Airbnb now gives you the option to pay less up front

Airbnb rentals present affordable, sometimes even unique, alternatives to hotels, but one of the downsides of using the platform is having to pay in full upon booking. Now, the company is finally — thankfully! — giving you an option to pay less up front. Starting today, you’ll be able to reserve a rental by paying a deposit worth around 50 percent of the total amount in most cases. You’ll still have to pay the rest off before you arrive unlike Expedia or Agoda, which sometimes allows you to pay at the hotel itself. But having the option means you can book places much earlier than usual, since you won’t have to worry about paying the whole reservation months in advance.

Airbnb proved that to be the case when the new feature led to bookings with nearly double the lead time during its test period. According to the company, 40 percent of its test subjects chose to take advantage of its new offering. As a whole, they also went for higher-value bookings, since they didn’t need to fork out the whole amount in one go. If you’re planning a vacation, you can use Airbnb’s new feature right now, whether you’re booking on iOS, Android, mobile or desktop. Your total has to be at least $250, though, and you’ll have to book at least 14 days in advance to be able to qualify.

Open Banking is here to change how you manage your money

After completing a review of the retail banking sector back in the summer of 2016, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded that stagnation had set in. It found that hardly anyone switches banks each year, and the huge financial institutions don’t put a lot of effort into retaining or competing for business. Among a number of reforms the CMA put into motion was “Open Banking,” which requires all the big banks to make your financial data accessible in a standard format. The deadline to comply with the open banking initiative passed over the weekend, and several key names have missed the launch. It’s now officially up and running, however, and it promises to completely change how you choose and use all kinds of financial services.

On the face of it, open banking is just a data standard. What banks have to do is take your current account transaction history and make it available to other banks and accredited third-party services (securely, of course) when you give consent. Over the new few years, this will be expanded to include credit cards and other financial products. What can actually be done with all that data is where it gets interesting. One simple benefit of open banking is you can use one app to manage all your accounts at different banks, and move money between them (HSBC is already cooking one of these up). And if you’d be better off at a bank with lower overdraft charges, then another app could take the hassle out of switching.

In the future, you could let a comparison service look at your credit card history. It might tell you to move your debt to a competitor with a lower interest rate. On the other hand, given you square away the total balance each month, you might actually be better off with a card that has a higher interest rate but a better rewards and perks scheme. With all this data easy to read and to compare, it should make the big retail banks more competitive. If you can move all your savings into an account at another bank at the click of a button, it’s within your current provider’s interests to make sure you stay. That’s exactly what the CMA is trying to achieve, of course, while also giving smaller banks and fintech services greater exposure in an industry dominated huge, established financial giants.

There’s a ton of information buried in a bank statement. From how much you spend on vanilla lattes each month to the total you’ve wasted on gym memberships in the last three years. Maybe you’ve been really good at paying off your credit card bills, but the smarter financial decision would have been to overpay the same amount on your mortgage. The mind boggles with potential.

Some of the new wave of branchless, mobile-first banks already use financial data to offer smarter features. Monzo, for example, breaks down your spending into categories like travel, bills, cash withdrawals and eating out, and lets you set budgets so you get notified if you’re spending too much on fancy dinners that month. Or there’s B, which lets you set up saving goals, like the £1,000 you need for a new TV. Other fintech services that don’t offer bank accounts themselves are also ready to make use of your data. Plum monitors your spending habits and automatically squirrels away what you can afford to save each month. Bean looks at all of your recurring subscriptions and suggests when it might be appropriate to switch provider, or will cancel a long-forgotten membership on your behalf.

And this is what these over-the-top services have managed to achieve with limited access to financial data. Thanks to open banking, they should get even slicker, and we’re likely to see plenty more ideas of how you can better manage your money pop up — the next generation of financial advice. Prepare to see the big banks retaliate with more of their own smart features and services, too.

Companies can only start making all that juicy data work for you once they have access to it, though. Despite all having been told long ago about the January 13th deadline, Lloyds is the only high-street name that was ready on time. In December, Barclays, RBS, Bank of Ireland, HSBC and Santander all told the CMA they weren’t quite ready to meet the demands for data. Nationwide has also succumbed to some last-minute hiccups, but the extensions most were graciously granted can be counted in weeks, so customers won’t be missing out on neat financial insights for long. And given the complexity of complying with open banking and making sure security is up to scratch, a few weeks isn’t too bad as far as delays go.

Source: Open Banking Limited

SiriusXM adds streaming-style features to its in-car radio service

In-car listening has come a long way in the past decade. Where satellite radio used to be one of the few ways to get live digital shows in your car, it’s now trivially easy to bring your phone into the car and stream virtually anything. And SiriusXM knows it — the company has launched a new platform, 360L, that brings some of the creature comforts of internet streaming to in-car satellite radio. To begin with, there’s simply more to listen to — you can listen to on-demand shows, not to mention channels that were previously online-only.

You’ll also get personalized recommendations for both channels and shows. You may get a suggestion for an on-demand show from the channel you’re listening to, and that can steer you toward another live channel. Sports fans get a few perks as well. They should have an easier time finding a broadcast for their team during a live game, and they’ll get wider access to official broadcasts for more college and pro teams.

The interface itself has received a boost. There’s now a more dynamic layout that changes based on content, and you can set individual profiles so that another driver (or a discerning passenger) can have their own presets.

SiriusXM’s new platform is premiering in the 2019 Ram 1500, where a 12-inch touchscreen offers plenty of breathing room. Production for the new pickup starts in the near future. Is this going to sell you on the Ram, or the concept of satellite radio? We wouldn’t count on it — if you’re already used to plugging in your phone for some streaming, you probably aren’t going to subscribe to SiriusXM. This is more for maintaining the loyalty of the satellite faithful who might be tempted by the alternatives.

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Source: SiriusXM

Apple Subsidiary FileMaker Shares New Ad Starring Actors From The Office

Apple Subsidiary FileMaker, which makes a popular database platform, today launched a new ad campaign that brings together former stars of hit television show “The Office.”

Kate Flannery (Meredith), Leslie David Baker (Stanley), and Paul Lieberstein (Toby) team up in a three minute spot called “Farm Time.” The ad features a news report on a popular beet farm where the trio use FileMaker to run their operation.

FileMaker has had a teaser site in place for the last few weeks leading up to the launch of the ad spot, and that site initially led to some speculation that it a revival of a proposed “The Office” spinoff called “The Farm.”

There were also rumors floating around suggesting “Farm Time” could be a three-part commercial for Apple products, but as it turns out, it’s simply a promotional spot for FileMaker.

For those unfamiliar with FileMaker, it’s a database platform that’s designed to make it easy for businesses to build a range of customized apps that work across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and the web. The most recent version of FileMaker is FileMaker 16, introduced in March of 2017.

Tag: FileMaker
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Chinese Consumer Group Demands Answers From Apple Over Older iPhone Slowdowns

Apple’s iPhone slowdown controversy extended to China on Tuesday after a Chinese consumer group asked the tech giant for information about iOS updates that reduce the performance of older iPhones (via Reuters).

The Shanghai Consumer Council has written to Apple and requested an explanation for the slowdowns and information about what Apple planned to do to rectify the problem. The consumer group, which is a non-government organization approved by the Chinese authorities, demanded a response by Friday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The council explained that its query came in response to consumer feedback that old iPhones became sluggish after upgrading the operating system to iOS 10.2.1. It said it had received 2,615 complaints about Apple products and services in 2017, compared to 964 complaints in 2015.

Last month Apple confirmed that it introduced power management features in the update to improve performance and prevent unexpected shutdowns as the battery in the devices starts to degrade. The company faces an increasing number of lawsuits that either accuse the company of intentionally slowing down older iPhones, or of failing to disclose power management changes it made starting in iOS 10.2.1.

For more information about the power management system that Apple implemented in the update, check out our frequently asked questions.

Tag: China
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SpaceX aims to fire up its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket on Tuesday

The huge rocket described as “the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two” is in position on a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center as SpaceX engineers make the final preparations for what promises to be a spectacular static-fire engine test.

Should the procedure go according to plan, we could be just weeks away from witnessing the Falcon Heavy set off on its maiden mission all the way to Mars.

Reusable rocket system

The Falcon Heavy is essentially three Falcon 9 rockets with a single upper stage, and in terms of power is beaten only by the Saturn V rocket that once took astronauts to the moon. Incorporating SpaceX’s tried-and-tested reusable rocket system, the Heavy’s various separation processes are designed to take place soon after launch, with all three boosters landing back on Earth.

But SpaceX CEO Elon Musk knows that if Tuesday’s test proves successful, the debut mission that would follow soon after is a monumental challenge, noting last year that there’s “a real good chance” the unmanned Falcon Heavy won’t even make it into orbit.

If it does all go to plan, the rocket will be taking Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster all the way to the red planet, where the CEO claims it could remain in orbit for a billion years. Musk earlier said he wanted to send “the silliest thing we can imagine,” adding that he loved the thought of a car “drifting apparently endlessly through space and perhaps being discovered by an alien race millions of years in the future.”

“Beast” of a rocket

Considering the size and power of the Falcon Heavy, it’s little surprise that Musk himself describes it as a “beast.” The first stage of the 230-feet-tall (70 meters) rocket comprises “three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at lift-off, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft,” SpaceX says on its website.

While the Falcon 9 is designed for shorter missions, its big brother “restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the moon or Mars,” SpaceX says.

In the summer of 2017, Musk teased the launch of the Falcon Heavy in an animation posted on Instagram, though at that time SpaceX had been hoping to launch the rocket a couple of months later. With so much at stake, however, it’s little surprise that preparations are stretching out, though we could be just weeks from seeing the rocket head spaceward for the very first time.

A lot depends on how the all-important engine test goes on Tuesday. SpaceX doesn’t look as if it’ll be live-streaming the event, though you can watch it at Spaceflight Now with a subscription.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Everything you need to know about the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket
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• Apple: Yep, iPhones do slow down, but for a good reason

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus: Top 5 things you need to know

The 18:9 screen is new, but the rest of the phone should be familiar to anyone that has used a Redmi Note 4.

Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi 5 Plus last month, bringing the 18:9 form factor to the budget segment. The Chinese manufacturer isn’t the first to roll out a budget phone with minimal bezels, but the company is once again showing that it can absolutely dominate when it comes to the value proposition. The base variant of the Redmi 5 Plus retails for the equivalent of $150, making it an incredible bargain when you consider the hardware on offer.

The Redmi 5 Plus is currently limited to China, and as the phone made its debut just a month ago, the global ROM isn’t available just yet. That means you can’t get a version of the Redmi 5 Plus with Play Services installed out of the box. As such, it’s too early to make a quantitative assessment of how the device fares in comparison to the likes of the Redmi Note 4 and other devices in this segment. I’ll have more to share once the global ROM is available, but in the meantime, here’s a quick look at what you get with the phone.

There’s a 18:9 display up front

The highlight of the Redmi 5 Plus is the 5.99-inch 18:9 FHD+ (2160 x 1080) display. The 403PPI is a minor increase over the 401PPI sported by the 5.5-inch display of the Redmi Note 4, but because of the trimmed bezels at the top and bottom, the overall dimensions of the device aren’t that much larger than the Redmi Note 4.

Xiaomi has been offering some of the best LCD panels in its phones for a few years now, and that thankfully hasn’t changed with the Redmi 5 Plus. The screen is vibrant and easily legible under harsh sunlight, and MIUI offers plenty of customization options to tweak the color balance.

The internal hardware hasn’t changed a lot

Xiaomi professed its affection for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 platform last year, so it’s no wonder that the Redmi 5 Plus uses the same chipset. We’ll likely see the introduction of the newer Snapdragon 630 chip in the Redmi Note 5 — due for a release in Q2 2018 if rumors are to be believed — but until that time the SD625 is leading the charge for Xiaomi.

When it comes to memory and storage, the Redmi 5 Plus is available in two variants — a base model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage that costs $150, and a variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage for $195.

It looks like the Redmi Note 4 from the back

While the Redmi 5 Plus has a new screen with minimal bezels, the rest of the design hasn’t changed much from the Redmi Note 4. In fact, the phone is a dead ringer for Xiaomi’s best-selling device of 2017 from the back. The Redmi 5 Plus has the same accents running across at the back, and the layout of the camera is also identical.

The minor design change is that the accents at the back are no longer painted chrome, but instead mesh with the color of the phone.

You’ll still have to deal with Micro-USB

If you were hoping to see the newer USB-C charging port making its way to the Redmi series, you’re in for a long wait. Xiaomi started rolling out USB-C charging in its budget Mi phones last year, but it looks like it’ll be a while before we see the same for the Redmi series.

Furthermore, Xiaomi hasn’t rolled out fast charging yet, so you’re limited to 5V/2A with the device.

It doesn’t have Oreo … yet

Xiaomi is yet to detail its Oreo update plans, and right now the only device in its portfolio that has received the Oreo update is the Android One-based Mi A1. The Chinese variant of the Redmi 5 Plus comes with MIUI 9 out of the box, and it’s still based on Android 7.1 Nougat.

Xiaomi isn’t known for rolling out quick platform updates, with the manufacturer instead focusing on adding value with its own MIUI skin. MIUI 9 does introduce a slew of new features, including a new image editor, a notification pane with bundled notifications, and native split screen mode, but it’ll a lengthy wait before Oreo is available for the device.

We’ll have to wait until the device is available outside of China to get a better idea of Xiaomi’s update schedule.

Your thoughts

The Redmi 5 Plus is to the Redmi Note 4 what the OnePlus 5T is to the OnePlus 5 — you get an 18:9 panel, but not a whole has changed aside from that. Xiaomi will be keen to solidify its standing in the Indian handset market, so it shouldn’t be too long now before the phone makes its debut in the country.

In the meantime, what do you make of the Redmi 5 Plus?

Danish police charge 1,000 people following Facebook sex video

Facebook is no stranger to notifying police when there’s clear evidence of a crime, but its latest action has had consequences on a much larger scale than usual. Danish police have charged 1,004 young people (some under 18) after Facebook notified authorities that Messenger users were sharing a video of two teens under 15 years old having sex, violating laws against the distribution of indecent images of children. Many of those who shared the video did so ‘just’ a few times, police said, but others shared it hundreds of times — they knew what they were doing, even if they didn’t realize it was illegal.

Anyone found guilty would face no more than 20 days in prison, but they’d also be added to an offender registry for the next 10 years.

The last messages were shared in the fall of 2017, but charges are only coming now because it’s a “very large and complex case,” according to police. The investigation included four Danish police bureaus, and came after US authorities relayed Facebook’s warning to Europol.

It can be tricky to catch ad hoc sharing of illegal videos on messaging services like this, both because of the private nature of the messages and because some users are bound to have end-to-end encryption turned on. Ultimately, it relies on someone in the sharing chain deciding to report the offending material — and in this case, it’s clear that it took a while before someone came forward. Privacy concerns are going to rule out active monitoring, but this does suggest that Facebook and others might want to do more to encourage voluntary reports.

Via: BBC

Source: The Local

Quika promises free satellite internet for developing countries

Facebook’s plans for free satellite internet access may have run into some… setbacks, but another company is promising to make that ubiquitous data a practical reality. Quika, a company led by the chief of satellite provider Talia, is launching a free satellite broadband service in the second quarter of 2018. It’s promising speedy, low-latency Ka-band data in developing countries where income inequality and a lack of infrastructure (especially in rural areas) make conventional internet access impractical for most. Service will begin with Afghanistan, Iraq and most of Africa, but there are promises of more countries afterward.

The strategy behind this no-charge access isn’t terribly complicated: Quika is planning to support its free plan through its paid services for enterprises and internet providers. Also, while the service itself will be free, Quika notes that customers may have to pay for setup or make a deposit on the necessary hardware.

It’s far from certain that this will work as well as advertised. It depends on having enough corporate customers to subsidize free access, and capacity could be an issue. It may not be very fast if there are loads of users, and launching additional satellites isn’t always quick or easy. If this lives up to promises, though, it could go a long way toward fulfilling promises of democratizing internet access. Google is already providing some free balloon-based internet, but only on a limited, experimental scale. This could make free internet a staple in many parts of the world.

Source: BusinessWire, Quika

Democrats are just one vote shy of restoring net neutrality

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer now says Democrats in the Senate are a single vote away from restoring net neutrality. According to the senator from New York, they now have a total of 50 votes for a Senate resolution of disapproval that would restore the Open Internet Order of 2015 and deliver a stiff rebuke to Ajit Pai and other Republican members of the FCC. It would also prevent the agency from passing a similar measure in the future, all but guaranteeing Net Neutrality is permanently preserved.

Right now the resolution has the support of all 49 Democrats in the Senate and one Republican, Susan Collins of Maine. But Schumer and the rest of the caucus will have to win over one more Republican vote to prevent Vice President Mike Pence from breaking tie and allowing the repeal to stand.

Under the Congressional Review Act the Senate has 60 days to challenge a decision by an independent agency like the FCC. With less than 30 days left to go, Democrats will have to move quick to convince a “moderate” like John McCain or Lindsey Graham to buck their party. Of course, considering the public outcry that preceded and followed the reversal, it’s not impossible. But it’s still an uphill battle for supporters of net neutrality.

Source: Washington Post