Samsung Galaxy Alpha review: a direct iPhone 6 competitor

Samsung Galaxy Alpha review: a direct iPhone 6 competitor

Samuel Gibbs

The Guardian 

Samsung’s new Galaxy Alpha Android smartphone finally demonstrates that the South Korean giant can do high-quality design and fantastic build quality, and begs the question why wait till now to do it.
The 4.7in Galaxy Alpha the smallest flagship smartphone in Samsung’s large range of devices. It sits under the 5.1in Galaxy S5 as the “design” smartphone, for people who want a smaller, better designed smartphone that doesn’t have to have all the latest technology packed in. Or at least that’s how Samsung puts it.
In reality it’s the first of a range of Samsung smartphones with metal bodies created in response to criticism over its plastic construction. The second metal smartphone will be the 5.7in Galaxy Note 4, due for release at the end of September or early October.

Premium design, build and feel

The Galaxy Alpha is both the most attractive smartphone Samsung has ever made, and the best built. The metal sides with chamfered edges feel great in the hand, and the plastic back has a soft-touch quality to it feeling a bit like a cat’s ear in texture.
It’s also very light at 114g - that’s 2g heavier than the 112g iPhone 5S, 15g lighter than the iPhone 6 and 31g lighter than the 145g Galaxy S5. It is solidly built with no give or twist in the body at all.
The smaller size of the phone compared to the majority of 5in flagship Android and Windows Phone smartphones makes it much easier to hold and use in one hand.
The 4.7in screen is colour rich and vibrant with good contrast and wide viewing angles. It has a 720p resolution resulting in a pixel density of 312 pixels per inch (ppi). While it is certainly sharp for reading text and viewing photos, it is noticeably less crisp than the Galaxy S5’s 5.1in 1080p screen with 432 ppi. For comparison the iPhone 5S has a 4in 326ppi screen and the incoming iPhone 6 a 4.7in 326ppi screen.

Specifications

• Screen: 4.7in 720p Super AMOLED
• Processor: Samsung Exynos 5 octa-core processor
• RAM: 2GB of RAM
• Storage: 32GB
• Operating system: Android 4.4.4 “Kitkat”
• Camera: 12MP rear camera, 2.1MP front-facing camera
• Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 with BLE, USB 2.0 and GPS
• Dimensions: 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7mm
• Weight: 114g

Eight cores of power

The Alpha uses Samsung’s Exynos 5 octa-core processor, which has four low-power cores combined with four more powerful cores. Only four cores are used at any one time, with the lower power cores used until something demanding like playing a game or producing video is required to save battery.
The phone feels snappy, apps load instantly with no hint of lag and it handled blasting through graphically intensive games like Asphalt 8 without issue.
The Alpha has a smaller 1,860 milliampere-hour (mAh) battery than Samsung’s other flagship phones with batteries larger than 2,800mAh. The battery lasts about one day of solid use, with constant push email, three hours of listening to music over Bluetooth, two hours of browsing and 30 minutes of playing games. It will have to be charged every night, however. The Galaxy S5 with the 2,800mAh battery can last a day and half without a charge under similar usage.
Samsung’s Ultra Power Saving mode, which was praised in the Galaxy S5, works well, shutting down features, turning the screen black and white and limiting the number of apps available to a small handful, dramatically extending the battery life by days, with 10% battery listing around 24 hours of standby.
Unlike most other Samsung phones the Alpha has 32GB of built-in storage for apps, games, music, photos and movies, but no microSD card slot for further expansion.

Android customisations that you’ll have to live with

The Alpha uses the same version of customised Android as the Galaxy S5, and I have the same complaints. Known as TouchWiz, the customisations add clutter to the already good standard Android experience, duplicate experiences like Samsung’s S-Voice which performs most of the same jobs as Google’s built-in voice search, and has less than premium look.
Samsung’s My Magazine social news app, which sits on the very left most home screen and is powered by the Flipboard app, is slow and a detractor for most. Users can remove it from their home screens.
Some Samsung fans will love TouchWiz, while anyone who has used an Android phone before will know how to use it. There are a few good additions like the aforementioned Ultra Power Saving mode.

Fingerprint scanner

The Galaxy Alpha has the same swipe-over fingerprint scanner under the home button as the Galaxy S5 and Note 4. Samsung has spent a lot of time improving it and the difference is noticeable. You can register three separate fingers, but with each finger you can also record an associated thumb, which is the digit most people will use to unlock the phone.
The fingerprint scanner now has above a 95% success rate for me making it useful and convenient to unlock the phone or authenticate a purchase through PayPal and others. The improvements were recently pushed to the Galaxy S5 via a software update boosting my finger swipe success rate from 75% to above 95%.

Heart rate sensor

There is an optical heart rate sensor beside the camera on the back. It works fine, feeding data into Samsung’s S Health app, but I’m unconvinced as to whether it’s useful for the majority of people.

Camera

The 12-megapixel camera is a step down from the 16-megapixel camera in the Galaxy S5, but it is still a solid camera, with good colour saturation, crisp details and fast auto-focus. Photos in good lighting conditions look great, those snapped in lower light levels can look a bit grainy when enlarged beyond the size of the screen.

Price

The Galaxy Alpha will be similarly priced to the Galaxy S5, available for around £500 without a mobile phone contract from 12 September.

Verdict

The Galaxy Alpha is the best made smartphone Samsung, which shows the Korean giant can make very solid, premium metal smartphones like competitors Apple and HTC. It bodes well for Samsung’s new smartphones that are expected to follow a similar design.
The smaller screen, thin profile, light weight and enhanced thumb-friendly fingerprint sensor make using the Alpha one-handed very easy. It feels great in the hand with the cat-ear-like plastic back and chamfered metal edges. The Alpha is snappy and responsive and the battery lasts a full day.
The screen is noticeably less sharp compared to phones with 1080p screens while the lack of microSD card slot hampers how much music, movies and photos users can store, despite having 32GB of built-in storage.
The Alpha is the best smaller smartphone Samsung has ever made and a solid competitor to the upcoming iPhone 6, which has the same size screen, similar weight and thickness.
Pros: Metal frame, solid build, super thin, decent camera, snappy performance, all-day battery life , one-hand use easy
Cons: Screen less sharp that others, low-light camera performance could be better, no microSD card slot

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Taylor Swift Slams Rumors That She's Feuding With Selena Gomez

We almost thought Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez had the kind of rocky relationship that rivaled Jelena, but it turns out that's totally not true! In the outtakes from her recent Rolling Stone interview, Taylor reveals that she never fought with Selena over her relationship with Justin Bieber — and she actually laughed about the rumors with Selena.

"People think they have my relationships all mapped out. There were all these blogs, like, 'Are they feuding? Are they fighting?' Meanwhile Selena and I would be on the phone that night, laughing about it. We let them have that one."

While we knew that Selena and Taylor were hanging out again, we hadn't seen them together in a while, so we thought the feud rumors were true. It's good to know they're still BFF! And if Taylordoes succeed in getting Selena to move to New York, we'll probably see them hanging out a lot more.

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What An Actual Watch Expert Thinks Of The Apple Watch

What An Actual Watch Expert Thinks Of The Apple Watch

James Cook

Business Insider 

We've seen a vast amount of "hands on" stories on the new Apple Watch, but here's one with a difference. Hodinkee editor Benjamin Clymer has published his first thoughts on the new Apple Watch after handling it at the Apple event on Tuesday.
Uniquely, this review doesn't come from a fashion journalist or a tech journalist, but a writer who specialises in watches. Actual watches, the kind with hands and dials.
Here's what Clymer thought of the Apple Watch after giving it a try:

• The design of the Apple Watch is better than any conventional watch priced around $350: "There is nothing that comes close to the fluidity, attention to detail, or simple build quality found on the Apple Watch in this price bracket."

• The Apple Watch's design is restrained enough to be worn by men, women, and children: "They didn't exaggerate the options and make one decidedly male oriented at 44 mm and a girly equivalent at 35 mm or the like."
• Apple's selection of Apple Watch straps are really high-quality: "Changing straps is one thing, but the attention to detail on the straps and bracelets themselves is downright incredible."
• It's tough to fit the Apple Watch under your shirt cuff: "I believe that great design should not disrupt daily life, and a watch that doesn't fit under a shirt sleeve is missing something."
• BUT! ... It's still a digital wristwatch: "I don't see people that love beautiful things wearing this with any great regularity." 

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China misses out on first wave of new iPhone releases

China misses out on first wave of new iPhone releases

Reuters

BEIJING - Consumers in China, who represent an increasingly critical pillar of Apple Inc's business, will not be able to buy the new iPhone 6 as part of the first wave of buyers around the world this month.
Although the two new smartphone models will go on sale Sept 19 in the United States and other markets, Apple is yet to set a release date for China, the world's biggest smartphone market.
The staggered debut is a departure from one year ago, when Apple released the iPhone 5s and 5c simultaneously in 11 countries and territories including the United States, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Germany, a feat that was seen as setting a new standard for its supply chain and retail management.

It also comes after a 50-percent year-on-year rise in iPhone sales in China, which now carries Apple's fifth-generation phones on all of its three carriers, effectively salvaged an otherwise lacklustre second quarter for the Cupertino company.
Apple declined to comment on its latest release plans, saying only that "China is a key market for us and we will get there as soon as possible".

Chinese media speculated Apple has not yet received a routine certification from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which inspects new smartphones before they are allowed on Chinese carrier networks.
The ministry website, which notifies the public of newly approved phone models, did not list the new iPhones as of Thursday. If the MIIT certificate were the only hurdle, iPhone sales could theoretically begin as soon as they are approved.

Adding to the confusion this week was an Apple Web page that said consumers in Australia, China, Hong Kong and Singapore would be able to buy the new iPhones on Sept 26 as part of the first wave of sales in Asia.

In an overnight edit, Apple deleted the reference to the date and removed China altogether from the list of Asian markets to receive imminent iPhone shipments.
Third-party sellers and sales representatives at China Mobile's Beijing branch said the launch date had been pushed back from when they had expected, but offered differing accounts of when the phone would go on sale.

Two customer support representatives at China Mobile's Beijing subsidiary and a sales representative said Thursday they had received a staff-wide notice saying the iPhone 6 will begin shipping at the end of 2014.

A spokeswoman for China Mobile could not confirm that such a notice had been sent or otherwise provide comment. China Unicom and China Telecom could not be reached for comment.
Although Apple has never officially announced a release date in China, Chinese carriers had stoked excitement in recent weeks by taking hundreds of thousands of pre-orders for an unnamed device accompanied by a not-so-subtle number "6" graphic.

Apple's status in China has been the subject of speculation after reports emerged last month that the government has banned Apple products from official use.
Both the government and Apple have denied the reports.

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RIP iPod: Apple kills its oldest unchanged product

RIP iPod: Apple kills its oldest unchanged product

Alex Hern

The Guardian 

An iPod Classic laid to rest. Photograph: Lea Latumahina/flickr

Not everything Apple did during its event on Tuesday was announced on stage by the executive team.
As the company focused the world’s attention on the stage of Cupertino’s Flint Center, it was carrying out a murder in the wings. The victim: the iPod Classic.
By far Apple’s longest-running product, the iPod Classic – once known simply as the iPod – was introduced in its final form in September 2007: the sixth generation of iPod had a thinner body, longer battery life and an aluminium design. Three months earlier, the iPhone had been introduced and the writing was on the wall for the classic.

At the event where the iPod Classic was introduced – and given its new, respectful moniker – the iPod Touch was also born. It had the advantages of an iPhone bar the cellular connectivity but a price closer to the rest of the iPod line. The Touch was supposed to be the death knell for the classic.
But instead, the design showed a remarkable durability. A large part of that was down to the capacity of the device, which started at 80GB and had been bumped up to 160GB by 2009. Next to an iPod Touch which, even today, maxes out at 64GB of space, it appealed to those with enormous music collections and a desire to carry everything with them all the time.

Even though Apple appeared happy to take the classic fans’ money for the time being, every new hardware announcement was shadowed by the possibility that this would be the end for the venerable MP3 player. It was the last product the company shipped with a 1.8 inch hard-drive, an expensive component liable to fail with over-use. And in a world of streaming music services even the idea of a “music collection” was starting to seem outdated, let alone the idea that it needs to be stored on the same device.

Still, we didn’t expect the murder of the classic to be done with such brutality. Apple’s never been a company for looking back but typically when they discontinue a product they offer up something new as recompense. Not this time. The iPod line was not mentioned once onstage – though a redesign of the iPod touch might come in October – and no time was spared for the classic. The future is touchscreens on our wrists, not scrollwheels in our pockets.

Except. Announcing the Apple Watch, the company’s CEO Tim Cook put special emphasis on the “digital crown”, a whole new input paradigm invented just for the device. “It translates rotary movement into digital data,” he told the audience, dazzling them with the “IR LEDs and diodes” used to make it work. But beneath the bluster, it’s a physical scroll wheel, the same technology introduced in the original iPod in 2001. 

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5 million Gmail passwords published, but don't panic

5 million Gmail passwords published, but don't panic

Jon Fingas

Engadget

You might need to change your email password in the very near future. A member at a Russian Bitcoin forum has posted almost 5 million Gmail passwords, around 60 percent of which are reportedly still working. It's not clear how the poster managed to scoop up all this account info, but Google tellsCnews that it comes from a long stretch of hacking and phishing attempts that stole data from individual users. Gmail's servers weren't breached, the search giant says, and much of what's there is old. That's somewhat comforting, but you may want to check if your account is one of the unfortunate targets -- you don't want to give thieves easy access to your most sensitive info.

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Steve Jobs Was a Low-Tech Parent

Steve Jobs Was a Low-Tech Parent

NICK BILTON

The New York Times

When Steve Jobs was running Apple, he was known to call journalists to either pat them on the back for a recent article or, more often than not, explain how they got it wrong. I was on the receiving end of a few of those calls. But nothing shocked me more than something Mr. Jobs said to me in late 2010 after he had finished chewing me out for something I had written about an iPad shortcoming.
“So, your kids must love the iPad?” I asked Mr. Jobs, trying to change the subject. The company’s first tablet was just hitting the shelves. “They haven’t used it,” he told me. “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”

I’m sure I responded with a gasp and dumbfounded silence. I had imagined the Jobs’s household was like a nerd’s paradise: that the walls were giant touch screens, the dining table was made from tiles of iPads and that iPods were handed out to guests like chocolates on a pillow.
Nope, Mr. Jobs told me, not even close.
Since then, I’ve met a number of technology chief executives and venture capitalists who say similar things: they strictly limit their children’s screen time, often banning all gadgets on school nights, and allocating ascetic time limits on weekends.

I was perplexed by this parenting style. After all, most parents seem to take the opposite approach, letting their children bathe in the glow of tablets, smartphones and computers, day and night.
Yet these tech C.E.O.’s seem to know something that the rest of us don’t.

Chris Anderson, the former editor of Wired and now chief executive of 3D Robotics, a drone maker, has instituted time limits and parental controls on every device in his home. “My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about tech, and they say that none of their friends have the same rules,” he said of his five children, 6 to 17. “That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it in myself, I don’t want to see that happen to my kids.”

The dangers he is referring to include exposure to harmful content like pornography, bullying from other kids, and perhaps worse of all, becoming addicted to their devices, just like their parents.
Alex Constantinople, the chief executive of the OutCast Agency, a tech-focused communications and marketing firm, said her youngest son, who is 5, is never allowed to use gadgets during the week, and her older children, 10 to 13, are allowed only 30 minutes a day on school nights.

Evan Williams, a founder of Blogger, Twitter and Medium, and his wife, Sara Williams, said that in lieu of iPads, their two young boys have hundreds of books (yes, physical ones) that they can pick up and read anytime.
So how do tech moms and dads determine the proper boundary for their children? In general, it is set by age.

Children under 10 seem to be most susceptible to becoming addicted, so these parents draw the line at not allowing any gadgets during the week. On weekends, there are limits of 30 minutes to two hours on iPad and smartphone use. And 10- to 14-year-olds are allowed to use computers on school nights, but only for homework.

“We have a strict no screen time during the week rule for our kids,” said Lesley Gold, founder and chief executive of the SutherlandGold Group, a tech media relations and analytics company. “But you have to make allowances as they get older and need a computer for school.”
Some parents also forbid teenagers from using social networks, except for services like Snapchat, which deletes messages after they have been sent. This way they don’t have to worry about saying something online that will haunt them later in life, one executive told me.

Although some non-tech parents I know give smartphones to children as young as 8, many who work in tech wait until their child is 14. While these teenagers can make calls and text, they are not given a data plan until 16. But there is one rule that is universal among the tech parents I polled.
“This is rule No. 1: There are no screens in the bedroom. Period. Ever,” Mr. Anderson said.
While some tech parents assign limits based on time, others are much stricter about what their children are allowed to do with screens.

Ali Partovi, a founder of iLike and adviser to Facebook, Dropbox and Zappos, said there should be a strong distinction between time spent “consuming,” like watching YouTube or playing video games, and time spent “creating” on screens.

“Just as I wouldn’t dream of limiting how much time a kid can spend with her paintbrushes, or playing her piano, or writing, I think it’s absurd to limit her time spent creating computer art, editing video, or computer programming,” he said.

Others said that outright bans could backfire and create a digital monster.
Dick Costolo, chief executive of Twitter, told me he and his wife approved of unlimited gadget use as long as their two teenage children were in the living room. They believe that too many time limits could have adverse effects on their children.

“When I was at the University of Michigan, there was this guy who lived in the dorm next to me and he had cases and cases of Coca-Cola and other sodas in his room,” Mr. Costolo said. “I later found out that it was because his parents had never let him have soda when he was growing up. If you don’t let your kids have some exposure to this stuff, what problems does it cause later?”

I never asked Mr. Jobs what his children did instead of using the gadgets he built, so I reached out to Walter Isaacson, the author of “Steve Jobs,” who spent a lot of time at their home.

“Every evening Steve made a point of having dinner at the big long table in their kitchen, discussing books and history and a variety of things,” he said. “No one ever pulled out an iPad or computer. The kids did not seem addicted at all to devices.”

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Scientists: 'Extreme' solar storm heading to Earth

 Scientists: 'Extreme' solar storm heading to Earth

SETH BORENSTEINAP Science Writer

Associated Press 

WASHINGTON —An extreme solar flare is blasting its way to Earth and could mess up some power grids, satellites and radio transmissions, scientists say.
It's been several years since Earth has had a solar storm of this size coming from sunspots smack in the middle of the sun, said Tom Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.
Solar storms happen often, especially during peaks in the solar cycle, and don't directly harm people. But what makes this one more worrisome is its location on the sun along with its strength, he said.
"There's been a giant magnetic explosion on the sun," Berger said. "Because it's pointed right at us, we'll at least catch some of the cloud" of highly energized and magnetized plasma that can disrupt Earth's magnetic sphere, which sometimes leads to temporary power grid problems.
Forecasters don't yet know when Wednesday's solar storm will arrive here and which part of the planet will be facing the sun and bear the brunt of the effects. It could arrive as early as Thursday morning or may take a few days.
Berger said scientists will have a better idea after they get more satellite data. The first part of the storm, which arrives in only a few minutes, has already affected radio transmissions. It can also damage satellites.
The flare is considered "extreme" on forecasters' scale, but just barely so, Berger said.
On the plus side, sun flares expand the colorful northern lights so people farther south can see them..

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See the Heartwarming Message Ariana Grande Left for Her Fan

After facing rumors that she's difficult to work with, Ariana Grande is proving that she's a total sweetheart when it comes to her fans! The singer recently posted a screen shot of a direct message she sent to fan named Maya, offering her advice and support.

The Arianator asked for help about feeling confident in her own skin, and Ariana responded with a long and heartfelt message about working hard on loving yourself.

She wrote in the caption, "Life is a gift and there is no need to waste it hating on the things we can't control."

Obviously, we think it's totally sweet that Ariana took the time to write such a personal message to a fan who's having a rough time. The singer has struggled with only wanting to be photographed from one side of her face, so she can probably relate to her fans' struggles with self-acceptance.

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Did Harry Styles Admit He Wants to Go Solo?

One Direction constantly denies the rumors that they're breaking up and claims they want to keep making music together for a long time, so we were shocked by what Harry (didn't) say at their recent press conference! While promoting their new album Four, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne bothconfessed that they would never be able to leave the group. But Harry Styles — who is alwaysrumored to be going solo — kept completely silent.

Louis and Liam gushed about how much they value having a support system in the other members of 1D, and how they would never want to give that up.

“I personally don’t think I’d be able to do it as a solo artist," Louis said. "It’s very intense and hard to comprehend, so it’s good to be able to speak to people who obviously know exactly what you personally are going through."

“Yeah and it’s nice to have somebody there every day who’s going through exactly the same stuff you are," Liam added. "It’s beautiful being in this position but it’s also difficult at times. It’s nice to have guys you can turn to."

Meanwhile, Harry didn't say a thing! While his rep has called his solo rumors false multiple times, we're definitely wondering why the 1D guy didn't speak up. We know how much he loves his bandmates, so we're hoping that there's no secret reason why he didn't say anything.

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Apple pushes digital wallet with Apple Pay

Apple pushes digital wallet with Apple Pay

Associated Press 

NEW YORK — Apple is betting that people want to pay with a tap of the phone rather than a swipe of the card.
The technology company on Tuesday introduced a new digital wallet service called Apple Pay that is integrated with its Passbook credential-storage app and its fingerprint ID security system.
The announcement came as Apple introduced several new products including a new, larger iPhone 6 and a watch. Apple Pay is designed to let iPhone 6 owners use their smartphones to pay for purchases at brick-and-mortar stores as well as online via apps. The company says it's easier and more secure than using a credit or debit card. And it puts Apple in direct competition with services like PayPal and Google Wallet.

So-called mobile proximity payments are expected to grow exponentially over the next few years. Citi Investment Research analyst Mark May said they could grow from $1 billion in 2013 to $58.4 billion by 2017. Still, consumers will have to weigh the convenience of not pulling out a card with the possible danger of storing important financial information on their phones, particularly as retailers like Target and Home Depot report data breaches, and hackers crack celebrities' iCloud accounts.
In stores, the system uses a technology called near-field communication, which allows mobile phones to communicate with other devices at close range. Many Android phones already have a near-field communication antenna, but iPhones have not until now. Users will pay by holding a phone close to a contactless reader with their finger on the touch ID fingerprint system. It's also set to work with the Apple Watch when that debuts in 2015.

"Apple Pay will forever change the way we pay for things," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple addressed security concerns Tuesday, saying Apple Pay is even safer than using a plastic card. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, said credit card information will be stored on the phone via a secure chip and payments will use a one-time security code. The Find My iPhone service can erase the data if the phone gets lost or stolen — canceling a card will not be necessary. The service will be able to store Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit card information.

"A cashier doesn't see your name, credit card number or security code," when you pay with Apple Pay, Cue said. He also said Apple won't track people's financial data.
"Apple doesn't know what you bought, where you bought it or how much you paid," he said. "That transaction is between you, your merchant and your bank."

Contactless payment isn't new: Retailers like Starbucks and McDonald's already have their own contactless payment system in stores, and Apple Pay is similar to Google Inc.'s Google Wallet, which is available on Android smartphones and iPhones. But Apple Pay adds some security features and makes a digital wallet option more accessible for iPhone users. About 15 percent of smartphones are iPhones, according to research firm IDC.

The service will be available beginning in October. Retailers will need to invest in updating their cash registers and point-of-sale units. Apple said department stores like Macy's and Bloomingdales, drugstores including Walgreen's and Duane Reade, and other stores including McDonald's, Staples, Subway and Whole Foods are participating in Apple Pay.

But some of the largest retailers are not participating. Wal-Mart said it has no plans to participate. Amazon.com did not respond to a request for comment. And Target said it is currently participating only via its app.

"We know mobile is becoming the front door to Target, and we're focused on creating the best possible mobile experiences for our guests," Senior Vice President Jason Goldberger said in a statement. "We're thrilled to support Apple Pay to streamline how our guests pay in the Target app - this absolutely makes purchasing from Target's mobile app easier than ever."

Gartner analyst Avivah Litah said the payment system will only succeed if major retailers get behind it. Apple's security features are a plus for merchants, but it's not clear if that will be enough.
"It's 50-50 if merchants will get on board," she said. "The security aspects are attractive, but it's not clear if the security features alone are going to be enough of a selling point."

IDC analyst James Wester said the move is in some ways Apple playing catch up to Google Wallet, but that the system uses Apple's fingerprint technology is a plus.

"It's not that different than what other mobile wallets have done," he said. "The important part is that it's Apple. We've been waiting for them to get into this."

Citi analyst May said eBay Inc.'s PayPal is the closest competitor to Apple Pay, but PayPal shouldn't be overly concerned since near-field communication and digital wallet payments are less than 1 percent of its business. In addition, consumer adoption of Apple Pay remains uncertain.

"That said, Apple has raised the bar for the digital wallet category, not only for offline point-of-sale but potentially also for m-commerce, which is more directly competitive with PayPal today," he said.
For its part, PayPal's chief product officer, Hill Ferguson, emphasized PayPal's relationships with merchants and customer service, and the fact that it can work across devices.

"Businesses and consumers don't want to be restricted to a particular device or hardware," he said.

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Ariana Grande Slams Rumors That She's Horrible to Work With

Ariana Grande has already been the subject of major drama after she was accused of throwing a tantrum at a charity event, but now the singer faces even more rumors that she's horrible to work with! Reports have emerged describing her insane list of demands and crazy photo shoot requirements, which Ariana completely denied during an interview with Mike E and Emma on 96.1.

"It was just a photographer or something who got mad at me because I left to change my outfit mid-photo shoot because I didn't like my top," she said.

"I was like, 'Oh, I'll be right back!' and then I came back and he had left. And then he came out and said all these ridiculous untrue things about me. I was like, 'That's not real. That's nonsense!'"

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