Xiaomi Redmi 2A 4G LTE-Enabled Android 4.4 Smartphone Introduced

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Xiaomi has once again expanded its line of 4G LTE-enabled Android 4.4 smartphones by introducing the Redmi 2A in China. Available in white, dark gray, bright yellow, light green and pink color options, this mid-range smartphone features a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 HD IPS display, a 1.5GHz quad-core Leadcore L1860C processor, a Mali-T628MP2 GPU, a 1GB RAM, an 8GB of expandable internal storage (up to 32GB) and dual SIM card slots.

What’s more, the handset also sports a 2MP front-facing camera with 720p HD video recording and an 8MP rear-facing camera with LED flash, BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture and 1080p Full HD video recording. Powered by a 2200mAh battery, Redmi 2A provides 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS for connectivity, and runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS with MIUI v6 on top.

The Xiaomi Redmi 2A is available now for 599 Yuan (about $97). [FoneArena]

Pandora Is Finally Coming To Apple’s CarPlay

apple-carplayLast year when Apple announced CarPlay, they also announced support for third-party music apps such as iTunes Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and more, but oddly enough Pandora was missing from that list. At that time Pandora stated that they were working with other OEMs but the good news is that it looks like Pandora will be finally arriving for CarPlay.

This was confirmed by Pandora’s CFO Mike Herring who spoke to Fox Business Network (via MacRumors) and stated that the service would definitely be making its way into CarPlay. Herring also confirmed that Pandora will be available on the Apple Watch. That being said Herring did not confirm when the app would be launched for CarPlay, so users will just have to remain patient until then.

As to why Pandora took a year to decide if they would bring its app and platform onto CarPlay, Herring offered an explanation and stated that the company had a “frenemy kind of relationship going on” with Apple. It was also suspected that the reason Pandora was not available for CarPlay at that time was because it was said to be similar to iTunes Radio, although with Apple rumored to relaunch their music streaming service, perhaps now would be a good time for Pandora to step in.

Pandora Is Finally Coming To Apple’s CarPlay

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Apple Pay Reportedly Running Into Issues At The Checkout Counter

apple-pay-002One of the reasons why Apple Pay has gotten the amount of attention it did is because not only is it an Apple product which generates a ton of interest on its own, but also its ease of use in which users just need to tap their phone against the payment terminal, hold their finger against Touch ID to verify themselves, and the process is done!

However despite the seemingly ease of use, it seems that it has been running into issues. According to research conducted by Phoenix Marketing International, they found that 66% of Apple Pay users encountered some kind of problem while using the service to pay for their goods. This was either due to the terminals not working, transactions taking too long to process, and the general inability of cashiers to help customers who needed assistance with Apple Pay.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Phoenix’s director of card research Greg Weed had this to say, “They’ve created demand, but it can’t be fulfilled. To make it more difficult to use or to create any uncertainty in your customer base as to whether it’s going to work is just going to slow it down.” This seems to lineup with an earlier report that suggested that 85% of iPhone 6 users who have yet to try Apple Pay.

Weed also suggested that updating the Passbook app frequently with support stores could go help with improving the service. “Since Apple Pay is still in an introductory mode and the NFC acceptance network still has a long way to go, adding a continuously updated ‘local store directory’ to the Passbook app is a necessary, short-term product improvement.” So while it looks like Apple Pay might have been initially heralded as the new standard of mobile payments, it seems like it still has a long way to go.

Apple Pay Reportedly Running Into Issues At The Checkout Counter

, original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

Smartphone Users Become More Discerning About The Apps They Use

app storeBack in the day when smartphone apps were relatively new, there were many smartphone owners who had pages upon pages of random apps, but it looks like as time has moved on, the market has matured and according to data collected by market research firm Gartner, it seems that smartphone users these days have become more discerning about the apps they use.

This isn’t to say that the demand of apps has gone down. In fact Gartner’s research director Brian Blau states that smartphone users are just as excited about new apps as they were before, but instead of simply downloading and using any new app that pops up, users must now be convinced of its value.

According to Blau, “It’s not that smartphone users have lost interest in apps, users remain excited about what apps can do for them in their daily lives, including for work and nonwork app scenarios. However, app users need to be convinced about the value of the app.” Fitness apps are a prime example of users being discerning in their choices.

Gartner found that fitness apps were only installed on about 23% of handsets in the US, but despite the relatively low install base, 70% users who had those apps installed used it at least once a week, suggesting that if a user found an app they would stick with it as long as it works, as opposed to back in the day where users could jump from app to app.

Smartphone Users Become More Discerning About The Apps They Use

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U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Two Secret Service Agents Over Security Incident

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – A House of Representatives committee subpoenaed two U.S. Secret Service agents on Tuesday after an incident this month when agents allegedly drove a car past White House barricades after drinking at a party.

Republican Jason Chaffetz, head of the House Oversight Committee, said the Department of Homeland Security had declined to cooperate.

“We therefore must take the regrettable step of compelling the agents for interviews before the Committee,” he said in a statement.

The move was criticized by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who said he regretted that Chaffetz had taken “the unprecedented and unnecessary step of subpoenaing two members of the U.S. Secret Service,” which is charged with protecting the president.

Johnson said Chaffetz’s assertion that DHS had been uncooperative “is simply wrong.” He added in his statement that the Secret Service director testified before the committee last week about the March 4 incident and that DHS had offered a number of Secret Service personnel, including the agents under subpoena, for interviews with committee staff.

Chaffetz did not identify the Secret Service personnel for whom he was issuing subpoenas, but said the committee had requested interviews with agents who could shed light not just on the March 4 incident, “but also on why the Secret Service appears to be systemically broken and in desperate need of both leadership and reform.”

The Secret Service has experienced a series of high-profile security lapses. Former Director Julia Pierson stepped down in October after a Sept. 19 breach in which a man carrying a knife jumped the fence and ran into the executive mansion. (Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

On Indiana's RFRA, Discrimination and Sex

A few thoughts keep rolling around in my mind as I listen to updates regarding the passage of SB101 in Indiana last week. They tend to circulate like this:

1) What kind of discrimination was it intended to allow, if not against members of the LGBTQ community? To rephrase: what forms of religious freedoms was it intended to protect? I could use a few examples, please.

2) Wouldn’t it just be easier for people to come “out” about their discriminatory preferences, instead of having legislation to protect them in the aftermath? Instead of people having to grudgingly serve others they deem to be judgment-worthy, they get to take a pass, keep their integrity and signal to everyone who doesn’t embrace the discrimination to keep their distance. I am as averse to forcing someone to do something they do not want to as they are to being forced into it. Isn’t being honest about it, instead of relying on legislation, something of a win-win?

3) Aside from this being a terrible step backwards, in terms of legal rights for the LGBTQ community, the issue here is not really a legal one. It is a religious one.

4) See #1.

It seems to me that the underlying point of discussion ought to be about the fact that there are religious traditions that explicitly, and more often implicitly, deny the full personhood of some of our fellow travelers on this planet. There are religious traditions that endorse discrimination. That is worth our attention.

As a biblical scholar, I am quite interested in thinking about how sacred writings contribute to these conversations. I am keen to raise awareness about both the inherent problems with some of the biblical passages — those that are not simply being misinterpreted to have hurtful messages but that actually have hurtful messages — and the issue of perpetuating 2000+ year old world views today, if we are not thoughtful about what we find in these sacred texts. There is, of course, a great deal of overlap there.

But what I find most troublesome in these public discourses is that people end up turning to ancient texts to find guidance and “the truth.” It is not the issue of valuing an ancient text that troubles me, though. There can be incredibly helpful wisdom contained in those tomes. The troublesome part is that some people are taught that the ancient scripture trumps human experiences and realities. This approach to sacred writings will cause a person to defend, instead of raise a question about, any of the patriarchal and heteronormative elements within them.

The thing is, what we know about those ancient patriarchal and heteronormative worldviews and beliefs do, at times, unsettle me to my core. I am not fond of the belief that I (being a female, biologically) am simply a not-fully-formed male, for instance. (My clitoris just didn’t quite make it to the penis state, apparently.) As for that belief that males are by default more intelligent and more logical than females? Just don’t even get me started on that one. But all of these beliefs were alive and well at the time in which much of the sacred writings were produced and canonized. And these three ideas are just the tip of the iceberg, folks. Some of the ideas at the time about sex, procreation and emotions or passions might shock you.

As for the matter that might really be at the center of this issue, regardless of how it is dressed up: what undergirds religious folk’s resistance to embracing the LGBTQ community is sex. How people have it matters, in this conversation. Whether or not it can lead to procreation (Gen 1:28) or looks like all the couples having approved-of sexual relations in the Bible is actually at the core of this debate. As I have argued previously here on HuffPost Religion, and more fully in Permission Granted (ch. 4, Sex: Who, What & Why?), the role of sex in the bible and its role for us today are quite different things.

The fact that some people really do care about how everyone is having sex is actually a significant part of this discussion. Please stop and think about that bit for a moment. That they think it should always and only be between a man and a woman conveniently leaves out the other primary biblical reason/role of sex, which is procreation. Not only do hetero-couples not always have sex that could cause fertilization, but also our global village is having overpopulation issues. Our procreating all too well might be our downfall.

People who grow up being told that sex is only to happen between a man and a woman will quite naturally have discomfort about versions of sex that look different. But their discomfort does not mean that only hetero-sex is okay.

I am tired of hearing people say that Christianity, for instance, is about love. No. I am sorry, but not all versions of it are. Thus we can safely say that there are elements in the Christian scriptures, doctrines, and/or traditions that allow for some unloving beliefs, and thus unloving actions and interactions.

If you would like to treat a group of people differently, as if they had a deadly virus that you could catch if you interacted with them, based on your religious beliefs, then I say it is time to rethink your religious convictions. You may have come by them honestly, from your sacred scriptures and the congregation you have known since childhood. I understand that. But that does not mean that your beliefs or the sacred scriptures you turn to cannot handle some honest soul-searching or reconfiguring in light of present day realities.

Five Strategies to Profit From Your Competitors

If you think your competitors are your enemies, think again. Here are five strategies to leverage your competitors to help you grow your business.

1. Joint venture with your competitor:

Yes I am serious here!

If your client would be better served with a competitive product or service, arrange to provide that product or service to your client at a profit.

You could do this by licensing your competitor’s product or service and private labeling it as your own.

You could buy your competitor’s product at a steep discount and sell it at a profit to your client.

Or you could refer your client over to a competitor for a referral fee or residual percentage.

You could also arrange to do the reverse, selling your product or service to your competitor’s active clients in a mutually profitable and healthy way.

Finally, you could even leverage your competitors to provide back-up capacity should you get a flood of new business. (Of course you’d need clear agreements in place to protect yourself, but done right, this is an easy way to have back-up capacity without any investment in additional infrastructure.)

2. Buy your competitors dead, stale or sated leads:

Your competitor surely has leads that said no, or have gone stale, or who have already purchased all your competitor has to offer.

Help your competitor turn these leads into an additional revenue stream(s) by selling them to you.

3. Sell your past client leads or inactive clients to your competitor:

This is just the opposite of strategy 2.

Every business has leads who will just never go on to do business with them, or inactive clients who are highly unlikely to come back and do business with them. These former customers may be a valuable fit for your competitor. Consider offering these leads for sale to them for a fee–which can be a percentage of gross sales or a set dollar payment per lead.

4. Reciprocal lead exchange with competitors:

Mutually trade dead, stale, or sated leads with your competitor. Or, if it makes sense, trade your active clients with each other too.

Catalog companies do this all the time. They create a collective clearinghouse that helps them share names amongst several dozen catalog companies.

How can you work together with your competitors to help each of you get more clients and create more options and value for your clients? A crazy question we know, but one that pays to ask.

5. Model your competitors:

What can you learn from modeling your competitors best practices?

How can you avoid the things your competitor does that are bad business?

What do your competitors have to teach you that could immediately boost your cash flow?

What one simple part of your competitor’s business could you model that would immediately boost your sales or lower your expenses in the next 90 days?

Be careful here. Sometimes we assume just because our competitor does it that it is a proven, smart thing to do. That is not always the case. Still, if you see them doing something effective, consider modeling it in your own business.

There you have five ways you can profit from your competitors. Remember, having strong competition can often be a powerful force to help you grow your business.

5 Airlines That Fly to Europe for Cheap (for Real)

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No-frills carrier Ryanair made the news this year by announcing the launch of transatlantic flights starting at just $15. It’s a deal that sounds much too good to be true, and indeed, that $15 price tag fails to factor in the passenger taxes ($200 or so) and other fees like luggage and seat selection.

Rest assured, though: If you’re looking to explore Europe on the cheap, whether you prefer the icy fjords of Scandinavia or the warm Mediterranean landscapes of Portugal, it’s possible to find round trips in the $400-700 range. To help you on your way there, Hopper crunched the numbers for you and come up with a list of the five budget airlines offering the very best deals on Europe flights. Enjoy!

5. Turkish Airlines

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Turkey’s flag carrier is definitely the best option for U.S. residents eager to explore the busy souks, centuries-old mosques, and traditional baths of its vibrant capital. Sample round-trip fares to Istanbul include $763 departing from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, $692 departing from Boston’s Logan International Airport, and just $645 departing from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. And as the fourth-largest carrier in the world, Turkish Airlines serve hundreds of destinations all over the world, including dozens in North America. This means that no matter where you live, it won’t be hard to find some great deals.

4. SATA International

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Based in the volcanic islands of the Azores, SATA International offer flights to the Madeira Islands and mainland Portugal as well as to other destinations in Europe and North America. Boston residents in particular can find some great options for round trips to destinations in Portugal, up to $200 cheaper than other airlines’ offerings! For instance, round trips from Boston to Lisbon’s sunny beaches and white limestone buildings come in at just $622. The Azores are even easier to visit, with round trips as low as $472. And these are direct rates, mind you — no waiting around in airports needed.

3. Icelandair

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Iceland’s spectacular volcanoes, geothermal pools and colorful cityscapes make it a bucket-list topper for many travelers. Residents of Washington D.C., Boston and New York can fly there for as low as $662 round trip, landing in Keflavik International Airport in only about six hours. If Iceland doesn’t tempt you, though, Icelandair also offer very affordable round trips to Copenhagen, especially for New York City residents who can hop from JFK to the Gothic spires and towers of Denmark’s capital for as low as $581 round trip.

2. Norwegian Air

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Travelers interested in Scandinavia should definitely check out Norwegian Air’s super-cheap round trips, which include JFK to Stockholm for $546, Orlando to Copenhagen for $529, and JFK to Oslo for just $528. With these rates, you should have plenty of money left over to explore the islands of Stockholm, walk through narrow medieval streets lined with beautiful churches, brush up on Viking history at a variety of museums, or venture further north to see the spectacular aurora borealis.

1. WOW Air

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Iceland makes the list twice, this time with a low-cost carrier that describes itself as “the airline with the biggest smile and lowest prices.” And there’s certainly some truth to that, judging by their rates: Boston residents can find round trips to Reykjavik for as low as $409 and to Dublin for as low as $526, while those living in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area can visit Copenhagen for $459, Reykjavik for $346, and even popular destinations such as Paris or London for $650 to $750 round trip. Not bad at all!

Pro-Tip:

Okay, so Ryanair was totally lying about $15 flights. But that doesn’t mean cheap flights to Europe don’t exist. The only problem? Finding them. That’s where Hopper’s new mobile app comes in: Simply download and set up airfare alerts to your preferred European destination. The app will notify you when prices fall, meaning you’ll never pay too much on that jaunt to Paris or that journey to London again.

Liked this article? Also check out The Cheapest Time to Fly to Europe and How to Save Over $500 on Flights to Europe This Summer.

This article originally appeared on Hopper.com.

Top Ten Best-Selling Ebooks–Week of March 28

Titles by veteran authors like Harlan Coben and John Green populate this week’s Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller List, while one first-time author’s hit title hangs on at No. 1.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins heads into its ninth street in the top spot, a feat that’s noteworthy not only because Hawkins isn’t as seasoned an author but also because her best-selling thriller isn’t tied to a popular movie or TV series.

Case in point: Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy, all three installments of which make renewed appearances within the week’s top 25 as the Insurgent film, based on the third novel in the series, continues its run in theaters.

The top 10 best-selling ebooks of the week ending March 28:

1. The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins (Penguin Random House) — $6.49

2. The Stranger by Harlan Coben (Penguin Random House) — $10.99

3. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks (Hachtte) — $5.39

4. NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson; Marshall Karp (Hachette) — $9.99

5. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (Penguin Random House) — $10.99

6. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Simon & Schuster) — $11.99

7. Make Me: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child (Penguin Random House) — $12.99

8. Divergent by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins) — $2.99

9. Allegiant (Divergent Trilogy Book 2) by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins) — $3.99

10. Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn (Penguin Random House) — $4.00

See the rest of the top 25 best-selling ebooks this week.

Iran Nuclear Talks Miss Deadline, Extended Another Day

By Louis Charbonneau, John Irish and Parisa Hafezi

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, April 1 (Reuters) – Six world powers and Iran missed a Tuesday deadline to reach an outline accord reining in Tehran’s nuclear program, extending talks into an extra day as they edged toward a deal but failed to agree crucial details such as the lifting of U.N. sanctions.

The negotiators ended talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne in the early hours of Wednesday and said they would reconvene later in the day, with Iran and Russia expressing optimism that an initial agreement was within reach.

The preliminary deal is a major milestone toward a final accord, with an end-June deadline, that could end the 12-year-old standoff and reduce the risk of another Middle East war.

With Iran asserting its “nuclear rights” and the United States threatening on Tuesday to abandon the negotiations, the talks have been bogged down on the issues of nuclear research, the lifting of U.N. sanctions and their restoration if Iran breaches the agreement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said negotiators had reached a general accord on “all key aspects,” according to Russia’s TASS news agency, while his Iranian counterpart said a draft agreement could be prepared on Wednesday.

But a diplomat close to the talks denied that such an agreement had been reached, and a French official said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was leaving the talks and would return from France when it was “useful.”

It was not clear whether Fabius’ departure was a sign of a major problem in the talks.

The six powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – aim to stop Iran from gaining the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb in exchange for easing international sanctions that are crippling its economy.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

The U.S. administration of President Barack Obama had committed to meeting a March 31 deadline for the outline political accord.

Negotiators have a tentative agreement on the rough outline of a possible public statement on the progress they have made so far that would also highlight areas of disagreement, diplomats close to the talks said. But they have not agreed on all the key details central to a political framework that would form the basis of a future nuclear agreement, the diplomats said.

Parts of any understanding reached by the parties will likely remain confidential for the foreseeable future.

Failure to agree a detailed preliminary accord would add to skepticism in the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress over an emerging deal. Congress has warned it will consider imposing new sanctions on Iran if there is no agreement this week, giving an added sense of urgency to the talks.

A Democrat, Obama has threatened to veto any sanctions moves by the Republican-controlled Congress.

RUSSIA SAYS KEY DETAILS AGREED

Officials cautioned that any accord would be fragile and incomplete, but the U.S. State Department gave the go-ahead for talks to go past a self-imposed midnight deadline.

Lavrov was quoted by TASS as saying that the possible agreement included the International Atomic Energy Agency’s control over Tehran’s nuclear program as well as steps to lift sanctions. He added experts would work out technical details by end-June.

“One can say with enough confidence that (foreign) ministers have reached a general agreement on all key aspects of a final settlement to this issue,” he said. “It will be put down in writing over the next few hours, maybe during the day.”

The State Department said earlier in a statement that while enough progress had been made to extend the talks into Wednesday, “there are several difficult issues still remaining.”

A senior Iranian negotiator said Tehran was willing to negotiate until the deadlock was resolved.

“Iran does not want a nuclear deal just for the sake of having a deal, and a final deal should guarantee the Iranian nation’s nuclear rights,” the negotiator, Hamid Baidinejad, told reporters.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in Washington that U.S. negotiators would not wait until June 30 to walk away from the talks if they could not reach a preliminary political agreement.

“If we’re not able to reach a political agreement, then we’re not going to wait … until June 30 to walk away,” he said.

Speaking in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande said it would be better to have no deal than a bad deal.

An agreement would almost certainly lift sanctions only in stages, deferring even a partial return of Iranian crude exports until at least 2016.

Sanctions have halved Iran’s oil exports to just over 1 million barrels per day since 2012 when oil and financial sanctions hit Iran. Brent crude dropped towards $55 a barrel on Tuesday as negotiations proceeded.

STICKING POINTS

Officials from both sides said the main sticking points were the removal of the U.N. sanctions, their reversibility and Iranian demands for the right to unfettered research and development into advanced nuclear centrifuges after the first 10 years of the agreement expires.

Officials said Iran was still demanding the lifting of all U.N. sanctions and that they not be automatically reinstated without further negotiations. Officials have said Britain, France and the United States want any removal of U.N. sanctions to be automatically reversible, but the Russians dislike this because it would weaken their veto power over the deal.

The six powers want more than a 10-year suspension of Iran’s most sensitive nuclear work. Their goal is to find a way to ensure that for at least the next 10 years Iran is at least one year away from being able to produce enough fissile material for an atomic weapon.

Iran said the main issue was lifting sanctions quickly. “There will be no agreement if the sanctions issue cannot be resolved,” Majid Takhteravanchi, an Iranian negotiator, told Iran’s Pars news agency.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s concern that an agreement would fall short of guaranteeing its safety.

The framework agreement would leave Iran with the capability to develop a nuclear weapon in under a year, said Netanyahu, whose country is believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal. (Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Writing by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by Howard Goller)