Tap your phone to pay : NFC bill payment coming

For people who doubted the usability of NFC (Near Field Communication) , here is your proof. For people who trusted in it, the day you see it in action is near.

A leading US based payment solution provider Verifone has come up with Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals, which are capable of reading NFC chips, from devices like your smart-phone.

The CEO of Verifone, Douglas Bergeron says that retailers have to take initiative in popularizing this new mode of payment. They should recognize the increase in customer base and be ready to bear the initial costs for setting it up.

Bergeron specified in his press conference some rules which the retailers would have to follow to make this a success.

Rule #1: "Deployment and management of complex NFC technologies will require significant ongoing services from the retailer's payment systems provider. Until retailers are assured of receiving real value from mobile commerce, service providers who stand to gain from either carrier fees, advertising revenue or transaction charges must be willing to bear the costs of this highly disruptive paradigm shift."

Rule #2: "Mobile commerce must add value to the consumer. Tapping a phone is a gimmick, no different from tapping a card or fob. In addition to providing the ability to pay for stuff by phone, service providers and retailers need to provide real additional value –- such as coupons, loyalty rewards and discounts -- for consumers to leave their wallets at home.

Rule #3: "Mobile commerce must be streamlined with existing POS services and managed well for the retailer. Retailers won't tolerate the need for multiple methods of acceptance to accommodate what will become a wide array of mobile commerce schemes. All ideas, regardless of where or who generates them, must converge at a unified point-of-sale."

Rule #4: "Mobile commerce must go from zero to 90 mph in five seconds. Consumers will not embrace mobile commerce without the confidence that it is being widely accepted. If it only works at a few select retailers, it dies a quick death. Ten percent acceptance is not sustainable."

Rule #5: "Mobile commerce must be integrated with other forms of payment. Mobile commerce won't lead to the quick death of plastic cards and must work with existing payment systems that are certified by all major processors and installed in the vast majority of large and small retailers."

Rule #6: "Mobile commerce must be ironclad secure. Security, both real and perceived, is imperative to the adoption and sustainability of mobile commerce. Even minor setbacks in security could compromise consumer adoption and stop the movement in its tracks.

Now we'll have to wait and watch if this changes the world they way credit cards did.

All the new Android phones (running Gingerbread and above) , and the iPhone 5 is supposed to have NFC. With the market share that these phones have, we can hope this becomes a success.

Check the Verifone page for more details.

Pictures of some NFC enabled POS terminals by Verifone

Samsung Galaxy S II : Rumours settle

Samsung has got themselves a very good name in the mobile phone industry, with the launch of a variety of handsets. That even made then the manufacturer releasing the most number of phones in a short period of time.

The Galaxy S which was launched a year back, was a trend setter. It was rumoured to be an iPhone killer. And it did live up to its name.

Now the second generation Galaxy S is ready. And this time it has been a huge discussion topic, on  whats going to be there at its heart, its processor.

The Galaxy S II was showcased at this years MWC. But then even before that it was a hot topic among gadget fanatics. The Galaxy S II was supposed to run on an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor.

But when it was showcased at the MWC it was running on a 1 GHz  Samsung chip (Exynos) . It did sadden the hearts of NVIDIA lovers (me included).

But lately there has been information that Samsung Galaxy II may also come equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, to fill the supply gap. The Samsung chip even though it had comparable performance, seems did not have the yields for such demand.

So there is a chance that phones purchased from different regions may be running different processors.

Other than the processor, the major features are :

•  4.27-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display
• 8 megapixel primary camera with 1080p video capture
• 2 megapixel secondary front camera
• Gingerbread with TouchWiz 4.0
• Integrated NFC support 
• A shell measuring just 8.49mm thick (making it likely the thinnest smartphone ever)

More pics of this marvel continues:

 Courtesy: engadget

Behold, the iPad 2 is here!

The much awaited and talked about iPad 2 is finally official.

Yesterday Apple offically introduced the Apple iPad 2, the second generation of tablet computing.

Tablet computing was actually brought to a jump start when Apple launched the iPad, following which we saw an array of tablet computers flowing into the market.

Now Apple is ready to create revolution again, with the iPad 2.

The main change you would see is the design. It has a more sleek and smooth design. Its is 33% thinner than the first generation iPad and also 15% lighter. Still it maintains the same screen dimensions, a 9.7 inch LED backlit LCD screen.

But then, changes are not only skin deep. It is powered by an all new dual-core A5 processor, which is claimed to be twice as faster, with upto 9 times better graphics performance, battery life being unaltered (10 hours)

The iPad 2 comes with two cameras. The rear camera capable of capturing 720p HD videos at 30fps, while the front camera is a mere VGA camera to be used for Facetime, which also records at 30fps.

Another new feature is the Smart Cover. The smart cover is not just another case. It is a magnetic flap, which can interact with the iPad, putting the device to sleep based on whether the case is closed or not.

It also comes with the new iOS 4.3, which is launching alongside the iPad 2.

Technical specifications of the iPad 2 can be seen here.

And when can you lay hands on one. You have to wait till March 11.
And for folks in countries like India, well you would have to wait a little bit longer. But boy is it worth the wait!

More pics and comparison with the original iPad follows :

Image courtesy: engadget

Coming Back Soon

Hi guys,

After a long break (around 7 months), I have decided to bring my blog back up.

Hope that I could do my best to deliver information about the latest developments in gadgets and technology.

I would require all your support to keep this blog going. Ideas are always welcome.

Thank you all

Apple to offer full refund for iPhone 4 users

 Apple's much awaited "Antennagate" press conference was held yesterday.

Basically Steve Jobs was trying to explain how this iPhone 4 reception problem was just a media hype and that this problem is not exclusive to the iPhone.

• Here are some bullet points that Jobs emphasized upon during the course of the conference.
• Only 0.55 of all iPhone users have contacted Apple with a reception issue.
• The iPhone 4 drops less than one more call per 100 calls when compared to the iPhone 3GS.
• The iPhone 4 has a return rate of just 1.4% compared to the 3GS' 6.0%
• All smartphones have weak spots. (Including the iPhone)
• The iOS4 4.0.1 update released on July 15 fixes the antenna bar and the Exchange bug
• The reception issues have been blown out of proportion. 

Steve Jobs also took this opportunity to claim that even their competitors' phones including the likes of the BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris, and Samsung Omnia II can be affected by this left handed grip issue.

That said, Apple will also give away free bumper cases to users who would want one. This is because the case apparently solves the reception issue. For those of you who already spent your money on the case, there is a refund coming your way. For the still unhappy customers, Apple has announced a full refund to customers who return their phone within 30 days of purchase.This offer is valid only for phones purchased before September 30th this year.

Brammo Empulse : The electric superbike.

When you think electric bike, you must be thinking those small slow things, which are just a little better than a man powered bicycle. Well thats what used to come to my mind too.

Now its time to think again. Brammo Inc is a leading electric vehicle technology company headquartered in North America. They had previously developed an award winning electric bike, Enertia, which you wouldn't obviously call a sports bike. It had a 13.7 Horsepower rating, with a top speed of 50 mph and a range of 45 miles. Hasn't got much looks too. Hers what it looks like.

But now, Brammo has come up with a new bike. The EMPULSE. It is much better looking, much powerful, much faster, and has got a longer range. The Empulse is capable of doing over a 100 mph with a distance range of about 100 miles. Its got a horse power rating of 55, nearly comparable to the 600cc bikes available in the market. And it looks like a sports bike too.

There will be three models offered: the 6.0, 8.0, and 10.0. These indicate the distance range capacity of the bikes, with the lowest managing 60 miles of "average range" and the top of the line 100 miles, each of which can be extended by taking it easy on the bike (not compulsory to get to the top speed just because there is one) . The 6.0 will naturally be the cheapest, starting at $9,995, the 8.0 for $11,995, and the 10.0 will go for $13,995.

Here's the Brammo Empulse advertisement video:

Asus ARES Officially Launched in India : The ultimate graphics card comes with metal case and gaming mousepad

Asus has officially introduced its all dual ATI Radeon HD 5870 loaded graphics monster card dubbed ARES in India. Named after the Olympian God of War, this is the ultimate option for the hardcore gamer. ARES is a limited edition graphics card that has two Cypress HD 5870 GPUs and measures 11-inches long. This limited edition graphics card will be sold in India for Rs. 1,00,000 approximately with unique metal case and Republic of Gaming mouse bundle.

Asus ARES graphics card incorporates two 40nm fabrication process made Cypress GPU based ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics on a single printed circuit board. The GPU runs at 850MHz clock speed and the memory is clocked at 1200MHz. So far, ATI's Radeon HD 5970 graphics card is crowned as top of the line performance card. Both these GPUs have access to 2GB GDDR5 video memory thus making total 4GB GDDR5 video memory that has 256-bits (for 2GB each) memory interface.

The new ARES is equipped with three PCI express power connector points - two 8-pin port and one 6-pin port. For cooling, Asus has incorporated huge Fansink that promises 600 percent air flow. For best heat dissipation, 8mm oxygen-free copper heatpipes have been used. One would require 750Watts power supply unit to run this monster graphics card.

Of course, this graphics card is CrossFireX configuration ready. This graphics card is constructed from aluminum material and has one HDMI along with twin dual-link DVI-I ports for sourcing out HD video.

Since this is a limited edition graphics card with metal case and ROG gaming mouse, it's better that you either grab it now or forget about it.