Apple working with NXP for pay-by-touch technology in new iPhone: FT

Apple working with NXP for pay-by-touch technology in new iPhone: FT

Reuters

Apple Inc is working with Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV to add secure near-field communications (NFC) technology into the next iPhone, which would enable smartphone users to pay by touch, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with Apple's plans.
NXP will provide the secure near-field communications chips that will allow an iPhone to connect with payment terminals or ticketing systems, the daily reported. (http://on.ft.com/VRN8xK)
NFC technology allows a smartphone to communicate wirelessly with other devices by tapping them together.
Apple has invited media to a "special event" in its hometown of Cupertino, California on Sept. 9, when the iPhone maker is expected to unveil the latest versions of its best-selling smartphones.

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Angry Birds maker Rovio names new CEO

Angry Birds maker Rovio names new CEO

Reuters

HELSINKI - Finland's Rovio, the maker of the Angry Birds mobile game, said it has hired Pekka Rantala from beverage maker Hartwall to take over as its new chief executive by the beginning of next year.
Current CEO Mikael Hed, son of board chairman Kaj Hed, will join the company's board of directors as well as take on the role of chairman at Rovio's animation studios.
Rantala, who is currently the CEO of Hartwall, earlier worked for 14 years for Nokia.
After scoring a global breakthrough with Angry Birds in which players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal birds' eggs, Rovio has expanded the brand into an animated TV series and merchandising of toys and clothing.
But it has struggled to retain players and earnings halved last year due to investments in the animation business as well as stalling sales.
Rovio said several years ago it could go public in Hong Kong or New York, but has later said it was not planning an initial public offering any time soon.

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MSN Messenger will finally shut down on October 31

MSN Messenger will finally shut down on October 31

by Andy Weir

Neowin

If you read the headline for this article with some confusion, you're probably not alone. After all, Microsoft announced last year that it was closing down its Windows Live Messenger service, and it spent a great deal of time and effort transitioning users to Skype instead.

But while the rest of the world moved to Skype, Windows Live Messenger - even now, still popularly referred to by its previous name, 'MSN Messenger' - lived on in China, where it was operated in partnership with a local third-party company.

However, as TechNode reports today, MSN Messenger will soon be no more, as Chinese users have received emails informing them that the service will be shut down on October 31. To encourage users to stick with Microsoft - rather than moving to rival messaging services - the company is giving each of them a $2 coupon for Skype calls.

MSN Messenger first launched in 1999, before officially rolling out in China in 2005.

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Robot printer 'comes to your desk'

Robot printer 'comes to your desk'

BBC News 

Fuji Xerox has developed a new robotic printer that can move around a lounge or office to bring documents to the person who printed them.

The printer is designed to be used primarily in public places as a way to keep sensitive documents secure.
Sensors on the machine prevent it from bumping into people on the way.
However, some analysts argued that the idea was not cost effective when compared with other secure printing methods.

Describing use of the printer in, for example, an airport business lounge, IDC analyst Maggie Tan told the BBC there are better methods already available.
"The majority of these business lounges would have higher printing demand, especially from business travellers who always need to print urgently using a secured method.
"There are several mobile printing solutions available today that users can submit the print job online through their mobile devices or laptops and they are given a secured password to collect their printouts."

Tokyo testBryan Ma, also from IDC, complimented the ingenuity, if not the practicality of the device.
"Sounds like something very unique to Japan.

"One might even argue that it seems more like technology for technology's sake."

Fuji Xerox - a joint venture between the two firms - has been testing the printer this month at a business lounge in Tokyo.

Each desk in the lounge is given a unique web address from which to print. Users access the address and upload documents to be printed.

Once the printer receives the job, it moves to the intended recipient who then has to display a smart card to activate printing.

The battery in the printer lasts for up to a day

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Is Calum Hood Copying Zayn Malik's Old Hairstyle

Is Calum Hood Copying Zayn Malik's Old Hairstyle

INSTAGRAM, TUMBLR

We really miss the days when Zayn Malik rocked a vibrant blond streak in his stylish quiff. It looks like 5 Seconds of Summer's Calum Hood was a fan of the look as well, because he just dyed his hair in a nearly identical style! Calum posted an Instagram pic showcasing his new bleached hair, and we had to do a double-take to make sure that we weren't looking at a throwback pic of Zayn!

we're totally okay with both guys trying out the trend at some point, we wouldn't even mind if Zayn decided to give the blond streak a major comeback!

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Drones at Disneyland? Disney seeks patents

Drones at Disneyland? Disney seeks patents

Andrew Khouri

Los Angeles Times 

On top of Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Aladdin, visitors to Disney theme parks may one day get a glimpse of drones.
Walt Disney Co. appears to have a wish to use unmanned aircraft to produce entertainment shows, according to three recently published patent applications first reported by the blog Stitch Kingdom.
At the moment, aerial shows can be cumbersome and difficult to modify, Disney says in the applications published last week.
The shows may rely on "very complex fountain systems," fireworks or even blimps dragging large display screens, an application reads. Light shows can also be projected onto buildings, another filing says.
But buildings can't be moved, fireworks can be dangerous and water can shoot only so high, limiting the size and scope of the shows, the applications say.
Disney's apparent fix? Drones. What else?
Numerous drones would jet through the sky, carrying "display payloads" to create a "dynamic display," according to one application.
"Each of these (drones) with its display payload may be thought of as a floating pixel or 'flixel' that when combined provides a very large display screen or aerial display that may be three dimensional," the patent application says.
Another application has a hint of Pinocchio. Drones, the document reads, would pull the strings on marionettes, moving their limbs.
Another patent application says drones would carry flexible, floating projection screens to present "an aerial display over an audience of spectators."
A representative from Disney could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Apple will unveil the iWatch on Sept. 9—here’s what to look for

Apple will unveil the iWatch on Sept. 9—here’s what to look for

Dan Frommer

Quartz

The so-called “iWatch” is supposedly real. Apple “plans to unveil a new wearable” device alongside two new iPhones at an event on Sept. 9, Re/code’s plugged-in John Paczkowski reports. While Apple has been widely reported to be working on some sort of new wearable gadget, surprisingly few details have leaked—including its expected arrival date.

A few important questions:
What is it? This seems basic, but very little has actually been reported about what the “iWatch” looks like or does. Is it actually a band you wear on your wrist? Paczkowski writes that it “will, predictably, make good use of Apple’s HealthKit health and fitness platform.” But that leaves many possibilities for everything from its shape to how it attaches to the body. Does it even have a screen?

Why will people buy it? The idea that Americans, in particular, will suddenly start caring about their health and fitness en masse has always seemed amusing. So what’s the real selling point: Fashion or function?
How often will it need to be charged? Another thing to plug in daily—unless there’s some novel way to charge it—doesn’t sound fun.

How much will it cost? If it’s really getting announced alongside new iPhones, is it intended to be an iPhone accessory? The Apple TV streaming media player—also, arguably, an iPhone accessory—costs $99. That would be a great price for a wearable, especially compared to the $200+ price tags attached to disappointing Google Android-based wearables.

What will it need to work? Will it work only with Apple’s newest iPhones? Or any iOS device? Or could someone—a kid, for example—use it independently? Will it also require some sort of subscription?

Is it cool? This isn’t Apple’s first wearable—it’s been making them for more than a decade, if you count earbuds and clip-on iPods. Some have become iconic; others haven’t. Apple has been hiring people from the fashion and luxury industries, theoretically to help develop and market this device. How have they influenced it?

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Nobody Is Buying Amazon's Fire Phone

Nobody Is Buying Amazon's Fire Phone

Timothy Stenovec

The Huffington Post 

Amazon's Fire Phone does not appear to be on fire.
According to an estimate by Charles Arthur, technology editor at The Guardian, the world's largest online retailer sold fewer than 35,000 of its new smartphones in the first 20 days it was on the market.
To put that in perspective: Apple sold 9 million iPhone 5C and 5S devices within three days of the phones' release last September. It's not an entirely fair comparison, because iPhones are the most popular smartphone in the world and are available in more stores, in more countries and on more carriers.
But 35,000 is indeed a very small number. Amazon itself has 132,600 employees, according to the company's latest public filings.

Amazon's entry into the smartphone market comes at a time when the company is under intense pressure from shareholders to make a profit. Shares of the company plummeted after Amazon reported a loss of $126 million for the three-month period ending June 30, and the company told investors it could lose as much as $810 million this quarter. Just this week, Amazon said it would buy Twitch, the live-streaming video game network, for about $1 billion.

Amazon would never actually give figures for how many phones (or tablets, e-readers or streaming media players, for that matter) it has sold. Arthur's estimate, which he bases on an analysis of the phone's web traffic from Chitika, an online ad network, and numbers from comScore, the analytics company, should be taken with a grain of salt. As Arthur himself writes, "Lots of caveats apply: this is a calculation based on two non-congruent sets of samples, though both are large enough to be robust."
Still, Amazon, which did not respond to an email requesting comment, doesn't have a lot going for it when it comes to the Fire Phone.

It got tepidreviews, at best. For starters, it's just as expensive as a new iPhone or premium Android device, and not nearly as good. Although it's based on Android, it has its own operating system. Therefore, many apps -- such as Google's popular suite that includes Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube -- aren't available for it. It's also only available on AT&T, and unlike the iPhone, when it first came out and was only available on AT&T, the Fire Phone is not a product most people would switch carriers for.

As I wrote in my review, Amazon is asking customers to sacrifice a lot to switch to the Fire Phone.
Amazon also got into the smartphone game late -- the majority of Americans already have smartphones, and 94 percent run on either Android or Apple's iOS. Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, which gets good reviews, has just 3.4 percent of the market in the U.S., according to comScore.

That said, Amazon has put its huge marketing muscle behind the Fire Phone, hawking it on its highly trafficked home page as well as sealing delivery boxes with colorful tape promoting the phone.
But even the power of the world's largest online retailer doesn't seem to be enough to sell the Fire Phone.

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Microsoft Rolls Out Surface Pro 3 To 25 New Markets

Microsoft Rolls Out Surface Pro 3 To 25 New Markets

Alex Wilhelm

TechCrunch 

In keeping with prior expectations, Microsoft is currently in the process of rolling out its Surface Pro 3 tablet-hybrid to 25 new markets over the next 24 hours.
With the 25 new markets all live, Surface Pro 3 will be available in a total of 28 markets. The rollout of the device has therefore been quite constrained to date. Microsoft also detailed in a post today that the new Surface dock will sell in the new markets, ahead of its general availability in mid-September.
The new markets give Surface a chance to put more revenue-points on the board. Surface revenue is a figure that Microsoft breaks out in its earnings, making it simple to track. Top line from the hardware project fell by more than half from the fourth calendar quarter of 2013, to the second calendar quarter of 2014.
Given that Microsoft may be in process of stepping back from its Windows RT-based Surface devices, it’s up to the Intel-based Surface Pro 3 to carry the torch. The device has received the strongest reviews of any Surface device. Microsoft positions it as a computer that can replace a traditional laptop.
The Surface project has been an expensive effort for its parent company. If the Surface Pro 3 fails to ignite revenue in Microsoft’s hardware group, it isn’t immediately apparent what a next step would be — the Surface Mini was yanked moments before its planned announcement, so other new SKUs could be somewhat far from making it to market.
Regardless, New Zealand is up first, along with 24 other markets. We’ll see if the bets that Microsoft has made were worth their time, and expense soon enough.

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Researchers working on nanobots that directly attack tumors to cure cancer

Researchers working on nanobots that directly attack tumors to cure cancer

Timothy J. Seppala

Engadget

For all the advancements we've made with technology and medicine, a cure for cancer still eludes us. But maybe that's because we haven't enlisted nanoparticles to attack tumors just yet.
New research from the University of California's Davis Cancer Center, spotted by PhysOrg, suggest that could be a reality sometime soon. By attaching a tumor-recognition module to a nanorobot, doctors would be able to both diagnose a cancerous growth and inject drugs directly into the carcinoma.
This would effectively target only the malignant cells and leave the surrounding areas unharmed -- taking things a few steps further than, say, the nanodiamonds we've heard of. It's a stark contrast to how chemotherapy treatment typically works, too, which is a blanket attack on all of a certain type of cell that often inflicts as much collateral damage as it does good.
Who knows, a world where cancer patients don't have their hair or bone marrow destroyed during treatment might not be too far off after all. 

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Find Out How the Paparazzi Put Justin Bieber's Life in Danger

Even though Justin Bieber got into a car accident with a paparazzo only a few months ago, he can't seem to stay out of trouble! The singer just got into another car accident with a photographer who was trailing him.

According to TMZ, a member of the paparazzi crashed into the back of Justin's Ferrari after he slammed on the brakes. Although nobody was injured, Justin was obviously furious, taking to Twitter to blast the paparazzi for endangering his life.

It's been a busy week for Justin — he's already had a run-in with the cops and letse see what's next.

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LG reveals the G3 Stylus, a new handset at an "exceptional price"

LG reveals the G3 Stylus, a new handset at an "exceptional price"

by Andy Weir

Neowin 

The name 'G3 Stylus' sounds, initially, like it might apply to an accessory for LG's flagship Android handset, the G3, which it launched earlier this year. But in fact, the name applies to an entirely new device - one that looks like a G3, but which has far less impressive specs than the company's range-topper.

LG announced the G3 Stylus today, ahead of its full official launch next month at the IFA trade show in Berlin. As its name suggests, the device comes with its own stylus for handwriting and sketching on its display - but while the company describes the handset as a 'G3 variant', it appears to have very little in common with that device.

The original G3 is a true flagship, packing superlative specs, from a quad-core 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 chipset to 2GB/3GB of RAM, and a stunning 5.5-inch Quad HD (2560x1440px) display. The G3 Stylus, by comparison, has a far more modest spec sheet.

The new handset also includes a 5.5-inch display, for example, but its resolution is far lower at just 960x540px. There's only 1GB of RAM onboard too, as well as a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, and just 8GB of onboard storage (expandable via microSD).

The G3 Stylus also includes a 13MP rear camera, 1.3MP front-facing camera and a 3000mAh battery, along with Android 4.4.2 KitKat. However, there is no support for 4G LTE networks.
Following its launch at IFA, the G3 Stylus will first go on sale in Brazil next month, before rolling out to Russia and markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Pricing details have not yet been announced - LG is saving that info for later - but it promises that the G3 Stylus will be sold at an "exceptional price that can't be beat".

The new handset will also feature many of the UI and software enhancements that LG first rolled out with the G3. 

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