US Cellular: Everything you need to know

What you need to know about America’s fifth largest network provider.

When people talk about post-paid nationwide cell phone networks in the U.S. they usually mean the Big Four: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. But there is a fifth company who offers full-service nationwide contract plans that are as good or better than the bigger corporations: US Cellular.

It stands to reason. As of Q4 2016, US Cellular had 10x fewer subscribers than number four Sprint had with just over 5,000,000 in total. For comparison, America Movil (TracFone, Walmart Family Mobile) had just over 26,000,000. US Cellular is not the giant company that its rivals are. but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great option for a lot of people looking for a new phone company.

Let’s have a look at what you need to know about US Cellular.

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Great nationwide coverage

US Cellular offers really good voice and LTE coverage in the continental United States. Coverage maps aren’t the best way to gauge service for any one particular area, but they can give a good indication of the overall network footprint. US Cellular’s looks better than Sprint or T-Mobile here.

There is a very good chance that you’ll have good US Cellular coverage if you’re in the states.

Reciprocal roaming and rural coverage

US Cellular uses what they call “4G LTE Data Partner Coverage” for a good chunk of their service area. This means it has an arrangement with another company to use its networks in areas where there is a need. Your US Cellular phone will work seamlessly in these places and you won’t even know it. It also doesn’t cost you anything extra when it happens. In addition to agreements with AT&T and Verizon, US Cellular partners with King Street Wireless for deployment of the 700Mhz LTE band in 27 states.

This means US Cellular has the same type of great coverage in rural areas that AT&T and Verizon offer. You can look here for an interactive map that shows where partner coverage is located.

There are data plans to fit everyone

US Cellular offers post-paid contract plans at 2GB, 6GB, and unlimited tiers. The unlimited plan is very competitively priced.

• Unlimited data on one line: $70
• Unlimited data on two lines: $110
• Unlimited data on three lines: $150
• Unlimited data on four lines: $160

All plans come with unlimited talk and text messaging, have no extra monthly connection fees, and there is no activation fee or ETF for service cancellation. You will need to pay for the phone if you are making installments, though. Unlimited talk and text to Canada and Mexico is included in the 6GB and unlimited plan.

US Cellular also offers prepaid plans in 1GB, 5GB, and unlimited tiers. The 1GB and 5GB plans switch to standard 2G speeds for the remainder of the month when your LTE data allotment is used.

• 1GB of LTE data: $35
• 5GB of LTE data: $45
• Unlimited LTE data: $70

Prepaid plans include tethering and unlimited international texting.

US Cellular also offers corporate plans, data only device plans and complete business solutions that include automation and asset management in addition to communications.

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Popular phones are supported

US Cellular offers installment payment plans for phones from Apple, LG, Motorola, Samsung and plenty of other companies. A currently offered installment agreement for the Galaxy S8 is $24 per month for 30 months, at zero interest. You’ll find plenty of other devices starting as low as $4 per month for a Motorola G4 Play. You’ll also find pre-owned devices and special deals to help save you even more money.

You can bring your own phone to the prepaid service, but it needs to be a compatible model. You can check your phone at the US Cellular activation website to make sure it’s compatible or take it to a local store.

Best US Cellular phones

When all is said and done, the most important factor when you’re looking for phone service is the coverage. US Cellular looks really good there thanks to both the native network and the partner programs. The company also has a very good reputation and has won numerous awards for customer service and community outreach. We think you should give them a look the next time you’re shopping for a new phone company.

Are you jumping from a Pixel to a Galaxy S8 or G6?

It may seem silly to jump from phone to phone, but some people are thinking of switching from the Pixel to the Galaxy S8 or LG G6. Are you?

The Pixel is only six months old, but there are plenty of owners looking toward the next big thing, be it from Google itself in the form of a Pixel sequel, or Samsung’s and LG’s latest salvos, the Galaxy S8 and G6, respectively.

Over on our forums, Aquila asks, “Ok Pixel owners – the S8 is here. Who’s jumping ship?” Obviously, not everyone has the luxury to switch phones every six months, but some are taking their disgust at the idea one step further:

NightOrchid
03-30-2017 10:05 AM

“

I wouldnt touch an S8 if i got one for free, their cartoony childish ui and bug ridden release day mess of the OS, camera and other problems is annoying and, like Apple.. they are overpriced rubbish.. SS tell you its glass, but its really plastic and cardboard..

Ive owned every single SS flasgship since the orignal Galaxy… through the S2, S3 > S5 > S7E… and EVERY one of them had lagg or…

Reply

Wooboy, that’s some strong language. But it’s not all the uncommon. Samsung engenders a very emotional response from some people, and Pixel owners tend to like the simplicty and fast updates of Google’s interpretation of Android.

ttrimmer
03-30-2017 11:45 AM

“

I’m really thinking about jumping from my Pixel XL. I love my Pixel and hate edge screens but I can get a great trade in deal on my old S6 on Verizon plus I’m really liking the idea of Samsung Pay. Android Pay is great when I can use it but there are so few places that take it. The waterproofing and wireless charging are enticing too.

Reply

But there are people who love the Galaxy S8’s hardware advantages over the Pixel, including waterproofing, and the support for Samsung Pay, which is considerably more widely-available in the U.S. than Android Pay.

scgf
04-04-2017 04:21 AM

“

Well . . . I bought a Pixel only a week ago. Loved it, was excited about the camera. Took some photos at the weekend. WTF! That lens flare! Any time there was a light source in front of the phone I got flare – either an arc of white or a misty effect over the whole photo. I’m not talking of the light source in the frame either. I took a pic of a family member sitting on a chair in front of a…

Reply

Finally, one user is giving up on the Pixel for an S8 because of its lens flare issue, which despite being improved through software updates, is still an issue for some people.

Are you giving up your Pixel for a Galaxy S8 or LG G6?

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Mastercard introduces a credit card with a built-in fingerprint reader

Mastercard’s latest credit card comes with a biometric zone that stores your fingerprints.

Mastercard has rolled out a credit card that has an integrated fingerprint scanner, making it easier to authenticate purchases at retail stores. The card stores two fingerprints, and features an embedded sensor that lets you authorize payments instead of having to sign or use a PIN.

To get started, you’ll have to register your fingerprints at your bank, after which the information will be converted to a “encrypted digital template” that will be stored on the card. Mastercard’s biometric cards are just as thin as existing credit cards, and will work with current chip-and-PIN readers. You’ll be able to authenticate purchases by placing your finger on the integrated biometric sensor, and the cards don’t have require any batteries as they source power from the payment terminals.

Mastercard is trialling the cards in South Africa right now, and has mentioned that additional trials will be conducted in the Asia Pacific region and select markets in Europe in the coming months. A wide rollout is slated for the end of the year, although customers in the U.S. will have to wait until early 2018 to get their fingers on the biometric card.

These 2016 flagships are great Galaxy S8 alternatives

Many of last year’s high-end Android phones have stood the test of time.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are phenomenal phones — two of the best out there right now. But they’re also expensive phones, especially if you’re buying outright.

So if you’re looking to save some cash, you might look at some of the previous year’s flagships, many of which are speedy, well-built and have been upgraded to Android Nougat. Most importantly, some of these are now available for as little as half the price of Samsung’s latest duo.

Let’s take a look at four of the best.

Samsung Galaxy S7 + S7 edge

Samsung’s 2016 flagships are obvious choices if you want as close to a Galaxy S8 experience as possible without shelling out anywhere near as much dough. You’ll miss out on Samsung’s remarkable new Infinity Display, but the overall experience is surprisingly similar once you apply that Android 7.0 Nougat update.

With its Nougat update, the GS7’s software looks a lot like the GS8.

The latest update for the GS7 brings much of the UI in line with that of the Galaxy S8, with brilliant white backgrounds, condensed fonts and a minimalist to many of the built-in apps. Both Galaxy S7 models run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 in the U.S.; internationally you’ll get Samsung’s own Exynos 8890, and the performance, while not quite Pixel fast, is speedy.

The core “Galaxy” experience is along for the ride too — quick charging (over Micro-USB, not the newer Type-C), wireless charging, water resistance, microSD expansion and a great camera. The hardware of the GS7’s rear shooter is almost identical to the GS8’s, save for the newer model’s fancy multi-frame processing tricks. Besides that, you’re looking at brilliant SuperAMOLED displays and solid battery life on both models.

Note: Because we live in a cruel and uncaring world, the U.S. unlocked Galaxy S7 still runs older Marshmallow-based firmware. Other models are up to date on Nougat.

See at AT&T
See at Sprint
See at T-Mobile
See at Verizon

HTC 10

The HTC 10 is one of the past year’s most underappreciated flagships, but this metal-clad beast is still worth buying if you can pick it up at a reasonable discount. (It still commands a premium price tag on HTC’s own online storefront.)

HTC’s last flagship isn’t as ostentatious as the competition, but it’s sturdy, dependable and fast.

Like most others on this list, there’s a Snapdragon 820 processor inside, along with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage — standard specs for the time. HTC also boasts a lightning-quick fingerprint scanner around the front, and while the Quad HD SuperLCD display is probably the least impressive of all the phones listed here, it gets the job done. (Just don’t count on it being particularly visible in bright sunlight.)

Around the back, if you can keep your eyes away from the 10’s oversized, stylized chamfer, you’ll find the 12-megapixel “Ultrapixel 2” camera, which still holds its own against current competitors. And for selfie enthusiasts, the phone also boasts the only optically stabilized front-facer, a 5-megapixel unit that’s among the best for low-light portraits.

HTC’s Sense software isn’t anywhere near as differentiated as it once was, with the UI now falling broadly in line with stock Android. There are a few neat additions though, such as the BlinkFeed home screen feed for news and social updates.

See at Sprint
See at Verizon
See at Amazon

OnePlus 3T

The OnePlus 3T, which unexpectedly replaced the OnePlus 3 last fall, is barely half a year old, yet with a highly competitive price and top-tier specs, it’s worthy of a place on our list. The 3T’s metal shell now comes in gunmetal grey, soft gold and midnight black color options, and your choice of 64 or 128GB of storage. Powering the whole assembly is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821, along with an ample 6GB of RAM — still the most we’ve seen in any mainstream phone to date.

OnePlus continues to go from strength to strength.

And that means the 3T is fast — particularly when upgraded to the latest Android 7.1-based OxygenOS software. Though OnePlus has had a mixed track record with software, the company has come a long way in recent months, being the first besides Google to roll out a 7.1.1 update. For those who appreciate a clean, stock Android-like aesthetic, this might be the best non-Pixel option out there.

Software updates have also allowed OnePlus to steadily improve image quality from its 16-megapixel rear camera, which has OIS and uses an f/2.0 lens. It’s not quite as dependable as the Galaxy S7 or Pixel in low light, but it holds its own surprisingly well, and the “HQ” mode allows you to eke more fine detail out of some scenes.

Last but not least, OnePlus has some of the fastest charging tech around, thanks to Dash Charge, which can get you out of the danger zone quicker than Qualcomm Quick Charge.

See at OnePlus
See at Amazon

Google Pixel / Pixel XL

Google’s Pixel phones were the best Android handsets released in 2016 that didn’t also catch on fire explode, and that means that while they’re still expensive, they deserve a place on this list.

The Pixels are expensive, and now six months old, but still among the best out there.

Whether you choose the 5-inch Pixel or the 5.5-inch Pixel XL, you’re getting a fast Android experience with Google’s clean, light Pixel UI and speedy updates to new versions of Android as they roll out. (The Pixels are sure to beat everything on this list to Android O when the final version is available.)

The design, while not as eye-catching or sleek as others released in 2016, is comfortable and sturdy, with a brushed aluminum rear and a unique glass section around the back. Beyond the speed and software experience, the Pixel also boasts one of the best cameras on any smartphone, thanks to a capable Sony IMX378 sensor and Google’s legendary HDR+ technology.

More: Google Pixel review

See at Google
See at Verizon

How to buy legal weed in the online era

Medical cannabis is now legal in a majority of US states — 28 plus DC, to be precise. As the legalization movement continues to gain momentum, buying weed “over the counter” is easier than ever. You no longer have to “know a guy”; you just need to know an app. And we’re not talking about scouring the Dark Web for black market drug bazaars. These days, getting cannabis delivered to your door is only marginally tougher than signing up for Amazon Prime.

Unless you’re lucky enough to already live in one of the seven states that have legalized recreational cannabis, the first thing you’ll need to do is acquire a medical cannabis license to treat the valid medical condition that you are suffering from. If you’re not sure whether you have a qualifying condition, you can find out here. Obtaining a license is especially easy to do online in California, where apps like EazeMD and NuggMD offer discounted evaluations that can be completed in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, it isn’t quite so simple in other states and you’ll likely have to make an in-person appointment instead. Luckily, sites like Medical Marijuana Doctors and Leafly maintain up-to-date listings of local doctors, as well as pricing and office hours. In some cases you can even make your appointment online too. How easy is that?

Once you have been legally empowered to purchase medical cannabis, it’s time to educate yourself about what you’re about to put in your body. Once again, your two best options are Leafly and Massroots, both of which offer in-depth strain guides that will present you with a good deal of factual knowledge — at least a lot more than a list of strain names like Blue Dream, Green Crack and Sour Diesel will. Both sites also allow you to search for strains based on your medical condition or the desired effects you wish to achieve. You can even research the ever-growing range of edibles, from THC-infused honey sticks to intimate massage oils, and concentrates like oils, crumbles, waxes and shatters.

If you can’t find the answers you’re looking for on either of those sites, you’re still in luck, because this is the internet. Classic stoner mags like High Times have long since made the jump to digital and have been joined by a plethora of reputable sites like Cannabis News, which aggregates stories from various wire services. There’s also The Cannabist, which covers both breaking news and the wider stoner culture, and The Merry Jane, a news-and-features site started by Snoop Dogg.

Now that you have your license and know what you’re doing, it’s time to score some weed. Relax, it’s 2017: the process is pretty mundane at this point. On one hand, you can schlep over to the nearest dispensary and stand in line. On the other hand, you could just pull out your phone and have your order delivered to your front door. A number of dispensaries, like The Green Cross and Medithrive in San Francisco, offer online ordering and GrubHub-style delivery.

Additionally, outfits like SpeedWeed in LA, Eaze and Meadow all offer dedicated delivery services, and sites like Where’s Weed and Weed Maps will point you to reputable third parties. Unfortunately, as with online recommendations, the law on deliveries varies from state to state (and sometimes city to city), so make sure you know which side of the law your delivery guy is on.

Finally, we get to the good part: partaking. But I swear to all that is good and stony, you will put that homebrew honeybear bong down right now. You just went through all that trouble to get a license, educate yourself, find a dispensary, and buy some weed using your pocket computer and you’re going to smoke it out of a … is, is that a goddamn apple? That’s like cooking a Wagyu steak to well-done and then slathering it in ketchup. I mean, we’re living in the 21st century. We’ve got AI assistants and self-driving cars and you want to smoke weed that has been scientifically engineered to be as potent as possible, and tenderly grown in a state-of-the-art hydroponic farm, out of an empty soda can like it’s 1983. For shame.

See, there’s this new thing called vaping, which vaporizes the active ingredients (namely THC and the cannabinoids) of the flower without combusting the actual plant matter itself. That way, you get all of the beneficial effects without the gross tar and carcinogens.

There are a plethora of both tabletop and handheld vaporizers on the market today. Marquee brands like Volcano, Vape Xhale and Pax are generally both safe bets, but expect to pay a premium price for their premium performance. If you can’t afford those, here are some things to look for in your vapes:

• Always go for convection heating elements over conduction coils if at all possible. The coils tend to burn out quickly and get gummed up with concentrate.
• Put the torch down. If you’re getting into dabs, you’ll be far better (and more safely) served by upgrading to an e-nail like the White Rhino Torrid, which retrofits your existing water pipe into a dabbing rig, or the Dr Dabber Boost and Source Nail, which allow you to do honest-to-goodness dabs while on the go.
• Avoid knockoffs. There are a ton of cheap vapes circulating online, so make sure you know what you’re buying before reaching for your wallet. The Wirecutter is always a good resource in these matters.

With these online resources, you should be able to better understand — and more responsibly enjoy — the wondrous world of semi-legalized weed using only your smartphone. Finally, you can stop tipping your delivery guy in nugs.

‘Arden’s Wake’ paves the way for never-ending VR stories

Making movies in virtual reality is easy. Making good animated movies in virtual reality is hard. There’s no “mise en scène” to play with, and the even the basic 180-degree rule is washed away with a head turn. The limitations of a cinema screen make storytelling easier, linear, comfortable. Penrose Studios doesn’t care much for comfort, it seems. The same studio that gave us the haunting Allumette and infantile captivation of The Rose and I is back at the Tribeca Film Festival this year with its third VR story — Arden’s Wake — and it promises to be bigger, more detailed and more technically improbable than anything we’ve seen from the studio seen so far.

Little did I know when I watched a preview of Arden’s Wake recently at Penrose’s San Francisco HQ that the world of virtual reality was about to shift. This week, Facebook revealed Spaces, an app that melds hanging out with real friends with the synthetic worlds of VR. While Zuckerberg’s frivolous virtual selfies might be getting the headlines, Penrose has quietly been using VR collaboration almost every day for the past 18 months. CEO Eugene Chung explained to me that Arden’s Wake likely wouldn’t have been possible, not at this level of visual fidelity and sophistication, without it.

Collaborating inside the actual virtual world they were creating itself was so crucial that Penrose developed its own in-house tool for the job: Maestro. Imagine a VR Slack with moonlike faces for avatars, and chunky articulated hands. Maestro allows everyone involved on a project, creatives and engineers alike, to step out of their separate professional worlds, into the same virtual one. “We’re cooking food in the kitchen because we’re hungry,” Chung tells me, explaining that in absence of any existing tools for the job, Penrose was basically forced to create its own. “I don’t think we could have done any of the Penrose sequences without Maestro,” he says.

Arden’s Wake takes place in the middle of the ocean sometime after the family of its hero, Meena, is torn apart during an accident at sea. The episode I was shown is described as the prologue for a tale that will continue to grow in installments. It sets the scene, the context and the back story, with just enough teasing elements to have you hungry to know what happens next. Meena’s father, Tide, is an inventor, but is he a good inventor? We catch a glimpse at a potential love interest and a mysterious beast in the darkest depths of the deep blue. Each character’s role is unclear right now, but the delivery is captivating.

Artistically, Penrose’s last project, Allumette, sits somewhere between Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Quirky and magical. Arden’s Wake is much closer to something you’d expect from Disney or Pixar in its aesthetic style. (Penrose’s staff does contain some Pixar DNA.) The artistic style is vaguely similar to what we’ve seen before in Henry (by Oculus Story Studio, where Chung once also worked). The distinctive visual style makes Arden’s Wake feel more like a “proper movie.” The characteristics of the world it portrays feel familiar, so your attention isn’t drawn away from the characters but it’s visually compelling enough that you sneak a look around any moment you can.

I am given the chance to dive into Maestro to see how the team collaborates in the virtual world they have created. This is my first time in a “social” VR environment, and it’s hard not to smile the first time a real-not-real VR person waves at me. Through my headphones, I hear my boss’s familiar yet disembodied voice (he’s in the same building in real life, but also in the virtual meeting), and it’s all jolly fun. But then the work starts, and the tone changes.

Chung talks us through what’s happening, and the basics of how Maestro works. He also explains why the avatars are so simplistic. It’s the same reason Facebook would give a week later: Real faces, skin and expressions are just too much “uncanny valley” right now. I later find out my boss’s avatar had an older setting that gave him more realistic appendages, and for the first time, I felt genuine retroactive hand envy.

Inside Maestro, we’re once again in Meena’s world, this time joined by a huddled crowd of artists and developer avatars. Animator Bruna Berford is holding virtual court, scrubbing back and forth a part of the scene in which Meena walks across the mezzanine in her wooden house. Berford thinks one, maybe two steps don’t quite look natural enough and draws a virtual path within the scene to show how she thinks it would feel more natural. Virtual heads nod, and the occasional chunky hand waves a gesture. Meanwhile, I have a very real sensation I’m standing in someone’s virtual way. Even digital worlds still have human problems.

If Maestro has been around for so long, why is Penrose just showing it now? There are probably a few reasons. First, it’s a constant work in progress and has likely only just reached a stage where it’s stable enough for media eyes. Also, naturally, there’s the question of intellectual property and keeping new tools out of the way of curious, unwanted eyes. Chung’s clearly ready to stick his flag in the ground, though. “I think in the next two years social collaboration and social connection will drive the next wave in virtual reality.” Chung, technically a former Facebook employee (via his time at Oculus), may also know that with F8 approaching, it was probably a good time to ride the wave of interest in social VR.

That doesn’t mean Chung doesn’t want to share Maestro with the community. “We’re crafting one of the most powerful social applications in the world out of necessity,” he told me. “But at this early stage of virtual reality, it’s almost better to share [with the community].” But he’s not naive; he knows he may have a product on his hands. “I think there are some really powerful consumer applications. […] This is effectively like Slack for the virtual world.”

Penrose’s San Francisco office looks much like you’d expect an animation studio to look: Open spaces, with a kitchen full of snacks to keep empty bellies from rumbling, and large glass-fronted meeting spaces with wooden floors, where hand-drawn slides adorn the walls. The postcard-size drawings form a storyboard of virtual-reality possibilities, potential narratives for Arden’s Wake, but it’s clear that Maestro is the glue that holds it all together.

I asked Chung what’s next, both for Arden’s Wake and Maestro. The focus right now is with the Tribeca Film Festival, where the short film will have its world premiere (in the Immersive category and Virtual Arcade section). Chung already said that the film is part of a series, and anticipates the next chapter — which is already underway — will be ready by the fall. Part of the problem with episodic ventures like this is that VR is evolving almost in real time. Maintaining the core feel of the film is potentially at odds with capitalizing on the latest technology and innovation.

“With VR we have the possibility of people coming back to these worlds if they love what’s happening there,” said Chung. “Additionally, you can add interactivity. But the most intriguing thing is: How do you build full interactivity with a full story and get that to work together? And that’s going to involve a lot of AI.” Something he and his team are still experimenting with.

If you’re not at Tribeca, you’ll be able to find Arden’s Wake on Steam, PSVR, Oculus Rift and, eventually, Daydream and Gear VR. Right now, the challenges with mobile are the technical limitations. I was shown a mobile translation of The Rose and I, and graphically it’s very similar to the original — but it’s the positional tracking that’s the problem (somewhat mitigated by creative use of the Daydream controller).

Perhaps the most immediate challenge for Penrose is recognizing where it finds itself. Virtual reality is a microcosm consisting of art, software and hardware. Chung’s studio straddles two of those three pillars. It’s a company that could as easily win an Oscar as it could birth the future of virtual-reality collaboration. No mean feat for a young Bay Area film studio. Chung, for his part, is a little more pragmatic: “It’s that synthesis of the two that allows us to do what we do.”

Spotify lets thousands of indie labels limit free streaming

With an IPO looming, streaming music leader Spotify has been inking a number of new deals with record labels to ensure it has the content it needs to keep growing. The latest deal comes with Merlin, an agency that represents a swath of various independent record label around the world. In a press release today, Spotify noted that this new multi-year deal would keep ensure that Merlin’s music stayed available on Spotify, something it’ll certainly need going forward. All told, Merlin is the fourth-biggest music provider that Spotify works with, behind the three massive major labels.

But the biggest news from this new deal is that Merlin will also get to restrict new releases from Spotify’s free tier for up to two weeks. Spotify has historically fought long and hard against splitting up its catalog between free and paid users, but it finally relented when signing a new deal with Universal Music a few weeks ago. (Some would say it didn’t have a real choice in the matter anymore.) Now, it seems that two-week window is going to become the standard when new music hits Spotify.

With new deals set for Universal and Merlin, it’s likely we’ll see Sony Music and Warner Music Group also ink new contracts in the coming months. Given that Merlin is able to take advantage of what Spotify sneakily calls its “flexible release policy,” it’s likely that Sony and Warner will also get on board here — which means that basically all notable new releases won’t be immediately available to free users.

Labels represented by Merlin include electronic-focused Armada, Beggars Group (whose sub-labels feature notable artists like Adele, Alabama Shakes, The National, Pavement, Beck, The Strokes and many more), the legendary Seattle-based Sub Pop and the punk-focused Epitaph. If you’re a fan of those labels but aren’t paying for Spotify, be aware you’ll now have to be patient when looking for new releases

Source: Spotify

Stream from your Android device to an Apple TV with an $8 app

Non-Apple-device Airplay streaming to Apple TV effectively died when Apple pushed tvOS 10.2 into the world. But the folks who enabled it in the first place, doubleTwist, have returned to fix that. “We went ahead and added support for Apple’s new pairing process in the latest doubleTwist Pro release because we believe the era of walled gardens is long gone,” a post on the developer’s blog says. Meaning, if you didn’t already have the premium app, all it’ll cost to get FLAC files from your Android device to your Apple TV is a spare $8. Handy!

Source: Google Play, doubleTwist

Shopify Debuts New Chip and Swipe Card Reader, Will Be Free for Businesses Without POS Systems

At Shopify’s Unite developer conference in San Francisco today, the software-focused e-commerce company has debuted a new hardware product, which it simply calls the “Chip & Swipe Credit Card Reader” (via TechCrunch). Similar to other card readers, Shopify’s product allows merchants who run small businesses to accept a wide variety of credit cards as payment options, although it lacks Square Reader’s NFC support for services like Apple Pay.

The Shopify Chip & Swipe Reader is a modular solution that allows the reader to be detached from its base so merchants can handle card swipes from any angle. To dock, the reader connects to the base via micro USB, but Shopify said that the reader itself could handle an entire week’s worth of transactions before needing to be docked and charged. Different mounting accessories beyond the simple dock sold at launch are said to be coming in the future.

“What people forget is that it’s not just the merchant that’s touching the hardware, like a cash register,” Shopify VP of Product Satish Kanwar said. “When it comes to a card reader, it’s the shopper that’s interacting with the device and inputting their card as well. What we realized is that it’s really hard to get a good balance of good quality, versatility and something that provides that delightful experience in something that’s also affordable.”

Shopify’s reader will be free to all Shopify merchants without a current Shopify point-of-sale solution (the company also has a sales terminal with full tap, swipe, and chip payment compatibility that does support Apple Pay). For everyone else, the new reader will cost $29, and will process payments at 2.4 percent per transaction. The reader will connect to both iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth.

Merchants interested can pre-order the device today, and the launch window is currently predicted as sometime in June. There’s also a 14 day free trial for those who sign up for pre-orders.

Tag: Shopify
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iPhone Ownership Reaches All-Time High in United States

Apple currently has more iPhone users in the United States than at any point in history, according to market research firm comScore.

There are now over an estimated 85.8 million iPhone owners aged 13 and older in the United States, based on a three-month average ending December 2016, according to comScore MobiLens Plus. Apple’s latest iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models accounted for approximately 15 percent of that total.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s models, including their respective Plus-sized versions, remain Apple’s most popular smartphones in the U.S. with an estimated 48.4 percent share of the overall installed base. Meanwhile, an estimated 17.8 percent of the users are still using an iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, or iPhone 5c.

iPhone is the most popular smartphone in both the United States and the world, according to market research firms Kantar Worldpanel and IHS Markit respectively. iOS adoption trails Android in the United States, however, given a wider variety of Android smartphones available to purchase.

iOS adoption among smartphone users aged 13 and older is an estimated 43 percent in the United States, based on a three-month average ending December 2016, according to comScore. The research firm places Android at 54 percent during the same time period, with BlackBerry and Windows 10 Mobile barely registering.

comScore’s data differs from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, which estimated that the iPhone’s installed base reached 132 million units in the United States as of December 2016. However, CIRP’s data is extrapolated from a survey of 500 Apple customers with no 13-and-over age parameter.

Tag: comScore
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