Hasta La Gadget!

It was reported a few months ago that Apple was working on its own peer-to-peer money transfer service to rival the likes of Venmo. The service would presumably exist under the Apple Pay umbrella, enabling users to easily and quickly transfer money to each other in a manner not too different from Square Cash and Venmo. According to a new report, Apple’s work on this payment transfer service still continues.

Re/code reports that Apple has been having discussions with the payment industry about the service that it’s building. The report claims that this service might be launched as early as this year.

Much like Venmo and its competitors, Apple’s new service would enable iPhone users to transfer money to each other quickly using their mobile phones. Apple has reportedly held talks with Visa for a prepaid debit card service which would be tied to peer-to-peer payment transfers.

This might result in a Visa debit card co-branded with Apple which will enable the company’s users to even make purchases at retailers using their cards.

It’s not like Apple is going to have an open playing field if it does launch such a service. The market is already crowded by companies like Square Cash, PayPal, Venmo, and even Facebook.

Yes, Apple has the advantage of having hundreds of millions of iPhone users, but it’s not exactly going to be an easy ride for the company’s peer-to-peer payment transfer service.

Apple Reportedly Still Working On Its Money Transfer Service , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

SiriusXM has acquired Automatic, makers of a wireless adapter that plugs in under your dashboard and pipes car information directly to your smartphone. The news, announced today, sees SiriusXM extend its reach from the infotainment system, where it has built a reputation for satellite radio and connected services. With the addition of Automatic, it’ll be able to pull even greater … Continue reading

WASHINGTON ― House Democrats will vote against a short-term spending bill to keep the government open if Republicans try to move on a bill to repeal Obamacare this week. 

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that if Republicans try a second time to rush their latest bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act out the door, they will have to pass the one-week continuing resolution without Democratic votes. 

“If Republicans announce their intention to bring their harmful TrumpCare bill to the House Floor tomorrow or Saturday, I will oppose a one-week continuing resolution and will advise House Democrats to oppose it as well,” Hoyer said in a statement on Thursday. “Republicans continue to struggle to find the votes to pass a bill that will kick 24 million Americans off their health coverage, allow discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions, and impose an age tax on older Americans.”

The move by Democrats is a big threat as Republican leaders know they will likely need Democratic votes to pass the short-term resolution. If Congress fails to pass the stop gap measure, the government will shut down Friday at midnight.

Democrats in the House are united on their threat. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) criticized Republican leaders for “mixing apples and oranges” by trying to push the health care bill and continuing resolution through the chamber back-to-back.

“I assume they have the votes to pass their extension,” Pelosi said, warning that they shouldn’t rely on her to corral Democrats to support the short-term spending bill.

The stopgap continuing resolution would keep the government open for one week as Democrats and Republicans wrap up negotiations on a larger spending bill. 

“My members are left to their own devices,” Pelosi said. “Some of my members do not want any [continuing resolution.] They think there’s been plenty of time.”

If Republicans go forward with a vote on their health care bill, they’ll be putting a “tattoo on their forehead,” Pelosi said, indicating they will likely pay a political price later. 

“The minute they cast that vote they are putting doo-doo on their shoe,” she said.

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Someone please alert young Kylie Jenner that her reign as Snapchat King has come to an end. We’ll miss the lip kit swatches and endless “finger-mouthing,” but every good ruler needs to appoint a successor.

Enter Robert De Niro.

At the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival this week, Alex Berry, a finalist in the Tribeca Snapchat Shorts, gave the Oscar winner a quick tutorial in all things Snapchat, like sending photos to friends, distorting your face with a puppy tongue and, duh, working the Coachella flower crown.

De Niro seemed hesitant at first, as Berry explained how Snapchats eventually disappear. But even he couldn’t resist the appeal of the app as the duo tried out different filters. To borrow a word, it’s flawless. 

Watch, in a week or two De Niro will have turned into a full-blown millennial, delighting fans by saying, “You talkin’ to me?” as a baby bunny rabbit. 

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In an effort to quantify the damage done against America’s constitutional belief in free expression, PEN America released a thorough survey of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.

The organization, a nationwide community of novelists, journalists, editors, poets, playwrights and more, chronicled the president’s various statements that undermine the validity of news outlets, his lack of transparency and his choice to defund groups that support artistic expression. The report, titled “Trump the Truth,” explores a total of approximately 60 incidents in which the White House has undermined the press.

The 30-page memo focuses chiefly on how Trump’s administration treats journalists, citing some positive developments ― the administration offers “Skype seats” in its media briefing room for reporters outside of Washington, for example ― but mostly taking the opportunity to hone in on the president’s false indictments of “fake news.”

In the document’s introduction, the organization writes:

[…] what this Administration is doing ― the relentless lies, the constant efforts to chip away at public support for the press and trust in their reporting, the dismissal of peaceful public demonstrations as illegitimate ― is not normal.

PEN America concedes that, of course, all politicians “stretch the truth,” but emphasizes that several of Trump’s lies are in service of more malicious aims. Trump’s repeated assertion that voter fraud is widespread, for example, is unfounded, but could result in greater voting restrictions at the state level.

Similarly, the Trump administration’s unsupported claim that protest participants are paid “professionals” serves to “delegitimize the constitutionally-protected expression of dissenting viewpoints,” PEN writes, “and may feed into efforts by states to roll back protections on the right to peaceful assembly.”

The organization also calls special attention to Trump’s threats to loosen libel laws and the limited access he gives press to the State Department, disallowing cameras at press briefings. Moreover, it points out that his proposal to require travelers entering the U.S. surrender their personal devices ― including passwords and social media accounts ― “could have a widespread chilling effect on speech and would violate travelers’ human rights to privacy and free expression.”

When false and contradictory claims, and attempts to obfuscate the truth, are so constantly present, the effect can begin to feel diffuse. This document enumerates the actions the administration has taken to chip away at trust in the media and others whose role it is to hold the government accountable, bringing each of them back into clear focus.

You can read the report in its entirety on PEN’s website.

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