Newsstand is set to disappear from the screens of iPhones and iPads all over the world. At today's WWDC keynote speech, Apple announced the Flipboard-inspired News. A customizable news aggregator, News presents users with a selection of content from media partners that include the New York Times, Conde Nast, and ESPN, and it will be built into iOS 9.

Like Flipboard et al, News learns from the types of media you consume and suggests content you might like to read. Noting the current levels of interest in privacy, Apple stressed that personal preferences and habits will never be shared with third parties. This is a theme that cropped up again and again during the keynote, with strong emphasis being placed on the fact that no data is shared externally and articles are not linked to other Apple services.

As expected at this year’s WWDC, Apple has revealed that the Apple Pay payment system is coming to the UK in July. As revealed by Jennifer Bailey, Apple Pay chief (and a woman!), it will be accepted at over 250,000 UK merchant locations including Marks and Spender, Costa, Waitrose, Boots, and MacDonald’s.

That’s quite a bit shy of the million plus locations now accepted in the US, but it’s still a good start.

While Microsoft has been busy cramming lots of new features into Windows 10, Apple is taking a different, iterative approach with OS X 10.11, called El Capitan. Yes, like the headline says, that is the actual name. The focus is on refinement, with the biggest changes to the latest Mac operating system being a more polished and beefed-up user interface, improvements to the built-in software and better performance.

Visually, OS X 10.11 El Capitan introduces new gestures, like swipe to delete emails in Mail, an improved Safari user interface, which now gives users the option to pin tabs by swiping and the ability to quickly mute audio in individual tabs. The most-obvious and interesting change in this area, however, is related to multitasking.

Look at you. Sitting on your couch eating chips while playing with your iPhone. Yes, we all know the apps on that thing are amazing. It can be easy to lounge around with your Apple device playing Trivia Crack and Words with Friends. Meanwhile, your ass is getting bigger with each passing day. Tim Cook would not approve of this -- he wants fit and attractive people shopping in the Apple retail stores. The company has an image to uphold!

Belkin is here to save the day. Its all-new Clip-Fit Armband is designed to help you run and exercise with your iPhone. Will you use it to firm up your saggy butt and get ready for the summer?

On June 3rd, music streaming service Tidal updated its Android app, which in my extensive testing over the weekend resolves a catastrophic bug that skips songs. The previous version jumped tracks before they finished playing on my Nexus 6 or 9. Last week, the lossless listening provider acknowledged the problem. The fix is in, and I am satisfied.

Tidal delivers HiFi streaming—1411kbps Free Lossless Audio Codec—at the premium price of $19.99 per month. For a music streamer charging more, about double other paid service competitors, the glitch was inexcusable. I first reported the erratic behavior nearly a month ago.

While the world awaits Apple's WWDC conference to learn of all the new iOS news, many of us Android users are simply shrugging our shoulders in a collective "meh". Sure, Apple makes great products, including the iPhone, but they are very expensive. Android is better positioned for those of us with more meager bank balances.

One of the best value smartphones is the OnePlus One. Normally $299, the company recently offered a temporary price drop to an eye-popping $249 for the 16GB model. Guess what fellow bargain hunters? Today, the company makes that price drop permanent. However, the fun does not stop there. You can also get a majorly discounted year of DropBox Pro if you buy the 64GB model -- a $99 value.

All sorts of reversible USB Type-C devices are beginning to arrive now, and Kingston Digital has just announced the launch of its DataTraveler microDuo 3C USB Flash drive.

This device has a dual interface that works with both standard USB Type-A (3.1, 3.0, 2.0) and USB Type-C ports and comes in three capacities -- 16GB, 32GB and 64GB.

London is looking for new ways to tackle city congestion. Instead of focusing on cars, a new scheme would allow cyclists to move around the city at a faster pace.

The plan, created by Transport for London, adds new sensors to traffic lights. These sensors can keep the lights green for large waves of cyclists for longer, allowing bike riders to commute around the city without holding up regular traffic.

Virtual reality. The term has been a curse for more than 50 years. A curse, because the name is almost inherently an over-promise. It's such a grandiose concept that since its inception, companies and ideas ranging from experiential theaters to video games who dared use the term would inevitably end up being mocked and ridiculed out of existence. Yet the dream and the hype have never fully faded away, and at next week's E3 2015 trade show, all the big names in the current VR landscape will once again make the pitch that virtual reality is now here to stay.

Of course, VR enthusiasts will be most interested in the presence of Oculus VR, whose Oculus Rift headset, in development since 2012, finally got an official release window last month. The impending headset, which has preemptively become the standard-bearer of virtual reality today, will be available to consumers in Q1 2016.

Diversity is one of the latest buzzwords that tech companies are keen to throw around whenever the chance arises. If you were to knock back a shot of something every time it cropped up in press releases, keynote speeches, and company reports, rates of global alcoholism would shoot through the roof. Now a follower rather than a leader, Apple is ready to jump on just about any bandwagon that happens to be passing.

Google, Microsoft and other companies have recently waxed lyrical about the diverse sexual and racial makeup of their workforces -- it looks great for public relations, after all -- and Apple wants a slice of that pie for itself. It's a company that is highly adept at capturing the zeitgeist; as my colleague Joe Wilcox puts it, Tim Cook is an opportunist. The latest attempt to curry favor with the in-crowd, it seems, is to wheel out a few token women at today's WWDC keynote.

According to Gartner, businesses spent more than $70 billion on cyber security tools in 2014, and collectively lost nearly $400 billion as a result of cyber crime. This suggests that existing security technologies are struggling to cope with the growing number of cyber threats.

Californian company Menlo Security is launching an new approach which it calls Isolation Platform, a technology that claims to eliminate the threat of malware from key attack vectors, including web and email.

MaxCDN, a content delivery network based in Los Angeles, has launched a new partner program for web hosting providers, digital agencies, and other companies that create and/or deliver web content on behalf of their customers.

The highlight of this new program is the redesigned CDN management system for resellers. According to a MaxCDN announcement, the new reseller platform offers:

There are lots of options available for those in the market for a low-end smartphone, but few are truly exciting and worth considering. Poor camera performance is to be expected in this segment, but a decent screen and adequate performance are must-haves, in my book.

Chinese maker Xiaomi has a very appealing low-end smartphone in the form of Redmi 2A. It just went on sale, as an affordable alternative to Redmi 2, costing as little as $80 off-contract. For that kind of money, it sure comes with all the right features a prospective buyer might be looking for.

Ever wanted to see a robot playing at being a master swordsman? Well, now’s your chance thanks to an enterprising Japanese firm by the name of the Yaskawa Electric Corporation.

The company has put together the Yaskawa Bushido Project which shows its Motoman-MH24 290kg industrial robot learn from a Japanese master swordsman, Isao Machii, and then take him on over a series of challenges to test their skills with a blade.

Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference kicks off today, Monday 8 June, in San Francisco, with the big keynote speech scheduled for 10am PST/6pm BST.

As WWDC is for software developers, Apple doesn’t usually reveal major new hardware -- typically it’s just updated versions of existing products. You can certainly expect news on iOS 9 and OS X 10.11, as well as Apple Watch.