Hasta La Gadget!

Visa has announced a contactless payment system for the iPhone which allows you to use the phone as a credit card. It works using RFID tech, and is as kludgy as hell.

Called In2Pay, the payment method uses a modified microSD card with a near-field communications (NFC) chip inside. Because the iPhone doesn’t yet sport a microSD slot, the card sits in a case which powers the chip and allows contactless payments, just like those used to pay for toll booths or public transport. You would be able to hold your iPhone up to a compatible reader and make a transaction. It would work even if there were no clerk present, for instance at a vending machine.

The idea of schemes like In2Pay is to free you from carrying a wallet, allowing you to do everything with your cellphone. But this implementation, which requires carrying a cellphone case, is not much different from just taping your credit card to the back of your phone. (Or slipping it into a credit card-holding iPhone cover.)

It also requires a compatible card reader. What, the neighborhood restaurant doesn’t accept contactless payments? Sorry, there are only 100,000 merchants in the U.S. that have NFC payment readers, compared to millions that accept old-style credit cards.

However, it does come direct from Visa, lending a certain weight to the scheme, and when more phones accept the microSD it will be essentially invisible. Add to that the fact that iPhone users tend to be more disposed to trying out new tech and you can easily see that this is a pilot scheme from Visa designed to grow the infrastructure of contactless payments, which have so far failed to meet Visa’s inflated expectations.

In2Pay joins several methods for receiving credit card payments, including Square, a little white cube that slots into the iPhone’s headphone jack and allows you to swipe regular old credit cards. Soon, it seems clear, almost all payments will be made using cellphones, even the ones that involve paying your friend back that dollar he owes you. Just don’t lose that phone.

DeviceFidelity Announces Mobile Contactless Payment Solution for iPhone [Visa via MobileCrunch]

See Also:

• PayPal Fist Bumps Square
• Square Mobile Credit Card System (Beta)
• Swipe Credit Cards With Your iPhone

The battle for minds is well and truly on now, and if there was any doubt that Google and Adobe are cozying up together to take on Apple, let it now be extinguished. TechCrunch is reporting that the latest version of Android — you know, the one with the 450 percent performance improvement and buttery smooth Flash playback — will, upon updating, guide you to visit a selection of Flash-enabled websites. Countering Apple’s list of iPad-ready (aka Flash-free) websites, this is clearly intended as a showcase of the Adobe software’s capabilities. Ironically, a sizable number of the sites on the list are “mobile optimized,” meaning you won’t be hitting their full desktop versions (which doesn’t quite mesh with the idea of “the full web experience”), but it’s still likely to cause some consternation over in Cupertino. All we’re wondering now is how much Adobe had to pony up to ensnare such a prominent promo position, but things like that don’t stay secret for long.

Android 2.2 will invite you to visit ‘Flash-enabled’ sites, rub Apple’s nose in it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 03:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google I/O’s shaping up to be a hell of an event this year. We just received word that OnStar will give a sneak peek at new functionalities it’s developing for its version 2.0 Chevy Volt app with the help of Google. A major new addition — to be demonstrated on Android, of course — will be a navigation tab on the app’s home screen that can identify your position relative to your Volt’s location in Google Maps. Something that should prove handy in tracking down your car in the airport parking lot. Owners can then use their smartphone to enter their destination before even entering the vehicle. When it’s time to drive, your Volt will already be setup and ready to guide you to the spot using OnStar’s turn-by-turn navigation. Alternatively, users can follow the voice guidance provided by Google Maps Navigation if they prefer. Unfortunately, these 2.0 addition won’t be in the app at launch this fall. Full press release after the break.

Continue reading OnStar reveals mystery partner: Google

OnStar reveals mystery partner: Google originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 02:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.

Given Microsoft’s Generation Upload marketing and Verizon’s exclusive Gossip Girl placement deal, it’s not surprising a Kin phone made an appearance on the show’s season finale, but we’re having a hard time believing that even Nate Archibald is chump enough to trade in his heat-seeking Droid for a Kin Two. Not that we’d know, since we don’t watch the show. At all. Ever. Video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Screen Grabs: Gossip Girl’s Nate Archibald drops a blast from Kin Two

Screen Grabs: Gossip Girl’s Nate Archibald drops a blast from Kin Two originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 01:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on May 31, 2006 by CyberNet.

Mozilla has finally come up with an estimated date for Firefox 2 Beta 1: July 6! The code freeze is supposed to occur on June 29 and by that point we should see the visual refresh implemented.

The latest meeting notes did not say anything about the visual refresh but the Firefox 2 Requirements page said that the visual refresh is slated for Beta 1. If the visual refresh makes its way into a nightly build before Beta 1 then I will be sure to let everyone know and I will post a portable version of that nightly build so that everyone can play with it. Well, let’s hope for an on-time Beta 1!

Now, you don’t want to forget about an event like this, so add it to your Google Calendar.

News Source: Firefox Meeting Notes – May 30, 2006

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