Snag an AT&T Lumia 830 with a Fitbit Flex from Amazon for $50 on contract
If you’re an AT&T customer looking to score a Lumia 830, you may want to check out Amazon today. The online retailer is now listing the phone bundled with a Fitbit Flex for just $50 on contract, and $399 off contract.
New smartphone battery can be fully charged in one minute, coming to phones next year
Somebody tell me they wouldn’t love to be able to charge their smartphone battery from 0 to 100 in one minute. That is like an impossible dream right? Well actually, it just might come true sometime next year.
The nanotechnology department at Tel Aviv University stumbled upon the technology while looking into Alzheimer’s disease. Apparently a particular peptide molecule can absorb a charge much faster than regular smartphone batteries. They company developing the battery is called StoreDot, and they also reside in Israel.
The downside is the capacity of StoreDot will be much lower than traditional smartphone batteries, but if you can charge it to 100% within a minute, that might be a decent trade off. On the other hand, the total life of the batteries are likely to also be lower.
The other factor is that that a special charger would be required. Doron Myersdorf of StoreDot said, “The charger itself is not a normal charger. We need to pump 40/50 and up to 80 amps of current into this battery in order to charge in one minute. No normal charger can do that. So we had to develop a very strong charger that is, first of all, cost effective but also small enough to be carried in your pocket.” It also appears that some sort of special software would need to reside on the phone in order to manage the power efficiently.
The good news is that we aren’t too far off from seeing this technology in our smartphones. StoreDot is working with 15 different manufacturers to bring their battery to smartphones by the end of next year.
I don’t know about you, but this sounds very exciting.
source: The Guardian
via: BGR
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[Deal Alert] Design your own case at Case Studio for nearly half the price
Your phone or tablet case often times says something about you. Your choice could be based on protection needs, style, fit or price. While there are certainly a lot of cases out there that cover the gambit, some times a hand crafted case is the only way to really show off your style. The folks […]
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Google Acquires Softcard Technology, Inks Deal With Carriers to Pre-Install Google Wallet on Android Devices
Following rumors of an acquisition, Google today announced that it has purchased some technology and intellectual property from NFC-based mobile payment service Softcard, formerly known as Isis Mobile Wallet. The purchase will allow Google to improve upon its existing mobile wallet technology to better compete with Apple Pay.
Owned jointly by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, Softcard was established in 2010 in an effort to allow the three carriers to enter the mobile payment market. As an NFC-based payment option that works primarily with Android-based phones, Softcard has been a major Google Wallet competitor, arguably stunting NFC mobile payment growth for both companies.
Google Wallet nearly floundered following its 2011 debut after Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile refused to support the app in favor of Softcard (then known as Isis). Google later found a way to circumvent the Google Wallet lockout, but its growth has suffered amid competition from Softcard and other payment technologies.
Today’s purchase consolidates the number of payment options for Android devices and it lets Google establish a deal with the three carriers to build Google Wallet into future Android phones for the first time.
So today, we’re excited to announce that we’re working with AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, as well as their mobile payments company Softcard, to help more Android users get the benefits of tap and pay. Under this relationship, the Google Wallet app, including the tap and pay functionality, will come pre-installed on Android phones (running KitKat or higher) sold by these carriers in the US later this year. We’re also acquiring some exciting technology and intellectual property from Softcard to make Google Wallet better.
The early success of Apple Pay has sparked a lot of interest in mobile payments in recent months. Along with Google’s acquisition of Softcard, Samsung has recently purchased LoopPay in an effort to develop its own payments solution.
It is not clear if Google’s purchase of Softcard technology means Softcard will be shutting its own payments service down entirely. According to Softcard, its existing customers can continue to use the Softcard service for the time being, and more information is forthcoming from the company.
AIVAnet 