CES 2017: Apple Pay Integration With ‘MORE.’ Loyalty Program Coming to 300,000 U.S. Vending Machines

Self-serve technology company USA Technologies today announced that it will soon integrate its MORE. loyalty and payroll deduct program with Apple Pay at more than 300,000 vending machines across the United States. With the partnership, and inclusion of the MORE. program, users at any participating machine will be able to purchase an item with Apple Pay and receive exclusive offers, promotions, and discounts toward future purchases.

The company mentioned that for any user who begins the Apple Pay checkout process at one of the machines, and isn’t a part of the MORE. loyalty program, the machine will be able to instantly enroll the user into the program and have their new digital reward card added directly into Apple Pay. USA Technologies believes that the system as a whole is “much more efficient” for both customers and operators of the supported vending machines.

“Consumers are getting more accustomed to paying with their phones, and with all of the digital noise coming at consumers 24/7, loyalty and rewards programs that easily integrate into popular payment methods like Apple Pay are a win/win,” said Maeve McKenna Duska, senior vice president of sales and marketing, USA Technologies.

“By offering MORE. with Apple Pay we are giving consumers a loyalty program that seamlessly integrates with their lifestyle, rewarding them for using the one thing they always have on hand, their iPhone or Apple Watch. We expect the MORE. integration with Apple Pay will not only fuel participation in the unattended loyalty program, but also underscore the ease, security and simplicity of Apple Pay transactions for everyday purchases like those made at vending machines, laundromats, self-serve kiosks, parking and more.”

Wallgreens was the first retail store to support the Apple Pay loyalty card feature, followed by other companies, including Kohl’s. The addition of a loyalty card normally turns the checkout process into a two-step system — activating the rewards card with Touch ID, and then doing the same for the actual payment card — but Kohl’s streamlined that into a one-touch rewards and payment system.

Although unconfirmed, USA Technologies’ description of the MORE. and Apple Pay collaboration sounds like it will offer one-touch checkout as well. For anyone interested, the company has more details about the MORE. program on its website.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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CES 2017: OtterBox uniVERSE Modular Case System Coming to iPad Air 2 and 9.7-Inch iPad Pro

OtterBox today announced that it will soon be expanding its modular uniVERSE case system to the iPad Air 2 and 9.7-inch iPad Pro, along with the introduction of new partners for the system like Brydge, olloclip, and Tile. uniVERSE combines the rugged protection of the company’s brand with modular add-ons that enhance the features of the case, which is even more expansive on iPad thanks to two slotted rails, a new center connection point, and a removable spine — all access locations for third-party modules.

The company announced a few partners for the uniVERSE iPad case system at CES. Options for users will include the addition of Tile’s Bluetooth tracker, a lens clip from olloclip, credit card slots from Wagner, and a 9.7-inch aluminum keyboard from Brydge.

The full list includes:

• StabylCam StabylRig Image Stabilizer – handheld video and photo stabilizer for clear, crisp imagery and recording
• Tile Slim Bluetooth Tracker – quickly find keys, smartphones and other valuables
• olloclip Lens Set for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus – professional-style lenses to make the best photos and videos even better.
• Wagner wallets and multi-tools – carry credit cards and a variety of tool functions like a knife, bottle opener, saw, hex and more
• PopSockets Grip – get a grip on iPhone with a telescoping grip and viewing stand
• HANSNAP – multi-adjustable hand strap for easy filming and screen viewing
• ECO Sensors SPARROW Portable Air Monitor – a wearable environmental health and safety monitor that measures air quality and alerts the user of life threatening situations.
• Brydge 9.7 Keyboard – maximize the functionality of iPad while providing the productivity of a laptop with this stylish, high-grade aluminum keyboard
• ikeGPS Spike Laser Measurement Tool – comprehensive but simple-to-use smartphone laser measurement solution
• FIRST Healthcare Magnetic Positioning Arm – position tablet in space near workstation for hands-free work

Users can already purchase uniVERSE for the iPhone 6/6s, iPhone 6/6s Plus, and iPhone 7/7 Plus at OtterBox’s official website. For iPhone, the company has introduced modules that support the Square credit card reader, battery packs, and more.

Related Roundups: iPad Air 2, iPad Pro
Buyer’s Guide: 9.7″ iPad Pro (Caution), 12.9″ iPad Pro (Caution)
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CES 2017: Honeywell Debuts Two Home Security Cameras, Adding HomeKit to Lyric Security System

Honeywell today unveiled two indoor security cameras and confirmed plans to add HomeKit to its Lyric Security system at CES 2017 in Las Vegas.

The semi-cylindrical Lyric C1 camera captures 720p video at 30 FPS with a 135-degree viewing angle, while the circular Lyric C2 camera records in 1080p at 30 FPS and has a 138-degree viewing angle. Both models have a built-in speaker and microphone for two-way audio functionality.

Honeywell’s new Lyric C2 (left) and Lyric C1 (right) home security cameras
Like other smart home security cameras, including the just-announced D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD and Canary’s All-in-One Home Security System and Camera, the Lyric C1 and Lyric C2 let homeowners monitor their homes while they are away for extra peace of mind, with both motion and noise detection.

The free Honeywell Lyric app enables users to control and view a live stream of their Lyric cameras with an iPhone or iPad. When the camera detects motion or certain sounds, users will receive notifications directly on their devices to get a bird’s eye view of what’s happening in their homes. Screenshots are also available.

The cameras have wired power and connect to a home’s Wi-Fi network to provide live streaming at all times. Recordings can be saved locally to an 8GB SD card included with every Lyric C1 and C2 camera, even if the home’s Wi-Fi is not working. Free cloud storage per day is also included, with 7- and 30-day upgrades available.

Honeywell said the new Lyric cameras will be available within the first three months of 2017. Pricing was not disclosed.

Meanwhile, the Lyric Home Security and Control System, originally launched in 2016, will receive a software update with HomeKit support within the first three months of 2017, enabling homeowners to control the system using Siri voice commands or Apple’s new Home app on iOS 10.

The Lyric Home Security and Control System is a pro-installed security monitoring system with a 7-inch touchscreen and built-in camera. If a Lyric sensor or motion detector detects an unusual situation, the system will provide visual and audible notifications and send alerts to a paired iPhone or iPad.

Tags: Honeywell, CES 2017
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Misfit Vapor smartwatch brings heart rate monitoring, built-in GPS and waterproofing

Misfit has announced Vapor, its first touchscreen smartwatch, at CES 2017. The wearable is the company’s most advanced yet, offering standard fitness and sleep tracking, along with optical heart rate monitoring, built-in GPS and standalone music functionality.

As with other Misfit trackers like the Ray, the Vapor will measure steps taken, calories burned, distance travelled and indicate light or restful sleep, syncing all the data with the Misfit app. Where the Vapor differs is it will also offer elevation data and it is the only Misfit device to feature a heart rate monitor.

The built-in GPS and standalone music functionality also mean users will be able to track a run, for example, and listen to music without the need to bring their phone out with them.

The Vapor smartwatch is water resistant up to 50-metres and has a 44mm stainless steel case that comes in Jet Black or Rose Gold colour options with interchangeable straps. There is a 1.39-inch round AMOLED display, surrounded by a touch bezel that allows users to browse watchfaces, applications and respond to notifications without interfering with the content on the main display. 

The Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor runs Vapor’s show, accompanied by 4GB of memory for storing music, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Misfit says the Vapor has a two-day battery life, which is charged via a magnetic charging cradle like many of the Fossil smartwatches.

The Misfit Vapor smartwatch will be available “later this year” for $199, though no specific date has been detailed.

The machines are coming: CES 2017 is all about Amazon Alexa

Some are saying that CES 2017 is all about AI – artificial intelligence – but it isn’t. It’s very specifically about Amazon Alexa.

We saw an emerging trend through 2016, expanding the smart personal assistant, going far beyond the sort of thing that Google Now and Apple Siri had been offering through various phones. 

CES 2017 has seen the launch of an unprecedented number of devices that aren’t “compatible” with Amazon’s Alexa, they’re powered by it. There’s an important point of distinction to be made here: your thermostat and lights are compatible with Alexa, not powered by it.

The deluge of devices powered by Alexa at CES 2017 confirm one thing: Amazon Alexa isn’t a step ahead of its rivals in the battle for smart connectivity, it’s a full country mile in the lead. 

You might say that that simply comes down to timing. Amazon launched the Echo in the US in 2015, taking the UK by storm in late 2016. The Amazon Echo is a device that sells itself: anyone who plays with it can’t help but be drawn to the range of things that it does so simply, and the more technical love the wide support for third-party devices and services. The Echo is a true home hub.

There are two important things happening here: firstly, in June 2015, Amazon announced the Alexa Voice Service, making the brains available to developers; secondly, Alexa is established, meaning everyone wants to play nice. 

With more and more third-parties moving to work with Alexa, Amazon is in a position of critical mass: it’s the product you need to work with, it’s the natural interface within the emerging smart home, just as Philips Hue is for smart lighting. 

That’s all come to fruition at CES 2017 with an overwhelming number of companies launching devices that take advantage of Alexa Voice Service. It’s found its way into cars, with Ford confirming it’s coming to its Sync service, it’s in fridges, with LG adding the smart technology to appliances. Alexa appears in Huawei’s Mate 9, it’s the interface for home robots and is even appearing in TVs. 

Then there’s more regular rivals to the original Amazon Echo that started this Alexa trend in the form of the Lenovo Smart Assistant.

If there’s a theme that’s pulling CES together, it’s that Amazon has stolen a march on its rivals and that Alexa is going to be everywhere in 2017.

• CES 2017: All the announcements that matter

Polar fitness watches and GoPro cameras will now play nicely together

Polar has already announced a wearable vest with heart rate monitoring and GPS tracking built in to it, but that’s not the only big announcement the company has for CES 2017. 

• CES 2017: What is it and what to expect

Polar’s other big announcement is a collaboration with GoPro that will let the V800 GPS sports watch, M600 smart sports watch and a new H10 heart rate monitor connect to a GoPro camera. All three models can be connected to either a HERO4 or HERO5 camera and the watches can even be used as remotes for the cameras to carry out basic commands, ideal for using during an activity.

Basic data such as when the camera is and isn’t recording and battery life can be viewed on the watches.

Once you’ve connected one of the Polar devices, you’ll be able to view heart rate and training data over the top of the videos you’ve taken, to see where the adrenaline really kicked in. The new H10 heart rate monitor is a chest strap design, but has entirely new electrodes which claim to offer more accurate monitoring.

GoPro connectivity will start with the V800 sports watch being able to connect to the HERO4 by the end of this month, the V800 and M600 will be able to connect to a HERO5 in early 2017 and finally, the H10 heart rate monitor will be able to connect to both cameras by the end of Q1 2017.

Huge leak seemingly confirms Samsung Galaxy S8 design

We may now know exactly what the Samsung Galaxy S8 will look when come launch day thanks to a massive leak on Chinese social site Weibo. The photo is of a gold coloured version of the Galaxy S8 and shows incredibly thin bezels on the sides, and slim ones top and bottom.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 edge: What’s the story so far?

If the picture is real, it confirms the rumours that the Galaxy S8 would have no physical front-mounted buttons, with the fingerprint scanner and home button likely to be embedded into the screen. 

• Samsung Galaxy S8 could feature a bezel-less OLED display 

What isn’t clear from the picture is the size of the screen. There have been several conflicting reports as to what screen the Galaxy S8 will come with. Some say there will be two phones with 5.7-inch and 6.2-inch screens, yet other rumours say there will be just one Galaxy S8 released.

It’s highly likely the screen featured in the leaked picture is indeed bigger than the 5.5-inch display of the Galaxy S7 Edge, especially now there’s no physical home button to contend with.

The other information we can’t gather from the leak is whether Samsung has in fact ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack. We suspect the company will, and use USB Type-C for charging and audio instead, but until we can actually see the other sides of the device, we can’t say for certain

But as for when we will see the Galaxy S8 officially unveiled remains up in the air. Fingers were initially pointing to an unveiling at MWC at the end of February, but it now seems more likely that Samsung will hold its own event, possibly in New York in April.

It has been reported that Samsung wants to take its time with the development of the Galaxy S8 to ensure it doesn’t suffer a similar fate to that of the Galaxy Note 7, which had to have all production halted due to several faulty units.

Smart stove knobs help you prevent a house fire

You can already buy connected ranges that offer remote control and prevent kitchen disasters. But what about your existing range — are you really going to replace it just for some extra convenience and peace of mind? You might not have to. Inirv is crowdfunding the React, a smart stove knob system that upgrades most any electric or gas stove. You can control individual burners through your phone, of course, but the real star of the show is a sensor that sits on your ceiling. If it detects gas, smoke or prolonged inactivity, it automatically shuts off active burners. You shouldn’t have to worry about sparking a house fire just because you forgot to switch the stove off before you left for the movies.

The knobs are battery-based and will need recharging, but you won’t always need to pull out your phone for advanced functions. You can tap the knob to set inactivity timers, with light cues letting you know how much time is left.

This isn’t a trivial purchase. You’re looking at a pledge of at least $199 (typically $239) to get a standard kit with four knobs and a sensor. Also, you’ll have to wait until December to get yours if you aren’t eager enough to spend $999 and become a beta tester. Consider this, though: most standard ranges cost several hundred dollars or more, and the connected kind is more expensive than that. So long as you aren’t looking for more sophisticated control (such as for the oven underneath), this promises to be a bargain.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Source: Kickstarter, Inirv

UK Ministry of Defence is now investing in laser weapons too

If the advent of virtual reality wasn’t enough to convince you that we’re living the future, the UK military has now invested in laser weaponry. Shelling out £30 million for the project, the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) has commissioned the appropriately named ‘Dragonfire’ defense consortium to create a prototype laser weapon that may one day be used to destroy drones, missiles, roadside bombs and other potential threats.

The team of defense companies – which include MBDA, QinetiQ, Leonardo-Finmeccanica GKN, Arke, BAE Systems, and Marshall ADG – will have two years to develop the device, with their research culminating in a demonstration of the weapon in 2019. Their brief is to assess how well laser-powered weaponry systems can pick up and track targets at various ranges, with the companies aiming to prove that their tech can aim lasers precisely in varied weather conditions and over land and water. Should they be successful, these laser-powered cannons are expected to come into military use within the next decade.

With the US military having spent the past few decades experimenting with laser technology, the announcement may come as little surprise to many. While technical flaws meant that the vast majority of those experiments over the years resulted in failures, the US Navy did taste success in 2014 on the USS Ponce, when a laser was used to shoot a drone out of the air.

The MOD says the weapons aren’t being developed to target any specific threats. Still, we’ll be preparing for an imminent alien invasion just in case.

Source: BBC

Razer puts its Chroma system in a projector

Razer has packed its full-spectrum lighting system into everything from its headphones to keyboards to mice over the past few years. Now, that 16.8-million-color platform is expanding into third-party products as well, the company announced at CES today.

Specifically, in the coming months we’ll see devices from a variety of manufacturers, including Lenovo, NZXT, Antec, Lian Li, Wicked Lasers, Philips Hue and Nanoleaf. Lenovo, for example, is integrating the technology into its desktop chassis. Philips, on the other hand, is tying the API module to its line Hue bulbs so that they’ll change color in response to the onscreen action — not unlike Philips’ Ambilight televisions.

Razer is also working on a concept Chroma projector, dubbed Project Ariana, which will use a wide-angle fisheye lens to broadcast real-time video of your game onto an adjacent wall, creating drive-in movie-levels of immersion in your living room. There will be no need to calibrate these visuals thanks to a pair of 3D depth-sensing cameras that can automatically detect and account for variables like room lighting and furniture.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.