.

Character design and textures are, unfortunately, not up to the same standard. Clothing looks a little too slick, especially once it's been splashed with blood. (If you've ever gotten blood on your clothing, you can attest that it is not very shiny.) Despite the deep character-creation system, it's also extremely difficult to make a character who doesn't look strange — but perhaps that's the point. Bloodborne is a very pretty game about a very ugly world.

Music and Sound: Background Noise

Although it's an action/role-playing game through and through, Bloodborne takes a lot of influences from the horror genre. As such, sound design is a crucial part of the experience, and the game excels on this front. Music is usually sparse and minimalistic. That way, on the few occasions that you do hear it — such as eerie chanting in a forgotten prison, or a sweeping choir during a climactic boss fight — you sit up and take notice.

MORE: 'Dark Souls II': Read This Before Playing

The voice acting is fine, but the sound effects are where the game stands out. A distant bell or a low moan is sometimes all it takes to get your heart pounding, making you terrified of what's just beyond the next darkened corner or locked, thumping door. The sounds of battle, monsters and even the environment itself are all calibrated to keep you on your toes, and they do an excellent job.

Bottom Line: Bless Us with Blood

Bloodborne is in the unenviable position of being a great game that's not quite as great as its predecessors. Making the game more accessible was probably necessary, especially since Bloodborne isn't just another action/RPG — it's one of the selling points of buying a PS4 instead of an Xbox One. A company can't promise the next big thing and deliver a game that few people can complete. Still, for longtime fans, it feels like a step down, albeit not a catastrophic one.

Besides, Bloodborne gets just about everything else fantastically right. The fast-paced combat feels fluid and exciting, without sacrificing the bone-crushing difficulty of earlier games. Yharnam is an amazingly otherworldly place to explore for a few dozen hours. Visual and audio elements are mostly top-notch.

Germanwings Crash

2015-03-24T23:53:00.001-07:00

Germanwings Crash in French Alps Kills 150; Cockpit Voice Recorder Is Found

A rescue helicopter over the French Alps near the crash site of the Airbus A320 on Tuesday.DIGNE-LES-BAINS, France — A German jetliner en route from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany, plunged from the sky on Tuesday and slammed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.DIGNE-LES-BAINS, France — A German jetliner en route from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany, plunged from the sky on Tuesday and slammed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.

Helicopters and rescue personnel swarmed into the remote, rugged area in southeastern France after the crash but found no signs of life. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said none of the 144 passengers and six crew members survived.

The authorities and executives of the airline, the budget carrier Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, had no immediate explanation for the cause of the crash, which occurred just before 11 a.m. At a news conference Tuesday evening, Heike Birlenbach, the vice president of Lufthansa, said, “At this stage, we consider this to be an accident,” adding that everything else was speculation.

As night fell in the area, officials said they had recovered one of the jet’s so-called black boxes: the cockpit voice recorder, which captures up to two hours of the pilots’ conversations as well as other cockpit noises, including any alarms that would have sounded as the plane descended. A few hours later, they called off the search for the evening.

The plane, an Airbus A320 that carried young people, vacationers and others, crashed after an eight-minute descent from 38,000 feet, the managing director of Germanwings, Thomas Winkelmann, said at a news conference.

When French air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane at 10:53 a.m., it was flying at just 6,000 feet, Mr. Winkelmann said, and it crashed shortly afterward. The terrain in that area rises to an elevation of more than 6,000 feet.

Security personnel in Digne-les-Bains, a town close to the crash site, described a scene of almost unimaginable wreckage, with even the plane’s metal structures smashed into countless pieces.

“The airplane had completely disintegrated,” Capt. Benoit Zeisser, head of the center of operations and information for the local police in Digne-les-Bains, said late Tuesday. “There is nothing left; the area of the crash is huge.”

As emergency crews combed France’s Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Mr. Valls announced a judicial investigation into the crash. Many questions remained, including whether the pilots were in control of the aircraft during the descent and what would have caused a plane with an experienced pilot and solid safety record to crash in largely clear and cloudless weather.

The passengers included Germans, Spaniards, Turks and Australians, and among them was a class of 16 German high school students and two teachers who were returning from a study program near Barcelona. Some of their parents gathered at the airport in Düsseldorf, frantically waiting for news.

“This is the darkest day in the history of our city,” said Bodo Klimpel, the mayor of Haltern am See in northwestern Germany, where the 10th-grade students went to school. He added, “It is about the worst thing imaginable.”

As he spoke, people began arriving outside the Joseph König high school in the small city, bearing flowers and candles.

According to Germanwings, at least 67 Germans were among the passengers, which included two infants. The airline was working to inform families before releasing further information about those on board.

But Barcelona’s Liceu opera house said late Tuesday that two singers who had been performing in Wagner’s “Siegfried” were on board: the baritone Oleg Bryjak and the contralto Maria Radner. Ms. Radner was traveling with her husband and baby, said Joan Corbera, a Liceu spokesman.

Two employees of Delphi, an American automotive company, and at least one employee of Bayer, a German chemical company, were also among the passengers, according to Spanish news reports. Two Australians, a mother and adult son from Victoria, died in the crash, said Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop.

At El Prat Airport outside Barcelona, dozens of relatives were kept in a waiting area, attended to by psychologists and protected by the police.

Timeline of the Crash

10:01 AM

Flight takes off from Barcelona, about 26 minutes late.

The aircraft took off at 10:01 a.m. No distress call was received, and the pilots lost radio contact with their control center, said France’s aviation authority.

Evelyne Bayle, who lives in Le Vernet, France, said she heard the engines, but the sounds did not suggest that the plane had gone into free fall. “I was on my veranda and I heard the plane flying down; the engines were making a lot of noise,” she said. “The noise that we were hearing was really progressive.”

The leaders of France, Spain and Germany made public addresses to offer comfort and reassurances that the crash would be thoroughly investigated. The National Assembly in France observed a minute of silence.

President François Hollande of France, standing with King Felipe VI of Spain, who was in Paris for a state visit, warned that access to the crash site would be very difficult. The Interior Ministry in France said that more than 400 police officers and rescue personnel had been sent to the area. Mr. Hollande said that none of the people on board were believed to be French.

“We must feel grief because this is a tragedy that happened on our soil,” Mr. Hollande said.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, who was flown over the crash scene on Tuesday, said the site was “a picture of horror.”

Wreckage was located by a French military helicopter near the town of Prads-Haute-Bléone, said Eric Héraud, a spokesman for the French aviation authority.

A French official with direct knowledge of the investigation said the search was continuing for the second black box, the flight data recorder, which tracks roughly 1,300 statistics, including the plane’s position, speed, altitude and direction.

Aviation safety experts said a descent of eight minutes from cruising altitude was slower than the three to four minutes that would normally be expected in the case of a sudden midair upset such as an aerodynamic stall, suggesting that the pilots may have been trying to maintain control of the plane as it lost altitude.

“While investigators still need to verify the data are correct, eight minutes is definitely longer compared with the experience we have had in past cases,” said Olivier Ferrante, a former crash investigator for the French Bureau of Investigations and Analyses who is now an adviser on aviation safety for the European Commission in Brussels.

In the 2009 crash of an Air France flight over the Atlantic, the plane, an Airbus A330, took just three and a half minutes to fall from 38,000 feet to the surface of the ocean, Mr. Ferrante said.

Regarding the images of the debris field, Mr. Ferrante said the small size of the pieces suggested the plane hit the ground at a very high speed.

Rescue teams assembled Tuesday near the site of the Germanwings crash in the southern Alps.Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images

Frédéric Atger, a spokesman for Météo France, which monitors weather across the country, said that the conditions had been “particularly calm” in the area. “The visibility was good, and there were little clouds at low altitudes,” he said.

Bruno Lambert, a mountain guide who lives in Chanolles, a hamlet in the Prads-Haute-Bléone municipality, said the area of the crash was sparsely populated with steep mountain terrain.

The type of aircraft that crashed, an Airbus A320 single-aisle jet, is a workhorse of many airline fleets, with more than 5,600 in service around the world.

The aircraft’s safety record has been very good, but not spotless. Since entering service in 1988, A320 aircraft have been involved in 12 fatal accidents, according to Ascend, a London-based aviation consulting firm.

Airline officials said that while the plane that crashed was an older model — it was delivered new to Lufthansa in 1991 — its maintenance history was unremarkable. A routine maintenance inspection had been performed Monday, said Martin Riecken, a spokesman for Lufthansa in Frankfurt. A more extensive check had been done in the summer of 2013.

Mr. Riecken confirmed that a minor repair had been made Monday to the plane’s front nose gear door — a flap that closes during flight to cover the retracted landing gear — but stressed that even if it had not been fixed, “this would not be something relevant to flight safety.”

A section of fuselage and other debris from a plane that was flying from Spain to Germany as it crashed on Tuesday.Denis Bois/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Germanwings, based in Cologne, was founded in 2002 and acquired by Lufthansa in 2009. It has since grown to become Lufthansa’s main operator for domestic and short-distance European flights from cities other than the hubs of Munich and Frankfurt.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her deep sympathy for the families of the victims, saying that the crash was a “terrible shock.”

“I feel terribly sorry because so many people died in this disaster,” she said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with these people.” Ms. Merkel said she would fly to southern France on Wednesday to meet the authorities there.

At the Düsseldorf airport Tuesday afternoon, a small crowd of people stood around a television set at a cafe in the departure area and watched Germanwings officials give a news conference. The viewers’ expressions were somber and they talked quietly among themselves.

Among them were Patrick Huber, 25, and Helena Henkel, 26, who wore backpacks and said they were on their way to Barcelona for an 11-day vacation.

“On Germanwings,” Mr. Huber said, with a nervous laugh. But he said they would fly anyway. “Still,” Ms. Henkel added, “I’ll be happy when we land.”

The crash is the deadliest on French territory since a 1981 crash of a Yugoslavian airliner in Corsica, which killed 180. The deadliest one in France occurred in 1974, when a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed outside Paris, killing more than 335 people.

Correction: March 24, 2015

An earlier version of a capsule summary with this article reversed the direction of the plane’s flight. It was flying from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany. An earlier version of this article misattributed a quotation by an airline traveler. Helena Henkel, not Patrick Huber, said she would be happy to land in Barcelona.