Hasta La Gadget!

Popular deal website Groupon is venturing into the world of smart phone-based credit card payments today, launching the Groupon Payments initiative nationwide after a successful pilot program is the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this year. Groupon’s boasting a guaranteed lowest cost pricing to merchants using Groupon Payments for credit card transactions — MasterCard, Visa, and Discover will cost retailers 1.8 percent of credit card sales, plus a $0.15 per transaction fee, while American Express will cost three percent of credit card sales, plus a $0.15 per transaction fee. The biggest competition in the space comes from Square, headed by former Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, which charges a flat 2.75 percent rate on all transactions against all cards, though PayPal, Intuit, and Verifone all offer similar services.

Today’s news matches up directly with leaks we saw back in May, adding on that merchants will see the day’s credit card purchases credited to their bank accounts overnight, rather than waiting two to three business days (per standard practice). Beyond credit card services, Groupon’s Merchants app also accepts Groupon daily deals, which helps elucidate why Groupon would be interested in entering the mobile credit card payments market in the first place (beyond it being a lucrative market unto itself, of course). Interested parties can sign up over on Groupon’s website, and snag the free payments app right here. Finally — finally — you’ll be able to sell all those $10 gift certificates to Chili’s you’ve been hoarding. Perhaps charge $5 a pop for their $10 value and … is this a paradox? This might be a paradox.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wireless, Internet, Mobile

Square competitor Groupon Payments launches today, promises lowest cost for retailers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A team of researchers lead by Gilles-Eric Séralini (University of Caen/France) has secretly (to avoid industry pressure) studied the effects of genetically modified (GM) corn on 200 rats, and the team of scientists have shown that 50%-80% of those rats develop tumors/cancers in less than one year, compared to 30% for those that were fed with something else. For comparison, one “rat year” is about 40 “human” years. The study also look at the interaction between herbicides and the enzymes introduced in GM foods. The research has been published by the American journal American journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tooth armor hails from Japan, New solar panel technology could produce electricity and Hydrogen,

It’s a fine autumn day in NYC. The air is cool, it’s a little breezy and a certain Taiwanese manufacturer has invited us over to check out some cool new gadgets. What exactly does HTC have in store? Well, that’s anyone’s guess, but suspicions are focused on Windows Phone 8 and a certain leaked handset with the codename Accord. Check back in at the time below to get all the news as it happens live.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Live from HTC’s NYC press event! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google intends to launch a new version of Google Maps for Android to coincide with Apple’s release of iOS 6, which will strip the search giant’s mapping software from iPhones and iPads. The updated Android app will synchronize better with multiple devices, Google VP of engineering for maps Brian McClendon told the NYTimes, with search results discovered on the desktop more readily available on a mobile device.

“Typing on a phone is slow, and our goal is to reduce the amount of typing as much as possible” McClendon explained. If users are logged into the same Google account on both phone and browser, typing a search term on the phone that has previously been looked up on the desktop version will pull over an auto-complete suggestion, saving your fingers.

The update is a timely one, as it arrives when Apple pushes out its own rival software for mapping on iOS devices. While the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch have relied on Google’s software until now, the Android/iOS rivalry has prompted Apple to create its own version, with TomTom mapping data and a new “flyover” feature with 3D and photo graphics of cities.

iOS 6 features on the iPhone 5:

Google declined to comment on Apple’s new Maps application, but McClendon did point out that “experience is important.” Apple lacks a search engine of its own, something Google relies on to feed Google Maps with contextual information.

iOS 6 is expected to drop for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad 2, new iPad, and iPod touch owners at roughly 1PM ET today. Google has not said exactly when its update will go live.

[via The Verge]

Google Maps for Android update reportedly timed for iOS 6 coincide is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When Kobo released the Vox, its first tablet, Engadget had just recently abolished review scores. In retrospect, that was a good thing for the company, as we didn’t have very many nice things to say about it. The product suffered from short battery life, for one, along with sluggish performance and WiFi connectivity issues. It’s no wonder, then, that Kobo is loathe to call its new Arc tablet a “follow-up” to the Vox so much as a “re-thinking.” The tablet, which will go on sale in mid-November starting at $199, brings a faster 1.5GHz TI processor, a battery rated for 10 to 12 hours of runtime and a re-tooled software experience built on Ice Cream Sandwich. Is that enough to unseat the new Kindle Fire HD or the Nexus 7? That, friends, is a question best answered in our forthcoming review, but after a few minutes of hands-on time we can at least say that we’re pleasantly surprised. Meet us past the break to find out why.

Continue reading Kobo Arc tablet hands-on (video)

Filed under: Tablets

Kobo Arc tablet hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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