Hasta La Gadget!

Google is fundamentally changing how an aspect of Wallet works. Again. On August 21st, Mountain View is turning NFC functionality off for Wallet-stored gift and loyalty cards and recommends spending any gift card balances before the deadline later this month (i.e., within 12 days from now). However, if you still have the physical cards, you’re in the clear and can use them without worry. The search giant stressed that it’s working with retailers on other options for gift and loyalty card redemption, and that this latest change would not affect other aspects of the Wallet service, including its ability to handle debit or credit card transactions.

Loyalty program linking is something Google has been showing off since Wallet was first detailed, so it’s curious to see the service suddenly being limited like this. When we asked for clarification, a company spokesperson replied that there wasn’t much more they could share. Page and Co. said its working on a solution though, and will have details to talk about “soon.”

[Thanks Anthony and Dan]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

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When the HTC Butterfly (better known as the Droid DNA here in the US) launched in China several months ago, it was soon followed by a companion device called the HTC Mini. This accessory — not to be confused with HTC’s One mini — is basically designed to be a Bluetooth handset and remote control for the larger smartphone. It features NFC for pairing, plus a numeric keypad and monochrome LCD. What’s more intriguing, however, is that UK retailer Clove recently outed an update to the product — the HTC Mini+ — which gains an IR blaster and the ability to remote control a variety of TVs, along with HTC’s Media Link HD. The companion device is expected to be available soon fort £54.16 (about $83) before taxes.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Via: Android Community

Source: Clove

Motorola is teaming up with fashion-forward headphone purveyor Sol Republic on a co-branded Bluetooth speaker. The Deck is weird looking little thing, but it’s got a few features that make it stand out from the otherwise saturated cheap wireless speaker market.

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Last time we heard from Isis, the aspiring mobile payments collaboration between three US wireless carriers, its CEO Michael Abbott wasn’t willing to discuss the company’s future plans in specific terms. Three months appear to make all the difference, however: Isis is almost ready to expand beyond its trial runs in Salt Lake City and Austin, and the service will be rolling out from coast to coast later this year. The company isn’t giving any more specific details regarding timing or new Isis-compatible devices (there are currently 35 of them spread across Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile), although it’s planning to enable the service on BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices later this year as well. The press release will serve up all the details after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile

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There’s an accessory line in the making said to be coming from Nokia in the form of a so-called “Treasure Tag” NFC dongle. This device has been tipped to The Verge as an invention strikingly similar to what we’ve seen from Tile, bringing NFC-enabled miniature pieces of plastic that attach to your every beloved device and valuable. Here with Treasure Tag, Nokia will allow you to track a collection of tags in real time, using none other than Nokia Lumia devices’ LiveSight app to track these tags in augmented reality.

This system will be working with a combination of Bluetooth and NFC, the actual accessories appearing in at least one form: on a loop made with materials not all that different from what we’ve seen from the company in their ever-expanding Lumia-friendly family. There will also be a Treasure Tag app that’ll work with the tags exclusively, showing the location of each sensor on a map.

The phone you’ve paired the Tag with will be able to be located with a long press on the tag, the phone sending out a notification noise until it’s located. The Tag will be able to be found by the phone with the Treasure Tag app.

The tags will be powered by batteries – long lasting “six months of use” batteries, that is – that will be on all the time. An NFC tag cannot send out a signal on its own without a power source, while this system will work with both Bluetooth signals – Bluetooth 4.0, in this case – and NFC to keep your machines together.

Even in Bluetooth 4.0, the range of this technology stays within 100 m (330 ft). Bluetooth 4.0′s interaction with Bluetooth LE (Bluetooth Low Energy) allows the sensor technology to work with low energy, and doesn’t increase its range – it lowers it to half, in fact – making this next-generation innovation have little effect on Nokia’s proposed set of accessories.

So if you’re leaving your keys in the car and you’ve walked through the park and through downtown, you might not be able to see the sensor anymore. This setup would be much more for an “I can’t find my keys in the house” sort of situation.

Nokia “Treasure Tag” will keep your keys in place with Bluetooth and NFC is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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