Hasta La Gadget!

The retail landscape has certainly changed a lot from back in the day. Back then, if you were running a small stall at a farmer’s market or flea market, the only way you could accept payment on the spot would be cash.

However, thanks to companies like Square, they created portable credit card readers that could be attached to smartphones, thus allowing retailers to accept credit/debit cards from their customers, but all of that could soon be moot. This is because according to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is working on an iOS update that will allow iPhones to accept card payments without additional hardware.

As you might know, it took Apple a while to introduce NFC to its iPhones, long after many Android devices were already using it. We’ve already seen NFC used for Apple Pay, and now this report claims that the iOS update will allow iPhones to accept card payments simply by tapping the card on the back of the iPhone, like you would on a contactless credit card reader.

This shouldn’t be too surprising given that back in 2020, Apple acquired startup Mobeewave that was working on tech that allowed smartphones to accept NFC payments, so this would basically be Apple putting their investment to good use. This is great news for retailers who might be running small stalls or popup booths and want to give their customers more options when it comes to paying for goods or services.

There is no word on when this iOS update is expected to launch, but with WWDC kicking off mid-year, maybe we’ll learn more about it then.

Future iOS Update Will Let iPhones Accept Credit Cards Using NFC

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<img width="1280" height="720" src="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/xiaomi-redmi-note-11-1280×720.jpg" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Three Redmi Note 11 phones" loading="lazy" style="margin: auto;margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%" data-attachment-id="709128" data-permalink="https://www.slashgear.com/xiaomi-redmi-note-11-revealed-with-108mp-camera-and-iphone-like-edges-26709125/xiaomi-redmi-note-11/" data-orig-file="https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/xiaomi-redmi-note-11.jpg" data-orig-size="1440,810" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="xiaomi-redmi-note-11" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="

Xiaomi

” data-medium-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/xiaomi-redmi-note-11-1280×720.jpg” data-large-file=”https://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/xiaomi-redmi-note-11-1280×720.jpg” />Smartphone design trends come and go, but some seem to have staying power. Curved edge displays, for example, are now considered the norm and large camera bumps are no longer a novelty, though they still look a bit ridiculous. Sometimes, however, the pendulum starts swinging in the opposite direction as shown by the iPhone 13 lineup. Xiaomi has embraced the … Continue reading

If there is one game that keeps getting tested against new CPUs and GPUs, it would be Crytek’s Crysis series. This is because the game has been known to be a very demanding game in terms of hardware. However, the last major release we saw was Crysis 3 which was back in 2013, and if you were hoping for a new major installment, you’re in luck.

This is because the franchise’s developer Crytek has announced that they are working on a new Crysis game, which according to a teaser trailer posted on YouTube it will be known as Crysis 4, although that seems to be a working title for now. However, regardless of the name, it seems that we might have a bit of waiting to do before it is available to play.

According to Crytek’s announcement, “It’s something you have been asking us for a long time, so it’s now finally time to confirm – yes, a new Crysis game is happening! We are so pleased and excited to bring this news to you, and we really can’t wait to reveal more details about what lies ahead. Right now the game is in the early stages of development so it will be a while yet, but we wanted to bring you the news at this time as we are so hyped for the future, and to let you know that we will be listening to our community.”

We have no idea when the game will be launched but for gamers who grew up on the Crysis franchise, this is definitely something to look forward to in the future.

Crytek Confirms That A New Crysis Game Is In The Works

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Former officer Jonathan Moreno was accused of using excessive force against a Black man during a traffic stop last year.

Workers at JFK8, an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York, have reportedly collected enough signatures to proceed with a union election vote. A National Labor Relations Board spokesperson, speaking to Reuters, confirmed that the workers had “reached a sufficient showing of interest,” confirming a tweet from key organizer Chris Smalls.

That threshold of interest, incidentally, is 30 percent of a given workforce, which was likely a difficult feat given both the size of JFK8 and the nature of its round-the-clock shifts which ensure many coworkers never have cause to meet. More impressive is that this facility is seemingly being organized without the help of an established union, but instead by a new independent group endemic to this particular Fulfillment Center, calling itself the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).

ALU had previously submitted a petition for unionization, but withdrew it late last year after being informed by the NLRB that it had not collected enough signatures. 

Reached for comment, an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget ““We’re skeptical that there are a sufficient number of legitimate signatures and we’re seeking to understand how these signatures were verified. Our employees have always had a choice of whether or not to join a union, and as we saw just a few months ago, the vast majority of our team in Staten Island did not support the ALU.”

This milestone comes shortly before Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama are scheduled to hold a re-vote on their own union election — in that instance, under the auspices of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — on February 4th. A union vote took place at the facility almost exactly one year before, but the NLRB determined that Amazon had interfered in the election. 

In the case of JFK8, Amazon has until Friday to respond with its position. A hearing on the matter is slated for February 16th.