Google updates Play Music, Photos

SAN FRANCISCO: Internet giant Google introduced its sixth iteration of the Android operating system named Marshmallow which will be available to users on Nexus devices.

Google had first announced Android 6.0 Marshmallow at its I/O developer conference earlier this year.

Although, the new version of Android will look similar, the company has made a number of tweaks to its mobile operating system in order to make using Android phones easier.

The new operating system sports a new permissions system that will now ask users for permissions when they actually use the app instead of asking the user while installing the app.

Also there is a new smart battery-saving mode called 'Doze' mode that will put the device into sleep when it's left unattended for a long time.

The company also introduced 'Google Now on Tap' which will allow users to pull up relevant contextual info from any app that runs on your phone. It has also introduced voice interactions for app developers which will enable them to include case specific voice-oriented interactions on the app for hands-free intuitive usage.

Other new features include built-in fingerprint scanner support, a new app drawer and numerous small changes to the way the phone handles memory and storage.

The search giant also introduced updates to two apps -- Google Play Music and Google photos. "Users by the end of the year will be able to opt for a family Google Play Music account costing them $14.99 for six persons," said a Google spokesperson.

In the Photos app, which is now available on Android, Web and iOS platforms, Google introduced 'shared albums' feature which will be rolled out by the end of the year.

"Users will now be able to seamlessly share and curate photos with shared albums and for this purpose we are introducing the photo labelling feature starting Tuesday," the spokesperson said.

He said that the labelling feature will enable Google and its users to take advantage of the advanced search engine of the company to find a specific photo in the album or albums.

Now following the NSA on Twitter — @Snowden

Edward J Snowden, the former US National Security Agency contractor, opened his Twitter account with a joke on Tuesday. "Can you hear me now?" he wrote, in a short message that electrified the social network and made reference to his revelations about the agency's spying on phone calls. 

Snowden's first words on his verified account were borrowed from an old television commercial for Verizon, in which an actor playing a technician tested the range of the company's wireless network. 

When Snowden disclosed the scope of NSA surveillance and the role of American communications companies by leaking a trove of classified documents in 2013, the first revelation was a secret court order compelling Verizon to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, which was published by The Guardian, a British daily newspaper. 

As word spread that Snowden's account was genuine, and he racked up more than 160,000 followers in his first hour on the social media network, several users noted that he was following only one account: that of the NSA. 

Among those welcoming Snowden was Glenn Greenwald, the former Guardian journalist who revealed Verizon's role in the NSA's bulk domestic phone records program after meeting the former contractor in Hong Kong and obtaining the documents. 

According to Dan Froomkin of The Intercept, Snowden was prodded to join Twitter by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist and television host, during an interview on his "Star Talk" radio show. The interview unfolded "via robotic telepresence from Moscow."                         

Snowden has been living in Moscow since winning temporary asylum in Russia in 2013.     

Tyson was among the many users of the network to welcome the whistleblower, and the first to whom Snowden responded, striking up a brief conversation. 

Snowden's short Twitter biography reads: "I used to work for the government. Now I work for the public." 

It also mentions his role as a director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit organization "helping support and defend public interest journalism focused on exposing mismanagement, corruption and lawbreaking in government." 

One of the organization's founders was Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War.

As it happened: Google unveils new Nexus phones

It's time for new Google smartphones packed with its latest operating system Marshmallow. The search giant has unveiled brand new additions to its Nexus lineup - Nexus 5X and 6P. In addition to these the company also unveiled two new versions of the Chromecast media stick and a new Android-powered 2-in-1 device.

Watch: Google takes on Apple iPhone; launches Nexus 6P, Android 6.0

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That's a wrap! Thanks you for joining us!

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The Google Pixel C will be available at $499 for the tablet and $149 for the keyboard starting US holiday season

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The Pixel C charges the keyboard inductively and will last two months on a single charge

It has a 2560x1800p display, has an NVIDIA Tegra X1 chip and 3GB RAM. It also has USB Type-C.

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The new convertible is called Pixel C and comes with a Bluetooth tablet

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Google is also showcasing a convertible device powered by Android Marshmallow

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So Google announced two Nexus phones and two Chromecast devices today

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Chromecast Audio will also be available at $35 in the US and in 17 other countries

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Chromecast Audio will support multi-room support like Sonos

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Google unveils Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P smartphones

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Chromecast Audio automatically recognises devices on the same Wi-Fi network. Also gets Spotify support

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Chromecast Audio makes your existing speakers smarter

It lets you stream high quality audio on your speaker via Wi-Fi

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Facebook and Flicker also coming to Chromecast, same price

Will be available in 17 countries starting today at the same price of $35

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Gaming related announcements for the Chromecast

This feature lets you control game via the phone but play on the big screen. Will work with both iOS and Android.

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Chromecast now features Fast Play that reduces app load time by 80%

Will be available through select content providers

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The Chromecast Audio

It can connect to existing speakers via a line-in 3.5mm jack

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A new Chromecast app has also been unveiled

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Google has also announced Chromecast Audio

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The new Chromecast supports 5GHz Wi-Fi

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Google just announced a new version of the Chromecast media streaming dongle

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Google has sold 20 million Chromecast devices

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US TV network Showtime is coming to Chromecast. Google just announced more partners.

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Now for some Chromecast related announcements

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Photos on Chromecast is coming to Android this week

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Google Photos is also coming to Chromecast

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Shared Albums will be available later this year

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Better collaboration

So this essentially makes collaboration easy on Photos.

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Google Photos now lets multiple users share photos easily

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Google Photos is getting new features

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Pricing for the new Nexus phones

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The new Nexus phones will be available on Google's Project Fi network

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Nexus 5X starts at $379 and Nexus 6P starts at $499

Available in the US, UK and other markets. Will come with 90 day subscription to Google Play Music and $50 Google Play credit.

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Nexus 5X and 6P will be available on pre-order on Google Store starting today

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Android Marshmallow OTA updates rolling out to select Nexus phones next week

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New Battery optimisation

Android Marshmallow comes with new battery optimization features including Doze. 30% better battery life on the Nexus 5 and 6.

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Voice Interactions work even when the screen is off

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We just saw a demo of Now on Tap that lets users get contextual information on whatever is on the screen of the phone

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Number of preloaded apps have been reduced. Google apps can be uninstalled easily.

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The Marshmallow launcher offers a better launcher which is more intuitive

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Marshmallow features on new Nexus phones

It offers faster access to voice recognition and offers a charging speed indicator. New window animations and notifications.

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Nexus Imprint

The sensor takes less than 600 milliseconds to recognise fingerprints. Has a low reject rate and gets better over time, claims Google. Works with Android Payt and Google Play.

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Android Sensor Hub

The Nexus phones run Sensor Hub to perform smart activity recognition even with screen off. It automatically turns on the screen when one picks up the phone.

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Smart Burst

A new feature called Smart Burst lets users capture 30 frames per second and create animated GIFs

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The Nexus 5X and 6P cameras now feature slow motion video recording and 4K video recording

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The Nexus 6P has a12.3MP rear camera sensor and 1.55 micron pixel so that the sensor collects more life, shorter exposure time and less motion blur. It has a Laser detect focus sensor.

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Nexus 5X is the successor to the Nexus 5

Has a 5.2-inch display and weighs 136grams. It has a 2700mAh battery and Nexus Imprint fingerprint sensor and a USB Type-C connector.

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Nexus 6P is the bigger version of the Nexus and comes with Quick charging

It has a 12.3MP Sony sensor with the rear camera and an 8MP front camera. Nexus Imprint is the phone's fingerprint sensor.

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Burke just announced the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P

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Dave Burke, VP engineering takes the stage to talk about new Nexus devices

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1 billion monthly active users on Google Play

Google Play has over 1 billion monthly active users.

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Computing in the living room

New Chromecast also being unveiled today. Pichai says the Chromecast team will talk about new updates.

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New Nexus devices coming

Pichai says there's a range of Nexus devices coming this year.

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10,000 companies in the US are testing Android for Work, informs Pichai

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There are 1.4 billion active Android devices around the world, says Pichai

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai is now on stage and he did mention his meeting with PM Modi

Tweets set to get longer

Twitter is finally waking up to the idea that some things just cannot be summed up in 140 characters.

The micro-blogging website operator is working on a new product that will allow users to share tweets longer than 140 characters, technology website Re/code reported on Tuesday.

The company's executives are also discussing changes to how the character limit is measured, such as excluding links and user handles from the count, the website reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The move comes at a time when Twitter, under the stewardship of co-founder Jack Dorsey, is working hard to rekindle user growth. Twitter's second-quarter monthly average users grew at the slowest pace since the company went public in 2013.

Several users and designers have expressed concerns as to whether Twitter should ditch its signature character limit to better compete with Facebook, where there is no limit on the length of the posts.

It's unclear what Twitter's new product will look like, Re/code said.

A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment.

The company has been working on ways to make its service easier to use and entice people to spend more time with it.

Google Nexus phones: The journey so far

Google is all set to unveil two new Nexus smartphones at a special event which it’s hosting later today. To showcase the capabilities of its Android operating system to developers, Google started offering Nexus devices in 2010. So far, we’ve seen six Nexus smartphones from Google. While Google designs, markets and even sells the devices (through the Play Store), the production and assembly of these devices is carried out by Google’s partner OEMs or original equipment makers. Barring a few instances, most of the Nexus devices don’t come with the branding of telecom carriers and feature the stock version of Android with all Google apps and services pre-loaded and have an unlocked bootloader. The Nexus devices are also the first ones to receive Android software updates which makes them an attractive proposition for Android fans (not just developers) in addition to the absence of bloatware and custom UI skins. Here’s a look at all the Nexus smartphones from the Mountain View giant’s stable...(Image courtesy: Business Insider)

1.

Nexus 6

One of the less popular Nexus devices, the Nexus 6 was made by Motorola and launched in November 2014. It was available in India days after its global launch.The Nexus 6 has a 6-inch display with QHD (1440x2560p) resolution, 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB RAM, Android 5.0 (Lollipop) operating system, 13MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, and 3,220mAh battery. It comes in 32Gb and 64GB variants and lacks external storage.

2.

Nexus 5

One of the most popular Nexus device, the Nexus 5 was launched in October 2013. While the phone was made by LG, the company chose a polycarbonate design instead of a glass one. Sporting a 4.95-inch full HD (1080x1920p) IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, the phone is powered by a 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM. Offered in 16GB and 32GB versions, the phone lacked a microSD card slot. The Nexus 5 features an 8MP rear camera with OIS (optical image stabilization) and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. It supports NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and LTE in addition to a barometer and step count detector. The phone was launched with Android 4.4 KitKat and is all set to receive Android Marshmallow. It was launched in India in November 2013.

3.

Nexus 4

The Nexus 4 was the first Nexus smartphone made by LG. Released in November 2012, the phone offered wireless charging. It was also the first Nexus device to feature a non-removable back panel and had a glass back with a holographic pattern desihgn. The Nexus 4 featured a 4.7-inch TrueHD IPS display with 768x1280p resolution. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip with a 1.5Ghz quad-core Krait processor and 2GB RAM, the phone was available in 8GB and 16GB storage variants but did not include a memory card slot. It was preloaded with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and got updates till Android 5.1 Lollipop. It sported an 8MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. It supported all major connectivity options including NFC and an LTE version was also offered. The phone came with a 1750mAh battery. The phone was launched in India in May 2013.

4.

Galaxy Nexus

The third smartphone in the Nexus series, the Galaxy Nexus was also made by Samsung and was first launched in October 2011. The Galaxy Nexus featured a 4.6-inch HD super AMOLED display with 720x1280p resolution. Powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP chip with a 1.2Ghz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor and 1GB RAM, the phone was available in 16GB and 32GB storage variants but did not include a memory card slot. It was preloaded with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and got updates till Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. It sported a 5MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. It supported all major connectivity options including NFC but there was no LTE version. The phone came with a 1750mAh battery. The phone was never launched in India. (Image courtesy - XDA Developers)

5.

Nexus S

The second-generation Nexus device was manufactured by South Korean electronics giant Samsung and launched in December 2016. The Nexus S featured a 4-inch Super AMOLED display with a 480x800p resolution. Outside US, UK and Canada Samsung offered the phone with Super LCD displays. The phone was powered by a 1GHz Samsung Exynos 3 processor and 512MB RAM. It featured a 5MP rear camera and VGA front camera with a 1500mAh battery. It had 16GB of internal storage and did not feature a microSD card slot. The phone was launched in India in April 2011. It was preloaded with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is upgradable to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. (Image courtesy - XDA Developers)

6.

Nexus One

Nexus One was the first Nexus smartphone made in collaboration with HTC. Launched in January 2010, the Nexus One featured a 3.7-inch AMOLED display with a 480x800p resolution. Later, HTC offered the phone with Super LCD displays due to shortage of AMOLED panels. the phone was powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Scorpio processor and 512MB RAM. It featured a 5MP rear camera and a 1400mAh battery. It had 512MB of internal storage and a microSD card slot that supported cards of up to 32GB. The phone was never sold officially in India. It was preloaded with Android 2.1 Eclair.

With 13 million units, iPhone 6S & 6S Plus break sales record

Apple on Monday said it sold more than 13 million units of iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus during the first weekend on the market, a new record for its marquee product.

The company improved its previous record of 10 million iPhones sold in the first weekend of 2014, benefiting from the inclusion of the Chinese market, where the gadget's debut was delayed last year by regulatory issues.

READ ALSO: Apple India to launch iPhone 6S, 6S Plus on Oct 16

Analysts had expected the company to sell 12 million to 13 million phones during the first weekend.

"Sales for iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple's history," Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said in a statement.

"Customers' feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos, and we can't wait to bring iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus to customers in even more countries on October 9."

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Apple said the new iPhones will be available in more than 40 additional countries starting October 9, reaching more than 130 countries by the end of the year.

The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus arrived in stores Friday, kicking off a sales cycle that will be scrutinized for signs of how much allure remains for Apple's marquee product.

The company relies heavily on the sale of its flagship iPhones, which generated nearly two-thirds of its revenue in the latest quarter.

Google doodle celebrates discovery of water on Mars

Google is celebrating the evidence of water found by NASA on Mars by dedicating it today's creative doodle.

The animated doodle shows round red 'happy' Mars revolving around its axis and sipping a glass of water.

After multiple experiments and tests NASA today announced that liquid water has been found on Mars that may harbor hopes of some life forms on the planet.

Scientists reported on Monday definitive signs of liquid water on the surface of present-day Mars, a finding that will fuel speculation that life, if it ever arose there, could persist to now.

In a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, McEwen and other scientists identified waterlogged molecules — salts of a type known as perchlorates — in readings from orbit.

Google working on Microsoft Surface rival: Report

Highlights

• Google is reportedly working on a tablet with look and feel just like Chromebook Pixel
• The new tablet, however, will run on Android and it won't be attached to a keyboard
• The device will reportedly be launched in November, but Google is likely to announce it on September 29

The new device will reportedly launch in November, but Google is likely to announce it at its big event in S... Read More

Google is reportedly working on a brand new tablet that will look and feel just like the Chromebook Pixel, save for two key differences -- it'll run on Android and it won't be attached to a keyboard.
Google's current Chromebook Pixel devices are laptops that run on its Chrome OS operating system, which is based on its Chrome browser.

The new tablet would essentially be a tablet version of Google's Pixel line of Chromebooks, and the company plans to call it the Pixel C, according to Android Police, which claims to have received information from insider sources.

The new device will reportedly be launched in November, but Google is likely to announce it at its big event in San Francisco on September 29.

The Pixel C would look and feel just like the Chromebook Pixel, which means it's likely to feature a metal design with the same light bar on the back that indicates the device's battery level. Google will offer two keyboard accessory options -- one made of leather and another made of metal.

The tablet will have a 10.2-inch screen, Android Police reports, which means it'll be just a bit smaller than Microsoft's 10.8-inch Surface 3.

Given that Google plans to sell a keyboard accessory alongside its new tablet, it seems like the Pixel C could be targeted at those looking for a premium productivity tablet. Depending on its price and other specifications, that could put it in the same league as the Surface 3.

Hugh Jackman: Tom Hardy would be a great Wolverine

Actor Hugh Jackman, who is will be dropping his claws following "Wolverine 3", feels "Mad Max: Fury Road" actor Tom Hardy will make a good Wolverine.

READ: Passing on claws: Hugh Jackman thinks Tom Hardy would be 'great Wolverine'

Jackman, 46, has been frequently asked about his successor as the clawed superhero, but the Australian star says he has not given a serious thought about it, reported The Wrap.

"I think Tom Hardy would be a great Wolverine. He is younger than me for sure... However, I haven't really given it a lot of thought I'm always like, 'I don't wanna make it too easy on the studio to replace me,' you know?

I've still got one more (film) to do. I'm sure they're already talking about it, and there's some actor (they've told) 'shh, keep it quiet but we want you next.'" he said.

Jackman, who first played Logan/Wolverine in 2000 film "X-Men," went on to play the role five consecutive times since then.

He is set to appear in X-Men: Apocalypse followed by Wolverine 3 which will mark his final outing with the franchise.

The films are slated for May, 2016 and March, 2017 release respectively.

Don't know if I can win another Grand Slam: Rafael Nadal

MALLORCA: Fourteen-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal said he is not sure if he will win a major tournament anytime soon and add to his tally.

Nadal struggled to rediscover his best form lately and his dominant reign at the French Open came to an end during a barren year without a major triumph. He has won two Wimbledon, nine French Open, two US Open and one Australian Open titles to cement his place among the greats of the game.

But last year his form dipped alarmingly, following an injury, enduring a Grand Slam-less season that saw his world rankings dip to No.7.

"I don't know. I don't know if I can win another Grand Slam. I believe yes. I don't know if I'm going to do it, but I can do it," Nadal was quoted as saying by SkySports on Sunday.

"I'm going to work hard to create more opportunities in the next couple of years so let's see if I'm able to relax, to control my emotions again and if that happens, and I believe it will happen soon because I feel much better, I'm going to find my level of tennis," the Spaniard said.

Nadal believes he is approaching 100 percent fitness, but admitted he also had to overcome mental scars as on his return to competitive action.

"It was a tough year in terms of everything because I was playing with too much anxiety, especially at the beginning of the season," he said.

"Now I feel much better. Not 100 percent fit but much better. Close to being 100 per cent fit and I am enjoying it again. I'm enjoying being on the tennis court, enjoying, practicing and enjoying the competition because I don't have that anxiety anymore," the 29-year-old said.

Nadal also hailed Andy Murray as one of the "most talented" players he has encountered during his playing career but admits the Scott could have won a few more tournaments.

"He's (Murray) a great guy, a natural guy and for me that is important. I am natural, I am honest with the people I'm talking to," he said.

"If I'm playing bad I don't create stories. Andy is similar. He is fair, he is honest and a very good guy. And at the same time he is one of the most talented players I have ever seen," Nadal concluded.

Pope Francis wraps up joyful US visit with big open-air Mass

PHILADELPHIA: Pope Francis urged hundreds of thousands of the faithful gathered Sunday for the biggest event of his U.S. visit to be open to "miracles of love," closing out his joyful six-day trip with a message of hope for families, consolation for victims of child sexual abuse and a warning to America's bishops.

The wide Benjamin Franklin Parkway overflowed with the jubilant, who stood in line for hours and endured airport-style security checks to see history's first pope from the Americas celebrate an open-air Mass in the birthplace of the United States.

The Mass - the last major event on Francis' itinerary before the 78-year-old pontiff boarded a flight home to Rome - was a brilliant tableau of gold, green, white and purple in the evening sunlight of a mild early-autumn day.

Riding through the streets in his open-sided popemobile, the pontiff waved to cheering, screaming, singing, flag-waving crowds and kissed babies as he made his way to the altar at the steps of the columned Philadelphia Museum of Art.

With a towering golden crucifix behind him, Francis told his listeners that their presence itself was "a kind of miracle in today's world," an affirmation of the family and the power of love.

"Would that all of us could be open to miracles of love for the sake of all the families of the world," he said to the hushed crowd spread out along the tree-lined boulevard.

Crowds a mile away fell silent during the Communion part of the Mass. Some people knelt on the paving stones at City Hall, a few blocks from the altar.

June Bounds, 56, of Rochester, New York, watched the Mass with fellow parishioners on a large screen at City Hall, closing her eyes and blinking back tears.

"It's very overwhelming," she said. "You feel like you're one body with everyone here, whether you're here, whether you're back home, whether you're anywhere in the world."

Of the pope, she said: "He's brought so much joy and holy spirit into the United States. It doesn't matter if you're a Catholic; he's just trying to unite everybody for a better world."

Organizers had predicted 1 million people would attend the Mass. There was no immediate estimate of the crowd. But some people got tired of waiting in line and gave up, while others may have been scared away altogether by the heavy security and weeks of dire warnings from the city about the potential disruptions.

Train ridership was lower than expected, downtown hotel rooms went unfilled over the weekend, normally bustling city streets were deserted, some businesses closed early, and many Philadelphians complained that the precautions were oppressive.

Earlier in the day, Francis had a more solemn message for families scarred by the sins of the church itself.

The pope met with five victims of child sexual abuse and told them he was "deeply sorry" for the times they came forward to tell their stories and weren't believed. He assured them that he believes them and that bishops who covered up for abusers will be made to answer for what they did.

"I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead," Francis said in Spanish. "Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children."

Minutes later, he went into a meeting of bishops from the U.S. and around the world who were in town for a Catholic festival on the family and told them the same thing.

"God weeps" over what was done to the youngsters, he lamented.

The pope has agreed to create a new Vatican tribunal to prosecute bishops who failed to protect their flock, and he has accepted the resignations of three U.S. bishops accused of mishandling abuse cases.
 
During his first meeting with victims, held at the Vatican in July 2014, Francis similarly vowed to hold bishops accountable, but Sunday marked the first time that he had warned the bishops themselves, face-to-face, and in public.

In an apparent effort to reshape the discussion, though, the Vatican said not all the victims at the meeting had been abused by clergy; some were violated by relatives or educators. The choice of victims underscored the Vatican's argument that child molestation is not unique to the church.

Victim support groups were unimpressed by the meeting, which took place at a seminary on the edge of Philadelphia and lasted more than a half-hour.

The main victims' support group, SNAP, dismissed it as an exercise in public relations.

"Is a child anywhere on Earth safer now that a pope, for maybe the seventh or eighth time or ninth time, has briefly chatted with abuse victims? No," said SNAP's David Clohessy.

The Rev. Tom Doyle, a former church lawyer who is now an advocate for victims, said that including those who were violated by non-clergy "seriously minimizes" the problem in the church.

As the Mass drew to a close, church officials said the next World Meeting of Families - the Vatican-sponsored festival that brought the pope to Philadelphia - will be held in Dublin in 2018. Ireland is ground zero for the church's sexual abuse crisis outside of the U.S. The overwhelmingly Catholic country also recently legalized gay marriage.

Francis' journey took him first to Cuba, then to Washington and New York. Along the way, he drew large and adoring crowds, met with President Barack Obama, visited ground zero and a school in East Harlem, and addressed Congress and the United Nations, calling for urgent action on climate change and poverty.

He also pointed to a new direction of the U.S. church, twice praising the service of America's nuns, who had been subject to a recently ended Vatican crackdown, and urging America's bishops to focus more on helping their flock through life's ups and downs rather than spending all their energy on culture wars.

Also Sunday, Francis visited a Philadelphia jail to give hope of redemption to about 100 inmates, included suspected killers, rapists and mobsters. He greeted the men one by one, telling them to use their time behind bars to get their lives back on track.

"May you make possible new opportunities, new journeys, new paths," he said, standing before a wooden chair the men had made for him for the occasion.

The blue-uniformed inmates, some of them heavily tattooed, appeared moved. They clasped Francis' hands, and two gave him a hug.

During the meeting with the bishops, Francis referred to gay marriage for the first time in his U.S. trip, lamenting the new reality in which Christians must live. But he warned that a church that does nothing but explain its doctrine is "dangerously unbalanced."

The U.S. bishops have spent considerable time and resources battling gay marriage, calling its legalization by the U.S. Supreme Court three months ago "a tragic error" and "profoundly immoral and unjust."

Facebook, Netflix to offer gender transition operation as health benefit

US companies are swiftly adding health insurance benefits for employees who want transition to another gender, a fairly inexpensive way to show they're serious about a diverse workforce because so few people actually use them.

More than 415 of about 780 firms surveyed for their friendliness toward lesbian, gay , bisexual and transgender workers now cover related procedures, including hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgeries, according to the Human Rights Campaign.That's more than double the number in 2012, and up from 49 in 2009. Netflix, Facebook and Tesla Motors are among 82 companies added to the Washington-based HRC's list this year. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has offered them since 2008, the companies said.

"It becomes a bit of a rat race as to who can out-commit whom," with diversity initiatives, said James Baron, a professor who studies human resources. "Committing to this form of equality allows a company to put another arrow in its quiver without terribly profound cost implications," he added.

Transgenders have gained visibility this year with former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner's transition to a woman, and with the US Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage in June. Employers, meanwhile, are acutely aware of needing to attract and keep workers who want an inclusive atmosphere.

One in about 10,000 to 20,000 employees use gender transition coverage per year, according to a study by Jody Herman, researcher of law and public policy related to gender identity at University of California. Since the University of California schools added related benefits in 2005, fewer than a dozen people a year out of more than 1,00,000 have used them , according to a California department of insurance report. The average claims cost was $29,929.

Aetna says it doesn't charge corporate clients extra administrative fees for adding transgender coverage. The Hartford, Connecticut-based insurer's transgender benefit packages typically include genital surgery and breast removal, although not surgeries Aetna considers cosmetic, said Bob McDonough, senior director for clinical policy research and development.

Doctors, too, are seeing a rush. Curtis Crane's practice in San Francisco will do about 700 surgeries this year related to gender change, he said. "Now instead of a six-month wait list, I have about a year wait list," he said. When Crane started his transgender practice three years ago, about 90% of patients paid in cash, he said. Now it's about 95% paid by insurance. A full transition from a woman to a man, can cost more than $150,000, he said.

HRC, the advocacy group, gathers data from companies anually related to benefits for LGBT employees. A perfect score in corporate equality index is 100 points, a bar that changes periodically as the group adds more criteria.To be counted as offering transgender coverage this year, a company has to offer at least $75,000 worth of related benefits and meet other standards of care, including providing counseling.

US has proposed new rules that would bar most insurance companies from categorically denying coverage for treatments that can help transition to another gender.The rules wouldn't force insurers to pay for all procedures, although they'd probably mean wider coverage of some treatments, such as hormone therapy.

Volkswagen emissions scandal: VW ‘was warned four years ago’ its emissions test software was illegal

BERLIN: The global car giant Volkswagen was warned at least four years ago that the computer software at the heart of its diesel emissions scandal was illegal, but the company failed to act on the information and continued to use it, according to German media reports.

VW admitted a week ago that emissions tests it was conducting on its diesel vehicles sold in the United States were manipulated, after the practice was uncovered by US environmental authorities.

The company has since revealed that up to 11 million vehicles worldwide are likely to be fitted with the affected software. The scandal forced the resignation of VW boss Martin Winterkorn last week.

READ ALSO: Volkswagen scandal shoves Berlin off high ground

However, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung disclosed yesterday that one of VW's own technicians had warned his senior management as early as 2011 that the computer software used to manipulate diesel emissions tests was potentially illegal.

The software senses when the car has been set up for emissions testing and then produces much lower levels of nitrogen oxides in the exhaust emissions than it would give off during normal road use. The paper said the technician's warning was mentioned at the time in an internal company document that the VW board examined last Friday. A VW spokesman refused to confirm the claim. "We are investigating at all levels and we will supply the results as soon as we have them," he told the newspaper.

Other reports suggested that VW was informed that the software was illegal as early as 2007. The Bild am Sonntag newspaper said that Bosch, the car component specialist which developed the software, had written to VW in that year warning that it should be used for test purposes only.

Bild said that, like the reported technician's warning, the Bosch letter had turned up in an internal VW company report that the board examined last week. It said Bosch had told VW that its plans for the software were "illegal".

According to German media reports, the US Environmental Protection Agency informed VW about its manipulated diesel testing in the spring of 2014. However, VW was said to have responded by claiming that the problem was a minor issue which required only "re-calibration" of vehicle software to rectify it.

'We totally screwed up': Volkswagen scandal threatens 'Made in Germany' image

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has launched a commission of inquiry in an attempt limit the damage the scandal has inflicted on the global reputation of the "Made in Germany" brand. But her coalition also stands accused of being "in bed" with the German car industry and failing to enforce European Union regulations banning the kind of manipulative software used by VW.

Yesterday, the Die Welt newspaper said that it had gained access to an internal German government paper which showed that Ms Merkel's coalition planned to try to delay EU plans to introduce tough new vehicle emissions tests by at least three years. The EU aims to have the new tests enforced by the end of 2017, but Die Welt said the German government would aim to get their introduction postponed until 2021 and retain as many loopholes as possible.

The German plan was criticised by the Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout. "Germany is always in front when it comes to environmental protection - unless the car industry is affected," he said.

Chelsea stage two-goal rally to draw at Newcastle

LONDON: Premier League champions Chelsea needed two late goals to salvage a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United on Saturday, Brazilians Ramires and Willian coming off the bench to earn Jose Mourinho's stuttering side a point.

Points Table | Results | Top Goal Scorers

Goals either side of halftime from Ayoze Perez and Georginio Wijnaldum looked set to earn Newcastle a first league victory of the season but they could not resist Chelsea's late surge.

The draw left the Londoners in 15th place with eight points from seven games and Newcastle second from bottom on three.

Mourinho described his side's first-half display as "minus one out of 10" after Newcastle had taken the lead in the 41st minute when Perez lashed a bouncing ball in off the post after being given too much time in the box.

Despite almost constant Chelsea pressure after the interval Wijnaldum made it 2-0 with a header on the hour and with striker Diego Costa suspended, there looked to be no way back for the visitors.

Ramires then lashed a thunderbolt into the roof of the net with 11 minutes remaining and Willian saw his inswinging free kick go through a crowd of players and unsighted home goalkeeper Tim Krul.

All-action substitute Ramires almost won it when his point-blank header was palmed away by Krul but that would have been hard on Newcastle who responded to the criticism of their League Cup defeat by Sheffield Wednesday in midweek with a battling display.

Mourinho is still to win a league match at St James' Park, drawing two and losing three times there in his two spells at Stamford Bridge.

"In the second half we played very well," the Chelsea manager told Sky Sports.

"Ramires and Willian moved the game on. The midfield was pressing more and we were more dynamic and we had an intensity Newcastle couldn't cope with."

Chelsea are struggling to hit the form that saw them dominate last year's title race and Mourinho is baffled as to the reasons.

"I have to try to understand why my team can play so bad in the first half and and so well in the other," he said.

"We got a point that was not what we wanted but it was not too bad. We began eight points off the top and we ended it eight points off the top."

As Volkswagen pushed to be No 1, ambitions fueled a scandal

Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen's chief executive, took the stage four years ago at the automaker's new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and outlined a bold strategy. The company, he said, was in the midst of a plan to more than triple its sales in the United States in just a decade — setting it on a course to sweep by Toyota to become the world's largest automaker.

"By 2018, we want to take our group to the very top of the global car industry," he told the two US senators, the governor of Tennessee and the other dignitaries gathered for the opening of VW's first US factory in decades.

One way Volkswagen aimed to achieve its lofty goal was by betting on diesel-powered cars — instead of hybrid-electric vehicles like the Toyota Prius — promising high mileage and low emissions without sacrificing performance. Ray LaHood, the transportation secretary, endorsed the company's commitment to diesel that day, calling it an "ingredient in the recipe for our long-term energy security."

READ ALSO: Switzerland suspends sales of Volkswagen models

Volkswagen's unbridled ambition is suddenly central to what is shaping up as one of the great corporate scandals of the age. On Tuesday, Volkswagen said it had installed software in 11 million diesel cars that cheated on emissions tests, allowing the vehicles to spew far more deadly pollutants than regulations allowed. About 500,000 of the cars were sold in the United States, including Passats that rolled off the assembly lines in Chattanooga.

Disabling the emissions controls brought major advantages, including much better mileage — a big selling point in Volkswagen's push to dominate in America.

The admissions forced Winterkorn to resign and have led to a sweeping management overhaul. Several executives were dismissed, including two top managers in research and development. Volkswagen shares declined about 34 per cent last week, and the company faces penalties of as much as $18 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Volkswagen's current crisis has its roots in decisions made almost a decade ago. In 2007, it abandoned a pollution-control technology developed by Mercedes-Benz and Bosch and instead used internal technology.

At the same time, the determination by Winterkorn, the company's hard-charging chief executive, to surpass Toyota put enormous strain on his managers to deliver growth in America.

READ ALSO: New Volkswagen boss tries to drag car-maker out of scandal

To capture market share, Volkswagen, which also makes such brands as Audi and Porsche, would need to build the larger cars favored by Americans. But it would also need to comply with the Obama administration's toughening standards on mileage. All automakers developed strategies to meet the new mileage rules, and diesel was a big part of Volkswagen's plan. But diesel engines, while offering better mileage, also emit more smog-forming pollutants than conventional engines, so Volkswagen's strategy ran head-on into US air pollution standards, which are stricter than those in Europe.

Cheating on emissions tests solved several issues at once. Not only were drivers rewarded with better mileage and performance, but the automaker also avoided more expensive and cumbersome pollution-control systems.

While Volkswagen cheated behind the scenes, it publicly espoused virtue. This, after all, is the company that used one of the largest advertising arenas in the world, the Super Bowl, to run a commercial showing its engineers sprouting angel's wings.

READ ALSO: Volkswagen scandal exposes cozy ties between industry and Berlin

The scandal has shaken not just Volkswagen, but the whole auto industry. And it is painful for Germany, where one in seven workers is employed directly or indirectly by the auto industry. Volkswagen has long been a symbol of the efficiency and engineering acumen that makes the country one of the most formidable economies in the world.

It is not Volkswagen's first run-in with regulators over emissions. When the United States began regulating tailpipe pollutants in the 1970s, Volkswagen was one of the first companies caught cheating. It was fined $120,000 in 1973 for installing what became known as a "defeat device," technology to shut down a vehicle's pollution control systems. This time, it equipped its vehicles with software that was programmed to fake test results, an action the EPA rebuked in 1998, when it reached a $1 billion settlement with truck-engine manufacturers for doing the same thing.

Over the last year, when confronted with evidence that its system was not performing as promised, Volkswagen aggressively pushed back, saying that regulators were not doing the testing properly.

BLOG: Volkswagen, Sorry is not enough

Scrapped Technology

In 2007, Winterkorn attracted little attention when he made his first trip to Detroit as Volkswagen's chief executive, during the industry's annual auto show there. The company was then a bit player in the United States. There was more excitement about Changfeng Motor, the first Chinese automaker to participate in the show.

One Volkswagen executive did make headlines — but he was not there. Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the Volkswagen brand, was a well-known figure in Detroit, having spent several years as the second-highest-ranking executive at Chrysler, then part of Daimler. He was remembered for dressing in black leather during one auto show while he rode a four-wheel, 500-horsepower motorcycle called the Dodge Tomahawk.

Bernhard was widely expected to resign in a corporate shake-up, and he did a few days later. His departure set off ripples not just in Volkswagen's boardroom, but also under the hoods of its future diesel vehicles. Bernhard, a longtime Daimler executive, had previously announced a deal to use a technology called BlueTec, which was developed by Mercedes, a division of Daimler, and Bosch, a German supplier.

BlueTec mixes a chemical known as urea with engine exhaust to neutralize nitrogen oxide, one of the most harmful diesel pollutants. While it is an effective system, it can be costly and requires drivers to periodically top up a tank of urea.

A few months after Bernhard's departure, the plan was scrapped. The trade publication Automotive News quoted an Audi executive saying Volkswagen's own technology was strong enough. "We don't need BlueTec," the executive said.

There have been no suggestions to date that BlueTec vehicles sold by Mercedes violate emissions standards.

Matt DeLorenzo, a diesel expert and the managing editor at Kelley Blue Book, said it was not surprising to the industry at the time that Volkswagen abandoned BlueTec for its small and midsize cars in favor of a system that would not require the unwieldy, expensive urea tank. (Volkswagen uses its own urea-based system for heavier vehicles like the Touareg SUV.)

"Volkswagen wanted to make the diesel ownership experience as easy as possible, akin to having a regular gas engine," he said.

In the 1970s, DeLorenzo said, when automakers all switched to catalytic converters to meet US emissions standards, Honda developed an engine technology that it claimed would run clean without the converters. It worked — at least at first — and Honda sold the cars for several years. But emissions requirements kept tightening each year, and Honda's solution could no longer keep up. The automaker was forced to switch to catalytic converters like everyone else.

DeLorenzo theorized that Volkswagen may have faced a similar situation, in which the company thought it could start selling its non-urea diesels in America and get a year or two of sales on the books, and as emissions standards ratcheted up, it would find a way to improve the technology to keep pace.

"It could have been an incremental thing that got them caught up in this," he said. "They thought they could maybe fix this later, then discovered they couldn't and went down a dark path."

Bernhard, who is now head of Daimler's truck division, declined through a spokesman to comment.

Chance Revelation

The same year Winterkorn made his speech in Chattanooga, officials from California's environmental regulator began hearing about a problem from their European Union counterparts: They were finding discrepancies between the emissions of diesels in the lab and on the road, across the industry.

It was not completely unexpected that on-the-road performance might not match lab tests, given the varying road conditions vehicles face. But it led to the idea that new testing methods outside laboratories might be needed.

In 2013, a non-profit group, the International Council on Clean Transportation, proposed testing on-road diesel emissions from cars in the United States — something never done before.

California regulators decided to team up with the group. They had an attractive chip to offer: the state's laboratory, where vehicles were tested for California emissions compliance.

The transportation council, staffed by a number of former EPA officials, did not expect to catch Volkswagen, or anyone else, cheating. In fact it assumed that US diesel cars would run much cleaner than their European counterparts, thanks to stricter US emissions rules. The group felt that by promoting a success story for diesel, it could pressure — and perhaps shame — automakers in Europe into improving their own emissions.

"We thought we would be seeing some clean vehicles," said John German, one of the project leads at the council. "That was the whole point when we started."



It was only by chance that the group's testing of three vehicles began with two Volkswagens. The researchers already had a BMW X5 and a Volkswagen Jetta — and then a Passat owner happened to see an ad seeking cars for the project and offered up his.

Researchers hit the road, traveling five routes with varying terrain and traffic. Almost immediately, the two Volkswagens set themselves apart from the BMW.

"If you're idling in traffic for three hours in LA traffic, we know a car is not in its sweet spot for good emissions results," said Arvind Thiruvengadam, a research professor at West Virginia University, which was hired to conduct the tests. "But when you're going at highway speed at 70 miles an hour, everything should really work properly. The emissions should come down. But the Volkswagens' didn't come down."

It was difficult to know what was going on. When the two Volkswagens were placed on a "car treadmill" known as a dynamometer, they performed flawlessly.

"It just didn't make sense," German said. "That was the real red flag."

Coming Clean

By 2014, the California regulators determined what to do next. First, they alerted their federal counterparts at the EPA. Then, they opened an investigation. "We brought in Volkswagen and showed them our findings," said Stanley Young, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board. "We asked them, 'How do you explain this?'"

Volkswagen fired back. "They tried to poke holes in our study and its methods, saying we didn't know what we were doing," Thiruvengadam said. "They were very aggressive."

The company offered many explanations: Weather conditions. Driving styles. Technicalities it claimed the researchers and regulators did not understand.

"There was always some story, some reason they'd come up with each time," Young said. "Meeting after meeting, they would try to explain it away, and we'd go back to the lab and try again. But we'd get the same results."

The back-and-forth lasted for months. Finally, in April, Volkswagen made an offer: It would conduct a voluntary recall, or service campaign, to fix the problem in certain model year 2010-to-2014 diesel vehicles.

Regulators got the software update for their test vehicles and returned to the lab. The results were not good. "It didn't solve the problem," Young said.

Confronted again, Volkswagen continued to maintain that there was a problem with the testers, not the vehicles.

California regulators changed tack, examining the company's software. Modern automobiles operate using millions of lines of computer code. One day last summer, the regulators made a startling discovery: A subroutine, or parallel set of instructions, was secretly being sent by the computer to what seemed to be the emissions controls.

Regulators were floored. Could Volkswagen be trying something similar to what the heavy-truck industry did to manipulate emissions tests in the 1990s?

Regulators set out to cheat the cheat, tweaking lab test parameters to trick the car into thinking it was on the road. The Volkswagens began spewing nitrogen oxide far above the legal limit.

Government officials then increased the pressure on the company, threatening to withhold approval for its 2016 Volkswagen and Audi diesel models. According to the EPA, that is what forced Volkswagen's hand. On September 3, a group of senior engineers admitted what the regulators had suspected: The company had installed defeat devices on nearly 500,000 diesel vehicles sold in the United States. In a presentation, they admitted that the software subroutine had been added to vehicles going back to the 2009 model year, when VW's "clean diesel" arrived in America with promises of an environmentally friendly future.

"It was the repeated answers that did not add up that really led to the discovery of the problem in the first place," Young said. "They were kind of hoisted on their own petard."

The revelations were so stunning that some executives at Volkswagen Group of America were kept in the dark about the pending EPA violation until just before it was announced, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

This month, VW and Audi executives in Herndon, Virginia, began pressing executives in Germany for information about the delay in certifying the 2016 models for sale. The absence of details was already hampering plans for product introductions at US dealerships.

But there was no explanation from Germany — until just before the EPA announced the violation of the Clean Air Act.

After the scandal broke, Winterkorn issued a written and then a video apology. He resigned on Wednesday, saying that he had no knowledge of the trickery.

"I am not aware of any wrongdoing on my part," Winterkorn said. But he added, "Volkswagen needs a fresh start."

Volkswagen's supervisory board named Matthias Mueller, head of the Porsche division, the new chief executive, on Friday.

On Winterkorn's watch, Volkswagen did become the largest automaker in the world, surpassing Toyota in July. He had two months to savour it.