MOSCOW: An international trio of astronauts took a Soyuz space capsule on a rare trip around the International Space Station in preparation for the arrival of a new crew next week.
Russian flight commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and engineers Karen Nyberg of NASA and Luca Parmitano of Italy undocked their Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft from the Rassvet module on the Earth-facing side of the station and carefully manuevered it to the Zvezda module’s aft end.
The fly-around — which NASA said was last performed in July 2010 — sets the stage for the arrival on Nov. 7 of a new crew which will bring along one of the torches Russia is using in its relay for the Feb. 7-23 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
The addition of the new team — comprised of NASA’s Rick Mastracchio and Japan’s Koichi Wakata as well as Russian Soyuz commander Mikhail Tyurin — will take the number of people on board the station to nine for the first time.
Space officials said cosmonauts Kotov and Ryazansky will take the Olympic torch for a symbolic spacewalk on Nov. 9. The Soyuz capsule is used by crew members to dock to the orbiting lab and remains attached to the station for return missions to Earth.
Trio takes Soyuz for spin around International Space Station
Trio takes Soyuz for spin around International Space Station
Apple to update EU browser options, make more apps deletable
- iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7
- Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options
STOCKHOLM: Apple will change how users choose browser options in the European Union, add a dedicated section for changing default apps, and make more apps deletable, the company said on Thursday.
The iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7, forcing big tech companies to offer mobile users the ability to select from a list of available web browsers on a “choice screen.”
The new rules require mobile software makers to show the choice screen where users can select a browser, search engine and virtual assistant as they set up their phones, which earlier came with preferred options from Apple and Google.
In an update later this year, Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options.
A randomly ordered list of 12 browsers per EU country will be shown to the user with short descriptions, and the chosen one will be automatically downloaded, Apple said. The choice screen will also be available on iPads through an update later this year.
Apple released a previous update in response to the new rules in March, but browser companies criticized the design of its choice screen, and the Commission opened an investigation on March 25 saying it suspected that the measures fell short of effective compliance.
The company said it has been in dialogue with the European Commission and believes the new changes will address regulators’ concerns.
It also plans to introduce a dedicated area for default apps where a user will be able to set defaults for messaging, phone calls, spam filters, password managers and keyboards.
Users will also be able to delete certain Apple-made apps such as App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos and Safari. Only Settings and Phone apps would not be deletable.
