Samsung Pay will make its way to China in Q1 2016

Earlier today, Samsung announced that it has teamed up with China’s only domestic bank card organization, UnionPay, to launch its NFC-based contactless payment service, entitled Samsung Pay, in the region in January, 2016.

All of the juicy details can be seen in the press release below:

Samsung and China UnionPay Cooperate on Samsung Pay

Samsung Electronics and China UnionPay announced the cooperation on Samsung Pay on December 18, 2015. With Samsung mobile phones, UnionPay card holders in China will soon be able to enjoy the fast and secure mobile payment service.

Injong Rhee, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics said, “With technological innovation, Samsung Pay expands the usage of mobile payments. It simplifies the procedure for better user experience, and adopts multi-layered protection to ensure security, allowing easier and safer mobile payment experiences. The collaboration with China UnionPay, coupled with the support from major UnionPay partner banks in China, will bring this secure and easy-to-use mobile payment solution to more Samsung mobile users.”

Chai Hongfeng, Executive Vice President of China UnionPay, said: “With the development of the mobile payment industry, China UnionPay is committed to open cooperation with other parties in the industry to provide more secure and more convenient products and services for consumers. This cooperation between China UnionPay and Samsung will combine the strengths of the former in payment and the expertise of the latter in mobile terminals to jointly create brand new mobile payment experience for consumers, and to further expand the user base of UnionPay QuickPass brand. ”

This collaboration between Samsung and China UnionPay will enable UnionPay cardholders to manage and use credit cards and debit cards on the smartphones via Samsung Pay. Key features of Samsung Pay include its simplicity to use, wide coverage, as well as a high-level of security. First, payment can be easily made within just a few seconds with a simple swipe up, scan and pay. Second, Samsung Pay-supported contactless payment can be accepted in most of the POS terminals in China, including QuickPass-enabled NFC POS terminals. Lastly, working with China UnionPay, Samsung Pay ensures secure transaction with a reliable triple-layered protection mechanism including fingerprint identification, tokenization and KNOX.

The products and technologies in Samsung Pay strictly comply with national mobile payment and financial industry standards in China. Samsung Pay will receive relevant tests and certification as required by Chinese regulators before its official rollout to UnionPay cardholders in China as soon as early 2016.

Come comment on this article: Samsung Pay will make its way to China in Q1 2016

Deal: the iRing will help ensure you never drop your phone again for $15.99

Butter finger smartphone users rejoice. The AA Deals Store is offering a sweet deal on a product that will help you say goodbye to broken screens and smartphone dings.

The iRing is a little accessory that sticks to your smartphone, tablet or whatever you want to hold more securely. The idea is that you put your finger through it while holding your gadget, ensuring a nice grip and a sense of security most of us have never experienced while handling an expensive piece of technology.

You can literally wave your hand around and not ever drop your phone! And all with only one hand. By the way, this thing also works as a stand, hanger or mount. It can support up to 15 pounds, so you are good. I mean, an average tablet is not much heavier than a pound.

The iRing is convenient, well built (made partly of metal) and only $15.99 from the AA Deals Store.

Buy an iRing from the AA Deals Store

ICYMI: Dark matter search, the personal plane and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: The new Icon A5 personal aircraft is available for $189,000, shrinking middle class be damned. China’s space agency launched a spacecraft to hunt for signs of dark matter’s existence. And Netflix‘s latest Make It project is a cosy nod to what too many of us will likely be doing over holiday breaks: Going on prolonged Netflix binges. The company is giving instructions for how to construct socks that will pause your show if you should fall asleep.

And because it hits our funny bone just right, here’s the link to the video of the 10-year-old with amazing yo-yo skills. Even his comments under the video are cute, for the love.

We’ll be back to normal for tomorrow, so if you see any interesting science or tech videos, please share with us! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.

Veteran Affairs to pick up the tab for paralyzed vets’ robotic legs

When the US Department of Veteran Affairs paid for Retired US Army Sergeant Theresa Hannigan’s ReWalk exoskeleton, it also decided to pick up the tab for other vets. Now, the agency has made it official: it has recently sent out a memorandum that outlines its plans to train staff in a dozen centers — though there are plans to expand even further in the future — to be able to fit more paralyzed veterans with ReWalk. The product, if you recall, is a robotic exoskeleton that attaches to the users’ legs and helps them walk again. The FDA cleared it for home use last year, but you don’t exactly see a lot of paraplegics use it, because it costs a whopping $77,000.

AP says sales have been slow since the FDA approval, but the company’s hoping that the Veteran Affairs’ support will compel more insurance companies to agree to cover it for their customers. VA has already looked at the applications of 45 veterans that meet the height and weight requirements needed to be able to operate the exoskeleton, but it hasn’t announce anything formal yet. Based on previous tests, anyone lucky enough to get a ReWalk will experience better bowel/bladder control and reduced back pain, not to mention they’ll become a lot more independent by being able to stand and walk on their own again.

[Image credit: AP Photo/Mel Evans]

Source: AP

LifeLock forced to pay $100 million FTC fine

LifeLock is a company that purports to provide protection for people at risk of identity theft in exchange for a monthly fee of $10. The FTC doesn’t feel that the firm does enough to justify that fee, which is why it’s slapped the business with a $100 million fine. Officials believe that LifeLock has been exaggerating the extent of its services, saying that it hasn’t done enough — or anything — to protect personal data like social security, credit card and bank account numbers. It’s not the first time that LifeLock has been told off by the FTC after being found guilty of exaggerating its services in 2012 and failing to protect its customers in 2012.

Of that $100 million settlement, $68 million will be earmarked to pay back members of a class action lawsuit that was brought against the firm. As Ars Technica reports, one of the things that LifeLock stands accused of is charging a monthly fee simply for adding a fraud alert on a paying customer’s credit file. That, you can probably work out, is not a magic bullet to prevent people from getting at your good stuff.

LifeLock’s track record in maintaining its users personal data borders on the slapstick, like the time it had to pull a wallet app because it was hilariously insecure. Or the time its CEO posted his social security number to prove how well the system worked, only to have it stolen 13 times. Thankfully, LifeLock will be able to shoulder the burden of that $100 million fine as it brought in $476 million revenue last yea… sorry, how much?

Via: Ars Technica

Source: FTC

6 self-contained skyscraper super cities

By Cat DiStasio

Today’s architects are imagining the cities of the future as building styles fall in and out of fashion and construction materials evolve. As urban centers get more crowded and polluted, a number of forward-thinking designers are responding with concepts for self-contained super cities that reach up instead of out — sometimes up to 2.5 miles high. The resulting designs incorporate renewable energy, indoor farms and living space for thousands of people, with the idea that self-sustaining and self-contained communities can exist outside the constraints of climate change without contributing to it further.Slideshow-348600

Get these 36 Android games at a great price

It’s Christmas time, and it is no surprise to see a whole truck-load of apps and games go on discount in the Play Store. In fact, here’s a list including a wide range of genres, from Final Fantasy to to NBA  2K16. The aren’t free, but come in at a discount between 25% and 80% off the regular prices. Head on over to the Play Store while they’re still valid:

• Heroes of Might & Magic III HD
• Prune
• A Day in the Woods
• GA 10: Lords of Nurroth
• Infinite Universe
• Bloodbones
• House of Hell
• Lara Croft GO
• Final Fantasy
• Final Fantasy II
• Final Fantasy III
• Final Fantasy IV
• Final Fantasy V
• Final Fantasy VI
• Final Fantasy Tactics
• Chrono Trigger
• Secret of Mana
• LEGO: Star Wars: TCS
• LEGO Batman: Beyond Gotham
• Card Wars – Adventure Time
• The Banner Saga
• XCOM: Enemy Within
• Devil’s Attorney
• WWE 2K
• NHL 2K
• NBA 2K16
• Samurai Showdown II
• Metal Slug
• Metal Slug 2
• Metal Slug 3
• Metal Slug X
• The King of Fighters-A 2012
• The King of Fighter ’97
• Bridge Constructor Playground
• Bridge Constructor Medieval
• Bridge Constructor Stunts

These deals may vary depending on your region.

Source: AndroidAuthority

Metal Slug Metal Slug 2 Metal Slug 3 Metal Slug X The King of Fighters-A 2012 The King of Fighter ’97 Bridge Constructor Playground Bridge Constructor Medieval games games games games games games games

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