Apple iPhone 7 to go on pre-order September 9

The iPhone 7 and 7 Pro will go official in September with pre-orders allegedly starting on the 9th. Actual shipments will begin a week later, most likely on September 16 (a Friday). The exact date of the Apple event hasn't been confirmed yet.


iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Pro, sized up against the iPhone 6s Plus

Last year, the iPhone 6s was unveiled on September 9th, pre-orders started on the 12th, but sales started two weeks later on September 25 (a Friday again).

While we're at it, here are some more photos of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Pro. Note that the unit with the 3.5mm headphone jack is the iPhone 6s Plus, hope you didn't get excited over nothing.

Official Samsung Galaxy Note7 renders surface, pre-orders kick off in Dubai

Official renders of the Samsung Galaxy Note7 are now out showing the phone from different angles in three of the color variants it'll offer. Previous leaks suggested, the phone will come in Black Onyx, Silver Titanium, and Blue Coral. The new gold option leaks for the first time.
    The Galaxy Note7 has been a frequent visitor in the rumor mill and understandably so as Samsung will unveil it on August 2.
     However, in Dubai a tech shop was quick to offer the phone on pre-order. Customers can book their Galaxy Note7 units by making a deposit of $130 (AED 500) by August 2
 

A previous report suggests that Samsung will have the Galaxy Note7 available for purchase on the same day of its official announcement. However, pricing hasn't been suggested just yet.

Where does Amir's comeback rank?

From returning after jail terms to dodging bullets: there's no shortage of stories of redemption and players being granted second chances in cricket

A poignant moment, a redemption like we've never seen before in Test cricket - Mohammad Amir bowling again at Lord's. After that fateful day in 2010 when he crossed a white line and endured the loneliness of isolation in gaol, he must surely have wondered if the game would ever afford him a second coming. But so it has come to pass.

Cricket has a history of redemption stories, not all of them as dramatic as Amir's, though. For Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, co-conspirators on that infamous day, one wonders whether there will ever be another postscript to their careers. Asif's sublime talents will be more of a loss to the game than Butt's, a decent enough batsman though he was without ever threatening to be one of the greats of Pakistan cricket. Perhaps advancing years will conspire against them making an international comeback.

Old age has done nothing to curb Brad Hogg's amazing return to a cricket career that was all but written off a few years ago. That Western Australia coach Justin Langer is sorry to lose a 45-year-old to another franchise speaks volumes for the success of Hogg's renaissance. To think that a cricketer of that vintage can still command bargaining power to negotiate bigger contracts.

To return to cricket's great comeback stories, let me prod the memories of readers to see if we can think of other tales as wonderfully redemptive as Amir's. My mind darts immediately to Bob Simpson returning to captain Australia during World Series Cricket, in much the same way thatColin Cowdrey fronted up to face Jeff Thomson's thunderbolts earlier that decade.

In terms of recovering from a brush with the law, neither Hansie Cronje nor Mohammad Azharuddin had the opportunity to purge themselves of the stain on their careers after the match-fixing allegations. Like Saleem Malik before them, they were probably too old to start again, despite impressive careers to that point.

Shane Warne had a number of comebacks, from injury, from retirement, and from the drug suspension just before the 2003 World Cup when he allegedly took pharmaceutical advice from his mum. In my opinion, he should have got an extra year for such a lame excuse!

It doesn't get more dramatic than the courage shown by the Sri Lankan cricketers who returned to international cricket after the bus shooting incident in Pakistan. It speaks volumes for their love of the game, undiminished even under a hail of bullets.

All Imran's men

The Pakistan team that won its first Test series in England in 1987 was probably the finest in the country's history

Pakistan began Test cricket in stunning fashion. When they lost their first ever series, against India in 1952, it was by a respectable margin of 2-1. When they toured England in 1954, they managed a 1-1 draw. There can be arguments about whether the England selectors chose the strongest possible XI for all Tests that season, but nonetheless it appeared clear that Pakistan would be a legitimate force to reckon with on the world stage.

However, this initial promise did not lead to a series victory over England - in the following ten series, both home and away over nearly three decades, there were six series wins for England and four drawn ones. While Pakistan had been allocated a full five-match series by England in 1962, the substantial margin of victory by England (4-0) meant that subsequent series between the two teams were reduced to three matches each.

Pakistan had managed to develop a few world-class performers like Hanif Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood, but they struggled to build a side with sufficient depth to consistently beat the top Test nations. By the 1980s, this was starting to change. A close 2-1 loss in England in 1982 was followed by a 1-0 victory at home in 1984, and within a few years there was a genuine belief that Pakistan were the side most likely to challenge the West Indies teams of that era. This was reflected in the 1986 series against West Indies in Pakistan that ended in a thrilling 1-1 draw. This improvement was recognised by England, and Pakistan were invited for a five-Test series for the first time in 25 years.

Pakistan were led by Imran Khan. He was 34, and considered by many commentators to be in the twilight of his brilliant career. He had first been named captain in 1982, but serious injury issues associated with shin splints meant that he hadn't remained captain continuously from that point. Javed Miandad led the team for six Tests in 1985, before Imran returned as captain to lead his side to a 1-0 series win in India in early 1987. The side arrived in England that summer quietly confident of causing an upset. In addition to the considerable all-round skills of Imran and batting genius of Miandad, Pakistan also had a strong support cast that blended both youth and experience, including a young Wasim Akram and spinners Abdul Qadir and Tauseef Ahmed. The batting line-up also looked less shaky than in previous times, with a top order including Ramiz Raja, Shoaib Mohammad, Mudassar Nazar, Mansoor Akhtar and Saleem Malik.

 

However, Pakistan were not at full strength for the first Test at Old Trafford. Imran led the team, but he had strained a stomach muscle just before the game and played purely as a batsman. Qadir was still in Pakistan with his wife, who was battling illness, and Miandad was short of match practice as he had joined the touring party late due to the birth of his son. As it happened, these disruptions did not influence the final result as poor weather meant that less than 15 hours' play was possible across the five days.

England batted first after Imran won the toss, and compiled 447, highlighted by a patient 166 from opener Tim Robinson. Playing in his 16th Test (he had turned 21 the day before the Test started), Akram took 4 for 111. Pakistan responded with a slightly shaky 140 for 5 before persistent rain forced a draw.

The second Test at Lord's, a bit over a week later, was also affected by rain, and England were the only side to bat. They made 368; Bill Athey rewarded the selectors' faith in him after a lean period by making 123. However, the rain interruptions meant that England did not finish their innings until the end of day three, and with bad weather persisting on day four, Pakistan didn't even get a chance to bat. There were some positives for them, though, ,with both Imran and Qadir - who had now joined the tour - getting an opportunity for a good bowling workout.

Snorelax is an iOS alarm app that wakes you up earlier if there are traffic jams on your way to work

Here's a concept that could make you think something along the lines of "wait, why hasn't this existed before?". Snorelax is a new (and wonderfully named) alarm app for iOS that comes with a very special twist.

It will wake you up earlier when there are traffic jams on your way to work. It pulls real-time traffic data for this, but also uses historical analysis "based on real customer driving experience from millions of users".

Additionally, you get real-time traffic information to look at once you're awake, insights about your favorite route to work, weather info both for your home area and where you work, along with wallpapers that change according to the time of day and season.

The alarms are customizable, with the possibility to repeat daily or weekly, and you can choose your own music if you want to. Oh, and Snorelax is also usable as just a normal alarm app - you can turn all of that smart traffic jam detection off (but why would you?).

The app is available in the iTunes Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch running iOS 7.0 or later. It costs $1.99.

New survey finds AppleWatch users most satisfied with their purchase

You don't really hear people referencing J.D. Power all that often and currently the same is mostly true for smart wearables as well. But, combine the two together and you get an interesting insight into the developing niche and user satisfaction among early adopters and backers of the tech.

The survey in question was carried out during May and June this year among 2696 users who purchased a smartwatch in the last 12 months and another 2949 equally recent owners of fitness bands. The results (calculated on 1,000 point scale) show that while Apple Watch sales aren't going quite as good as Cupertino initially intended, those who did pick up the high-end wearable are very pleased with it. Samsung ranks as a close second. And, mind you, the survey questions do look quite extensive and include points like ease of use; comfort; battery life; phone features; price; strength/durability; display size; styling/appearance; reliability; apps available; and customer service.

Considering the Apple Watch's significant battery endurance problems, it must have really scored high on other points to grab first place. Moving over to fitness bands, however, Samsung is at the top of the food chain. But even though Apple does not have a competitive offer in this branch, the Korean giant is not alone. Garmin, for one, does very well with users as well. It tends to aim at the top-end segments of the fitness market, which shows in its steep prices as well. So, we are talking about a whole other level of expectations that need to be met.

Carphone Warehouse made its own VR headset, compatible with both Android and iOS

This year it seems like every single company out there is doing something VR-ish. That mostly means we've seen a lot of VR headsets being made official, some more and some less similar to Samsung's Gear VR. And now the latest entrant into this space is none other than Carphone Warehouse, the UK's biggest third party retailer of mobile stuff. It's unveiled its very own take on the VR headset, to compete with the Gear VR.

It's called Goji Universal VR Headset, and, unlike Samsung's offering, it will work with Android phones and iPhones alike (hence the "Universal" in the name). Like the Gear VR, you insert your phone into the headset, which then uses your device's display to show you all that magical VR content.

The Goji comes with a cushioned visor so it should be reasonably comfortable (definitely much more so than the Google Cardboard headset), and it's got a headphone jack to easily give you audio. Magnetic controls let you pause and resume playback of 360-degree videos.

Best of all though is its price. The Goji Universal VR Headset by Carphone Warehouse goes on sale this Saturday, on July 16, for just £39.99. That's substantially cheaper than the Samsung Gear VR, which could help move some units fast - and the fact that it also works with iPhones and non-Samsung Android devices will certainly help too.