The way to check brake pads on your car

It is very important to learn how to check brake pads on a car since they are the only component in the system that needs regular replacement. They can give you signs of potential system trouble. Besides, brake pads themselves can become the target of damage when problems begin to develop in the brake assembly. However, you can only prevent many of these problems by learning how to check your brake pads with a few simple tools. On many car models, brake pads equipped with a wear indicator which is a metal clip mounted on the pad that rubs against the disc rotor when the friction material on the pad wears down significantly. Once the clip touches the rotor, it begins to make a squeaking sound to warn you that it is time to replace the pads. However, not all pads are equipped with this warning system. Even if your car brake pads have it, still, it is a good idea to make a visual check of your brakes for damage and other potential system problems. First thing you have to do is to apply the parking brake, chock the rear wheels to prevent your car from rolling, loosen the wheel nuts on one of the front wheels. Then, raise the wheel off the ground using a jack and stable it with a jack stand and remove the wheel. Mounted around the disc rotor, you’ll see the brake caliper. The caliper holds the pads in place on each side of the rotor and the piston pushes on the rear of the pad, which pushes against the rotor. Remove the caliper using a ratchet and socket or a spanner. If your caliper only comes with one mounting bolt on the rear of the caliper, you can unscrew this bolt and swing the caliper off the rotor to access the pads. If it comes with two mounting bolts on the rear of the caliper, then unscrew both bolts, pull the caliper off the rotor to access the pads. This will prevent the caliper from hanging loose and damaging the brake hose attached to it, (but if have to remove both bolts, you can use a hanging wire or cable tie on the caliper and hang from the car to prevent the brake hose being damaged or broken). With the caliper off the brake rotor, you now have access to the brake pads. Look at the exact position of each one so that you replace each pad in its correct position and original place. Then remove the pads for inspection. Check for signs of thickness, contamination and damage like oil spots and cracks around the surface of the pads. If they are getting low on thickness or there are signs of contamination or damage, you will need to replace the pads and have the whole brake system inspected to find the cause of the problem, if necessary. After inspecting both brake pads, use a caliper tool to press the piston/s in until the piston/s are in as far they go or are flush with the inner surface of the caliper, and install the new pads and position the caliper into its location over the rotor, and tighten the mounting bolts. Mount the wheel and tighten the lug nuts snugly. Lower your car and tighten the nuts gradually, using a crisscross pattern. Finally, tighten the lug nuts to the torque listed in your car service manual. You can do this procedure every 6 months or before when you suspect problems with the pads or the brake assembly on any of the wheels. A visual inspection is the only way to know the physical condition of the pad and brake assembly. However, this is a simple maintenance task you can do in a few minutes in your own garage before they turn into expensive repairs.

Daughter of couple found buried in their back garden after vanishing 15 years ago arrested on suspicion of their murder

• Susan Edwards and husband held three weeks after bodies were found
• They were arrested at St Pancras Station in London on Wednesday night
• William and Patricia Wycherly disappeared from their home in 1998

The daughter of a couple whose bodies were found buried in their own back garden has been arrested on suspicion of their murder. Susan Edwards was detained along with her husband, Christopher, three weeks after police discovered the bones of her ‘reclusive’ parents, who had not been seen since the late 1990s. Police officers began digging at the semi-detached home that formerly belonged to William and Patricia Wycherley after receiving a tip-off about an ‘incident’ at the house that had taken place up to 15 years ago.

Murder inquiry: The outside of the semi-detached house in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where police three weeks ago found the remains of William and Patricia Wycherley buried in the back garden after a tip-off

Neighbours said Mr Wycherley, a former merchant sailor who would now be 100, and his wife, who would now be 79, ‘disappeared’ from the property in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in the late 1990s. Rumours later circulated locally and within their extended family that the couple had moved to either Ireland or to the Lancashire coast. In a further twist to the strange case, some relatives have said they continued to receive Christmas cards apparently written and sent by the couple until as recently as two years ago. Nottinghamshire Police are waiting for forensic tests to confirm that the remains are indeed those of Bill and Pat Wycherley, but detectives say they are confident the skeletons are theirs. The Wycherleys moved into the cul-de-sac house in the suburb of Forest Town in 1987. It was sold in 2005 to a buy-to-let owner.

Police said at the time of the bodies’ discovery that neither the landlord nor the tenant was under any suspicion. The force has not confirmed the identities of those under arrest. A spokesman said only that a 55-year-old woman and a 57-year-old man were arrested at St Pancras International station in London on Wednesday night and taken into custody for questioning. But sources told the Daily Mail that the people held were the Edwards couple, who had been living in a council flat in Dagenham, Essex, until last December. Detectives had been keen to speak to Mrs Edwards and her husband since discovering the bodies, but it is thought that the couple had recently been staying abroad.

Excavations: Neighbours said Mr Wycherley, a former merchant sailor who would now be 100, and his wife, who would now be 79, 'disappeared' from the property in the late 1990s. It was thought they had moved away

Macabre find: Nottinghamshire Police are still waiting for forensic tests to confirm the remains are those of the Wycherleys, but detectives are 'confident' the skeletons discovered in the back garden belong to the pair

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Griffin appealed for anyone who knew the Wycherleys, or who lived in the Blenheim Close area of Forest Town between 1990 and 2005, to come forward with any relevant information. He said: ‘Bones were discovered in a grave in the garden. People we have spoken to to date have described the Wycherleys as reclusive. They kept themselves to themselves and it didn’t appear they had many regular friends or associates. ‘We want to put together their lifestyles, their movements, and that will hopefully help us explain how they came to be where we recovered them from. ‘It appears they vanished. We conduct what are known as “proof of life” inquiries and we can’t find any evidence of them being alive. And at the same time we can’t find any evidence of them having died. ‘Neither William nor Patricia have ever been reported missing.’

Best friends, all four live in the same cul-de-sac. And they ALL found out their husbands were cheating on them

• Jackie's husband cheated on her three times, but she's still with him
• Sarah took a razor to her wrists when her husband left her for a colleague
• Jackie has started dating again since her husband cheated on her
• Alison thinks she is now divorced from her unfaithful Tunisian toyboy

They met in a quiet Cardiff cul-de-sac as they embarked on married lives, babysat each other's children and laughed together on Friday nights. But two decades later, Jan, Sarah, Jackie and Alison have more in common than just neighbourly bonds because, incredibly, within a year, all four discovered their husbands were having affairs. Here, they describe the very different ways they dealt with infidelity, and pay tribute to the friends who proved their salvation.

Scorned: They met in a quiet Cardiff cul-de-sac as they embarked on married lives, but two decades later, all four discovered their husbands were having affairs

I FORGAVE MY HUSBAND THREE AFFAIRS

Jan Griffiths, 47, is mother to Aiden, 30, Lucy, 18, and Josh, 13. She married her husband Stephen, 47, an entrepreneur, in March 1992. Stephen has had three affairs - the last of which was in October 2010 - but they remain married. As I opened the letter, my jaw dropped in disbelief. 'Dear Jan,' it started. 'I have to tell you I've been having an affair with your husband for the past 11 months . . .' The woman explained she was a local bar manager and that she was in love with Stephen. She also left her contact details. Until that moment in 1997 I'd had no reason to question Stephen's fidelity - in the five years we'd been married he'd always seemed so dependable. Stunned, I called my friend Sarah for advice. She had been living in the same cul-de-sac for two years and we'd become soul mates. Our great friend Alison had arrived in 1993 and Jackie, like Sarah, came along in 1995. Sarah reassured me that Stephen would never cheat. But I was determined to discover the truth, so I drove to his office, taking her for support. Stephen was horrified when I walked in and flung the letter on his desk. He muttered that he'd only seen this woman once or twice. I stormed out, furious. Sarah's rage almost matched my own. Over the next week, the atmosphere at home was terrible, as Stephen steadfastly refused to talk about what had happened. Desperate, I decided the only way to discover the truth was to meet the woman myself. I arranged to meet her for coffee. With short blonde hair and an average figure, aged about 37, she wasn't even more attractive than me. By the time we finished our coffee I felt sorry for her. She was infatuated, but Stephen had told her he had no intention of leaving me. When, days later, Stephen eventually confessed to the affair, he insisted he loved me, and that it had been a harmless flirtation which had led to a situation he couldn't get out of. I tried to forgive but, as the months went by, I found it impossible to trust him. While the 'girls' were very supportive and urged me to stick by him, it was hard being the only one with a cheating husband. They all appeared to have marriages that, if not perfect, were healthier. Eventually, a year later, Stephen and I went for counselling. It emerged he felt that not only had I become engrossed with the children, but I'd dominated our relationship. His affair had been his way of asserting himself. Slowly I learned to trust him again: I felt the crisis had strengthened our marriage. So I was livid when, in October 2006, I heard him in the conservatory whispering to another woman on the phone at 2am. I snatched the mobile - one I'd never seen before - from his hand. The line went dead and I stormed off, hiding his secret phone in my handbag. The next morning, his mistress called and I answered. I learned she'd met Stephen when he was on a golfing weekend in Ireland nine months earlier and had no idea he was married. When I confronted him later, he insisted: 'Nothing happened. We just talked to each other.' We stayed up all night arguing. He'd betrayed me again!

'I was livid when, in October 2006, I heard him in the conservatory whispering to another woman on the phone at 2am.'

Despite my rage, by 6am I decided I didn't want to leave. Stephen was still a wonderful father, and I have to be honest about the fact that I didn't want to jeopardise our comfortable lifestyle. But the damage was done and our physical relationship disappeared overnight. 'I didn't worry that the lack of it would make Stephen stray: after all, he'd proved he could cheat even when we'd had a healthy sex life. When the girls from the cul-de-sac got together on Friday nights for cocktails, they were respectful of my decision and careful not to judge. Then, in November 2010, I found yet another strange mobile phone, tucked in a seat pocket in our car. On it were dozens of flirtatious text messages to yet another woman. I confronted Stephen immediately. He admitted he'd met her on another golfing trip a month earlier. 'She means nothing . . . nothing happened,' he insisted. 'I love you.' I didn't know what to do. He insisted that, like the time before, nothing physical had happened. But should I stand by him or throw him out?

Jan and Stephen's wedding day: While the couple are still together, Jan has set up Women Scorned, a support website for cheated wives who can't afford expensive therapy

When I asked the girls, Jackie pointed out the positives. Unlike her husband, Stephen was attentive and funny, and she reminded me how happy we'd been. But in February, unable to bear the betrayal any longer, I snapped and told him: 'I want a divorce.' Stephen's reaction shocked me. He started to cry and seemed so genuinely sorry that I knew I couldn't leave. But I warned him I would not tolerate any more infidelities. It's been three years now. I'd be lying if I said I fully trusted Stephen, but when I see him playing with our youngest son, I'm so glad I gave him another chance. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Jackie, Sarah and Alison, because over the next eight months they would all find themselves alone after their own husbands cheated. It was their ordeals that inspired me to set up Women Scorned, a support website for cheated wives who can't afford expensive therapy. As I know all too well, the support of friends is worth any number of counselling sessions.

I HAD A BREAKDOWN

Sarah Roberts, 42, married Lloyd, 43, in July 1991. They have three daughters: Jenny, 20, Felicity, 15, and Ruth, six. Lloyd, a manager at an electricity board, left her in July 2011. Sarah still lives in Cardiff, as do Lloyd and his new partner. When Stephen betrayed Jan, I felt so sorry for her, but never expected in a million years that Lloyd would do the same to me. My husband and I met at a party in 1986 and had a fairytale wedding in 1991. Four years later we moved into a three-bedroom end-of-terrace in Jan's cul-de-sac. It was a great place to bring up a young family and as our children grew up, we bonded over play-dates and milestones like their first days at school. Meanwhile, Lloyd was the perfect father and husband. I adored him. Then, four years ago, he suddenly took up running and bought a motorbike. I put his odd behaviour down to a mid-life crisis. After all, I thought, we still told each other everything and we had a healthy sex life. So I was stunned when an anonymous letter arrived in January 2011, claiming Lloyd had been caught in a romantic clinch with a colleague. 'This letter has also been sent to Lloyd's boss and his married colleague's husband,' it stated. 'You need to be aware of what's going on.' That night Lloyd denied everything, saying it was a cruel prank and he loved me. I believed him. For the next seven months, we carried on as normal, our sex life remaining as good as ever. We even made love the night before he left me. It was July 2011, the week before our 20th wedding anniversary. That morning Lloyd asked me to do a supermarket shop. But when I got back, he announced: 'I don't want to be married to you any more.' I fell to the floor and just howled. I could see his belongings in his car: he'd clearly sent me out so he could pack his things. He insisted before driving off that he wasn't seeing another woman. Where had the devoted man I loved disappeared to? My whole life felt like a lie. A few days later, I took a razor to my wrists. I wanted to end it all. My eldest daughter found me and my sister drove me to hospital, where I was diagnosed with an emotional breakdown. For the next six weeks, I stayed at a mental health unit.

Fairytale wedding: The week before their 20th wedding anniversary, Lloyd left Sarah

The girls from the cul-de-sac were amazing. Jan, recently betrayed herself and doubly supportive, took me for walks and made cakes for my daughters. We spent evenings watching Steel Magnolias - our favourite film. Here we were, two women whose husbands had abused our trust. In December 2011, Lloyd and his colleague made their relationship official, though others have since told me they'd been together for around a year. Later that month, I filed for divorce. Lloyd's new relationship was a blow, but my girlfriends wouldn't let me crumble again. They listened patiently as I ranted. I hope one day I will be able to laugh again. If anyone can put a smile on my face, these girls can.

I started dating

Jackie Powell, 52, married Paul, a university lecturer, in April 1992. They have two children: James, 20, and Amelia, 19. In April 2010, Paul, 59, left Jackie for a Mexican woman whom he married in May 2011. They now live in Mexico City. Jackie still lives in Cardiff. As much as I love my friends, sometimes I feel our cul-de-sac was cursed. Paul and I moved into our detached four-bedroom house in 1995 after he took a post at the University of Wales. We'd met in 1991 when I was a mature student and he was my psychology lecturer. By the time we married, I was already five weeks pregnant and had abandoned my university place. As a stay-at-home mother, I quickly built a rapport with the other mums in the cul-de-sac. We took it in turns to host New Year's Eve parties and spent many evenings gossiping when the children were in bed. Meanwhile, at home Paul chipped away at my confidence. He'd accuse me of not cleaning our house properly or criticise my hair. Still, when Jan confided about her husband's affairs, while I felt sympathy, part of me was relieved that at least I hadn't had to go through that. Paul, meanwhile, thought my girlfriends were beneath him: 'They're a waste of space,' he said. He never elaborated, but I knew it was because they weren't as educated as him. In 2005 Paul took up Spanish, claiming it would help his career. By 2008 he was going abroad regularly to forge 'good relations' with other universities. We grew more distant, but I never suspected he was cheating. So I was shocked when, at Easter 2010, Paul announced it wasn't working between us and he was going to Mexico to stay with a lecturer called Alma. When I told my friends, Jan advised me to get myself a good solicitor. I thought it was too soon, but she was right: two weeks later Paul returned and told me he wanted a divorce. 'Get the rat to move out,' insisted Jan when I called her in tears. But, fearing I'd be judged a failure if he left, I moved into the spare room instead. A month later I was served with divorce papers while Paul was at work. That evening, he admitted he was in a 'growing relationship' with Alma.

Jackie's wedding, 1992: Jackie has started seeing someone else but she's devastated she couldn't make her marriage last

Our divorce was finalised in January 2011, but he still refused to leave the family home. Then, the following month, I found an invitation to his wedding in his bedside table. It was to be in Mexico City that May. I felt sick as I called Jan. She came straight over and told me I deserved more. Later that week, Sarah took me to a bar to cheer me up. While they couldn't take away my pain, just having my friends, who had been in the same boat, on my side made me feel better. Finally, Paul agreed to let me have our £195,000 home and moved out a month after marrying Alma. Last July, he retired and moved to Mexico. The children have visited once. While I haven't had a serious romance since, for the past two years I have been seeing someone. It's a casual relationship based on friendship: I still find it hard to trust. I'm devastated I couldn't make my marriage last. Having given up my degree and ambitions for Paul, I sacrificed so much. So I hope it works out for him - otherwise, all the hurt will have been for nothing.

I WANTED TO KEEP MY TUNISIAN TOYBOY

Alison Morris, 52, married Aymen, 32, a Tunisian waiter, in May 2010. They divorced in May 2012 after she claimed Aymen had been flirting with other women. Alison lives alone in Cardiff. The first friend I made when I moved into the cul-de-sac was Jan. It was 1993 and I'd just bought a two-bedroom semi five doors down from her. We bonded over coffee and I loved her honesty. She was a kindred spirit. When she confided about her husband's affairs, I admired the way she stuck to her guns when the obvious thing would have been to throw Stephen out. She never minced her words. While I'd had a partner for 19 years, we broke up in 2009. When I fell for a gorgeous man 20 years my junior on holiday shortly afterwards, I remember Jan saying: 'Don't give him any money.' Aymen and I met in the restaurant where he worked on the first evening of my Tunisian break. With his cheeky smile, I was thrilled when he invited me for coffee. We kissed, we watched the stars from his rooftop and we became inseparable. The day after I flew home, he texted saying he missed me. Part of me knew a relationship was a ridiculous idea, but I found his attention irresistible. I visited him in October and again in December. The following month he told me his flatmate had moved out and he couldn't afford the rent on his own. Would I transfer £200? I agreed, but didn't tell the girls as I knew they would think I was naive. After that, I was giving him at least £200 every month, even though I couldn't afford it. I began going to Tunisia regularly and in April 2010 Aymen proposed. I accepted. My former partner had just got engaged and I wanted to prove I was desirable, too. The girls thought I was mad. 'You barely know him,' said Jackie. 'Have you lost your mind?' But I loved feeling wanted. We married in Tunisia on May 6, 2010. Aymen didn't want to leave Tunisia and, as my mother's carer, I couldn't leave Cardiff, but I visited him often. But soon after we married, I found a perfume bottle in his bathroom and a pair of earrings under his bed. He insisted they belonged to his friend's girlfriend and I wanted to believe him. But by the summer of 2011 I was increasingly suspicious. During a visit that September, I logged onto his email and discovered a string of messages from a German girl. There were other flirtatious emails to Polish and Russian girls.

'When I confronted him about the emails, he shrugged'

When I confronted him, he shrugged and said: 'You're always accusing me of being with other women anyway.' The girls here were so sympathetic, but then they all knew what it was like to be cheated on. Jackie even offered to fly to Tunisia with me to help me sort things out. I felt stupid but didn't want to admit defeat. Then, the day after I got back from a visit in January 2012, Aymen rang and said he wanted a divorce. I later found out that he had a new Tunisian girlfriend. I couldn't face going to the divorce hearing, but as far as I'm aware I'm now divorced, although I still haven't received my papers. Thankfully, I have not been asked to pay him any more money. I wasted thousands of pounds on a man who only ever wanted me for cash and I'm a fool for not realising it sooner. But the best thing about the girls? They never once said: 'I told you so.' After all, we've all had our hearts broken in different ways.

Apple's got it wrapped for Christmas! iPad Air is TWICE as fast, 20% thinner, weighs just 1lb and comes with a Retina display

• Apple launched iPad Air - thinner, lighter, more powerful than before
• Costs from $499 for 16GB in US and from £399 in UK from November
• New iPad Mini has high resolution 7.9inch Retina display and new A7 chip
• Costs from $399 in US and £319 in UK and will be on sale 'later next month'
• Apple also revealed the latest version of its Mac OS X software
• Free to all Mac users and claims to give laptops extra hour of battery life
• Faster and more powerful cylindrical Mac Pro was unveiled for $2,299
• This will be the first Apple machine to be assembled in the US
• Nokia also launched first 10.1-inch Lumia 2025 tablet at event earlier today
• Launch comes the day Microsoft's Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro go on sale
• Tablets will compete against Amazon, Tesco and Argos in Christmas sales

Apple has barely had time to restock the shelves since its latest iPhone launch but that hasn't stopped the tech giant unveiling its latest iPad - renamed the iPad Air. The announcement has added serious fuel to the fire in the battle of the tablets in the run up to Christmas and comes just hours after Nokia entered the tablet market with its Lumia 2520 and Microsoft started selling its new Surface devices. The iPad Air is thinner, lighter, more powerful than ever before, Apple said. Scroll Down for Video

Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, unveiled the newly named iPad Air. It features a new design that's reminiscent of the iPad mini released last year

Sparkling: The Apple media launch in Central London, showing the new iPad Mini (left) and iPad Air (right)

Thinnger: An Apple employee holds up the new iPad Air in San Francisco. Apple unveiled a new, lighter tablet called the iPad Air along with a slew of new Macs

It has 9.7-inch Retina display with a smaller bezel and is 43 per cent thinner than the previous model, making it more comfortable to hold. It also has a 5MP camera and dual microphones for the first time. Apple announced that the device will become available in mid-December in four colours - silver, white, 'space grey' and black. Prices will start from $499 for a 16GB model with UK prices starting at £399. The tablet is 7.5mm thick and weighs just 1lb, compared to the 1.4lb previous model, making it the 'lightest full size tablet in the world'. The tablet also has Apple's A7 chip, that was just launched in the iPhone 5S and is twice as fast as before.The graphics are 72 per cent faster than the very first iPad. It's almost a year to to the day since Apple's CEO Tim Cook unveiled Apple's first generation iPad mini. The iPad Air is thinner, lighter, more powerful than ever before, Apple said New model :A reporter holds the iPad Air at an Apple announcement in San Francisco. The tech giant announced its new iPad Air, a new iPad mini with Retina display, OS X Mavericks and highlighted its Mac Pro Speaking to the crowd at San Francisco’s Yuerba Buena Center for the Arts, he said: ‘You’re going to see some amazing products this morning.’ Apple also unveiled a new iPad Mini with a new high resolution 7.9inch Retina display, which also has the new A7 chip from the iPhone 5s. It boasts 10 hours of battery life, improved wi-fi and better LTE support, and is available in silver, white, space grey and black, contrary to rumours that suggested tit would come in a rainbow of colours like the iPhone C. The iPad Air has a 9.7-inch retina display and is 7.5mm thin. This is 20 per cent thinner than outgoing model

Tim Cook, Apple CEO said: 'Regardless of what you might hear or read about how many other tablets are bought or sold or activated, iPad is used more... more than 4 times more than all the others put together

Lighter: Apple CEO Tim Cook holds the new iPad Air during an Apple announcement at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco

The new model will cost from $399 in the U.S. and £319 in the UK, and will also become available in November, although a precise date is yet to be announced.

The original iPad mini, which previously cost $329, will now cost $299 - 'the lowest price for an iPad yet.'

However, neither new iPad comes with Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

Tim Cook said the latest iPad is Apple's 'most advanced technology in a revolutionary and magical device. 'The iPad is one of the most successful products in Apple's history and in the whole industry. Earlier this month Apple sold its 170 millionth iPad. He said: 'Now everybody seems to be making a tablet, even some of the doubters iPad is used more than any of the rest. iPad is used over FOUR times more than all of those other tablets put together.' Experts had predicted that the iPad mini would be launched in a number of bright colours and would also feature a camera upgrade from 5MP to 8MP or even 12MP - to make it a market leader. Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 model is the only tablet from a major retailer to currently feature a high-quality, 8MP camera. Apple also revealed the latest version of its Mac OS X software, claiming it can give current laptops an extra hour of battery life, as well as boosting graphics performance. The software, called Mavericks, includes Apple’s controversial Maps app for the first time, and its iBooks electronic reading app.

Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, said: 'The team has been hard at work on the latest release of OS X, and this one is a doozy'. In the West Coast, Cook also hit at out at Google and Microsoft, saying: 'Our competition is confused, they are trying to make tablets in PCs and PCs into tablets. We have a very clear direction and am ambitious goal. We still believe in the PC market.’ Speaking about the latest software launch, Federighi said: 'It's a fantastic release, extends your battery life has great features from across the system.' 'We're reinvented the way we distribute OS 10 now as easy as downloading an app. 'Today we're going to revolutionise pricing. Today we announce a new era for the Mac. Today we're announcing that Mavericks is free,' he said. The free upgrade is available for all Apple Mac users from today, he said.

Reviewed: MailOnline's Victoria Woollaston looks at the iPad Mini during the Apple media launch in London

Certain parts of Apple's official iPad store were taken offline in the build up to the event. The error message, pictured, said the firm was 'busy updating the Apple Store.' This usually precedes any major product launch

Apple's launch event comes just hours after Nokia entered the tablet market with its 10.1-inch Lumia 2520, pictured, and Microsoft started selling its new Surface devices

The free software, shown off by Federighi, can give users alerts about changes on their favourite websites, give directions directly from someone’s calender and send them directly to an iPhone.

The 13inch Macbook Pro has been made lighter and thinner, and given a new low power Intel Haswell chip to improve its graphics and battery life, which Apple claims is now 9 hours. The firm will sell the new machine from $1,299 in the U.S. and £1099 in the UK - roughly $200 cheaper than the previous version. The radical tubular Mac Pro, designed for high-end users is the most powerful machine that Apple has even made with an Intel Xeon E5 processor, which is capable of driving three next-generation ultra HD monitors. It also has a motion sensor to illuminate the machine’s ports when it is moved. Thinner, faster, cheaper and more powerful, it is available in December and will cost from $2,999 in the U.S. and £2,499 in the the UK. Apple's marketing manager Phil Schiller, said: 'The Mac Pro is no louder than a Mac Mini. We're really proud it's designed by an incredible team. There have been 2000 people spread across 20 states and it will be made in the U.S.' The all-American Macbook Pro is the first of Apple's machine to be assembled in the country and the firm said that 20 states will be involved in the process.

Apple has announced the latest version of OS X, 10.9 Mavericks, will be available as a free Mac App Store download today. Pictured is Apple senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi

Philip W. Schiller, the senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, unveiled the new Macbook Pro. It will feature nine hours of battery life, Iris graphics and will be up to 90 per cent faster. The Macbook Pro will start at $1299 which is a $200 drop from the original price

Testing it out: Attendees look at the new iPad Air during an Apple announcement at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California

In recent weeks, high-street retailers Tesco and Argos have both released tablet devices and just this morning Nokia announced its first tablet computer, the Lumia 2520. Nokia's device starts at $499 in the U.S. and £309 in the UK, has a 10.1-inch screen and runs Windows RT. It comes in red, blue, white and black and its screen has a pixel density of 218. The tablet contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2GB Ram and a 800mAH battery. Microsoft announced its Surface 2 tablets last month and they officially went on sale today. Reports in July suggested Microsoft lost around $900m due to poor sales of its original Surface devices. Called the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, the latest tablets run the latest Windows 8.1 operating system.

Before the event, leaked images, pictured, purported to show the rear of a rumoured iPad 5, left, and iPad mini 2, right

Experts predicted Apple would launch a new range of iPads after leaked images from technology site Tactus, allegedly showed the rear shell of the iPad 5, pictured, with coloured cases

The Surface Pro 2 has the same ClearType HD display as its predecessor. It is said to be 20 per cent faster, and Microsoft has added 75 per cent to its battery life. The Surface 2 runs Windows 8.1 RT version - a scaled-down version of the full operating system that has been designed specifically for mobile devices which Microsoft was forced to pull from it store earlier this week after reports claimed it caused tablets to freeze. Additionally, the Surface 2 comes with a 3.5MP front-facing camera, and a 5MP rear camera, while the Surface Pro has just a 1MP rear-facing and HD 720p front-facing camera. Surface 2 is available in 32GB and 64GB models and starts at £359, while the Surface Pro 2 comes in 64GB and 128GB versions and starts at £719.

Meet the Poppy Girls: Five youngsters whose fathers have all served in the Armed Forces aim for the Top Ten with charity single

• Megan Adams, 10, Florence Ransom, 10, Alice Milburn, 13, Bethany Davey, 15, and Charlotte Mellor, 17 beat 1000 hopefuls to make it into the group
• Their single, The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye) will raise £80m for military
• It is written by singer Regina Spektor for general release on November 10
• They will perform for the Queen at the Royal Albert Hall next month

They are aiming to follow in the footsteps of the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud and Little Mix by setting the music charts alight. But this is a girlband with a difference - for all five members are schoolgirls who have fathers who have risked their lives in the Armed Forces. The group - called the Poppy Girls - was formed after an X Factor-style talent competition for the children of military families run by the Royal British Legion. The singers - Megan Adams, 10, Florence Ransom, 10, Alice Milburn, 13, Bethany Davey, 15, and Charlotte Mellor, 17 - battled their way past more than 1,000 other hopefuls to make it into the group.

Poppy Girls: Megan Adams, 10, Charlotte Mellor, 17, Alice Milburn, 13, Florence Ransom, 10, and Bethany Davey, 15, sing a 'hauntingly beautiful' track for this year's remembrance day. The song is by singer Regina Spektor

Now they are hoping to wow an army of fans and crash into the Top Ten with the official 2013 Poppy Appeal single. The song, The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye), will help raise £80million a year to support military personnel and their families. Written by acclaimed American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, the lyrics are a poignant message of hope for those who will not see their loved ones for weeks or months. The Poppy Girls will perform the single in front of the Queen at the Royal British Legion's Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, November 9. The song will then be released the following day.

The song: The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye) will help raise £80million a year to support military personnel The girls were selected after an exhaustive global search for talent among Forces families, overseen by executives at Decca Records.. Children who had a parent or sibling serving in the UK or overseas were allowed to enter the contest. More than 1,000 children from places as far away as the Falkland Islands and Kuwait, took part. Some had experienced the heartbreak of having loved ones killed or injured on operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Praise: Dickon Stainer, president of Decca Records, praised the girls' 'hard work, discipline and dedication'. (Clockwise from top left) Florence, Bethany, Megan, Alice, and Charlotte are excited to sing for the Queen

Proud: Megan (right) who first sang this year, with her family and father Lieutenant Commander William Adams

Navy daughter: Alice Milburn, 13, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, with her father Captain Phillip Milburn this year

The competitors were whittled down to 60 for the 'live' auditions and reduced again to 11 for the final. They went into the studio for a gruelling selection process which led to the creation of the Poppy Girls. Megan, from Stirling, Scotland, began singing lessons just a year ago. Her father, Lieutenant Commander William Adams, is on a six-month deployment in the Indian Ocean. Florence, from Peterfield, Hampshire, whose father Lieutenant Ben Ransom, serves in the Navy is emulating her mother, who enjoyed phenomenal success as part of the Military Wives Choir, which reached Number One with the song Wherever You Are at Christmas 2011.

Tough life: Bethany, 15, with father Lance Corporal Dean Davy who has been deployed to numerous war zones

Florence, 10, is pictured here with her father Lieutenant Ransom and mother, who is in the Military Wives Choir

Charlotte Mellor, 17, has lived eight different places with her father, Wing Commander (Padre) Paul Mellor

Alice, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, has a father, Captain Philip Milburn, in the Navy, while Bethany, from Dartford, Kent, was separated from her dad Dean while he was deployed in warzones with the 9th/12th Royal Lancers. Charlotte, at boarding school in Cambridge, has lived in eight different places in her short life as her father Wing Commander Paul Mellor is a padre in the RAF who recently returned from a tour-of-duty in the Gulf. Charles Byrne, the Royal British Legion's head of fundraising, said: 'This is a hauntingly beautiful track sung by a group of girls who know what it means to have family members constantly placed in harm's way.

Perform: The girls will perform their single for the Queen on November 9 - the day before it is released in shops

They were formed by an X Factor-style contest for children of military families run by the Royal British Legion

'The major theme of this year's Poppy Appeal is around families. There is no more powerful way of reflecting that than through the voices of these exceptionally talented young people.' Dickon Stainer, president of Decca Records, praised the girls' 'hard work, discipline and dedication'. He said: 'When you hear these young kids talk about their families and the sacrifices they make growing up in a Forces family, you do wonder how such young shoulders can carry the burden of the constant stress and anxiety.'

Just minutes from saving Maddie: 10pm sighting suggests mother almost caught kidnapper in the act

• Kidnapper may have struck just before Kate McCann checked on Madeleine
• A suspect was seen just 500 yards from the family's holiday apartment
• 'This could be the man that took Madeleine' says top detective
• Officers believe she may have been kidnapped by an organised crime gan

Kate McCann may have missed the abduction of her daughter Madeleine by a matter of minutes, police revealed last night. Detectives believe a suspect seen carrying a child 500 yards from the McCanns’ holiday apartment was the kidnapper who had struck just moments before the mother went to check on her children. Yesterday Scotland Yard appealed for the public’s help in tracing the prime suspect – as it became clear Portuguese police may have been chasing the wrong man for six years. Crucially, the Metropolitan Police has now ruled out a sighting of a man once considered a key suspect and previously seen near the McCanns’ apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, 45 minutes earlier. Jane Tanner, a friend of Kate and Gerry, previously told officers she saw a dark-haired man carrying away a child wearing pink floral pyjamas at 9.15pm on May 3, 2007. One of the so-called ‘Tapas Seven’, Miss Tanner had been dining with the McCanns in a nearby restaurant when their daughter went missing. But detectives have now traced the mystery man, an innocent holidaymaker picking up his two-year-old daughter from a night crèche at the same Ocean Club complex. The revelation has shifted detectives’ focus on to a later sighting at 10pm when an Irish family reported seeing a man walking towards the beach carrying a blonde girl in pyjamas who appeared to be in an uncomfortable position with her head slumped against him. Martin Smith, who was holidaying with his wife Mary, daughter Aoife and son Peter, said he saw the man 500 yards from the McCanns’ apartment between 9.55pm and 10pm – just minutes before Kate McCann walked into the apartment at around 10pm. Yesterday the Mail published two e-fits of the suspect which were released by Scotland Yard. It later emerged they had been produced by private detectives working for the McCanns back in 2008 but were never issued.

Prime suspect: These e-fits are of the man seen carrying a child 500 yards from the McCann holiday apartment

Wanted: E-fits from sightings of men at Ocean Club complex. Police believe they could be the same person

Charity scam: These men, of Portuguese appearance, are thought to have been preying on tourists in the flats

Yesterday Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said the sighting was crucial. ‘A new understanding of events on the evening Madeleine disappeared has resulted in a renewed focus of the investigation,’ he said. ‘This could be the man that took Madeleine.’ Police presented a number of fresh theories about Madeleine’s disappearance in a dramatic BBC Crimewatch appeal last night. Officers believe the three-year-old – who would now be ten – may have been kidnapped by an organised crime gang who checked out the apartments in the days beforehand posing as charity collectors. A number of men were seen lurking around the Ocean Club complex hours before she vanished.

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Kate and Gerry McCann spoke of the events that fateful night, as well as the pain they continue to feel over the loss of their daughter

Police presented a number of fresh theories about Madeleine¿s disappearance in the dramatic BBC Crimewatch appeal

Police are probing a number of reports of bogus charity collectors who preyed on holidaymakers, going door to door asking for cash for an orphanage or to help children living on the street. Detectives also released e-fits of four suspects yesterday. Two of the men were said to be Portuguese charity collectors who approached tourists staying near the Ocean Club at 4pm on the day Madeleine vanished. One of the men aged 40 to 45, also knocked on the door of the apartment where the McCanns were to stay on April 25 or 26, saying he was a charity collector. The other two images are of blond or fair haired men seen hanging around the apartments, who may be German, Dutch, or Scandinavian. One man was seen twice by a 12-year-old girl near the flat where the McCanns were staying on April 30 and May 2.

DCI Andy Redwood said the sighting by the McCann's dining companion Martin Smith was crucial

He is described as 30 to 35, with short hair and was wearing a black leather jacket. Another witness saw a similar-looking man in the resort on May 3 at 4pm. Officers are focusing on a spate of break-ins the area after burglaries in Praia da Luz rocketed four-fold in the four months before her abduction. A year earlier in the same week of Madeleine’s disappearance, a man broke into a flat where two young children were sleeping alone. The man, described as skinny with dark hair, picked up a camera case and peered into one of the travel cots, but he was disturbed by the child’s screams and left empty-handed. Mr Redwood said he was struck by the similarities in the break-in through a patio door. He suggested that a gang who knew the area may have been watching the McCann family.