Hasta La Gadget!

The business of commerce is alive and well, and while there’s far too much noise for anyone to stand on the mobile side, Paytouch is hoping to add a new wrinkle on the conventional end. The Barcelona-based outfit was on hand here at The Next Web Conference, showcasing its biometric payment terminal and setting the stage for what’s to come. For those unfamiliar, the Paytouch terminal is currently being used at Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel — users with a Paytouch account simply link their credit card to their fingerprints, and a two-finger press is all it takes to order another glass of sangria. The benefits are fairly obvious for all parties involved. For the consumer, there’s no longer a need to carry a credit card that can be skimmed, lost or stolen; for the retailer, it’s able to encourage impulse buying in an entirely new way; for Paytouch, there’s a commission paid on each purchase.

Filed under: Software

Comments

Source: Paytouch

The sun's surface is an active place.

(Credit: Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)

We’ve always been told not to stare at the sun, but NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has been doing just that for the last three years. Since it started operations, the SDO has taken a shot of the sun using its Atmospheric Imaging Assembly every 12 seconds on 10 different wavelengths, giving scientists an unprecedented look at the shifting moods and surface of our nearest star.

NASA put together a 3-minute video of the sun’s last three years and set it to lovely music. The result is a yellow, fluctuating, spinning globe, spitting out flares over time. It’s nearly hypnotizing.

Sun-watching observatory turns 3 (pictures)

1-2 of 22 Scroll Left Scroll Right

• … [Read more]

  Related Links:
  NASA puts Mars rover on a month-long hiatus
  Interactive panorama of Curiosity photos lets you take hi-rez Mars-walk
  NASA has found 3 nice, habitable planets for us to choose from
  Smartphone powers Star Wars-inspired NASA robot
  Biggest solar flare of the year knocks out radio transmissions
  

  

  Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • More

  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket
  • Email

Looking for an easier way to change the color of your home without breaking out the paint brushes and rollers? Build it from Rubik’s Cubes, instead of traditional materials like wood, steel, or drywall. More »

Valve’s Steam digital distribution gaming platform has added support for gaming subscription plans, allowing gamers the ability to manage their subscription-based games through the gaming service. The new feature offers a simple way to sign up for games and manage payments. The first and only game so far to use the new feature is Darkfall Unholy Wars.

More games will follow in the future, but for now, only Darkfall Unholy Wars is compatible — most likely to just test out the new system before rolling it out for more games. The service will allow you to manage subscriptions of all your Steam-based subscription video games through Steam itself, which is certainly nifty, and should give gamers a bit of flexibility and control.

To sign up for a Steam Subscription Plan, you’ll have to find a subscription-based game in the Steam store, and from there you just select the plan that you want and purchase the plan (rather than just a one-time fee for most games). It seems it’s a lot simpler than buying individual plans for multiple subscription-based games.

You can also cancel subscriptions from your Steam account, and Steam will list all of the subscriptions that you have. From there, you can just select the one you want to cancel and you’ll be all set. That same page will also let you renew subscriptions. Currently, Steam doesn’t offer the chance to gift a subscription plan, but we’re guessing they’ll come out with that sometime in the future.

Gaming subscription trend expands as Valve joins the party is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at Toshiba have revealed yet another oddity in computing the world might never have seen had it not been for Microsoft’s push for touchscreen interation with Windows 8. The device that’s opening up Toshiba’s push for the future is the Toshiba Portege Z10t. With Ultrabook on its back while its tablet display detaches from its keyboard dock, it is what Toshiba hopes will create yet another market for notebooks: the detachable Ultrabook.

This device will do what Toshiba hopes will draw in the odd-device-seeking masses with a set of specifications only otherwise seen on solid one-piece notebooks. Here the user will be employing an 11.6-inch touchscreen (Full HD) that functions as both the display for the notebook and a tablet on its own once detached from what then becomes just a keyboard dock.

This device aims also to take on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 with an optional DigitizerPen. Writing notes and sketches on the display of this machine will be an interesting comparison to make with the Android competition, especially since at the moment, it appears that Toshiba’s solution will require said pen to be carried separately.

This device appears to be quite similar to the Acer Iconia W510 convertable tablet/notebook revealed earlier this year, but the big difference remains the Ultrabook angle. With full Windows 8 coupled with an Intel Core processor under the hood, Toshiba’s bid may end up being a win in this season’s Windows 8-toting market.

Toshiba aims to create new “detachable Ultrabook” segment for Windows 8 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.