Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Thursday folks – just one more work day to go and another weekend will be here. Today a new video gave us a look at reported iPhone 5 parts, and it seems that the iPhone will be sporting a new look with the next iteration. Recent whispers are saying that Nokia will reveal a total of three new Windows Phone devices during its September 5 event in New York City, and today Microsoft updated its logo for the first time in a whopping 25 years.

Twitter has taken away Tumblr Friend Finder functionality, and the inexpensive T-Mobile Concord has launched to bring 4G to budget-minded consumers. It was recently discovered that the SMS security hole known to plague iPhones doesn’t affect other devices running a different OS like Android or BlackBerry, and LG has apparently started working on the screen that may end up gracing the iPhone 5. Speaking of the iPhone, it seems that production on the next model has slowed thanks to a shortage of supplies.

The FCC has approved Verizon’s bid to buy up additional 4G LTE spectrum, and the Xbox 360 will be offering users election coverage starting next week, complete with live streams of the three debates that are planned. A large percentage of consumers are saying that they don’t need 4G LTE service, despite the fact that carriers are advertising it like mad. There’s a new OS X Mountain Lion update on the scene, and it’s bringing some software fixes with it, while today we received word that Facebook’s storage requirements grow by 500TB each and every day.

Sony Mobile has announced that it will be laying off 1,000 employees by March 2014, and the jury that is deciding the Apple and Samsung patent case decided to put in a little bit of overtime today. Paypal will be teaming up with Discover to bring its service to a ton of retail locations, Nissan will be giving prospective buyers of its 2013 Pathfinder a virtual tour of the car with a little help from Kinect, and Amazon has a new event coming up next month, where we’re thinking it will announce a brand new Kindle Fire. It just so happens that we’ll be at that event, so if there is a new Kindle Fire announced, you’ll be able to read all about it here at SlashGear.

Finally tonight, we have a brand new hands-on with the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. Enjoy the rest of your evening everyone, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow night for Friday’s edition of the Wrap-Up!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 23, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

PayPal already has a partnership with MasterCard in place that lets you use its debit cards in stores, but the company has now expanded that retail presence even further with a new deal it’s struck with Discover. Starting sometime next year, that arrangement will let PayPal customers use their charge cards at any of the 7 million retail locations that accept Discover cards, with funds drawn directly from their PayPal account. What’s more, PayPal says that retailers won’t have to make any hardware or software upgrades to accept the PayPal payments, noting that they’ll simply have to let customers know of the new option with in-store signage. Of course, the deal also likely has implications beyond traditional plastic cards, as PayPal is now also pushing its mobile payments more than ever, not to mention its own triangular Square competitor. You can find the official announcement below.

Continue reading PayPal expands presence in US retail stores with new Discover partnership

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

PayPal expands presence in US retail stores with new Discover partnership originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s little doubt that mobile payments hold a ton of potential for the future of commerce, but without proper direction (and willingness for adoption), the technology remains little more than an impractical curiosity for the majority of consumers. In an effort to define a way forward for the mobile payment industry, a large number of heavy hitters have banded together under the umbrella of the Electronic Transactions Association to form the Mobile Payments Committee. Not only does the group include all four of the top US carriers, but also Google, Isis, VeriFone and PayPal. Add to that financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and Capital One, along with American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa, and you’ll quickly realize that this group is playing to win.

Primary goals of the Mobile Payments Committee include fostering relationships with merchants, ensuring consumer access to modern payment methods, exploring best practices and ensuring interoperability of networks, equipment and financial institutions. The group will also engage in lobbying activities with legislators and regulators, and will additionally work to educate both merchants and consumers about the potential of mobile payments. With so many key players (and competitors) sitting around one big table, what wouldn’t you give to be a fly on the wall during those meetings? For a little extra insight, just hop the break for the full PR.

Continue reading Google, PayPal, VeriFone and US carriers band together to form Mobile Payments Committee

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets, Wireless

Google, PayPal, VeriFone and US carriers band together to form Mobile Payments Committee originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 22:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PayPal, the popular online payment behemoth, has recently acquired card.io, a company that specializes in developing technologies for developers to capture credit card information using smartphone cameras. In an announcement today, PayPal said that the employees at card.io will be joining the PayPal global product team to work on new products for its digital wallet. However, the details of the deal, including the amount paid, has not been disclosed. card.io was launched in June last year. The San Francisco-based company also confirmed the acquisition via its website.

“We first met with the team at card.io when we were working on integrating their technology into the PayPal Here mobile app,” said Hill Ferguson, Vice President of Global Product at PayPal. “While working with them, we were simply blown away by the creativity and drive of their employees. They are a passionate and independent team that likes solving large, complex problems and we wanted them to join our team. Great people make great products and great products are what make companies great.”

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: PayPal announces newly redesigned website, PayPal gets redesigned, to be officially announced tomorrow [Rumor],

PayPal has purchased San Fransico-based card.io, the massive company has revealed. Hill Ferguson, PayPal’s Vice President of Global Product, announced the acquisition on the PayPal Blog earlier today, saying that the card.io team will be joining PayPal’s San Jose team to help “create new experiences to make it even easier for consumers and merchants to use the PayPal digital wallet.”

So, what does card.io do? Its technology allows app developers to capture credit card information using the cameras on a smartphone, making it easier for consumers to enter their card information. Hearing that, it’s pretty easy to understand why PayPal wanted to add card.io to its portfolio. PayPal says that card.io’s current technology will remain available to developers, so if you’re using card.io’s tech in one of your apps at the moment, you can breathe a sigh of relief – PayPal will not be forcing card.io to discontinue its current offerings.

“We first met with the team at card.io when we were working on integrating their technology into the PayPal Here mobile app,” Ferguson writes. “While working with them, we were simply blown away by the creativity and drive of their employees. They are a passionate and independent team that likes solving large, complex problems and we wanted them to join our team.”

Ferguson didn’t disclose the amount the company paid for card.io, nor did he say when the card.io team is expected to make the trip to San Jose (though we imagine that will take place pretty soon). For more information on PayPal, check out the story timeline below!

PayPal announces card.io acquisition is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.