Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re not all about science, its time you turned right around – because the Nexus 4 being torn down by iFixit to see what LG has brought to the party is all about how much science they can pack in its innards. It begins with a note that the LG Nexus 4 (see our full review here) isn’t exactly made to be taken apart – not by the average citizen – but that if you do want to fix it up, you’ll probably be able to without too much trouble. It all begins with a couple T5 Torx screws and a prying of the back from the front.

The back of the device is a beastly amalgamation of components not often seen in a battery cover. Of course since it’s not technically just a battery cover, but half the device, not meant to be removed by just anyone, it makes a whole lot of sense. This half of the device has a set of pressure contacts that power the NFC antenna and connect to the induction coil needed for wireless charging to the motherboard.

The battery sits in the front half of the device and is held down with a large amount of adhesive – not meant to be removed, ever. The folks at iFixit do remove the battery, but warn that you’ll not want to be a first-timer if you plan on making it work for yourself. The speaker enclosure, on the other hand, is held in place with two screws and no cables, working with spring contacts that make replacing it perfectly simple.

The back-facing camera is labeled as AC2AD D5A261, the motherboard contains Toshiba THGBM5G6A2JBA1R 8GB Flash and Samsung K3PE0E00A 2GB RAM. Imagine that – a big mix! For those of you that do not check the innards of your devices up-close very often, this isn’t out of the ordinary at all. It’s a team effort!

Also inside you’ll find a lovely Qualcomm WTR1605L Seven-Band 4G LTE chip. This does not mean that the device here is capable of working with a 4G LTE mobile network – it only means that, as you’ve seen with the LG Optimus G (with much of the same gear inside), Qualcomm’s setup is capable of 4G LTE where specified. We’ll see if this means that Verizon or AT&T will be running up with their own LG Nexus 4 with 4G LTE in the future – it’d require just a few hardware tweaks, and as we know from the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, it’s not out of the question that a carrier-based “Nexus” device would exist.

[via iFixit]

Nexus 4 gets teardown for repairability and science is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

GM has already released an OnStar app that extends smartphone control to a range of vehicles, but it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that it has bigger mobile plans than that. It’s now announced two new apps designed for EV owners — one that will let you help find EV chargers on your route, and another that will let you pay for the charge with your phone. The first of those is an update to OnStar’s existing RemoteLink app (presumably for both iOS and Android), which will be getting a new Spark EV Waypoint tab that’ll let you enter a destination and then have a route configured that ensures you won’t be stuck miles from the nearest charging station. GM says it will be available in time for the launch of the 2014 Spark EV. The second app, dubbed Park-Tap-Charge at the moment, is apparently still in the prototype stage, but GM promises that it will let you use your NFC-equipped smartphone to pay directly at the charging station, and also check information like the hourly rate of charging or the estimated time for a full charge before you pay. No word yet on when it will be available, though.

Continue reading GM promises two new smartphone apps to help keep your EV charged

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

GM promises two new smartphone apps to help keep your EV charged originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NFC might only be available on a select number of Android devices, but that doesn’t mean other smartphones and tablets can’t join in on the fun. A company called Flomio is looking to shake things up a bit with their FloJack NFC reader for iOS devices. The company is currently trying to raise money on Kickstarter to put the NFC reader into production.

FloJack is a small dongle that plugs into the 3.5mm headphone jack of your iOS device, and Richard Grundy, founder of Flomio and who has over 12 years of experience working with embedded systems, says that the company is “extremely excited to invite iOS customers to the NFC party” and “since Apple didn’t include NFC in its latest iPhone version—that’s where we [Flomio] come in. The possibilities are endless.”

Flomio has already raised a little over $16,000 from 241 backers with 18 days to go. Their goal is $80,000. The FloJack is compatible with most newer iOS devices. This includes the iPhone 4, 4S, and 5, the iPod Touch 4th gen and 5th gen, and all iPad models except for the 1st gen.

Currently, $49 will get you a FloJack NFC dongle and five “Zapps”, which Flomio is naming their NFC tags. If Flomio reaches their goal, it’s expected they’ll start shipping the product in March of 2013. We’re not sure how well a separate NFC dongle for iOS will catch on, but it makes us wonder why there isn’t an iPhone case with embedded NFC, which would be far more popular on our books.

Flomio unveils first NFC reader for iOS devices is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mastercard is already a big fish in the still tiny NFC contactless payment pond, and now it wants to take that same technology to a veritable ocean — internet sales. The plastic purveyor is tag-teaming with ING in the Netherlands for PayPass-based smartphone internet payments that would have a “comparable level of security” to bricks and mortar purchases — by transmitting an EMV-compliant cryptogram or QR code to merchants. That would theoretically make online shopping less risky, and the system would also allow coupons and vouchers to be applied, giving a “similar user experience in both the physical and digital world.” The Dutch trial has already started and will continue until early 2013, but there’s no word if new users can still jump in — check the PR after the break to read the tea leaves for yourself.

Continue reading Mastercard previewing smartphone web payment system with in-person security strength

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile

Mastercard previewing smartphone web payment system with in-person security strength originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Wallet is Google’s take on the mobile wallet service which is accomplished by relying on NFC-enabled devices and compatible smartphones. That being said it was last week where it was suggested that Google could be coming up with a physical card for its Google Wallet feature and if you needed more proof of that happening, it seems that Google has let the cat out of the bag themselves via their own website. On the help page for its Google Wallet service, a section for “Eligible Devices” revealed several references to a “Google Wallet card”. Unfortunately no pictures were shown but here’s hoping that the mention of Google’s website is an indication that the official announcement could be soon.

For those wondering what the Google Wallet card is about, it’s basically a physical card that Google is hoping will replace credit and debit cards that you typically carry with you, providing you with a one-stop solution for cashless payments. The Google Wallet application is also said to allow users to choose which credit or debit cards are associated with the Google Wallet card, which we guess will help with security in the event that you misplace it. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information, so check back with us at a later date where hopefully we will have more to share with you guys.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Wallet gets hacked onto a Samsung Galaxy S3, GSM Galaxy Nexus gains Google Wallet access,