Posted by newbieSaturday, February 5, 20110
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Mobile operator O2 will be offering contactless payments in Apple�s fifth-generation iPhone.
In an interview with Mobile News, O2�s head of financial services, James le Brocq commented on the booming contactless payments market and revealed the network�s own plans to do its part to bring the tech to the mass market.
He said: �You are seeing a massive increase in the number of banks that are issuing contactless debit and credit cards at the moment.
�There will be 22 million contactless debit and credit cards and 60,000 contactless points of sale in the UK by year's end."
le Brocq, who previously worked for Barclaycard, said that the network will apply for an e-money license soon to offer customers the ability to �bank� cash to their O2 �mobile wallets� to make payments using their smartphones from Q3.
�O2 is investing substantially in the money business and recruiting more financial experts which will allow us to bring together the experience and capabilities of the financial services sector together with mobile to get the best of both worlds�, le Brocq stated.
Contactless payments are predicted to take off during the 2012 Olympics in London when millions of tourists will descend upon the capital. With consumers becoming increasingly savvy about the latest and greatest in smartphone technology, companies like O2 would be foolish not to prepare for what�s doubtless to become a lucrative business.
Posted by newbie0
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Get your saltshakers ready kids. Word on the streets is that Nokia, the world�s biggest mobile corp. is set to do a deal with the devil, sorry, Microsoft, that it will announce this time next week.
Nokia boss Stephen Elop, who previously headed Microsoft�s business division before taking the helm at Espoo, is due to make the groundbreaking announcement at a press call in London on the 11th.
Carolina Milanesi, a Gartner analyst, said: �I don�t know if this is just wishful thinking, but it could definitely be the big announcement we are expecting.�
Wishful thinking or not, it was enough to cause Nokia shares to rise 1.5 per cent at the close of trading in Helsinki yesterday � an impressive bump of four per cent since news of the development first surfaced on Monday.
Nokia has been hinting for a while that it is considering �multiple ecosystem patterns�, which tech watchers interpreted, with good reason, as a potential, if limited, adoption of Android.
However, it seems the Finnish giant isn�t too keen on handing over the keys to smartphone supremacy to Google just yet and would rather chance it with Microsoft�s still-new Windows Phone 7 platform where it has a greater opportunity to dominate the lion's share of smartphone sales.
And from Microsoft's perspective at least, having major players like HTC, Samsung and LGalready on board with WP7, and now catching the biggest fish in the pond of them all, right in brink of what seemed like an inevitable partnership with Google could seriously knock the wind out of Android�s sails.
Of course, it�s still possible that Nokia could yet adopt Android at a later date and the alliance with Microsoft is still just a rumour. Watch this space like a hawk for more information next Friday.
Posted by newbieFriday, February 4, 20110
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Is this the iPhone 5? This is pretty big news if it ends up true, a PDA and smartphone parts supplier is selling parts to what they call an iPhone 5, not only are they selling pieces but they have a 5 minute long video and high res pictures of what they claim to be the next generation iPhone (in the video they call it iPhone 5).
The video and pictures show off various internal parts and design changes of the alleged iPhone 5 and they are clearly different from the existing iPhone 4 model with notable changes to the antenna design, frame, camera assembly, and placement of internal parts. Here�s a picture with the differences highlighted (supposed iPhone 5 is on the left in all images):
This is what the images/videos producer, GlobalDirectParts.com, has to say about the hardware:
We have carefully examined and scrutinized these components and have confirmed 100% that these are born from an Apple iPhone not yet released. Could it be parts for the CDMA Apple iPhone 5 for Verizon Wireless or simply a reworked Next Generation Apple iPhone 5 or Apple iPhone 4 for AT&T that will be released ahead of Apple�s Traditional June Launch? Perhaps these parts belong to an Apple iPhone 4 CDMA Version that will be released on Verizon Wireless Only? One thing is for certain, these parts are new and internals for a yet unreleased Apple iPhone Handset
I�ll go ahead and say it�s unlikely the device in the video is a CDMA iPhone because the side view clearly shows a SIM card slot. However, it is possible that these images could just be of a dissected counterfeit iPhone 4 or even one of the mystery Chinese iPhone�s that are for sale all over the Chinese black markets, but regardless it�s clearly a real device that is well crafted.
Here�s the alleged iPhone 5 on the left showing changes to the camera assembly:
And here�s the device disassembled with various internal components taken out:
The producer of the images and video GlobalDirectParts.com claims that in the coming days and weeks they�ll have even more videos and images showing off the so-called iPhone 5, including segments on the LCD touchscreen and motherboard.
In the image below you can see the �iPhone 5' looks basically identical to the iPhone 4 when it�s put together, suggesting there is no noticeable different in screen size or appearance:
The parts for sale on their website are labeled as OEM iPhone 5. They don�t come cheap and I�m not sure why you�d want them unless you want to attempt to piece together your own iPhone, but they clearly have access to hardware that thus far nobody else does.
Here�s more shots of the frame alongside an iPhone 4, rotated in various positions. You can see the black antenna bands are placed slightly differently as is the mute button:
And finally, here is the whole 5 minute long video if you want to watch it:
The video was found by Boy Genius Report who has a fairly reliable reputation of turning out big scoops on smartphone releases. The images are taken from the suppliers website, who also sells tons of other OEM Apple parts (as well as other smartphones, but since when are those newsworthy?).
If this is the next generation iPhone, this is pretty big news, but treat this with some suspicion because until there is an official release from Apple there is never any certainty on what is real and what is not.
Google has launched a web store for the Android Market. Installation process is simple. Buy an app with your account, Install it on a compatible phone on your web browser and and it will automatically start downloading in your phone. �Magical�, like what Apple�s Steve Jobs says.
Also managing apps with different android devices are simply seamless. All from the store. Go and give it a shot. And as far as your concerned with your dollars, Google saves credit card numbers and other personal payment information is in your secured Google account. After choosing an app, you can make a payment using a one-click purchase system. There are very thin chances of you hating the Android Market now.
Google has also announced in-app purchases (ex: add-on packs that you�ve seen on Angry birds). Showing love to their developers by giving them more freedom to build in add-on content, promotion and cross-promotion. All these coming by the end of March.
The developers have more control now, they simply can prices their apps in different currencies. More money, more happiness!
After a really long wait , the iPad is finally here in India. It was launched by Apple officially yesterday in the country and several authorized stores are carrying it. Guess what ? BSNL has launched 3G plans just for the iPad. The iPad prices for India are actually far more realistic that the iPhone 3GS prices . Now the million dollar question. Are you going to buy one ?
