Hasta La Gadget!

While it’s tested the idea several times in the past, London’s Tube system won’t be getting mobile-based payment technology any time soon. Customer Experience Director Shashi Verma told GigaOM that existing NFC technology wasn’t able to drop below the 500 millisecond barrier — something which Transport for London demands from its high-churn Oyster card-based turnstiles. Verma added, “The concerns are only around NFC technology and not EMV. We are keen to see any progress the industry can make in this area.” At least for the near-future, it looks like Brits will have to glue their NFC cards to their phones if they want that contactless payment look while journeying around London.

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

London Underground: NFC mobile payment technology ‘too slow’ for the tube originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It seems like we’re constantly hearing about interesting new Kickstarter project around here. Kickstarter has turned out to be the go to platform for independent developers seeking money to bring their dreams to life. So far, Kickstarter has only been available for developers in United States.

However, that will change this fall when Kickstarter finally launches in the UK. If you live in the UK and have an idea for product, you should start getting your ducks in a row. The news came by way of a tweet from the official Kickstarter account reading, “People in the UK will be able to launch projects on Kickstarter starting this autumn! More info soon! <3 <3 <3.” Kickstarter was originally limited to the US only because that’s where Amazon Payments was available.

Now that Amazon Payments is launched in the UK, it opens the door for Kickstarter to make its move. Some the coolest projects I’ve seen a long time have started on Kickstarter so this is good news for developers in the UK and consumers looking to put their money behind a cool product. One major reason Kickstarter has been tied to Amazon Payments has to do with the fact that it is the only payment network that allows immediate cancellation of charges if the product doesn’t reach a funding goal.

[via TheVerge]

Kickstarter to launch in the UK this fall is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Facebook’s App Center is having its passport stamped quite a lot lately. Just days after the HTML5 app portal set foot in the UK, it’s making the leap to seven more countries. Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey will all get a crack at using web apps both on the desktop as well as in the Android and iOS native clients. The new group is coming onboard in the next few weeks. In the meantime, countries where English makes a frequent appearance — Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US — now supply the App Center for every single user. To help speed along the virtual customs claims, Facebook is trotting out a translation tool to get developers on the right track. It shouldn’t be long before App Center is a mainstay of the entire Facebook world, even though we may end up cursing the company after hour three of a Jetpack Joyride marathon.

Continue reading Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world

Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been nearly a month since we saw Facebook officially introduce us to its newly minted App Center, and now Zuck & Co. are taking the application-loaded service to internet grounds over in the UK. Facebook’s App Center in the Kingdom (or, as UKers call it, App Centre) won’t be much different in comparison to its American counterpart, thus you’ll still be able to grab all those big-name apps like the network’s own Instagram, Draw Something, Spotify and Pinterest — of course, there’s over 600 others to choose from. In addition to these, though, there are some Euro-specific additions to the application mix, including Deezer’s music streaming goods. Eager to find out what all the App Centre fuss is about? Then head over to the source below, where you’ll be able to poke around it yourself.

Facebook’s App Center pokes its way into the UK, now available to you and your friends originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 17:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, the 2012 Olympics may be gearing up for HD, 3D and even Super Hi-Vision broadcasts, but that doesn’t mean still photography has lost its appeal. In fact, Reuters photographers Fabrizio Bensch and Pawel Kopczynski are taking Olympic photography to the next level, perching remote-controlled camera rigs in stadium rafters. The system, which the duo has been developing since 2009, can turn, adjust focus and receive commands wirelessly. Once stills are snapped, they’re sent to an editing system and then off to distribution. The team is spending more than 12 hours a day installing the cams at different Olympic venues before the games kick off on July 27th. In the meantime, you can sprint to the source for photos of the setup.

Reuters cooks up remote camera rigs for 2012 Olympics, mounts them where humans can’t tread originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 05:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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