Walmart may not like it but Apple Pay looks like it's about to have a big impact on 2014's Black Friday shopping season. A new survey conducted by Stratos, the makers of the Bluetooth Connected Card Platform, estimates that 30% of American smartphone owners plan to use either Apple Pay or Google Wallet to buy things this holiday shopping season. What's more, 17% of smartphone users surveyed said having the option to buy things with Apple Pay or Google Wallet would cause them to spend more money than they normally would.
The conventional wisdom after the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus was that Apple would steal back some market share from Android as Android users who love owning big phones would flock to the new devices. However, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) has shared some new research with us that suggests that the bigger new iPhones aren't picking off quite as many Android users as we thought they would.
After many reports claimed that Apple will launch a redesigned 12-inch Retina MacBook Air model at some point in the first half of 2015, a new report from Taiwan’s Industrial and Commercial Times seems to indicate that Apple might launch the lighter, fanless laptop by the end of 2014.
Samsung will update the “old” Galaxy S4 to Android 5.0 Lollipop, SamMobile has learned, making Lollipop the third major Android update the handset will receive after Android 4.3 and Android 4.4. It’s not clear at this time when the Galaxy S4 will be upgraded to Lollipop, with the publication saying the Exynos version should get it first at some point in early 2015, assuming everything goes well. After all, Samsung hasn’t been quick to release such updates to previous flagship devices in the past.
For years, Apple has been doing everything in its power to make Apple Maps the app of choice for traveling iPhone owners. Unfortunately, it's not always the most reliable companion, which is why Apple is putting the power to edit its service into the hands of small business owners. Apple Maps Connect allows businesses to add content directly into the mapping service free of charge straight from their browsers.
Stop us if you've heard this one before — or actually, don't bother because we know you've heard this one before. One of Benzinga's sources claims that Lenovo is once again looking to buy Canadian smartphone pioneer BlackBerry, despite the fact that such talks reportedly went nowhere last year due to security concerns raised by both the Canadian and American governments.
While main content pages now have a white background, some individual movie, app, TV show, and music pages continue to have a colored background, that also adopts all of the flat interface elements.
One of the most anticipated next-gen titles of the holiday season is already out... but just not on the platforms we want it. Rockstar Games announced at E3 2014 that Grand Theft Auto V would be making the transition to the PS4, Xbox One and PC this fall, but three months later, we haven't heard or seen any new signs of the highly anticipated port. Rumors began to spread that GTA V might be delayed, but Rockstar wants to ensure fans that the game is still on track.
Samsung's latest tablet, the Galaxy Tab S, is one impressive piece of hardware. It's received rave reviews from the press, consumers seem to love it and it even outclasses the iPad in many respects. In order to prove that last point, Samsung took to the streets of New York with an iPad Air and a Galaxy Tab S to see which device the average consumer would choose.
Apple may be desperately trying to reduce its reliance on Samsung-made components for its devices, but that’s not an easy process, and its largest supplier/rival will have a presence in the iPhone 6, Digitimes reports.
How insanely hot is the demand for Apple's upcoming iPhone 6? So hot that well-known smartphone accessory maker Spigen is refusing to wait for the new iPhone to be unveiled before designing and selling cases for the next-generation Apple smartphone. The company on Wednesday launched a new page on its website dedicated to Apple's iPhone 6, which obviously doesn't even exist yet. Instead of waiting for the phone to be unveiled early next month during a press conference on September 9th, Spigen based its designs off of the various leaks we've seen thus far and is now selling cases to fit the forthcoming iPhone — maybe.
Apple is making Samsung pay, and it we're not just talking about patent lawsuits. The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung's component supply business has taken a big hit recently because Apple has decided to branch out and use a wider variety of suppliers to cut down its dependence on the Korean electronics giant. While Apple has had mixed results in finding new supply chain partners and has even had to reportedly crawl back to Samsung on some occasions, the big picture is that Apple's moves are still taking a bite out of Samsung's bottom line.
Smartphones have effectively replaced a lot of the gadgets that we used to buy, including calculators, compasses, alarm clocks and dedicated GPS trackers. And now The Wall Street Journal reports that smartphones look poised to kill off another antiquated piece of technology — hotel key cards.
You know all the time and trouble you put into making and memorizing unique strong passwords for every website you visit? Well, Microsoft says a lot of that was likely misspent energy. The Guardian informs us that new research from Microsoft (PDF) shows that we probably shouldn't use strong passwords for all our websites and that having weak passwords will suffice in many circumstances.
If you want a look at how much Samsung's engineering chops have improved over the past year, then you need to look no further than the Galaxy K Zoom. Or more precisely, you need to look at the Galaxy K Zoom compared to its predecessor, the Galaxy S4 Zoom.
Bitcoin survived a hellish spring period when its value crashed to $320 from winter highs topping $1,000. With the price now hovering around $570, the cryptocurrency faces a series of important events in the coming weeks that could determine its future.
Progress on #ApplesNewHQ, a small wall around the foundation of the spaceship has sprouted. #sky1hightechtour http://bit.ly/TH1a4A
— Ron (@Sky1Ron) June 10, 2014 
Microsoft is tormenting America with its most annoying Surface ad ever