It brings a whole new meaning to the term pay phone... and you won't need a pocket full of change to make it work.
But Google has masterminded a mobile phone that doubles as a wallet.
Instead holding up checkout queues as customers rifle through their purses to find the right card, they will simply swipe the phone past an electronic reader to pay.
And experts claim it is a safer method of payment than magnetic strip credit cards.
The web giant has teamed up with Citigroup and Mastercard to develop to mobile payment system specifically for the Android phone.
They have also consulted VeriFone Systems which makes credit card readers for cash registers.
Doug Bergeron, VeriFone's chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal: 'A phone is a lot smarter than a card. It opens the door to a rich experience at the point of sale that retailers really covet.'
He declined to comment on his company's relationship with Google.
The phone will also store shopping habits and trends so that retailers and businesses can more efficiently target consumers with discounts and advertisements
Google is not expected to get a cut of the transaction fees, the paper said.
Experts also claim it is safer than the traditional credit card.
'Because it's contact-less there's a perception people can grab it from thin air, but it's actually a more sophisticated technology than credit cards with a magnetic stripe, making it more difficult to steal a consumer's payment information,' said Nick Holland, a mobile-transactions analyst at Yankee Group.
Initially, holders of Citigroup-issued debit and credit cards would be allowed to pay for purchases by activating a mobile payment application developed for one current model and many coming models of Android phones, the paper said.
Google, Citigroup and Mastercard could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1371244/Electronic-wallet-Google-plans-payment-turns-smartphones-credit-cards.html#ixzz1I10XY91J
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Sunday 27 March 2011
Friday 25 March 2011
Qatar could create robot clouds to cool World Cup watchers
(CNN) -- Researchers at Qatar University's engineering school have come up with a novel way to cool the stadiums ahead of the 2022 World Cup... giant flying saucers!
Actually, they have announced plans to develop giant artificial remotely controlled "clouds" made up of high-tech materials that will be positioned between the blistering sun and the still-to-be-built football stadiums in the Gulf sultanate.
Dr. Saud Ghani, head of a Mechanical and Industrial Engineering group at Qatar University, tells CNN that the artificial robotic cloud could potentially drop the temperatures on the pitch by 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's a big deal in a country where temperatures in summer regularly soar into triple-digits Fahrenheit -- the very time the 2022 tournament is expected to take place.
Ghani says that the design has passed the initial engineering phase and his team plan to make a 4-by-3 meter prototype by the end of this year to test the concept.
Qatar: Robo-clouds to cool World Cup
The finished product would be a rectangle made up of carbon fiber and solar panels the size of a jumbo jet. It would use sophisticated monitoring gear to track the transit of the sun and would use four electric powered engines to maneuver to the precisely the right position to drop a cool shade across the stadiums.
Ghani believes that the technology could also be useful in security and communications. Radio and camera transmitters could help facilitate wireless communication and provide an eye-in-the-sky for broadcasters or security forces.
His team eventually hopes to construct the helium-filled devices in Qatar, and the final price for each unit could be as low as $500,000, Ghani predicted.
Here's the link for pictures...
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/03/25/qatar.flying.saucers/index.html
Actually, they have announced plans to develop giant artificial remotely controlled "clouds" made up of high-tech materials that will be positioned between the blistering sun and the still-to-be-built football stadiums in the Gulf sultanate.
Dr. Saud Ghani, head of a Mechanical and Industrial Engineering group at Qatar University, tells CNN that the artificial robotic cloud could potentially drop the temperatures on the pitch by 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's a big deal in a country where temperatures in summer regularly soar into triple-digits Fahrenheit -- the very time the 2022 tournament is expected to take place.
Ghani says that the design has passed the initial engineering phase and his team plan to make a 4-by-3 meter prototype by the end of this year to test the concept.
Qatar: Robo-clouds to cool World Cup
The finished product would be a rectangle made up of carbon fiber and solar panels the size of a jumbo jet. It would use sophisticated monitoring gear to track the transit of the sun and would use four electric powered engines to maneuver to the precisely the right position to drop a cool shade across the stadiums.
Ghani believes that the technology could also be useful in security and communications. Radio and camera transmitters could help facilitate wireless communication and provide an eye-in-the-sky for broadcasters or security forces.
His team eventually hopes to construct the helium-filled devices in Qatar, and the final price for each unit could be as low as $500,000, Ghani predicted.
Here's the link for pictures...
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/03/25/qatar.flying.saucers/index.html
Thursday 24 March 2011
Google launches Think Quarterly magazine
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2011/mar/24/google-launches-think-quarterly-magazine
Friday 11 March 2011
Wednesday 9 March 2011
Spotify reaches one million paying users
Swedish music streaming service Spotify said Tuesday it had reached one million paying users, a number that has doubled in under a year but still represents fewer than one out of six Spotify users.
"The vast majority of subscribers (upgrade) after having first used the free service and the ratio of paying subscribers to active free users (is) now 15 percent," Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek said in an email to AFP.
He called reaching one million paying users "an awesome milestone."
The ratio shows that about 6.5 million people are active users - meaning they have connected at least once during the last 30 days - of Spotify's free version.
"We think the figures, which make Spotify the most popular and fastest growing music subscription service of its kind in the world, show huge potential," Ek added.
Founded in 2006, Spotify is one of the world's largest streaming websites and is available only in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Britain, France, Spain and the Netherlands because of copyright issues.
The service had reached one million total users two years ago. In July 2010, it had about 500,000 paying users.
Spotify users can stream music for free from the service in exchange for listening to advertising, but can also pay five or 10 euros ($6.9 or $13.8 dollars) to gain ad-free access to the service.
The 10-euro version allows users to listen to their playlists whilst offline and to access their music through their mobile phones.
The Financial Times reported last month that the company was completing a 100-million-dollar funding round to which Russia's DST Global participated.
Spotify refused to comment on that report.
They reported funding round valued the company, which is preparing to launch in the United States, at one billion dollars.
"The vast majority of subscribers (upgrade) after having first used the free service and the ratio of paying subscribers to active free users (is) now 15 percent," Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek said in an email to AFP.
He called reaching one million paying users "an awesome milestone."
The ratio shows that about 6.5 million people are active users - meaning they have connected at least once during the last 30 days - of Spotify's free version.
"We think the figures, which make Spotify the most popular and fastest growing music subscription service of its kind in the world, show huge potential," Ek added.
Founded in 2006, Spotify is one of the world's largest streaming websites and is available only in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Britain, France, Spain and the Netherlands because of copyright issues.
The service had reached one million total users two years ago. In July 2010, it had about 500,000 paying users.
Spotify users can stream music for free from the service in exchange for listening to advertising, but can also pay five or 10 euros ($6.9 or $13.8 dollars) to gain ad-free access to the service.
The 10-euro version allows users to listen to their playlists whilst offline and to access their music through their mobile phones.
The Financial Times reported last month that the company was completing a 100-million-dollar funding round to which Russia's DST Global participated.
Spotify refused to comment on that report.
They reported funding round valued the company, which is preparing to launch in the United States, at one billion dollars.
Thursday 3 March 2011
Print books hold their own over digital media Despite digital advances, books are still the nation’s favourite form of reading, says a WBD survey
Nearly six in ten teenagers are reading books electronically.
40.8% of teenagers have used computers to read books, with a further 17.2% reading on a mobile, says a survey of reading habits released to celebrate World Book Day 2011. 13.3% of teens have used tablet gadgets such as Apple’s iPad, ahead of 9.3% who read using e-Readers, including the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.
The results come as Bloomsbury chief executive Nigel Newton announced earlier this week that 2011 will be the ‘year of the e-book’, pointing to a major expansion in the number of people reading on-screen.
Print books still look unlikely to go out of fashion in the immediate future however, with both adults and teenagers ranking them ahead of news, comics, e-books and magazines as their preferred media.
The WBD survey also reviewed how reading habits have changed over the years; adults remembered their favourite adolescent book as The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend, whereas the outstanding favourite among today’s teenagers was the Harry Potter series. Lord of The Rings, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 1984 remain enduringly popular reads in both age groups.
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02 Mar 2011
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02 Mar 2011
These disclosures have appeared as libraries and schools across the country open their doors to performances and activities in honour of the UK’s largest literary festival today.
On 5 March, the celebrations will continue with World Book Night, a spectacular giveaway of one million copies of 25 pre-selected titles including A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera.
20,000 devoted readers have been sent 48 editions of their chosen title to give away to friends and encourage a book-loving frenzy across the nation. World Book Night organisers will hand out the remaining books to prisons and hospitals, ensuring print books have a thorough impact this year.
40.8% of teenagers have used computers to read books, with a further 17.2% reading on a mobile, says a survey of reading habits released to celebrate World Book Day 2011. 13.3% of teens have used tablet gadgets such as Apple’s iPad, ahead of 9.3% who read using e-Readers, including the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.
The results come as Bloomsbury chief executive Nigel Newton announced earlier this week that 2011 will be the ‘year of the e-book’, pointing to a major expansion in the number of people reading on-screen.
Print books still look unlikely to go out of fashion in the immediate future however, with both adults and teenagers ranking them ahead of news, comics, e-books and magazines as their preferred media.
The WBD survey also reviewed how reading habits have changed over the years; adults remembered their favourite adolescent book as The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend, whereas the outstanding favourite among today’s teenagers was the Harry Potter series. Lord of The Rings, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 1984 remain enduringly popular reads in both age groups.
Related Articles
*
World Book Day events on 3 March 2011
02 Mar 2011
*
World Book Day: Philip Reeve on why we treasure reading
02 Mar 2011
*
Actors and authors join World Book Day celebrations
02 Mar 2011
*
World Book Day: the year of the e-book?
02 Mar 2011
These disclosures have appeared as libraries and schools across the country open their doors to performances and activities in honour of the UK’s largest literary festival today.
On 5 March, the celebrations will continue with World Book Night, a spectacular giveaway of one million copies of 25 pre-selected titles including A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera.
20,000 devoted readers have been sent 48 editions of their chosen title to give away to friends and encourage a book-loving frenzy across the nation. World Book Night organisers will hand out the remaining books to prisons and hospitals, ensuring print books have a thorough impact this year.
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