Hasta La Gadget!

The portable cassette players once nearly universally identified as the Walkman may have seen better days, but their spirit is still alive, so far as Sony is concerned. The company is apparently set to release the latest entry in the line, the slick-looking NWZA865B, a 16GB portable media player with wireless file sharing and music streaming capabilities. CNET points out that the device likely won’t have built-in WiFi, due to evidence from the FCC, which does seem to limit the aforementioned streaming options. The 16GB model is also likely one of a number of capacities to be offered, ranging from 8GB to 64GB. The device is available for viewing on UK retailer Play.com with a £150 ($246) price tag and a July 31st release date.

New Sony Walkman pops up on UK retail site originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Credit card fraud costs the banking industry billions of dollars every year, and with companies yet to find an entirely secure system for processing payments online, there’s no end in sight for unauthorized transactions. Jumio hopes to bring both security and convenience to the world of online payments, however, with its webcam-based Netswipe secure card reader solution. The system replicates the point of sale (POS) transactions you experience when making in-store purchases, prompting cardholders to scan the front on their credit card, then enter their CVV code using a tamperproof mouse-controlled interface. We’re not sure how the software is able to distinguish a physical credit card from, say, a photocopy of a card, but it certainly sounds more secure than the standard input form we use today. It also reduces card number theft from insecure forms and website spoofing, by verifying details through a live video stream. Jump past the break for the full press release, along with video overviews of Netswipe and Jumio, which recently secured $6.5 million in initial funding and is backed by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

Continue reading Netswipe turns your webcam into a credit card reader, brings POS payments to the desktop

Netswipe turns your webcam into a credit card reader, brings POS payments to the desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The old Xbox 360 headset is gigantic and expensive, considering it only worked with the Xbox 360. The new Xbox 360 headset? Not only is it much, much better promises Senior Director of Xbox Accessories, Zulfi Alam, it’s a Bluetooth headset. More »

Successor to the popular GE X5 megazoom, the X500 gets little more than a megapixel bump, but remains a decent budget-friendly compact with several sought-after features.

Simple can sometimes be best. At least that’s how Aviiq will probably pitch its $80 USB hub. In a case

Aviiq’s Portable Charging Station is little more than a powered USB hub in a pouch, but that simplicity is also its strength. Look at it this way: when you leave for a trip, you don’t have to remember any chargers. You just grab this little powered USB hub. In its own pouch.

The design makes it a little handier than I might have suggested. Once unzipped and splayed out flat, you’ll see the charging unit with four USB sockets, along with several layered pockets through which you can route cables. Thus, it is always tidy. Just hook up your phone, iPad (it’ll put out the 10 watts required by Apple’s tablet) and any other USB-charged device and plug the other end into an outlet.

There is also a USB port which can be hooked up to a computer, letting you sync your gadgets as they feed.

Like anything else from Aviiq, the Portable Charging Station is expensive — in this case $80. That’s a lot for a powered USB hub in pouch, but if it means you never forget a charger or cable, it could be worth it.

Available now.

Portable Charging Station [Aviiq. Thanks, Pedro!]

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