News around the world

Google could be preparing to launch a search engine in China that would conform to the country's strict censorship laws, after previously opting out of country in 2010. The search tool would blacklist search terms and websites referencing human rights, democracy, religion and peaceful protest, according to  documents seen by the Intercept . The documents reportedly reference a project codenamed Dragonfly that has been underway since spring 2017. The company withdrew from providing search tools to the Chinese market in 2010, and its international search engine is blocked by the country's so-called " Great Firewall ." The version of the search engine Google is reportedly building would comply with China's censorship laws, even though the country is  cracking down harder than ever to limit free speech online . "We provide a number of mobile apps in China, such as Google Translate and Files Go, help Chinese developers, and have made significant invest...

Amazon’s chat-style fiction app,  Amazon Rapids , is now free, giving parents and kids unlimited access to the hundreds of stories in its catalog. Previously, the company charged $2.99 monthly for that privilege. Some of these stories will also be available to listen to through Alexa’s Storytime mode, which was launched last summer. Rapids  made its debut in 2016 . The then-subscription based service was meant to get children interested in reading, by presenting short stories in the style of text message conversations between characters. The idea was that these types of stories might be easier for a young reader to handle — according to Amazon, the app is aimed at  five- to 12-year-olds . Rapids also offered an age-appropriate, PG alternative to some of the competing chatty fiction apps  aimed at a more PG-13 audience , like Hooked and Yarn. The app can also read stories aloud, and offers young users a built-in glossary, to look words up as needed. These feat...

We all knew this day would come eventually, but apparently 2018 is the year: Apple will reportedly no longer bundle its  3.5mm to Lightning port headphone dongle  with this year’s iPhone models, according to a research note from Barclays  that was seen by  MacRumors . And while you can take Barclays’ note with a grain of salt, the sourcing does seem at least somewhat legitimate. The research note claims that Cirrus Logic, a supplier for the dongle has “confirmed” that it won’t be included in the box alongside the new iPhones. The wireless era could be fast approaching Apple has been trying to transition away from wired headphones entirely with its AirPods and lineup of wireless Beats headphones, so the move isn’t entirely surprising. The dongle was always meant as a stopgap while customers adjusted to the new, headphone jack-less reality that Apple imposed on the world. Apple will almost certainly continue to sell the dongle — which costs $9 — separately...

You don't have to wait until next week to reserve the  Galaxy Note 9 . As reported by Droid Life, Samsung is taking reservations for the unannounced Note 9 right now, with an expected delivery date of August 24. Samsung will finally unveil what's left to learn about the Note 9 and August 9 at an event in Brooklyn, NY. To reserve a  Galaxy Note 9  for yourself, download the  Shop Samsung  app from the Play Store. And because this is a reservation, not a pre-order, you don't have to pay for anything right now. The process just ensures you have a device reserved for delivery on launch day, and gives you a chance to get up to $450 from the trade-in of  your current smartphone . source

(CNN) —  When, or if, the weird-looking Stratolaunch takes off from Mojave, California, as expected in 2019, it will have smashed a record that's remained unbroken for 71 years. No flying aircraft has yet surpassed the massive wingspan of Howard Hughes' H-4 Hercules, also called the "Spruce Goose." But this is by no means the only measure of the size of an aircraft -- weight, length or even volume are equally valid parameters. Taking all of these factors into consideration, we've compiled a list of 10 of the largest airplanes in the world. Stratolaunch Empty weight:  226,796 kilograms Length:  73 meters Wingspan:  117 meters First flight:  2019 (TBC) It has not flown yet, but the moment it does, the  Stratolaunch , an aircraft project founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen will become the largest wingspan aircraft in history, surpassing the Hughes H-4 Hercules. The awkward-looking aircraft, composed of two fuselages joined togeth...