Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon is offering $10 in promotional credit to get people to sign up to its palm print payments system. Our sister site TechCrunch spotted the promotional offer and shared a screenshot of it, which you can peep below. The retailer launched Amazon One last fall as a contactless way of authenticating purchases and allowing entry into stores using a biometric device. In this case, a palm scanner. With surface hygiene a major concern during the pandemic, the move made sense. 

Since then, Amazon has expanded the system to 53 of its physical retail spots in places including New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Texas. You can find the tech at Amazon Go convenience stores, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Books, Amazon 4-star stores and Amazon Pop Ups. 

Shoppers can enroll on Amazon One at those sites by pairing their credit card and mobile number with one or both of their palm signatures. The sign-up process is the only part that requires you to touch the device. After that, you just hover your palm over the scanner to enter a store and complete purchases. The promotion also requires you to link your Amazon account with your One ID.

The limited number of Amazon One locations means that the promo will be restricted to a small circle of users. But, if Amazon gets its way, the system be hard to avoid in a contactless, check-out free future. It’s already begun discussions to offer the tech to third-party retailers.

Amazon / TechCrunch

Of course, the idea of handing over more data (especially biometric information) to Amazon may not sit right with some people. Chances are, a $10 voucher won’t sway the naysayers put off by the horror stories around Amazon’s facial recognitiontech and Alexa voice recordings. 

But, Amazon is aware of the privacy concerns the device raises. To assuage those fears, the company has promised to secure palm data using encryption, data isolation and dedicated secure zones with restricted access controls. For those worried their data could be monetized, it also committed to keeping palm data separate from other Amazon customer data. 

The company says that a subset of “anonymous” palm data is used to improve its system and this data is “protected using multiple layers of security controls.” Amazon has also pledged to delete the data if you cancel your Amazon One ID and if you haven’t interacted with one of its palm scanners for two years. 

When we think of headphones or earbuds, we usually think of the ones designed for consumers. However, if you are an enterprise user, you might be interested to learn that Logitech has recently unveiled their latest pair of true wireless earbuds in the form of the Zone True Wireless Earbuds that appear to have been designed for enterprise users in mind.

What’s the difference, you ask? In terms of functionality, there really shouldn’t be any difference, but according to Logitech, they claim that the Zone earbuds have been certified by Google, Microsoft, and Zoom, so if you video conference a lot using any of those company’s services, then this could be the earbuds for you.

The earbuds will feature active noise cancellation and will also have a noise cancelling microphone, meaning that it will be better at allowing your voice to come through and will pick up less background noise. They have also been designed to look a bit understated in terms of its looks so it won’t stand out too much but still maintain a stylish design.

That being said, the Logitech Zone True Wireless earbuds don’t come cheap. They are priced at $299, but if you like Logitech’s products and think that this could be great for work, then you should keep an eye out for its availability which is set for the fall of 2021.

Logitech’s New Wireless Earbuds Are Certified By Zoom, Microsoft, And Google

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

Unlike most of the competition, Spotify offers users a paid and free listening tier. The former will give users features like offline listening, playing songs on demand, skipping songs, and basically lets them do whatever they want with the service. The free version, however, limits what users can do and users will have to put up with ads.

However, Spotify thinks that they might have found the solution to get people to start paying. According to a discovery from The Verge, it seems that Spotify is testing out a new subscription tier that will cost just $1 a month. This is versus the current paid tier that’s priced at $9.99 a month.

This particular tier will still come with ads, but it seems that users will be given more freedom in how they listen to their songs. For example, users will be able to pick and choose the songs they want to listen to, and they can also skip as many songs as they like (the free tier is limited to six tracks per hour).

However, before you get too excited, Spotify told the publication that there’s no guarantee that this subscription will launch for the masses. According to the company, “Some tests end up paving the way for new offerings or enhancements while others may only provide learnings. We don’t have any additional information to share at this time.”

Spotify’s New Subscription Could Finally Get People To Start Paying

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

Yesterday, Google confirmed that its upcoming Pixel 6 smartphones will be powered by its own Tensor chipsets. This effectively means that Google will not be using Qualcomm’s chipsets moving forwards, at least as far as Pixel handsets are concerned, but it seems that both companies aren’t quite ready to breakup just yet.

According to a statement made to CNBC following Google’s announcement, Qualcomm revealed that they will “continue to work closely with Google on existing and future products based on Snapdragon platforms.” We’re not sure what that means, but presumably it could refer to the company continuing to offer support for current Pixel devices that use their Snapdragon chipsets.

It could also mean that while Qualcomm may no longer work with Google on future Pixel phones, they could still work with Google on wearables. In any case, not much is known about the Tensor chipset at the moment and how it performs. Earlier rumors have suggested that the Tensor chipset might not be a beast of a chipset, but that won’t be the point.

The chipset is meant for Google to show off its AI capabilities, which will be powered by the chipset. In any case, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro phones are expected to be announced in the near future so we should have more details then.

Despite The New Tensor Chipset, Qualcomm Will Continue To Work With Google

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A new Vivo patent has turned up that shows a strange and very unique pop-up camera system that may find a home in future smartphones. The patent shows cascading extendable camera with four lenses that pop out the top of the smartphone. Each of the four segments of the pop-up camera has its own lens inside. The camera system is … Continue reading