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Showing posts with label December 19. Show all posts
Showing posts with label December 19. Show all posts
Apple Pay is seeing impressive early adoption numbers according to a new ITG Investment Research Report on Mobile Payments (via MarketWatch ), which suggests Apple's new payment service was responsible for a total of 1 percent of digital payment dollars during the month of November.



Apple still trails industry leaders like Square and PayPal, which captured 18 and 78 percent of digital payment dollars in November, respectively, but ITG analysts suggest Apple Pay is showing strong momentum given that it's available only to customers with the newest hardware and supported by a limited number of merchants.



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According to the report, which uses data from ITG's Investment Research consumer panel, 60 percent of new Apple Pay customers used the service on multiple days throughout November, averaging 1.4 use times per week. In comparison, only 20 percent of new PayPal customers used the service multiple times during the same time period.



Among customers who used Apple Pay, Whole Foods was the location where the service was used most, capturing 20 percent of all Apple Pay transactions. Walgreens came in second, with 19 percent of transactions, and McDonald's was third, with 11 percent of transactions. Whole Foods was also saw the highest spending, responsible for 28 percent of all Apple Pay dollars spent.



Available since October 20, Apple Pay is accepted at several of Apple's partner stores and at more than 200,000 retail locations where NFC payments are accepted. Apple has given little indication of Apple Pay's early success, but in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay had seen more than one million credit and debit card activations during its first 72 hours of availability.


















The Christmas holiday is less than a week away, and while deals have tapered off a bit this week, there are still a few discounts to be had on the iMac, MacBook Air,

Mac Pro, Retina MacBook Pro, and older iPads. There's also one last deal on the iPad Air 2 that drops the price quite a bit.



We've also got discounts on some great potential gifts, including personalized iPhone cases from Casetify, wireless headphones from Jaybird, the popular Pencil stylus from FiftyThree, and more in this week's Buyer's Guide deals post.



iPad Air 2




If you're in need of an iPad Air 2 and didn't take advantage of the deals offered around Black Friday, there's one last discount available this week. Target is offering 15 percent off the iPad Air 2 in all colors and capacities through its Cartwheel app.



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That drops the price of the entry-level Wi-Fi only model to $424, down from $499. The discount will only be available on Friday and Saturday, and only in Target stores.



iPhone




Walmart is continuing its $50 off deal on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, dropping the price of the 16GB iPhone 6 to $129, down from the previous $179 price tag, and it's also offering the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus for $229, down from $279. The iPhone 5s is on sale at Walmart as well, now available for $49 instead of $79.



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A two-year contract is required to get the discounted price, and Walmart also offers a trade-in program to drop the pricing even lower. Deals are available in-store only and will last through February.



Retina MacBook Pro




MacMall is selling the 2013 2.6GHz/16GB/1TB Retina MacBook Pro priced at $2,599.99, down from the regular price of $3,199, a $600 discount. Several 2014 Retina MacBook Pro models are also discounted at various retailers, as seen below:



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- 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $1,349, $100 off

- 13-inch 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1,599, $200 off

- 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $1,699, $200 off

- 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB (B&H Photo) - $2,199, $300 off



Mac Pro




- 4-core 3.7GHz/12GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $2,599, $400 off

- 6-core 3.5GHz/16GB/256GB (B&H Photo) (Adorama) - $3,499, $500 off



iMac




- 21.5-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1349, $150 off

- 27-inch 3.2GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,629.99, $170 off

- 27-inch 2.4GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H) - $1,799.99, $200 off

- 27-inch Retina 3.5GHz/8GB/1TB (B&H Photo) - $2,299, $200 off



retina-imac-27

MacBook Air




- 11.6-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $799, $100 off

- 11.6-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Best Buy) - $899, $200 off

- 13.3-inch 1.4Ghz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $899, $100 off



macbook_air_yosemite_roundup



Original iPad Air




Best Buy is offering discounts of $50 (Wi-Fi) to $100 (Cellular) off all of its original iPad Air stock, dropping the price of the 16GB entry-level Wi-Fi only model to $349.99 and the 16GB entry-level Cellular model to $379.99.



iPad mini 2




Best Buy is also offering discounts of $50 off all Wi-Fi iPad mini 2 models and $100 off all Cellular models. The iPad mini 2 can be a particularly good deal compared to the iPad mini 3, as the only difference is Touch ID.



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With the discount, the entry-level 16GB Wi-Fi only iPad mini 2 is available for $249.99 and the entry-level 16GB Cellular model is available for $279.99.



Apple Accessories




Groupon is offering $150 worth of accessories from The Smartphone Mall for $25, which includes items like Beats By Dre headphones, iPhone cases, Lightning cables, and more. There's also a deal for $50 worth of Gifts and Gadgets from Sharper Image for $25.



For those of you with an older iPhone, Groupon is selling Star Wars cases for the iPhone 4/4s/5/5s for $7.99, down from $19.99. A refurbished Jawbone Mini Jambox speaker can be purchased from Groupon for $59.99, a savings of $59, and the site is also offering the Jawbone UP for $59.99, a $70 savings.



starwars

A refurbished 4,000mAh Mophie portable battery charger is available from Groupon for $29.99, down from $79.95. Beats by Dre Pro Over-Ear headphones are available for $299 from Groupon, down from $399. StackSocial is selling the Rocketcases Afterburner iPhone 6/6 Plus battery case (non-MFi Certified) for $40/$46, a savings of 33 percent.



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The now-discontinued Beats Beatbox Portable Speaker can be purchased for $249.99 from Best Buy, a savings of $150. Garmin's Heads-Up Plus Display Navigation System can be purchased for $74.99 from Groupon

beatsspeaker

Amazon is selling the Jawbone UP24 for $70, $20 off the standard price. The site is also offering the Pencil by FiftyThree Digital Stylus for $10 off, dropping the price to $39.95 for the graphite model and $49.95 for the walnut version.



pencil

Jaybird is offering 25 percent off its entire stock of wireless headphones with the code JBHOLIDAYS, and throwing in complimentary 2 day shipping that guarantees delivery in time for Christmas. This deal is good today only.



jaybird

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.






















katewinsletActress Kate Winslet is currently in negotiations to play the lead female role in the upcoming Jobs biopic, reports Variety . Winslet, aged 39, is best known for dramatic movies like Titanic, Divergent, All the King's Men, and Finding Neverland.



It remains unclear what role Winslet will play, but female parts in the movie are rumored to include Steve Jobs' daughter Lisa Brennan and Katie Cotton, Apple's well-known former PR lead.



Natalie Portman was formerly in talks to play a major female role in the film, but she pulled out of negotiations in early December. Actress Jessica Chastain, of The Help, may also be in talks for a part.



After some difficulties in casting, it seems the Job biopic is finally taking shape. Both Leonario DiCaprio and Christian Bale passed on the role of Steve Jobs, leading it to be taken by Michael Fassbender, and the role of Steve Wozniak will be played by Seth Rogen.



According to Variety, Jeff Daniels is still being considered for the role of former Apple President John Scully, and Boardwalk Empire's Michael Stuhlbarg recently signed on to play Andy Hertzfeld, one of the members of the original Macintosh development team.



The Jobs biopic, now owned by Universal Pictures, is based on Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biopic. Penned by Aaron Sorkin, the movie will consist of three continuous 30-minute scenes that cover three of Steve Jobs' product launches - the NeXT cube, the original Mac, and the iPod.



(Image via Mingle MediaTV)


















Earlier this year, the United States Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against T-Mobile, accusing the carrier of "cramming" or charging customers for unauthorized SMS subscriptions that delivered information like horoscopes for prices up to $9.99 per month.



Though T-Mobile initially called the FTC's complaint "unfounded and without merit," it today reached a settlement [PDF] that will see it paying out more than $90 million to consumers that were affected by its practices. The carrier will also be required to inform all current and former customers who paid the illicit charges about the refund program.



t-mobile_usa_logo

In a statement, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler praised the settlement as a win for consumers and pledged to continue to fight "unjust and unreasonable business practices committed by the nation's carriers."
"Cramming is a significant problem. For too long, millions of consumers have been scammed billed for bogus charges on their phone bills for services they didn't request. This is unacceptable. Today's settlement is a win for consumers who have been victimized by cramming. It means compensation for T-Mobile customers who were fraudulently billed for third-party services that they did not want or authorize. And it goes one step further. Today's action will also help protect all of T-Mobile's customers from bogus third-party charges in the future."

Along with T-Mobile, several other carriers have been targeted by the FTC for the same unsavory practices. AT&T paid out $105 million in penalties in October, and Sprint is facing a similar fine. In a statement released earlier this year, T-Mobile said that it stopped billing for Premium SMS services in 2013 and had already put a "proactive program" in place to provide full refunds for customers, but the government found that many customers went uncompensated.



Along with providing refunds for customers, T-Mobile's $90 million fine will also include $18 million in fines to attorneys in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and a $4.5 million fine to be paid to the Federal Communication Commission.



News of T-Mobile's settlement comes just days after the company announced an eighth Un-carrier initiative, which will allow customers to roll over monthly unused data, storing it for up to 12 months.


















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