Apple Rumored to Discontinue iPad Mini

Waiting for an iPad mini 5? You may be disappointed. BGR, citing a source close to Apple, claims the 7.9-inch tablet is being phased out. The report doesn’t offer a timeline as to when the iPad mini will be discontinued, and its sources couldn’t confirm if the iPad mini 4 will remain on sale for a period of time.

Apple is rumored to introduce a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro as early as the WWDC 2017 keynote on June 5, so it’s conceivable to think the iPad mini could be axed then if the report is accurate. Apple’s tablet lineup would then consist of the iPad Pro in 12.9-inch, 10.5-inch, and 9.7-inch sizes, and the new low-cost 9.7-inch iPad.

Apple launched the original iPad mini in 2012. Since the iPhone 6 Plus launched in 2014, it’s been speculated that the 5.5-inch smartphone may be at least partially cannibalizing sales of the iPad mini, but Apple doesn’t break out its tablet sales numbers on a model-by-model basis, so it’s hard to say for sure.

Nearly two months ago, Apple discontinued the iPad mini 2 and stopped selling a 32GB version of the iPad mini 4. It also lowered the starting price of the 128GB iPad mini 4 to $399, which was previously the 32GB model’s price point.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara claimed Apple would release a 7.9-inch iPad Pro in March with a Smart Connector, True Tone display, four speakers and microphones, a 12-megapixel rear camera with True Tone flash, and an improved processor, but it’s already May and the rumor has yet to materialize.

Related Roundup: iPad mini 4 (2015)
Tag: bgr.com
Buyer’s Guide: iPad Mini (Caution)
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Samsung Pay now available in UK for Galaxy smartphone users

Samsung Pay has been promised for the UK for over a year, since the launch of the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge smartphones in fact. Now it’s ready for public consumption and Samsung has launched it for Galaxy S8, S8+, S7, S7 edge, S6 and S6 edge phones. The latter is subject to a software update.

It will also be available on “additional devices” in the UK in the coming months.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphone users also have the option to use the iris scanner on their devices to make payments, however the contactless payment service works similarly on all supported handsets.

Samsung Pay will work wherever you can use a contactless debit or credit card, including the London Underground and other travel networks.

You just swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the last used credit or debit card and confirm the purchase through the fingerprint sensor or iris scanner.

It currently works with several UK payment cards, including Mastercard and Visa cards issued by MBNA, Nationwide and Santander. Other partners, such as American Express, First Direct, HSBC and M&S Bank will be added soon.

It is not yet known whether the system works with magnetic strip technology, as demonstrated on the Galaxy S6 at launch. That would expand the service’s reach to also include include compatibility with non-contactless payment devices in stores up and down the country.

What is Samsung Pay and how does it work?

Samsung Pay has been active in several countries, including the US and South Korea, for a while and is now available in the UK too.

It is a platform that allows you to pay for goods and services simply by waving your Samsung device near a cash register instead of swiping a credit card or doling out your payment information, a bit like Apple Pay or Google Pay on rival phones.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Samsung Pay: What do I need?

The payment platform is baked into Samsung Galaxy devices – from Galaxy S6, Note 5 and up – so it’ll work with a compatible device. You can also use it with the Gear S3 smartwatch in some regions.

You simply download and install the Samsung Pay Android app on your compatible phone, register desired cards and accounts and it will draw directly from these chosen sources when making a payment.

There are also plans for a Samsung Pay Mini app, it is said, which will work with other Android devices.

Pocket-lint

Samsung Pay: How does it work?

When using a phone: by swiping up from the bottom of the display (on either the sleep or home screens) the Samsung Pay app will launch and your default card will appear along with a message to authenticate a payment with their fingerprint (or iris scanner on Galaxy S8 and S8+). If a different card is needed, a simple left or right swipe will bring up others stored in your phone.

Once the payment has been biometrically authorised (hence compatibility with the latest devices only, as these have fingerprint or iris scanners) the phone tells you to tap it onto the contactless payment reader and bingo, a payment is made via NFC (near field communication).

Samsung Pay: More than NFC

Samsung Pay offers more than just NFC in some regions, such as the US. In an attempt to spearhead the mobile wallet space, while simultaneously taking on Apple Pay, Samsung acquired LoopPay – a startup that invented a mobile wallet technology called MST (Magnetic Strip Technology).

MST allows a contactless payment to be made with terminals that do not feature NFC readers (mostly outside the UK), which opens up a lot more retailers to the payment tech. It can also send the payment information to conventional terminals in stores that have the old-fashioned magnetic strip instead. Samsung told us during a demo that this covers the vast amount of payment terminals in the world.

Pocket-lint

A two-step payment process works like so: LoopPay’s app manages and securely stores all your payment cards (including credit, debit, loyalty, and gift cards) on a mobile device, while the LoopPay device (LoopPay Fob, ChargeCase, Card, or CardCase) processes your payment at the checkout as if you had swiped your card like usual.

What’s more, there is no danger of paying twice as the phone will prioritise an NFC signal if it finds one, while MST is passive and will only be utilised if no other contactless payment signal is found first.

Samsung Pay vs Apple Pay: What’s the difference?

Apple Pay employs an NFC chip into its smartphone, just like Samsung. Apple has steadily bulked its range of partners that accept Apple Pay and most recently included support for US federal payment cards.

The biggest difference between Apple Pay and Samsung Pay is that Apple Pay is accepted at fewer registers because it doesn’t include MST. Samsung Pay also has the potential of being accepted at 30-million merchant locations around the world, though both payment platforms have lined up several partners to back their payment systems.

Samsung Pay: Compatible banks and service providers

In its US guise, Samsung Pay has lots of available providers. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, US Bank, and PNC are the majors, along with a long list of additional providers. Furthermore the MST technology enables Samsung Pay to support private label credit cards from key partners like Synchrony Financial and First Data Corporation.

Samsung’s service is similar to Apple Pay in operation, in that different banks need to confirm their compatibility. When Apple Pay launched in the UK it took some time for all the major banks to be on board.

At present, Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards from Santander, MBNA and Nationwide are launch partners for the UK. HSBC, American Express, M&S Bank and Fire Direct will follow.

Pocket-lint

Samsung Pay: Payment limits

The payment limit is set by the bank or vendor, not by Samsung, so is different in different regions – not a fixed £20/£30 maximum per transaction, as with contactless cards.

But if you need to pay for an item above the set limit, the app will simply request you to enter a PIN code to confirm for the larger amount.

Samsung Pay: How secure is it?

In terms of security, Samsung told Pocket-lint that not only are details protected by Samsung’s Knox real-time hacking surveillance and rooting prevention, but no card details are stored on either a Samsung server or the device itself.

Just like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay uses tokenisation. Card payments are made secure by creating a number or token that replaces your card details. This token is stored within a secure element chip on your device, and when a payment is initiated, the token is passed to the retailer or merchant. The retailer therefore never has direct access to your card details.

In addition Samsung Pay offers ARM TrustZone to further protect transaction information from attacks.

When will Samsung Pay launch in the UK?

Samsung Pay is now available in the UK, having launched on Tuesday 16 May 2017. It is also available in the US, South Korea, Spain, China, Thailand, UAE, Sweden, Hong Kong and Switzerland.

UploadVR sued for ‘rampant’ sexism, general awfulness

UploadVR is the workplace that has everything, at least if you enjoy walking around an office with condom wrappers on the floor. That’s just one of many charges being leveled against it by its former director of digital and social media in a recent lawsuit. She alleges that the company was a hotbed of “rampant” sexism and that its co-founders created a toxic working environment for women.

UploadVR’s founders, Will Mason and Taylor Freeman, stand accused of running their company more like a “boy’s club” than a startup. The list of charges directed at both them and the business’ employees more generally is staggering. Beyond UploadVR not paying women the same as men for the same work, female employees were told to do menial jobs like cleaning the office, because that was a “womanly task.”

Oh, it allegedly gets worse, because female employees were discussed, in their presence, by male employees in the office. For instance, one charming individual told his colleague that she had given him a “boner,” and that he was heading to the bathroom to “rub one out.”

The documents also allege that there is a room in the UploadVR offices containing a bed that is frequently garnished with discarded underwear and condom wrappers. Another employee is alleged to have brought their partner into the office, where they proceeded to “straddle” them in view of other workers.

TechCrunch received a statement from Mason and Freeman, denying the allegations and saying that its workplace culture is nothing like the description.

“We cannot comment directly on any pending litigation. What we want to express is that our employees are our greatest asset and the sole reason for the success of this company. We are committed to creating a positive community in VR/AR as well as within our company culture and will work to further develop that mission in the future. We are confident that the true nature of how we treat our employees and how we operate as leaders will shine through this unfortunate situation and confirm that these allegations are entirely without merit.”

Source: TechCrunch, Complaint (.PDF)

Samsung Pay finally launches in the UK

It took it’s sweet time, but Samsung Pay is now available in the UK. If you own any device in the Galaxy S6, S7 or S8 family, as well as the Galaxy A3 or Galaxy A5, you now have the option to pay for things without cards or cash. The company has teamed up with Visa and Mastercard to enable the option, but only customers who bank with MBNA, Nationwide and Santander are currently able to try out Samsung’s answer to Android Pay and Apple Pay.

If Samsung Pay isn’t installed on your device, make sure you grab it from the Google Play Store. You’ll then be asked to authenticate your fingerprint and add one of your supported cards. Once added, you only need to swipe up on your phone’s screen to select your card and confirm the payment via fingerprint, iris scan or passcode. Then it’s a simple case of touching your phone to the payment terminal.

Samsung Pay’s journey across the Atlantic has been a painful one. The NFC payment platform originally debuted in Korea in August 2015 before making its way to the US a month later. It took another year for the service to reach Canada, after which Samsung confirmed that the UK wouldn’t see anything until 2017. The smartphone maker neglected to explain the reasons behind the delay, but reports suggested that negotiations with UK banks were to blame.

While only newer Galaxy and A-series smartphones currently support Samsung Pay in the UK, Samsung says the Gear S3 smartwatch will be added to the roster “soon.” American Express, first direct, HSBC and M&S Bank are also expected to join the platform

Zenimax turns on Samsung after victory in Oculus VR suit

Zenimax and Oculus aren’t quite done duking it out in court, but the former has already taken on yet another adversary. The software company has filed a lawsuit against Samsung for infringing on its copyright, since it uses Oculus tech to power the Gear VR. It’s accusing the Korean giant of continuing with the device’s development despite knowing about the details of its lawsuit against the Facebook-owned firm. Samsung, it says, didn’t even ask for permission knowing full well that it sued Oculus for stealing its technology and even released an updated version of the Gear VR after the court awarded it a partial victory.

If you’ll recall, Zenimax sued the VR company for $4 billion for stealing trade secrets, among other things, when it hired John Carmack, the co-founder of one of its properties called id Software. It accused Carmack of taking the technology he was developing with him to Oculus when he transferred. In the end, the court ruled that Oculus must pay Zenimax $500 million for copyright infringement and because its co-founder, Palmer Luckey, broke an NDA. The jury determined, however, that Oculus didn’t steal any trade secrets, so the plaintiff didn’t get the $4 billion it was asking for.

In addition to accusing Samsung of knowingly infringing on its copyright, Zenimax said Carmack came up with the idea for a mobile VR when it was still with id Software. The exec reportedly snuck former id creative director Matt Hooper into the company’s offices one night and came up with an “attack plan” for mobile VR. Hooper then called his contacts at Oculus and told them about the project they plan to work on when they transfer.

Zenimax’s new lawsuit is seeking royalties, damages and profits from the sales of infringing works and use of trade secrets. The decision the court came up with for its previous lawsuit could affect the outcome for this one, though it’s worth noting that Oculus is till fighting that decision and has maintained its innocence from the start. Carmack also has an ongoing case against Zenimax for unpaid acquisition money: he says the company still owes him $22.5 million for id Software’s acquisition from way back in 2009.

Via: The Verge

Source: Polygon

The first television with Amazon Fire TV built in is just fine

Sure, you can get a Fire TV stick with an Alexa remote and plug it into your existing television set to make it smart. But that setup can’t pull in streams from all the devices you have connected, like your PlayStation, antenna and whatever else you have stuck in your HDMI ports. Nor can it integrate all those inputs seamlessly into the OS. But if a central hub for all of your streaming content is important to you, and if you have money just laying around, consider the new Element Fire TV Edition. It’s the first television with Fire TV OS built in, thanks to a collaboration between Amazon and TV maker Element. Starting at $449 for a 43-inch version, the Edition adds a few conveniences to the existing interface that you won’t get with only the stick.

First, since this system is integrated natively, it can detect the devices you’ve hooked up to your TV and display them in what Amazon calls a “content row”. That’s the row of thumbnails you’ll see representing each TV show, or in this case, input device, on the home page. This layout makes it easy to see what you have playing on each satellite device, and lets you quickly jump back into what you were watching before. During my demo, there was no lag during playback, and Element’s rep was able to jump between input channels smoothly.

Another difference between the Edition and a Fire TV stick is the former’s ability to manage live content. With an HD antenna connected, you can pull broadcasts into the OS and see what’s streaming without having to leave the home page. Live channels show up as another content row, and you can see what’s on the air. A progress bar also indicates how long each particular show has been playing, and how much of each is left. As you are watching something live, you can also pause playback for up to 90 seconds and rewind to pick up where you left off. That 90-second-window can be expanded if you pop in an SD card, but it’s not clear how much extra time you gain.

Amazon also baked in a channel guide interface that lets you view up to 14 days of live programming information. You can favorite specific channels and filter the table to only show your preferred outlets. And because it’s an Amazon device, you can also summon Alexa to help you find your favorite show, no matter where it’s playing. Say, for instance, you want to watch Empire. Tell Alexa, “Play Empire,” and it will find a version that you have access to, whether it’s streaming on Hulu or on broadcasting Fox. This is particularly helpful when there’s a movie you’d like to stream, but don’t want to shell out for it. Alexa can look up versions available now, but it will also show you when that title is next playing for free on TV, so you can set yourself a reminder to watch it then.

Just like on the Fire TV stick, Alexa can also control your smart home devices, like your Philips Hue lights or thermostat. Amazon has also tailored the interface to display visual aids when you’re interacting with Alexa on the TV so you can see restaurant ratings and reviews when you look up the best dining locations around you. Unfortunately, you’ll have to press a button on the Fire TV remote to talk to Alexa, as the Edition will not be always-listening for the wake word. Those who are more security-conscious may find this a blessing, but people who want the convenience of not having to speak into a remote control to use a voice assistant will be disappointed.

Everything I described worked smoothly during my brief time with a 65-inch unit of the Edition, which also comes in 50- and 55-inch models. All options have are 4K, and based on the vibrance and clarity of my demo unit, the TVs are bright and colorful enough to do your favorite movies justice. Of course, the quality doesn’t compare to the high-end OLED sets from Samsung and LG, which had more stunning and saturated images. The Edition’s onboard speakers provided ample volume for both onscreen dialogue and music playback, too. In the meeting room we were in, though, the overhead lights were frequently reflected by the screen, causing a glare in some spots and also making it extremely difficult to take a nice picture of the Edition.

The TVs are available with Element or Westinghouse branding, with no difference in price between the two, since they are, well, the same company. Aside from the logos below the screens, the devices from both labels will be identical. Prices start at $449 (for the 43-inch model), through to $549 (50-inch), $649 (55-inch) and $899 (65-inch). Those who pre-order on Amazon starting today will also get an AmazonBasics indoor HD TV antenna — all the better to make use of those new live TV feature with, right?

In my short time trying it out, Amazon and Element’s collaboration appears well-executed, but whether consumers are willing to buy the Edition for its live TV and input integration features, over more established (or cheaper) TV sets is another question altogether.

The latest ‘Pokémon Go’ event is all about rock

With the one year anniversary of Pokémon Go approaching, Niantic and the Pokémon Company have launched (another) in-game event called Adventure Week. From May 18th until May 25th, trainers will encounter an increasing number of Rock-type Pokémon, including Omanyte, Kabuto and their “Evolutions.” Players will also be more likely to see rare Rock critters, including Aerodactyl, Onix and Sudowoodo, the companies say.

On top of the whole Rock thing, more items will be available at each PokéStop, and Buddy Pokémon only have to walk a quarter the usual distance to find Candy. The company has also launched a new avatar wardrobe item, the Aventurer’s Hat, available to all trainers for free.

The Adventure Week, which mirrors other recent events, should keep the game’s user base satisfied for now. After second generation pokémon reignited interest in the game, players are now anticipating big new changes, possibly in time for the first anniversary. Niantic is reportedly working on new gym changes to make battles more interesting, and introducing “raids,” legendary pokémon and more. Despite the falloff in play, there are reportedly still 65 million users around the globe, so the franchise is still a big moneymaker for Niantic.

Instagram apes Snapchat yet again with face filters

At this point, it’s probably easier to note the features Instagram and Facebook haven’t swiped from Snapchat. Those tools already include the likes of Stories, stickers and more. Today, the filter-driven photo app announced a slew of new features, one of which looks quite familiar: face filters. That’s tight, the goofy headwear, animal noses, glasses and more you know and love on Snapchat are now available for your selfies on Instagram.

Are these exactly the same at Snapchat’s version? Instagram says they’re different. At TechCrunch Disrupt, the company’s product head Kevin Weil explained why. “You’ll see as you use them, there’s a level of craft and detail with each one of the eight face filters that I think is unique,” he said. Weil used the example of the koala ears filter and how they twitch like a real bear’s ears naturally do. In other words, Instagram is making the case that their face filters are more realistic and life-like than Snapchat’s selfie lenses. Of course, we’ll put out selfie experts on the case to be the judge of that.

.@kevinweil explains how @Instagram face filters are different than Snapchat selfie lenses #TCDisrupt pic.twitter.com/2n0RDmWA0I

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 16, 2017

Instagram isn’t stopping at face filters in this update though, it also added the ability to play videos backwards with the camera. There’s a new “Rewind” option that site right beside Boomerang in the camera window that will play whatever footage you capture in reverse. There are also new hashtag stickers that you can customize with whatever subject matter to need to include on your images and clips. Lastly, a new eraser brush drawing tool will allow you to scribble away letters from a solid color to reveal your photo underneath.

Source: Instagram

Apple Pay May Launch in Italy as Soon as Tomorrow

Apple Pay could arrive in Italy as soon as tomorrow, according to Italian tech blog MacPost.it. The imminent launch of Apple’s mobile payment system in Italy has been rumored for several weeks now, but the website claims to have spoken to three different sources from the retail and banking sector who independently confirmed that Apple Pay is set to go live on Wednesday throughout the country.

The exact time of the launch remains unknown, according to the sources, but the general expectation is that Apple Pay will be announced in the morning. Meanwhile, in another indication of the impending launch, the Apple Maps app has started listing Apple Pay as “accepted” at certain retail outlets in Italy, as the following image provided by MacPost.it shows.

Last week, MacRumors noted that an Apple support document shows Italy highlighted on a map which is supposed to indicate Apple Pay participating banks and card issuers. Apple’s regional Italian website has listed Apple Pay as “coming soon” since March. Now it looks like it may be only hours away. The contactless payment service is expected to be available in the country through UniCredit, Carrefour Bank, and Boon.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Italy
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