Hasta La Gadget!

Isis, the mobile payment service that is the result of a Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile team-up, was supposed to enter into its first round of trial runs later this month. Instead, CNET reports that its developers have hit a few roadblocks, and have now pushed the launch of that first trial run back a bit. We don’t know when, precisely, the trial run of Isis will be kicking off now, but we’re told that we can expect more news on it soon.

The disappointing announcement comes from Isis head of marketing Ryan Hughes, who said in an interview with CNET that the company is more concerned about launching the service the right way instead of as quickly as possible. He also assures that the Isis team hasn’t hit any major setbacks, but instead they’re going down a “punch list” of necessary features and goals. The reason for the delay wasn’t revealed, but it seems like getting Isis ready for its trial run phase is simply taking longer than expected.

We’re told that we don’t have much longer to wait until that trial run launches, however. That seems to suggest that Isis is quite far along in the development process, but its developers just need a little more time to iron out the kinks. Hughes says that he’ll have more news for us in October, and it’s likely that announcement in October will be when we’ll find out more about the state of Isis.

Even when Isis does launch, it’ll have a fight ahead of it. Google Wallet has enjoyed a lot of exposure since its debut, but that hasn’t helped with the slow uptake from consumers. Many phones these days are coming with NFC capabilities, but one of the most notable handsets that will be lacking NFC is the freshly-revealed iPhone 5. Hughes, however, says that Isis team is working on a sleeve that will allow iPhone 5 owners to use an NFC chip with their new handset, but at any rate, he claims that one device not utilizing NFC probably won’t do anything to slow the adoption of mobile wallet services. Keep an ear to SlashGear for more information on Isis!

Isis mobile payment trial run hit with a delay is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In the 1930s like four people could afford ice. The rest of them were in the bread lines. The monocle-wearing oil barons who were sipping on cold drinks spared no expense—at least one crushed his cubes with this replica ray gun. More »

It’s time again to see what Google’s Project Glass creators are up to, this time with them showing off their abilities at Fashion Week with a 3.5 minute video shot entirely with the device. This device is indeed called “Glass” as it has been for some weeks, appearing recently also at Google I/O 2012 in an amazingly daring live skydive video feed – such a fabulous experience it was! This week they’ve teamed up with the folks at the DVF Spring 2013 show at New York Fashion Week – see what they saw now!

This footage you’re about to see was, again, filmed entirely with the current iteration of Google Glass. That is to say that it’s not exactly what you’ll be getting when the Google Glass glasses come to the market, but judging by what we’re seeing here, impressive things are certainly ahead!

Google included the following “official” text to go along with this project that you’ll want to read as well. Note how Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) has gratefully brought Google aboard for the journey that not many average citizens are allowed to see!

“Celebrated fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg tried on Glass for the first time a few months ago at a conference that she attended with Sergey Brin. She immediately loved it and they agreed to bring Glass to New York Fashion Week. Diane is a champion for innovation and effortless design, so it’s unsurprising that Glass fit seamlessly into her production. In the week leading up to her Spring 2013 show in New York, and during the show itself, everyone from stylists and models to Diane herself used Glass to capture never-before-seen footage of the creative process. This is the first time any video has been shot entirely through Glass and we’re so excited to be able to share it with you.”

This project, you should note, has been confirmed by both DVF and Google to have been an “organic decision” rather than a sponsorship – they’ve made double-clear, in fact, that it’s not a sponsorship in any way. They’ve also noted that, somehow or another, the colors of the test Glass units matched the DVF collection perfectly even though they did not plan for it – and they didn’t change the colors based on the line, either!

Let us know if you’re into all this fashion stuff while we’re at it – last time we got anywhere near this kind of couture was when HP had us speaking with Project Runway’s Anya Ayong Chee – winner of Season 9, OMG!

Google shows first 100% Glass-shot video demo is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has kicked off a new initiative to try to stop the spread of the Nitol Botnet, and it has the backing of a US District Court in East Virginia in doing so. Microsoft’s Digital Crime Unit was granted permission to go after those distributing the Botnet after it was discovered that cybercriminals were infiltrating the company’s supply chain. Apparently, these unfavorable folks were loading counterfeit software housing the malware onto PCs at some point in the supply chain, leading retailers to unknowingly sell the infected machines.

Microsoft says that a supply chain becomes unsecure when reseller accepts stock from an untrustworthy source. After launching an investigation into these unsecure supply chains, Microsoft determined that it was being hosted at 3322.org, which contained a “staggering 500 different strains of malware hosted on more than 70,000 sub-domains.” The company obtained an ex parte temporary restraining that allows it to take control of 3322.org, thus stopping the spread of Nitol from it and its sub-domains.

In a write-up on the Microsoft Blog, the company says that 20% of the PCs purchased from an unsecure supply chain during its investigation were infected with malware, which obviously isn’t good. Nitol is capable of spreading to other machines and devices through things like USB flash drives, making the problem even more severe. Once you’ve been infected, all kinds of nasty things can happen to your computer, from the malware distributors remotely activating your webcams and microphones to listen in on what you’re doing, to logging all of your keystrokes and netting your personal information without you ever knowing your security has been breached.

While this is a big step in the right direction in the fight against Nitol, Microsoft is urging distributors, retailers, and resellers to make sure that the machines they buy and then sell to consumers are coming from legitimate sources. Microsoft also says that lawmakers need to do their part to help with the issue. As with most efforts against Malware, Microsoft’s battle against the Nitol Botnet is ongoing, so expect to hear more about it soon. Stay tuned.

Microsoft makes major progress in fight against Nitol Botnet is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

“We will continue to sell the Wii,” Nintendo America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime told investors today in a Q&A followup to the company’s big Wii U event in New York City. “In the US, the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with the Wii.” However, where Fils-Aime sees the most opportunity may not be where you expect. “I’m responsible for Canada, and Latin America as well,” he said. “We think there’s opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America.” The Wii is currently offered by Nintendo in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe, but not Latin America. The Wii ranges from $140 to $250, depending on what it comes with.

“You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that, candidly, we won’t be able to reach with the Wii U. That’s gonna continue to be an opportunity,” he said. Fils-Aime and Nintendo also have their eyes on Eastern Europe. “On a global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it’ll do well.”

He also stood behind the console continuing to sell in its currently available markets alongside the Wii U after the new console launches this November. “We do believe there’s still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell the Wii side-by-side for some period of time.” Unsurprisingly, he didn’t say exactly how long Nintendo is planning that support, nor would he say if we should expect a price drop for the aging console, but if we had to guess, we’d say “The Wii will drop in price” and “soon.”

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo sees next opportunity for Wii success in Latin America, Eastern Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments