Apple Pay Gains 24 More Participating Issuers in United States [iOS Blog]
Apple updated its Apple Pay participating issuers list today with 24 additional banks, credit unions and financial institutions supporting the contactless payment service in the United States. Apple Pay now has nearly 250 participating issuers nationwide, and several hundred more plan to support the NFC-based mobile payment service in the future.
The full list of new Apple Pay participating issuers is reflected below, although it’s worth noting that some banks, credit unions and financial institutions listed may have already had support for the contactless payments service for quite some time and are only now being reflected on Apple’s website.
The full list of new Apple Pay participating issuers:
- Bellwether Community Credit Union
- Benchmark Federal Credit Union
- Blackhawk Community Credit Union
- Community America Credit Union
- Community First Credit Union
- Connections Credit Union
- cPort Credit Union
- Denver Fire Department FCU
- Electro Savings Credit Union
- Elements Financial FCU
- First Financial Credit Union
- Greater Nevada Credit Union
- Harvard Universities Employees Credit Union
- Interra Credit Union
- Kern Schools Federal Credit Union
- Nusenda Credit Union
- People’s Trust Federal Credit Union
- Premier America Credit Union
- Premier Members Federal Credit Union
- SAFE Credit Union
- Scient Federal Credit Union
- The Bancorp Bank
- Tucson Federal Credit Union
- Union Bank & Trust Co.
Apple Pay remains available in the United States only, although Apple is committed to an international rollout of the mobile payments service in additional countries such as Canada, China and the United Kingdom. Canada, a well-prepared candidate for Apple Pay, could be the first country to embrace the service outside of the United States as early as November according to The Wall Street Journal.
Dropbox Updates iOS App With File Comments, Document Creation, and More [iOS Blog]
Connected file management service Dropbox today announced an update to its iPhone and iPad apps that will debut a trio of new features to iOS devices, bringing easier navigation, introducing communication features, and allowing the creation of Microsoft Word documents from within the app itself.
Right from the home screen the Dropbox team has decided to make big changes, doing away with a static list of files and instead curating a showcase of documents and files with which a user has most recently interacted. This way, the company suggests, “The files you’re most likely to need on the go will always be front and center.”
The recently introduced comment feature for the Dropbox website will now also be available on iOS devices. Using an “@” symbol followed by a Dropbox user’s name or email address, anyone can be brought into discussion over a particular document, with the app sending push notifications to the lock screen to ensure everyone is kept in the loop on any particular conversation.
The company also confirmed that “in the next few weeks” it would be introducing the ability to create and interact with Microsoft Office documents from within the iOS Dropbox apps. Any Word, Excel, or Powerpoint file created inside of the app will be subsequently saved to whatever Dropbox folder a user was in when creating the document, allowing instantaneous access to the file from everywhere a user can sign in to Dropbox.
As the company points out, however, the new update’s most interesting feature is not any one of its individual new aspects but how they have the potential to work together to create a unique, more streamlined experience for its users.
The best part, though, is how these features work together. For example, when you’re meeting with a client to brainstorm ideas for an upcoming project, you can use the recents tab on your iPhone or iPad to quickly pull up your last project for reference. Then you can create a Word doc to take notes as you discuss. After the meeting, you can @mention your client in a comment, so they have the notes and can add anything you’ve missed. Then when you get back to your desk, you can turn that Word doc into a full project plan.
The team also notes in its blog that while the main crux of today’s new update centers on the enterprise and work-related world, all of the features can be used for “vacation planning, apartment hunting, or whatever else Dropbox helps you do.” The new 3.9 update to Dropbox on iOS [Direct Link] will begin rolling out today, with an upcoming smaller update for in-app document editing planned for the near future.
Report: Google will let devs A/B test Play Store listings, I/O announcement likely
Google is reportedly working on improving the Play Store experience, for users and developers alike.
An A/B testing feature for Play Store listings could be announced at Google I/O, according to The Information, citing developers who were briefed about the new feature. Developers will be able to create different versions of screenshots, videos, icons, and app description copy and run them in parallel to see which variant yields the best results. This isn’t a user-facing change, but it may ultimately improve the user experience by giving developers better insight into user preferences and habits.
Google is expected to showcase this feature at the I/O developer conference at the end of this month, according to The Information.
The report also hints to potential announcements related to app indexing, which is the ability to search through and go to specific “location” inside an app, as well as a way for users to try out certain features of an app without actually installing the full application. Unfortunately, there’s no hard info on these developments.
Android design guru Matias Duarte has hinted in the past that Google is thinking about unbundling apps into their basic features and making them available to users on demand. It remains to be seen if Google has anything to announce on this front at its developer conference. Google I/O is set to take place in San Francisco on May 28-29.
Here’s how the Samsung and Sony camera sensors on the Galaxy S6 differ
Yesterday, a report surfaced online claiming that Samsung is shipping some units of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge with its own ISOCELL camera sensor on board, instead of the Sony IMX240.
Up until today this was nothing but speculation. However, the folks at SamMobile have managed to get hold of an S6 Edge packing the ISOCell sensor, and have uploaded some comparison pictures, which can be seen below.
Come comment on this article: Here’s how the Samsung and Sony camera sensors on the Galaxy S6 differ
Foursquare is planning on bringing “global mayorships” two Swarm
Foursquare has just announced that it will finally bring “global mayorships” to its Swarm application later this month. All current check-ins will now count towards a mayor badge, which is great news for all active users.
If you’re one of the many who don’t know what Swarm is, it’s essentially Android’s version of Find my Friends. After downloading the app and creating an account, you’re given the facility to see which of your friends are nearby who may want to hook up.
To find out more about mayorship integration, hit the source link below.
Source: Foursquare
Come comment on this article: Foursquare is planning on bringing “global mayorships” two Swarm
LG’s G4 Trial Program has now opened up for registration in the US
Around a month ago, LG announced a global program that would see 4000 G4 handsets placed in the hands of its fans before the official launch day. If you live in the States and you’ve been waiting for details on when and where you could sign up, you are in luck.
LG has opened the registration page, which means that you can now enter your details and apply to become one of the testers. There are a limited number of handsets available, although exactly how many has not been specified as yet. If selected, you’ll be able to test drive a GSM-compatible G4 for 30 days, performing tasks such as posting pictures on social media along the way in order to try and win prizes. All you need to do to enter is click the source link below and follow the instructions. Good Luck!
Just in case you don’t live in the States, LG are holding similar competitions in Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, China, India, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Let us know if registration has opened in your country yet.
Source: LG G4 Trial Program
Come comment on this article: LG’s G4 Trial Program has now opened up for registration in the US
A/B testing may be on its way to the Google Play Store
A new report this morning indicates that Google plans to announce A/B testing within the Google Play Store for app developers. The announcement is scheduled to take place at the Google I/O conference at the end of the month. The idea is that developers could use the Play Store to do some market testing in an effort to increase the revenue generated by their apps.
With A/B testing, developers will be able to setup two different entries in the Play Store for their apps, an “A” and a “B” version. The app pages will be the same except for one item that developers could change. It could be something as simple as the icon used for the app or it could be something like two different prices being shown. Developers could then assess how the two versions perform to see whether a change they may be exploring will yield better results.
source: The Information
via: 9to5Google
Come comment on this article: A/B testing may be on its way to the Google Play Store
Samsung starts rolling out Android 5.0.1 update for the Galaxy Note 4 LTE in India
Samsung has just begun pushing out the much-anticipated Android 5.0.1 update to all LTE variants of the Note 4 located in India. In terms of added functionality, this upgrade transports the latest build of Lollipop to the handset, as well as a multitude of bug fixes and stability improvements.
All the changes you’d expect to find are bundled into this upgrade, including support for multiple accounts, improved notifications, a smoother multitasking experience and the recently-announced Material Design guidelines.
As is customary with all manufacturer updates, the upgrade is being rolled out in stages, but if you don’t feel like waiting for a notification confirming that it’s ready for your device, you can search for the update manually. Alternatively, you can sideload on the software onto your device by downloading it here.
Come comment on this article: Samsung starts rolling out Android 5.0.1 update for the Galaxy Note 4 LTE in India
Samsung working on camera improvements for Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge
Yesterday TalkAndroid posted some camera shootout results comparing the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the LG G4. While both cameras are able to produce excellent images that are nearly indistinguishable, one of the takeaways was that the LG G4 had more features and flexibility available to users willing to dig into the camera settings. This is because LG decided to enable more features that Google makes available in Lollipop like support for Raw images and specific camera settings like ISO or shutter speed. Sources say Samsung may be working to narrow the gap by adding new features to their camera app as part of an update to Lollipop 5.1.1.
The update appears to be something Samsung is scrambling to include at the last minute, possibly in response to the features LG is delivering on the G4. T-Mobile recently pushed out an unfinished version of Lollipop 5.1.1 to owners of the Galaxy devices on their network and others have early versions of the 5.1.1 ROM for testing and review and the new camera app features are not present in any of these versions.
Sources have not provided any details on exactly what features or updates Samsung plans to add in the final Lollipop 5.1.1 update, but some expect the company to go ahead and enable the full Google camera API. Sources also indicate the new features should be delivered on devices codenamed Samsung Zen and Samsung Noble, the latter of which is suspected to be the Galaxy Note 5.
source: SamMobile
Come comment on this article: Samsung working on camera improvements for Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge
T-Mobile temps Verizon customers with 2-week trials
T-Mobile on Tuesday kicked of its Never Settle Trial, a program designed specifically to lure away Verizon customers. T-Mobile will let existing Verizon subscribers test out its network and services over a period of two weeks with no obligations or commitments.
“With T-Mobile, you don’t have to settle for trickery, gimmicks and carrier BS the way you do with Verizon. I’m so confident in our kick-ass network experience that we’re footing the bill so Verizon customers can give T-Mobile a try.“
It’s worth noting that the trial program requires the customer to port its number to T-Mobile and that they must surrender their old phone in the meanwhile. If, at the end of the two weeks they wish to return to Verizon they will port out the phone number and return the device. What’s more, T-Mobile will also pay for any fees incurred in starting service back up.
On the other hand, should the customer wish to stick with T-Mobile, it will pay off any remaining balances on the device as well as any early termination fees.
Interested parties can sign up for the Never Settle Trial program between May 13 and May 31, 2015.
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