Hasta La Gadget!

For those of you working with NFC-laden smartphones with nothing to do with them other than turning your wi-fi on or off, it’s time to get happy: the mobile payment system known as Isis has all but confirmed that they’ll be up and running on October 22nd. This system has been spoken about for many moons, coming across many months ago with a “debut” at SXSW and a mention of Austin and Salt Lake City as launch locations. Now according to an email sent to the press, the marketing lead for the company has confirmed that they’ll be good to go by the 22nd of October.

With a mobile payment system you’ve got one whole heck of a lot of bugs to worry about – it’s no small matter making a whole payment system a reality. What we’ve got here is a set of phones already on the market with NFC sensors ready to go, their only need being an app to make them all worthwhile. With Isis’ concept of a fully functional multi-business plan for wireless payments with just a tap, we could very quickly see a mass of phones become a whole lot more useful – and wallets tossed.

“Isis will be launching in Austin and Salt Lake City on Oct. 22. By year end, as many as 20 Isis Ready handsets are expected to be in market. We look forward to sharing more details on Oct. 22.” – Isis marketing lead Jaymee Johnson

Of course that’s just wishful thinking, the final evolution to a one-device system being many years off, if a possibility at all. Apple has a system for cards that work like coupons from your smartphone, and Google already has Google Wallet working with NFC as well – but no system has taken hold at a level that’s game-changing right this minute. Isis plans to be that system.

The Isis group’s marketing lead Jaymee Johnson has let it be known that business should be starting in Salt Lake City and Austin with “as many as” 20 smartphones compatible by the end of the year. With NFC on the rise and more smartphones with the technology being released by the week, Isis is set for a rather large success story if all goes as planned. The final combination that an Isis-capable phone will need is the finalized Isis app, a SIM card compatible with the system, and a store that’ll allow Isis payments. We shall see soon enough!

Isis NFC payment system claims October 22nd launch date is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Tweeting about the obnoxious individuals you share a tube platform with was expected to be a one-time thing if you weren’t a Virgin Media customer. The Branson-backed provider had said that, once the summer games had finished, it would make the service exclusive to its own broadband subscribers. Now, however, the company has reversed that decision, extending the free period through until the end of the year. The Telegraph is reporting that the turnaround is in part thanks to wholesale talks with other ISPs, who are keen to offer the service as part of their own packages. Given that we’re unlikely to make it into the stratosphere or the bottom of the ocean any time soon, we’ll settle for pretending we’re a daring explorer of the Piccadilly line.

Continue reading Virgin Media extends free tube WiFi for all until 2013

Filed under: Wireless, Internet

Virgin Media extends free tube WiFi for all until 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After trying (and failing) to surreptitiously shepherd it through the FCC, then seeing it leak out anyway, Logitech has formally outed the HD WiFi Broadcaster webcam. The 720P shooter (not 1080p as we hoped) allows wireless transmission from 50 feet away to any Mac computer, iPhone or iPad, instant broadcasting on Ustream and the ability to toggle between your device or computer’s built in camera with a button push. The hard plastic carrying case with a magnetic lid doubles as a stand to elevate the cam, which Logitech says will “play nicely” with apps like iMovie, Final Cut Pro and FaceTime. Broadcaster is already up for preorder for $200 in the US and €180 in Europe, so if you want to show that you’re doubly beautiful with a multi-cam Skype call, the PR and video are after the break.

Continue reading Logitech announces $200 Broadcaster WiFi webcam for iPhone, iPad and Mac (video)

Filed under: Cameras, Wireless, HD

Logitech announces $200 Broadcaster WiFi webcam for iPhone, iPad and Mac (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A week after the U.S. Congress slapped ZTE with a ‘do not trust’ allegation, the Chinese company gets another bitter dose of bad news. It’s about to report a net loss of between 1.65 billion and 1.75 billion yuan (US $263 million to $279 million) for the first nine months of 2012, which pales in comparison to the 1 billion yuan profit it reported during the same period in 2011. This has resulted in a sharp 15.8 percent drop in ZTE’s share price on the Hong Kong stock exchange, where it now sits at HK$10.56. The financial hit came exclusively in the third quarter (that’s July through September), where revenues are reported to be 13 percent lower than the same period in 2011 — 18.23 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) versus 20.95 billion yuan ($3.34 billion). The equipment vendor blames global trends, low-margin contracts, project delays and procurement changes for the downward turn, and hopes to implement some cost-cutting measures to ensure better margins. However, it says it won’t stop its current deals in North America and Europe, and will continue to invest in China’s LTE market. In an analyst call, executives said they hope to break even this year, and that it has cut its smartphone sales target from 26 to 28 million to around 25 million. Still, it doesn’t look good for China’s second-largest maker of phone equipment, and just when it was getting started in the Windows 8 arena, too.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

ZTE to report net loss due to third-quarter slump, share price drops originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh the ever-so-wonderful activation fees. For some lucky folks in The True North, however, these one-time, undesired carrier tolls will be a thing of the past very, very soon. Today, Canadian carrier Telus announced it’s taking a cue from Consumer Cellular and waving goodbye to those activation fees you so love; meaning it’ll no longer charge the accustomed $35 to new customers or even the $25 for current subscribers who have just recently snagged a new device. Still, the nice gesture doesn’t come without a cost, as the carrier has also said it plans to start charging $10 for SIM cards in order to “cover the product cost that was previously included in their renewal and activation fees ” — that’s if you don’t already have a compatible one, of course. Regardless, the plan is set to go into full effect come the first of November, with Telus noting it is all part of its plan to continue the “journey to be fair and transparent and help customers understand when they are paying for tangible products or value-added services.”

Continue reading Telus nixing activation fees for new and current subscribers

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

Telus nixing activation fees for new and current subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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