Why don’t we pay for everything with our phones now? We asked the experts

Our smartphones have replaced MP3 players, compact cameras, and handheld video game consoles, but they still haven’t killed off wallets or purses. Even though you can use all the latest Android smartphones or iPhones to pay for your goods and services, most of us don’t.

Only 21 percent of people with Apple Pay, 14 percent of those with Samsung Pay, and 10 percent of people with access to Android Pay on their smartphones have actually used it, according to surveys by PYMNTS.com. To make matters worse, most of those people tried it once and then went back to cards and cash.

“There are three factors right now limiting mobile payment adoption: Value proposition, lack of ubiquity, and fear,” Daniel Csoka, managing director of Mobile Money Matters, told Digital Trends. “What is the value proposition for me to make a mobile payment? My credit card works just fine.”

“It needs to work everywhere, every time.”

Respondents to the PYMNTS survey agree. They consistently gave satisfaction with their current payment methods as the main reason for not using mobile wallets, followed by uncertainty over how it works, and security concerns.

If you’ve tried mobile payments yourself, then you’ll understand the issue. It’s often faster to slip a card from your wallet and insert or swipe than it is to pull your phone out, unlock it, and complete your purchase. You also have to consider whether the technology is supported at the checkout. The last thing you want to do is get to the register and discover that the terminal won’t accept your payment method.

“It needs to work everywhere, every time,” Csoka said. “That’s why my card works so well, because it always works everywhere. We still don’t have ubiquity on mobile payments — some are NFC, some are QR codes, Apple Pay can’t talk to Android Pay, and with all these different payments sources, the merchant has to decide what to support.”

Outside of major cities, you’ll find it difficult to get by on mobile payments alone, and even in cities you’re generally limited to larger businesses. Only 36 percent of the merchants surveyed by J.P. Morgan Chase recently accept digital wallets today, but a surprising 69 percent of merchants expect to be accepting most of their payments using a digital wallet within five years. Interestingly, only 41 percent of consumers think they’ll be making most of their payments via mobile in five years.

“This is no different from when debit cards were introduced,” Ben Colvin, senior vice president of North America Security Solutions and Processing at Mastercard, told Digital Trends. “Consumers want to feel the means with which they’re paying is safe, but more, that they’re confident it will work.”

That confidence will surely build through experience, though progress looks to be much slower than many predicted. Even if the technology works and it’s available in most places, folks still need a compelling reason to change their habits.

“People are asking: Is it better than what I’m doing today?” Colvin said. “That usually becomes, ‘is it easier or quicker, or do I feel safer using it?’”

The security issue for mobile payments is an interesting one. There’s a general fear that mobile payments may be insecure, but it’s tied to personal information. A Mastercard survey found that 77 percent of Americans are anxious about their financial information and social security numbers being stolen or compromised, and 55 percent said they would rather have naked pictures of themselves leaked online than have their financial data stolen.

Concerns about identity theft and loss of funds are understandable, but they may be misplaced when it comes to mobile.

“A mobile payment transaction is safer than a card transaction.”

“A mobile payment transaction is safer than a card transaction,” Csoka said. “It’s like the early days of online payments, no one wanted to put their credit card online because they were worried hackers were going to steal it. We’re seeing that same trepidation with mobile payments.”

Since Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay are all pass-through technologies, that allow you to add and use cards, if you wanted to dispute a transaction, then you would take it up with the card issuer.

Your smartphone potentially adds extra layers of security because you must be in possession of the device and it has built-in location tracking, there’s also biometric authentication via fingerprint or iris scanning, and there’s scope for behavioral analysis.

“With behavioral biometrics, you can get that additional level of authentication without the consumer realizing it – creating a truly frictionless experience,” Colvin explains.

Mastercard recently acquired NuData, a security firm that draws on session and biometric information to analyze online, mobile app, and smartphone interactions, so it can distinguish authentic users from fraudsters and flag high-risk transactions.

In security terms, this kind of technology could make life for criminals very difficult indeed. It also has implications for convenience. One day soon, we may be able to walk into stores, pick up what we want and leave without swiping or tapping anything.

Csoka envisions a near future where our smartphones add value for merchants and consumers, and the shopping experience is “Uberized”. Picture this, if you will:

You drive to the mall and use your mobile app to get access to special VIP parking, because you’re a valued shopper. The mall now knows that you’ve arrived and Brooks Brothers sends you a notification that the blue blazer you were looking at online is in stock. You use indoor maps on your mobile to locate the store and, as you approach, a beacon informs the sales staff that you’ve arrived. There’s no register, but the assistant has an iPad and your photo and profile automatically pops up with details on what you want. They have the blazer ready, but also point out a buy-one-get-one-free deal on matching shirts. You try the blazer on, decide to take it along with the shirts, and simply walk out. The receipt is emailed to you.

This is personalized shopping, done in the cloud, and authenticated by your phone and store profile.

“Effective loyalty and offers combined with customer engagement, all surrounded by the fact that this is more secure than a credit card — that’s the winning combination,” says Csoka.

You’d be forgiven for having privacy concerns. The kind of system Csoka is talking about would require you to opt-in and agree to be tracked, though you might be surprised at the level of smartphone tracking that already goes on. Using a combination of apps and beacons, some companies already map your journey around a store, and they can tell if you spent ten minutes in front of that new LG OLED TV.

The companies that are vying for a slice of mobile payments have some good reasons for doing so. It’s not just about the bottom line. Walmart may be able to save on interchange fees with its own payment system – interchange fees are charged by card issuers and average 2 percent of transaction value in U.S. – but the data might be even more valuable to them.

“If I use my card they only know how much I spent, but they want to know what I bought,” says Csoka.

We know that tech giants like Google are drawing enormous value from big data, and so the battle for our mobile payments will rage on. But, while the value for merchants and payment providers isn’t that hard to see, the value for us is still not so clear.

The idea of ditching the physical wallet and having all our cards, including loyalty cards, on our phones is undeniably attractive for many of us, but it’s not enough. Even when mobile payment systems are ubiquitous, we’re confident that they work, and we’re convinced of their safety, providers are still going to have to persuade us to choose them over plastic, and the biggest stumbling block right now is convenience.

How to install the Deluxe Audio Strap on your HTC Vive

Adding a Deluxe Audio Strap to your Vive is easy, but a little nerve wracking.

HTC’s Deluxe Audio Strap, which as the name suggests adds headphones to the actual headset, is finally available to purchase. If you’re planning on picking on up, there’s a few things you need to know about how to attach this accessory to your Vive without doing any damage to the headset or your new strap. Here’s a quick guide for removing the current strap and attaching the new one!

Read more at VR Heads!

Pokemon Go announces real-life worldwide events for anniversary

Pokemon Go is set to take over the world again.

Last year, Pokemon Go exploded onto the scene and became a massive hit overnight. People in almost every country downloaded the app and took to the streets to catch ’em all. Now, one year later, in an effort to celebrate the game’s first anniversary, Niantic said it plans to hold in-game and in-person events across the world. The first event, called the Solstice Event, will take place in the game on 13 June.

It’ll include Fire-type and Ice-type Pokemon, as well as XP bonuses and discounted Lucky Eggs. As for the first in-person event, it is scheduled for 22 July in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois. Called Pokemon Go Fest Chicago, tickets for the event will go on sale on 19 June. Pricing and details are not yet available. Niantic said it’s targeting about 20,000 people for the huge Pokemon Go fest.

• Help! Pokemon Go isn’t working: How to fix common Pokemon Go problems
• Pokemon Go top tips: Master the Pokemon mayhem
• Pokemon Go Gym tips: How to battle, train and win
• Pokemon Go: How to play and other tips and tricks

There are other events planned for Europe between July and September, too. According to Forbes, the events in Europe cannot be announced yet, as location issues are holding up the process. But the events will be announced across Europe end of June/early July, apparently. There will even be one in Yokohama, Japan in August. That event will be called Pikachu Outbreak, but again, details are scarce right now.

Niantic also said it will release an update that focuses on collaborative gameplay. It hinted at a “new way” to play the game, though it also said it would temporarily close down in-game gyms for a bit. It’s rumored the company wants to overhaul gyms to help fight cheating. It might also introduce raids, allowing players to team up or play against one another in the gyms.

We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Those awkward AirPods will automatically link up to your Apple TV

Apple’s AirPods might look pretty unusual, but no other pair of wireless earbuds on the market is as easy to use — as long as you have Apple hardware, that is. Indeed, once you connect the AirPods to your iPhone, they are automatically ready to use with any of your other devices with the same iCloud account, which includes iPads, Macs running Sierra and the Apple Watch. Soon, those AirPods could work on one other Apple device in your home: your Apple TV.

According to 9to5Mac, those AirPods will appear as a new speaker option starting with tvOS 11. It should already be available in the first developer beta, and consumers will likely see it when the update arrives this fall. This means that the AirPods will automatically be set up with your Apple TV without having to manually pair it via Bluetooth. Just connect it to your phone and voila, you can start using it with your TV. Or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work anyway; we haven’t tested it so we don’t know for sure.

Apple TV (as well as Amazon’s Fire TV and most other TVs these days) already supports Bluetooth audio, so you can technically use any pair of wireless headphones with it, which is great if you want to watch TV without disturbing other people in your household. If you’d rather use wired headphones instead, some Roku boxes come with remote controls that have headphone jacks. Still, if you have an Apple TV, AirPods will probably be the easiest to pair. Bonus: since you’ll be wearing them at home, you won’t have to worry about being seen in public.

Twitter to stream its first basic cable drama: TNT’s ‘Claws’

TNT is premiering its new drama “Claws” this Sunday, but if you miss the first showing on the network itself, you can catch an encore on Twitter.

TNT’s parent company, Turner, streamed TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’s Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” on Twitter in April. But in a statement, the company said that “Claws” will be the first basic cable drama to stream on the platform, which Twitter confirmed to Engadget.

Earlier this year, Twitter COO Anthony Noto stated that the platform was looking to stream shows from subscription TV channels and while the “Claws” premiere isn’t that exactly, it is a step in that direction. Twitter has already streamed boxing matches, MLB and NHL games, as well as National Lacrosse League games.

The new show, set in a central Florida nail salon and starring the likes of Carrie Preston, Jenn Lyon, Judy Reyes and Karrueche Tran, will premiere June 11th on TNT at 9PM Eastern / Pacific and the Twitter encore will take place at 10PM Eastern, which means west coast viewers can catch it on Twitter before it airs on their TV.

Via: CNET

Source: Turner

Apple remembered to add Touch Bar support to GarageBand

While the list of apps supporting the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar has been growing at a decent clip, Apple’s own entry-level music learning and production software has been sadly left behind. The company’s own professional level production suite, Logic Pro X added touch features earlier this year but the desktop version of GarageBand has only just now joined the party with an update that arrived during this week’s WWDC. It didn’t even take this long to get Doom running on the tiny touch screen.

With the 10.2 update, users can now easily navigate through GarageBand projects, adjust levels and play instruments from the MacBook Pro’s dynamic function row. For everyone else diving back in to GarageBand, you’ll find the latest update also brings a “modern design with improved ease of use” and the ability to add track you started on the mobile versions of the app. There are also some new drum loop controls and a trio of new virtual drummers that can play Pop, “Songwriter” or Latin styles.

Touch Bar features aside, the latest update for GarageBand is a welcome one. Although there were a few incremental updates in between, it’s been two years since Apple gave the app a proper feature release. It’s also reassuring to see that Apple hasn’t forgotten to update it’s entry level software with some of those pro-level features.

Via: Apple Insider

Source: Apple

App Highlight: Motorsport Manager

The App

Developed by Christian West, Motorsport Manager is an established app with well over 500,000 installs. Having been updated on May 15, 2017, the developer is constantly fixing various bugs with the latest update adding Google Play Saved Game support. Motorsport Manager puts you in charge of your own racing team.

What it does

As a race team owner, you will be responsible for hire racing drivers, developing your car, coming up with a strategy, and making decisions within the race to help fulfill your sponsors objectives. Experience the action in real-time to watch overtakes and formulate a strategy to undercut your opponents.

• This is your racing team. Hire drivers, develop your car and invest in technology.

• Work with your drivers to achieve the perfect qualifying lap.

• Formulate the ideal pitstop strategy to win races.

• Watch the race in real-time or jump into the strategy screens to take control of the action.

• React to weather changes, crashes and safety car periods.

• Win championships across the world to reach the pinnacle of motorsport.

Why we like it

Motorsport Manager is the best racing simulator on the market. It is extremely well thought out, well designed, and will keep you hooked. With various classes of racing, full car development, and driver improvements, you’ll be sure to play this one over and over again. One improvement I would like to see is qualifying enhanced to perhaps have a staged phase like F1 to make it more interesting.

How to get it

Motorsport Manager is available from the Google Play Store. You can download it right here.

App Highlight: Trident for Zooper

The App

Developed by Milan Dragovic, Trident for Zooper is a little bit different when it comes to an app highlight since it is more of a widget. It’s relatively new at only 10,000 installs – you’ll need Zooper Pro for use this widget pack, but Trident will give you some gorgeous widgets.

What it does

Trident gives a number of Google Pixel style widgets as well as Samsung Galaxy S8 widgets. There are also a number of minimal and vintage widgets to provide some excellent styles to compliment your Android smartphone. All widgets scale perfectly so work on any resolution screen and look great.

– Download and install Zooper Widget Pro 2.38 or above
– Download and install Trident
– Add a Zooper widget to your homescreen
– When Zooper widget skins list pops up, choose Trident
– Select the widget you want to add

Why we like it

Here at AndroidGuys we love customizing our devices and Zooper is one of our favorite apps. On its own, it’s pretty basic, but when combined with something like Trident, the possibilities are endless. My personal favorite is the ability to have a Galaxy S8 style weather widget that you can use with something like Nova Launcher. If you like minimalist design then be sure to check out Trident.

How to get it

Trident is available from the Google Play Store. You can download it right here.

Samsung’s pen-equipped Notebook 9 Pro arrives in late June

We were delighted by Samsung’s lightweight Notebook 9 back at CES. The Pro version unveiled at Computex last week promised more power, a 2-in-1 configuration and, most importantly, the tech titan’s proprietary built-in pressure-sensitive S Pen stylus. Today, Samsung announced that preorders on BestBuy.com open June 11th before it launches in stores on June 26th, starting at $1100 13.3-inch model and $1300 for the slightly souped-up 15-inch.

The S Pen is the Pro’s most distinguishing upgrade from the standard Notebook 9, though it’s the same one that comes with the Galaxy Tab S3 and Galaxy Book. Just like with those devices, ejecting the S Pen from the Pro’s dock prompts a pop-up that gives you access to the Air Command or Windows Ink workspaces, which is more integrated functionality than competing laptops that similarly include a stylus.

Like the regular Notebook 9, the pro models are powered by Intel’s seventh-generation Core i7 processors — in this case, the 7500U chips. While the stock versions of the normal laptops cap out at 8GB of DDR4 dual-channel RAM, the 15-inch Pro comes with 16GB RAM. The beefed-up larger size also ditched the normal Notebook 9’s NVIDIA 940MX GPU in favor of an AMD Radeon 540 with 2GB of discrete RAM. Both Pro models come with a 256GB SSD.

As for ports, both Pros come with two USB 3.0 and one USB-C, as well as an HDMI, 3.5mm headphone and MicroSD. While the smaller model weighs just shy of three pounds, the extra oomph in the 15-inch pushes its weight to 3.79 pounds. Both only come in Titan Silver.

Source: Samsung

Acer’s new Aspire desktop targets PC gamers with AMD’s Ryzen 5 CPU, GeForce GPU

Why it matters to you

PC gamers on a budget who are looking for an inexpensive pre-built solution have several new options from Aspire based on a new processor from AMD and Nvidia’s GeForce graphics cards.

Just ahead of the E3 2017 gaming convention in Los Angeles, Acer introduced a new affordable desktop for PC gamers, the Aspire GX-281. Currently, it’s served up in several configurations starting at $800, packing AMD’s new Ryzen 5 1400 processor, and Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti graphics cards. There are slight differences in the configurations to meet the needs of all PC gamers on a tight budget, such as a secondary SSD with 256GB of storage.

AMD’s Ryzen 5 desktop processor family launched in April. The chip used in Acer’s new desktop is at the bottom of the quartet packing four cores, a base speed of 3.2GHz, and a boost speed of 3.4GHz. It retails for around $170 on its own, falling in line with AMD’s goal of cramming huge amounts of performance into small price tags. By contrast, AMD’s current top-of-the-line CPU is the Ryzen 7 1800X with eight cores, a base speed of 3.6GHz, and a boost speed of 4.0GHz for $460.

Currently, we know of three configurations: the GX-281-UR17 for $800, the GX-281-UR16 for $850, and the GX-281-UR11 for $800. Here is the hardware foundation:

Processor:
AMD Ryzen 5 1400
Graphics:
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (w/2GB GDDR5)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (w/4GB GDDR5)
System memory:
8GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz (supports 64GB max)
Storage:
1TB hard drive (7,200RPM)
1x DVD-RW optical drive (8x)
1x 256GB SSD (depending on model)
Connectivity:
Wireless AC
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Ports (front):
1x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C
1x Microphone jack
1x Headphone jack
1x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A
1x SD card reader
Ports (back):
1x Gigabit Ethernet
2x USB Gen2 Type-A
4x USB 2.0 Type-A
1x DisplayPort 1.4
1x HDMI 2.0b
1x DVI-D
Audio:
High Def Audio with 5.1 Surround Sound
Power supply:
500 watts
Expansion slots:
1x M.2 slot for stick-shaped SSDs
1x PCI Express 3.0 x16
Dimensions (inches):
6.89 x 18.24 (D) x 15.67 (H)
Included peripherals:
USB keyboard
USB optical mouse
Operating system:
Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Overall, there’s definitely lots of love here for the money. The use of the GTX 1050 or the GTX 1050 Ti card will depend on the model, such as the GX-281-UR17 sporting the GTX 1050 and the GX-281-UR16 providing the GTX 1050 Ti. The vanilla GTX 1050 has 640 CUDA cores and a base speed of 1,354MHz while the GTX 1050 Ti packs 768 CUDA cores and a base speed of 1,290MHz (the more cores you have, the better).

The two USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports are an added bonus, providing transfer speeds of up to ten gigabits per second. By comparison, the “blue” USB 3.1 Gen1 ports (formerly USB 3.0) only does up to five gigabits per second while the old-timer USB 2.0 port only achieves up to a slower 480 megabits per second. USB 3.1 Gen2 is capable of supporting additional displays, storage devices, and more. Too bad this PC doesn’t provide Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, though.

“The armor-shaped black chassis is highlighted with red arrow-like design features and red front LED lights for a commanding look and appeal,” the company says.

Acer is rolling out its Aspire GX-281 desktops now, starting at $800. They will be available on Amazon, Micro Center, Newegg, and other online retailers.