Apple Pay goes live in Canada, but only for American Express customers
Apple Pay has been available in locales outside of the US already, and now our neighbors to the north are getting in on the action. Cupertino’s mobile payments tech is now available in Canada, so iPhone and Apple Watch users can pay for goods with those two devices at a smattering of retail locations. There is a catch, though: Apple Pay in the land of poutine only supports American Express right now. If you have one of those cards in your physical wallet, you’ll now be able to add it to the Wallet app on your iPhone in iOS 9.1 for use at places like McDonald’s and Tim Hortons (mmm, doughnuts). Bank-issued AmEx cards won’t work right now either, just the ones issued directly from credit card company. This means that most debit cards and bank-issued credit cards won’t be compatible as a lot of Canadian banks use Visa or MasterCard. As was the case in the States and other countries, we’d surmise you can expect the list of participating banks and cards to expand in the weeks to come.
[Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Via: MacRumors
Source: @iBry83 (Twitter), Moneris
The best vacuum cleaners
By Liam McCabe
This post was done in partnership with The Sweethome, a buyer’s guide to the best things for your home. Read the full article here.
We’ve spent 280 hours researching and testing vacuums over the past three years, a process that included interviews with about a dozen experts and several rounds of tests that had us sucking up cat hair and navigating furniture slaloms. If you’re willing to pay for a top-performing vacuum that’ll last for ages, the Miele Dynamic U1 Twist upright series ($450 to $650) is the best bet for a typical single-family house, and the Miele Compact C2 ($400 to $750) is a great choice if you live in an apartment.
Scientists chart Mach 7 winds on a Jupiter-sized exoplanet
When scientists discovered a Jupiter-sized exoplanet in the Vulpecula constellation, they knew the weather there wasn’t great. That’s because HD 189733b orbits its star every 2.2 days at a speed of 341,000 mph and has an average surface temperature of around 2,240 F. A team from the University of Warwick in the UK has now made a rough weather map of the body — the first ever for a planet outside our solar system — and that news ain’t great, either. Using the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) instrument located in Chile, the team calculated that winds on HD 189733b rage at 5,400 mph, or seven times the speed of sound.
Via: Gizmag
Source: ArXiv.org
PushBullet introduces paid Pro service, removes some free features
Popular Android app PushBullet is going pro.
If you haven’t been introduced to PushBullet yet, you’re missing out. With PushBullet you’re able to push files, links and messages back and forth from your computer with optional end-to-end encryption. In addition to those features, your notifications will show up within your browser and allow you to act on them. If you get an email that you have no interest in, you can easily delete it from a prompt that pops up. These features are certainly something one can live without, but I find they make my life much easier and keep my notification tray much cleaner. It’s one of the first apps I install on my phone.
Many have wondered how PushBullet was eventually going to be profitable. Like many start-ups, the service has started without any paid tiers for it’s customers. Now, that’s changing. Today PushBullet announced that you can pay either $3.99/month or $40/year for their new pro service. This sounds great in theory. Obviously a service like this couldn’t stay free forever, but what many people take issue with is hiding previously free features behind a paywall.
Going forward you will only be able to send files up to 25MB, will have 2GB of storage space, and only send 100 messages through popular services like SMS, Whats App and Kik per month. This is a pretty big limitation for users who have used this service long term and have become comfortable with the functionality. Also being moved to a paid option are notification action support and universal copy and paste, both features that currently are free.
Users are understandably frustrated. Reddit user wantoascend wrote “I want to support you guys, but this price point is too high and it seems odd to pay for features that I had just 5min ago… wish you best of luck though!”
I’m of the personal opinion that when free apps go pro, the paid options need to be NEW options. This is a Pro upgrade that feels anything but. We’ve reached out to the PushBullet team for comment and CEO Ryan Oldenburg responded quickly.
“We were prepared for today’s announcement to be controversial. That’s our fault for not having had Pro available earlier–it was simply more enjoyable for us to add features than to think about making sure PB has a bright future. I’d rather rip the bandaid off now though, in a sense. I want to ensure Pushbullet continues to improve and that we focus on our biggest supporters. We owe it to them.“
What do you think? Is it fair to ask users to pay for powerful features they were once getting for free? Do you think that PushBullet is in the right? Let us know down in the comments what you think.
Source: PushBullet
The post PushBullet introduces paid Pro service, removes some free features appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Pandora set to buy struggling Rdio for $75 million
Music streaming service Pandora is planning to acquire competing Rdio for $75 million, in an announcement made recently.
In a seperate annoucement, Rdio has said that their site will shut down within the next few weeks. However, it will continue to operate as normal for the time being.
This comes as Rdio plans to file for bankruptcy, due to low subscriber numbers and competition from services like Spotify, Google Play and Apple Music.
This acquisition will include “technology and intellectual property” from Rdio, along with many of their staff, but not their existing music licenses.
Pandora expects an “expanded listening experience” for their 78 million subscribers late next year. Their plan is to offer on-demand streaming alongside their existing radio-style services.
As Pandora is currently only available in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, their purchase will give them access to over 100 more countries operated by Rdio.
“Adding Rdio’s impressive technology and talented people will fast-track new dimensions and enhancements to our service,” said Pandora chief executive officer Brian McAndrews, “I couldn’t be more optimistic about Pandora’s future and the future of music.”
Source: Variety/TechCrunch
The post Pandora set to buy struggling Rdio for $75 million appeared first on AndroidGuys.
DisplayMate iPad Shoot-out: iPad Mini 4 Has Best Display, But iPad Pro and iPad Air 2 Also Perform Well
In its latest display shoot-out, DisplayMate Technologies compared the displays of Apple’s current iPad lineup: the 2015 iPad mini 4, the 2015 iPad Pro, and the 2014 iPad Air 2 to see how the three tablets measure up against each other. The iPad mini 4 came out on top in most of DisplayMate’s tests, which used a variety of calibrated lab measurements and image/photo viewing tests to compare display quality.
DisplayMate called the iPad mini “unquestionably the best and most accurate LCD tablet display we’ve ever tested,” giving it higher marks than the 2732 x 2048 resolution iPad Pro. The iPad Pro also scored well, earning all “very good” to “excellent” marks on tests, and while the iPad Air 2 did well enough to rank as a top tier display, its performance was somewhat behind the iPad mini 4 and the iPad Pro, unsurprising as it was last updated in the fall of 2014 while the mini and the Pro were both released in the fall of 2015.
All three tablets use the same IPS LCDs, but the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Pro have photo aligned LCDs with higher contrast ratios while the iPad mini 4 uses standard mechanical alignment. The iPad Pro also uses a metal oxide TFT backplane for better light throughput and power efficiency, a must for such a large and power hungry display.
Each of the iPads has a similar max brightness, measuring in at 415 cd/m2 (nits) for the iPad Air 2, 424 nits for the iPad Pro, and 450 nits for the iPad mini 4. On maximum contrast ratio, the difference between peak white brightness and the darkest black, all of the iPads had high True Contrast Ratios, but the iPad Pro won at this test. The iPad mini 4 had a True Contrast Ratio of 967, while the iPad Air 2 ranked at 1,064 and the iPad Pro measured in at 1,631, the highest DisplayMate has measured for an LCD tablet display.
On color gamut, the iPad mini had the most accurate score at 101 percent (100 percent is best). The iPad Air 2 had a 105 percent color gamut, while the iPad Pro had a 107 percent color gamut, with the larger two tablets displaying oversaturated blues. On color accuracy, the iPad mini also won, but the iPad Pro was a relatively close second. The iPad Air 2 earned much lower Absolute Color Accuracy marks.
The iPad mini 4 has a very impressive Absolute Color Accuracy with Average/Maximum Color Errors of 1.9 and 4.2 JNCD – tied for first place in Absolute Color Accuracy with the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. The iPad Pro is somewhat less accurate, but still (just barely) Very Good, with Average/Maximum Color Errors of 2.6 and 6.6 JNCD. The iPad Air 2 has noticeably lower Absolute Color Accuracy with Average/Maximum Color Errors of 3.9 and 8.8 JNCD, which are visually noticeable and could be unacceptable for some color critical applications (like medical imaging, high-end digital photography, product sales demonstrations, and advertising proofs, for example).
When it comes to screen reflectance, DisplayMate called all three iPads “unrivaled record holders” for performance in ambient light. The iPad mini had a 2.0 percent Reflectance, while the iPad Air 2 had 2.5 percent and the iPad Pro had 2.6 percent. A test measuring contrast in high ambient light saw the iPad mini perform best, with a Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light of 225. Comparatively, the iPad Air 2 scored 166 and the iPad Pro scored 163.
Due to the inclusion of the metal oxide backplane in the iPad Pro, it earned the award for most power efficient. The backplane increases light throughput and the iPad Pro’s display uses a lower refresh rate when there are static images on the screen.
While the iPad mini 4 is the best iPad display based on DisplayMate’s test, the site calls all of the iPads in Apple’s current lineup “unrivaled” when it comes to screen Reflectance, giving them an edge over competing tablets. Due to their low Reflectance, the iPads have “by far” the highest image Contrast in ambient light and the highest Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light of all current tablets.
The full results of the display shoot-out, available from DisplayMate, are well worth checking out for those interested in getting an in-depth look at how the displays of the iPad mini 4, iPad Pro, and iPad Air 2 compare.
Tag: DisplayMate
Buyer’s Guide: iPad Air (Don’t Buy), iPad Mini (Buy Now), iPad Pro (Buy Now)
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Pryme Vessyl is a Smart Cup That Monitors Your Water Consumption
Mark One, the company that’s currently working on the Vessyl smart cup that can measure the nutritional content of any liquid, today launched an interim product that’s designed to track how much water a person drinks in a day.
The Pryme Vessyl is a smart cup that measures all of the water that a person drinks during the day, using the data collected with a proprietary hydration algorithm that lets users know if their hydration needs are being met. It uses decades of research on hydration to determine an optimal or “Pryme” hydration level for every person based on factors like age, weight, sex, and activity level. The data collected by the Pryme Vessyl is compatible with the Jawbone UP and Apple’s own Health app.
Many of us still follow the 8 cups per day, one-size-fits-all approach to water consumption, but everyone’s hydration needs are unique–fluctuating day-by-day, and even hour-by-hour. Pryme captures a variety of factors such as height, age, weight and sex, as well as changing variables like sleep and exercise, to help you understand your personal hydration needs.
Design wise, Pryme Vessyl is a 16-ounce cup that has a glass interior with a soft-touch white exterior and a nickel-plated bottom. It includes a spill-resistant lid that can be flipped back with a thumb, and the Pryme Vessyl team tells MacRumors that it’s both highly durable and reliable.
There are sensors built into the cup to detect each time a person takes a sip. In addition to water, it can hold any hot or cold beverage, so it can be used with other liquids like tea or juice. Though it’s safe to use with hot liquids, the electronics inside prevent it from being dishwasher safe.
A blue line on the side of the cup, activated with a tilt, lets users keep an eye on their hydration levels throughout the day to make sure they’re getting enough water. Pryme Vessyl uses inductive charging and attaches to an included base, so it’s simple to charge. Its built-in battery is able to last for up to five days per charge.
Pryme Vessyl can be purchased from the Vessyl website for $99 and it’s also available online at Apple.com and from select Apple retail stores in the United States and Canada.
All customers who previously pre-ordered the Vessyl will receive a Pryme Vessyl for free. The Vessyl remains in development with no prospective launch date as the Mark One team works to transition from prototype to production while maintaining accuracy.
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Chase reveals it won’t support Android Pay until 2016
Chase Support today on Twitter revealed that the financial institute won’t be supporting Android Pay until sometime in 2016. This comes after the bank was found to be working on its own mobile payments application called Chase Pay.
A post on Reddit revealed that Chase customers would be getting support for Android Pay by the end of 2015, but now this tweet from Chase Support has confirmed otherwise.
Android Police contacted Chase over the vague timelines and received this response:
@ArtemR I apologize for the mix-up. We’ll be supporting Android Pay in 2016. ^AW
— Chase Support (@ChaseSupport) November 17, 2015
In other words, Chase customers aren’t going to be seeing any sign of Android Pay until sometime in 2016, that is unless Chase finds a way to impose more delays. In the meantime, consumers will have to search for other credit/debit card options that are compatible with Android Pay.
source: Chase (Twitter)
via: Android Police
Come comment on this article: Chase reveals it won’t support Android Pay until 2016
Tasker vanishes into thin air as it gets removed from the Play Store
Tasker has vanished into a puff of smoke, as it’s no longer available from the Play Store. In other words, those that don’t have the task management app installed or are trying to reinstall it are fresh out of luck.
Tasker is a task management application that allows users to create tasks and have them automatically executed throughout the day, whether that be silencing your smartphone when you go to sleep. having it remind of you certain things during the day, and so on.
Fortunately, it wasn’t pulled by the developer. In fact, according to the developer, it all looks to be one big mistake:
“Google have removed it, as far as I can see mistakenly since they are complaining about something being in the manifest which is simply not there. In a couple of days, after I’ve got a few thousand complaint emails, they may have gotten round to reading the appeal.”
That said, hopefully Google will take a look at the developer’s appeal soon and put it back up. Tasker is an Android application loved by many, and it would be unfortunate to not be able to access it anymore via official channels.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as to when it’s live again, and hopefully that won’t be long from now. In the meantime, you can download Tasker (Android 4.0 or higher) directly from here. Just be sure to allow the installing of third-party apps checked in your Settings menu. Alternatively, the Tasker download webpage offers different renditions of Tasker for Android versions as low as Cupcake.
source: Tasker (Reddit)
Come comment on this article: Tasker vanishes into thin air as it gets removed from the Play Store
Shield Tablet and Tablet K1 set to receive Android Marshmallow in the coming months
Today NVIDIA brought the Shield Tablet back to stores as the Tablet K1, a few minor changes in tow. Alongside this announcement, NVIDIA had also revealed that it eventually plans to bring Marshmallow to both SHIELD Tablet models.
While the Shield Tablet K1 launched with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, NVIDIA said that Android 6.0 would be coming in a matter of months. Unfortunately, original Shield owners won’t see the update as quickly. NVIDIA hopes to have the update to Android 6.0 ahead of the holidays for the Tablet K1, but the original Shield doesn’t have a strict timeframe in mind. That means it is totally conceivable that the original tablet won’t end up getting Marshmallow lovin’ until early 2016.
Considering both tablets are nearly identical, it seems a bit silly that NVIDIA couldn’t prepare a simultaneous rollout, but beggars can’t be choosers. Considering the original SHIELD Tablet started with KitKat, NVIDIA has actually done a pretty impressive job at keeping its gaming tablet up to date.
See also: Android 6.0 Marshmallow – New features explained
Probably the biggest reason to be excited about the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update is that the latest version of Android plays better with microSD cards than Lollipop, and considering there’s only 16GB storage on the new K1, a microSD card is pretty much a must-have if you plan to use the tablet to its full potential. Extras like Doze could also come in handy.
AIVAnet 