Tag archive: NFC

We've been speculating about the next versions of Windows Phone since 7.5 (Mango) came out in late 2011, and it looks like it might be worth the wait. PocketNow claims to have intercepted an official Microsoft video intended for Windows Phone partners like Nokia. In it, Windows Phone Manager Joe Belfiore goes over a lot of new features of the upcoming “Apollo” update, which appears to somewhat merge the Windows Phone OS with… Read More

Just before the New Year, Samsung announced it had shipped 1 million Galaxy Note devices, and that this figure would see another increase when it finally launched in the USA this year. With no official word on when this would be, all we could do was wait and hope for confirmation at CES 2012. With less than ten days until CES kicks off, a new leaked press shot suggests that not only is it being prepared for an appearance there, but that the… Read More

Microsoft is playing the long game with Windows Phone, but we're slowly getting a glimpse of the company's plans through 2012. The roadmap above, obtained by WMPoweruser, shows two updates are indeed scheduled for 2012 with the codenames Tango and Apollo. We've been hearing these codenames for a while, but this offers a clearer, though still incredibly vague, idea of each update's goals.  Tango: Though Mango introduced a… Read More

If you were excited to try out Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus, you'll have to look elsewhere. Verizon has decided to block Google's mobile payments solution from the phone. Google representatives have confirmed with multiple sources that it was Verizon's decision to block the product.  “Verizon asked us not to include this functionality in the product,” a Google representative told CNET. No official reason has… Read More

Financial institutions are falling over themselves to introduce mobile payment services, but so far the results have been a bit underwhelming in most of the world. The industry seems to be waiting for near-field communication (NFC) solutions to become reality outside Japan, fulfilling a science fiction-ish notion that mobile phone users will just wave their phones near secured payment points to authorize transactions. Although Google Wallet… Read More

Apple has officially launched version two of its Apple Store App, enabling users to shop for Apple goods—and items from blessed partners—right on their Apple mobile devices. The first version of the Apple Store App was more of a feel-good convenience for Apple Store visitors than anything else: users could manage Genius Bar appointments, sign up for classes and training, and pull up details on products Apple carries. However, version 2.0… Read More

Yesterday in an eBay earnings call, CEO John Donahoe said that PayPal will make its way in-store for the holiday shopping season. While details haven’t been released yet, it appears that the integration into brick-and-mortar retailers will include location-based deals, more flexible transactions, and improved inventory access. Earlier this month, PayPal introduced a pop-up shop in New York, self-titled PayPal’s Shopping Showcase. “Image a… Read More

Announced by the NFC Forum this week, near field communication technology got an upgrade in the form of device to device communication. Before this upgrade, the existing form of NFC utilizes an active device and a passive device, ideal for transactions like checking out in line at the grocery store. For instance, credit card information is stored on a smartphone and offered up to a store's checkout terminal when asked. The upgrade to the… Read More

In May, Google announced Google Wallet, its innovative new smartphone payments platform. (Broad details about the announcement can be found here.) But how will you, a smartphone owner, actually use this technology? To help answer that question, we've broken down of how all of this works. What it does Using an embedded NFC (near-field communications) chip, Google Wallet is an open platform (and an Android app) that will allow you to use… Read More

Google Wallet officially launched yesterday, which is great, but the real excitement is that Visa, American Express, and Discover have all jumped onboard and will soon be added to Google Wallet, explains the search giant. They aren't available yet, but Google plans to add their cards into the app in the near future. Once support for all the major credit cards is rolling, the big problem Google needs to solve is releasing more devices that… Read More

In what appears to be a soft launch, the Google Wallet is unofficially here. Various NFC-enabled registers have been identified, from American Eagle to Peet’s Coffee, despite the lack of any announcement from Google itself. TechCrunch also revealed an internal email discussing the product launch for today, and of course the fact that the NFC World Congress begins tomorrow also points to the arrival of Google Wallet. What Google has announced are… Read More

When Nokia announced its latest Symbian Belle phones last week, the company emphasized that all three devices support Near-Field Communications (NFC) technology that enable the devices to be used as payment methods and mobile wallets at point of purchases: if retailers support the technology, they can just wave their phones near point-of-sales terminals and approve the transaction—depending how users have things set up, payments might… Read More

Every year, the iPhone rumor mill cranks up to full-steam, churning out tidbits of unconfirmed reports about Apple’s next-generation smartphone. This year, however, the lack of a typical June release has driven speculation to an obscene level, creating a dizzying mishmash of information — so much that it’s become difficult to keep track of what we might see once Apple decides to let the cat out of the bag. But with an estimated 35 percent… Read More

Credit card processor Visa has unveiled big plans to introduce mobile payment technologies to the United States market, announcing plans to roll out dual-mode chips in its credit card processing infrastructure that will support both Near-Field Communications (NFC) and Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) standard that has already seen strong adoption internationally. To encourage merchants and partners to adopt the technology, Visa also plans… Read More

Near field communication technology, more commonly known as NFC, has been available in locations throughout the globe for years. But just recently has the NFC mobile payment system, which allows users to pay for goods or services using a signal from their cell phone instead of a credit card or cash, started to become more widely available here in the United States. And it looks like we're going to have to wait quite a while longer before… Read More