Black Friday 2015 US sales on mobile topped $900 million, 74 percent via iOS

While millions of people still chose to rush to brick and mortar stores early Friday morning, before they could even properly digest their previous-day festive turkey meals, causing the now customary brawls over the last discounted HDTV, many others welcomed the future of retail, lifting their fingers merely to add marked down items to digital shopping carts.Exactly how much money did Americans spend online this Black Friday? A colossal $2.74 billion, according to Adobe estimations, in addition to $1.73 billion on ...

Continue reading »

The post Black Friday 2015 US sales on mobile topped $900 million, 74 percent via iOS appeared first on Pocketnow.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium officially launches in Canada before the US

How much longer can Sony avoid the world’s second largest smartphone market with its 4K resolution pioneer? Even if US carriers were entirely to blame for Xperia Z5 Premium’s local scarcity (and they probably are), there’s no logical justification why the 5.5-inch beast isn’t available unlocked directly from the device maker yet.Rubbing salt into the wounds of ...

Continue reading »

The post Sony Xperia Z5 Premium officially launches in Canada before the US appeared first on Pocketnow.

Amazon and Best Buy drop Fire HD 10 price to $170 today only

You didn’t need to be Nostradamus to prophesize Amazon’s eight days of holiday deals would put discounted Kindle and Fire gear front and center, but one of the e-commerce giant’s new tablets was notably absent from the massive yard sale.While the entry-level 7-incher took another 15 bucks off its already crazy low price of $50, the HD 10 stubbornly clutched to its ...

Continue reading »

The post Amazon and Best Buy drop Fire HD 10 price to $170 today only appeared first on Pocketnow.

iPhone 7 might kill the headphone jack to become crazy thin

iPhone 7 might kill the headphone jack to become crazy thin

Apple could be planning to do away with the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7, if new reports are to be believed.

The normally reliable 9to5Mac cites a Japanese blog as the source of the murmurs. The thinking, apparently, is that by doing away with the standard headphone port the company can make the next iPhone "more than 1mm" thinner.

Instead, headphones would connect via either the iPhone's Lightning port, or wirelessly using Bluetooth. In what is no doubt a massive coincidence, Apple happens to own Beats, a company that makes expensive headphones and which can presumably expect a massive uptick in sales if Apple does decide to do away with the decades-old headphone standard.

Better quality tunes

From a technological standpoint, the upside of such a change could mean better quality audio being delivered to our ears, as transmission between iPhone and headphones will be entirely digital. However, it also means that your headphones will no longer be compatible with just about every other device on the planet.

This isn't the first time such a change has been rumoured. Earlier this year there was talk of the iPhone switching to the much less common 2.5mm headphone standard.

Last year Apple introduced audio support through the Lightning port, while Phillips beat the competition to become the first company to release headphones that connect through that port – the Fidelio M2L.

Such a move would no doubt cause huge controversy, so it'll be interesting to see if Apple dares to make the switch.










Cricket ups the savings ante with 50 percent off Samsung Galaxy S6, S5, and S4

And the holiday deals keep piling up at possibly the most generous US mobile carrier this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with the third Cricket special offer in effect before the first two could expire.Yes, you can still get $100 shopping cards when you switch to AT&T’s prepaid daughter operator by December 6, as well as phones like the Motorola Moto E and ...

Continue reading »

The post Cricket ups the savings ante with 50 percent off Samsung Galaxy S6, S5, and S4 appeared first on Pocketnow.

Lumia 950 and 950 XL launched in India, free Display Docks start shipping in the US

After a rather disappointing end of last week for its North American fans, Microsoft kicks off the Cyber Monday festivities by giving prospective Lumia 950 and 950 XL buyers in India the greatest gift of all: availability.Local Priority Reseller stores, as well as Croma, Reliance and Sangeetha, plus Amazon.in online will open ...

Continue reading »

The post Lumia 950 and 950 XL launched in India, free Display Docks start shipping in the US appeared first on Pocketnow.

LG G4 reportedly starts to see Marshmallow updates across Europe

One of the world’s hottest Android phones, especially considering its amazing bang for buck factor, recently got hotter in Korea, courtesy of a snazzy new white and gold flavor, as well as the US, thanks to a $100 rebate from Verizon.But European LG G4 owners are apparently in for an even sweeter treat, rolling out in markets like Germany, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Romania, Austria, ...

Continue reading »

The post LG G4 reportedly starts to see Marshmallow updates across Europe appeared first on Pocketnow.

Cyber Monday: The Best Cyber Monday deals 2015

Cyber Monday: The Best Cyber Monday deals 2015

Cyber Monday deals in the US

Loading Cyber Monday deals links...

The best Cyber Monday deals for 2015 have officially started in the US, and retailers are offering discounts on the PS4, Xbox One, iPad, 4K TVs and just about everything else you can think of.

Stores across America like Amazon, Walmart, GameStop and Best Buy are all rolling back prices for a limited time, so now is the moment to shop if you can still find what you want in stock.

Sure, Black Friday started things off with a number of exciting bargains, but Cyber Monday deals are likely going to be better and last longer than just November 30.

Walmart launched its lower prices as early as Sunday night, November 29, to get out ahead of Amazon, so we've compiled a list of the best Cyber Monday deals below.

Cyber Monday: Quick links

Just straight to the deals at the biggest US retailers. Links will open in new tab:

The best Cyber Monday deals so far...

Apple Watch Cyber Monday discounts do exist, and it's just in time. The iphone-compatible smartwatch is $60 cheaper with a starting price of $296 at Target (click into the deal to see).

Apple Watch starts at a discounted $299 at B&H Photo, which isn't as good as the Target deal until you factor in the excellent $50 gift card at B&H Photo.

Google Nexus 5X just came out, but this unlocked unlocked 32GB Android phone is $80 off for today, now $349 at Best Buy.

The best 4K TV prices are here right now. This 49-Inch Sony 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV is 50% off now $798 at Amazon.

Honeywell Portable Air Conditioner MM14CCS 14,000 BTU with Remote Control - Black Friday is the right time to buy this AC unit originally $599, now $549 at Amazon.

iPad deals are hard to find, as the Apple Store typically plays the part of scrooge, but today they're up to 25% off at Staples.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge unlocked for $500 off (no, that's not a typo) now only $539 at Target.

Sony 4K TV - Get this beauty for 32% less today. Now $1298 at Amazon US.

Canon Pixma MX922 inkjet printer saves for $135 off the MSRP, now only $64 at Amazon US.

Madden NFL 16 Cyber Monday deal means it's not too late to get in on the NFL action on Xbox One for $47 at Target.

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is save $250 dollars on Lenovo's heralded 2-in-1. It's now $749 at Best Buy.

Toshiba C55-C5390 Laptop with Windows 10 is $200 off. That's a big present at a small $249 at Staples.

Guitar Hero 4 bundle, on all systems including PS4, Xbox One and Wii U, comes with the redesigned guitar controller. On PS3 it starts at $93 at Amazon.

Fitbit Charge Cyber Monday deals will get you moving now that the popular fitness tracker is only $89 at Amazon.

Canon Rebel T5 EF-S 18-55mm IS II & EF 50mm f/1.8 II Kit may be refurbished, but it remains only $199 via Canon.

Nintendo 2DS is going for a Blue Light Special discount at Walmart for $79, though it's currently sold out.

Wii U 32GB bundle including Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. is at its lowest price ever now $249 at Target and Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, the online retailers are out of stock, but it might be available locally in your neck of the woods! Look at each deal to find out.

The new (smaller) Nintendo 3DS bundled with Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is $40 offnow $179 at Wal-Mart.

black friday deals

Gaming deals

PS4 and Xbox One are already the must-have items this Christmas and they're both selling well. Look out for some particularly attractive bundle deals which include consoles and games in one package, as well as some headline-grabbing low prices on standalone consoles.

TV & video deals

TVs are almost always the most popular Cyber Monday and Christmas items and this year looks set to be no different. As we get closer to the big day we'll update this section each morning with all of the latest TV deals so that you can get the best one for you. We'll pick according to headline prices and big discounts so there should be a good range of "cheap as chips" TVs as well as "great TVs at a great price."

Our pick of the best 4K Ultra HD TV deals this Cyber Monday:

Samsung 60-inch HD TV is for anyone who wants a huge TV, but doesn't want it in 4K yet. It usually costs $999, but now it's only $699 at Best Buy.

Samsung 60-inch SUHD JS7000 4K TV was $2,599 and now costs $1,299 at Samsung.com.

This 49-Inch Sony 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV is 50% off now $798 at Amazon.

Samsung 55-inch 4K TV packs a 2160p resolution and 120Hz typically at $1,999, but its Black Friday deal makes it just $797 at Target.

Samsung 60-inch 4K TV is the same Ultra HD TV for only a few dollars. It did cost $1,699, but now it's an easy $897 at Target.

Vizio 55-inch 4K TV gets you an Ultra HD television for the cheap price of $949 even cheaper at $699 at Best Buy.

TCL Roku TV 40-inch is one of our favorites because it has the best smart TV interface that was $419, now costs $299 at Amazon.

LG 55-inch 4K TV will make you think that Life's Good with a price of only $699 at Dell.com.

All LG 4K TVs on sale starting at $547 through Amazon.

iPad & tablet deals

The bottom has fallen out of the tablet market a little bit - there's a reason why Apple is now making the massive iPad Pro - it's already sold an iPad to most people who want one. Expect some aggressive iPad and tablet deals as we get closer to the big day.

iPad Air 2 is on sale for Black Friday with a $100 discount on the 16GB model, now just $399 at Best Buy, though it's currently not available for online purchase.

iPad Air 2 with the bigger 64GB of storage also saves you $100 this holiday season, now just $499 at Best Buy.

These iPad Air 2 deals aren't as exciting – until you realize that they come with a $150 gift card to Target.

iPad mini 4 with 64GB of storage is the same price as the iPad mini 4 16GB model if you check the awesome price of $399 at Best Buy, though it's out of stock at the moment.

The iPad mini 4 is smaller, but its Black Friday deal comes with a big gift card worth $100 at Target.

iPad mini 2 is older, but still a compact tablet and is bundled with an $80 gift card from Target.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8-inch is our favorite new Android tablet and it's $50 off, now just $349 at Staples.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7-inch is an Android tablet and it's Black Friday deal is even better since it's $100 off at just $399 at Best Buy.

Microsoft Surface 3 serves up a killer deal now that it is being featured with a $100 discount, bringing the price to $399 at Best Buy.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is way more powerful, but comes in under the thousand dollar mark during Black Friday for $999 at Best Buy.

Amazon Kindle Fire tablets are red hot deals, and selling out fast. That's because they start at just $34.99 through Amazon.

Laptop & Macbook deals

MacBook Pro 13-inch 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage $150 off just $1,349 at Best Buy.

New MacBook 2015 12-inch 8GB of RAM, 256GB storage and the one we have and love is just $1,149 at Best Buy.

MacBook Air 13-inch display, Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 256GB of storage now $1,049 at Best Buy.

Save $250 dollars on Lenovo's heralded 2-in-1. The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is now $749.99 at Best Buy.

Dell Inspiron 11.6-inch touchscreen, 8GB of RAM, 128GB internal storage $165 off, now $384.99 at Best Buy.

Dell 2-in-1 laptops are on sale through Amazon with various configurations starting at $319.

HP Envy laptop 15.6-inch touchscreen with an Intel Core i5 CPU, 6GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive $200 off now $479 at Best Buy.

HP Envy laptop 15.6-inch touchscreen with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 1TB internal storage $250 off now $549 at Best Buy, though it's currently not selling online.

HP Spectre laptop 13.3-inch touchscreen, Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage saves you $200 now $969 at Best Buy.

ASUS 15-inch laptops with various configurations on sale throughout Black Friday for steep discounts at Amazon starting at $129.

Cyber Monday: What is it?

Welcome to TechRadar's Cyber Monday deals homepage! This year, St Andrew's Day isn't just an excuse for Scots to get sozzled: November 30, 2015 is Cyber Monday, which is America's busiest online shopping day of the year, and it's now just a month away!

Like many dates on the calendar, Cyber Monday is a marketing invention. It was coined in 2005 by Shop.org to encourage more people to shop online. It's safe to say it's done that: last year, US shoppers spent a record $2.68 billion, making Cyber Monday the biggest day in US online shopping history.

Retail consultancy Channel Advisor reports that Google Shopping was up 2.9% year on year, eBay 9.82% and Amazon 30.76%, and clicks on paid search ads jumped by a massive 60.56% compared to 2013.

Marketing experts Monetate, who work with some of the world's top brands, reported that traffic to US online retailers was up 11.8% year on year. Walmart reported that Cyber Monday 2014 was the biggest day for online orders in its entire history, and this year is expected to be bigger still.

cyber monday deals

Cyber Monday and Black Friday: what's the difference?

It's not just that they sit on either side of the appallingly named Sofa Sunday. Black Friday is dominated by technology, and by a handful of big-name retailers with deep pockets and big advertising budgets: Target, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and so on.

It's very hard for other retailers to stand out on Black Friday, so many of them don't bother. They offer their deals on Cyber Monday instead. When ecommerce provider EKMPowershop surveyed its small- and medium-sized business users about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it found that those retailers sold 29% more on the Monday than on the Friday.

It isn't just the size of the retailers that's different. It's what they do, too. While Black Friday is dominated by technology products, Cyber Monday is better for fashion, shoes and home electrical appliances.

For example in the last two Cyber Mondays, there were 45% more clothing deals than on Black Friday and 50% more deals on shoes. There are still plenty of tech deals around - firms such as Currys discounted HDTVs and gadgets for the entire long weekend until stocks ran out - but the freshest deals tend to be in other sectors.

According to figures collated by ecommerce marketing experts Fresh Relevance, beauty sales were up 400%, gifts 300%, holidays 150% and home and garden items 150% on Cyber Monday 2014 compared to a normal Friday.

So if you're looking for a laptop, Black Friday's the day to do it. If you're looking for something from a designer or some great Christmas presents, you should wait until after the weekend.

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADgSTMla3EU

The changing face of Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday began as a day when people went back to work, thought "aaagh! It's nearly Christmas!" and immediately started misusing their employers' computers to do online shopping.

Employers have cracked down on that, but it hasn't dented Cyber Monday's popularity. We're just shopping on our smartphones instead.

Last year Adobe reported that 19% of total online sales were made from mobile devices; Monetate's figures suggest that since 2013, smartphone use for Cyber Monday shopping is up 57%.

Even YouTubers like Cyber Monday...

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NidQxwxHMqM

While this is all great news for us bargain hunters, though, it's not all good news for the retailers, because while the numbers are bigger, the average order value is going down - and it seems that rather than creating new demand, the Cyber Monday weekend is actually an exercise in foot-shooting for many online stores.

When marketing experts Verdict Retail analysed the effect of Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year they found that there was "no evidence that it stimulated demand"; by discounting their products, retailers sold stuff they would have sold anyway, but for less money.

That's led retailers such as UK shopping giant John Lewis to say "we've got to ask if it's right to concentrate trade so much in that one period." There will be bargains, but for many retailers they'll be carefully chosen ones - and retailers will use them as bait in the hope they can cross-sell and up-sell too.

There's also the issue of the Enormous Magical Sale That Goes On Forever, or EMSTGOF for short.

Amazon was the most obvious proponent of EMSTGOF, with a week of deals running up to Black Friday and another week - Cyber Week - beginning on Cyber Monday, but you can expect other EMSTGOF from other retailers too - not least because by spreading things out, they're not as prone to the traffic spikes that knocked so many retailers offline last Black Friday.

Walmart was one of several retailers that ran promotions before, during and after Black Friday and Cyber Monday (including a "Cyber Monday Evening Edition" for people coming home from work), and others are likely to follow suit. 


cyber monday bargains

How to get the best Cyber Monday bargains

Start early and start here. We'll be rounding up the very best Cyber Monday 2015 deals on this very page, and we'll point you to the ones that really do deliver bargains.

It's a good idea to do some homework, too; with some companies discounting almost everything - Brand View reports that Argos had discounted 93.3% of its tablets on Cyber Monday with average discounts of 21.5%, while Currys had 85.5% of its TV range on offer, with discounts averaging 19.8% - it's not a bad idea to study the shelves of your favourite online emporium to draw up a shortlist. There's a very good chance at least some of your shortlist will be offered at a lower price.

It's also worth installing the mobile apps for your chosen retailers. We don't think we'll see quite as many sites going offline due to excessive demand this year, but if you've recently tried to order an Apple Watch or iPhone 6S on launch day you'll already know that apps are often more reliable than the same firms' websites.

More than anything, it's important to set a budget and identify what you really want. There's no point bagging a bargain if the credit card interest is double the discount, or if it ends up gathering dust in a corner. Be careful out there.

Where to find the best Cyber Monday deals in 2015:

Here's TechRadar's rundown of where to find the best Cyber Monday deals on November 30th 2015:

Cyber Monday deals 2015

cyber monday deals 2015

TechRadar.com:

Last year, over a million people visited TechRadar's Cyber Monday deals page where we rounded up all of the best Cyber Monday deals from all of the most trusted retailers in the UK. This year, you'll be pleased to hear, we're doing it all over again just as we are for Black Friday! Tune in to our Black Friday page throughout November to discover what we think are the best deals, and then to our separate Cyber Monday page - that's this one you're reading now - to discover what could be some even better deals. Last year the best deals appeared on Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday deals 2015

cyber monday deals 2015

Amazon.com:

Obviously as the world's biggest online retailer, Amazon will be all over Cyber Monday like jam on toast. Expect some of the absolute best Cyber Monday deals to come from Amazon, and check out this page for a round up of them all so you don't miss out!

Quick link: Amazon Cyber Monday homepage










Posted in Uncategorised

When does a phone become too expensive?

 Looking at the smartphone landscape, there is a lot to take in. The question of “What phone should I buy” is no longer so easily defined by questions such as “What is your budget?” Time was, if you wanted a phone, you first had to decide in what tier you belonged – the upper, midrange, or lower. From there you could start to define what you’d be looking for in a smartphone such as NFC, camera, front-facing camera, wireless charging, etc. Most importantly, you could start deciding where to cut corners.But the lines between smartphone tiers have started to blur. The high ...

Continue reading »

The post When does a phone become too expensive? appeared first on Pocketnow.

New Telco OVO to offer unmetered V8 Supercars streaming over mobile

New Telco OVO to offer unmetered V8 Supercars streaming over mobile

Though today’s best mobile phones have the capacity to provide us with all the content in the world at the drop of a hat, strict data allowances usually stop us from accessing that information, in fear of being stuck with a massive bill after the fact.

Introducing OVO, the new hybrid telco and streaming service by My Mobile Data that aims to give its customers unmetered access to specific services.

Which services, you ask? Well, OVO has announced that it has signed a 3-year deal with the V8 Supercars racing federation, so users will be able to stream V8 content without worrying about their data being chewed up.

This should please V8 fans, as research by My Mobile Data has found that 81 per cent of V8 Supercars fans polled named their mobile phones as the main device used to consume entertainment.

And V8 Supercars content is just the beginning – OVO says it’s got a number of other content partnerships currently in the works.

Mount Streamorama

Of the announcement, OVO chairman Barry O’Brien said “just as Netflix has redefined how consumers watch programmes, OVO changes how fans engage with sports and entertainment and consume content.”

On top of free V8 Supercars content, OVO will also offer unlimited national calls and SMS using the Optus Network.

OVO’s services will commence operation in early December, selling contract-free SIM cards online which will be delivered to customers by mail.

WIll unmetered V8 Supercars content be enough to differentiate OVO from the network resellers that have come (and gone) in the past? Maybe, but we sure hope those other content partnerships it has in the pipeline involve the likes of Spotify, Netflix or Stan...










In Depth: How can a bank tell you when you’ve got a water leak?

In Depth: How can a bank tell you when you've got a water leak?

Your phone is your bank

Think about your bank for a moment, and all the cool, innovative things it does. Not coming up with much other than 'it's got an app and I don't have to use that keypad thing anymore?'

It's not surprising. A bank is an institution that's thrived on being dependable, a safe haven for your cash. But we live in increasingly fluid times when it comes to privacy and on-demand content - so why hasn't banking caught up with the smartphone revolution yet?

You're probably horrified at the thought, instantly panicking about hacking and security and losing your phone and those terrible people that have scanners in their bags. But much like Netflix consumed Blockbusters, banks in the future will have to be all about the digital age or start losing customers - and this change seems about to appear.

Welcome to the world of 'challenger banks' - a new breed of financial institutions for the average consumer that will start popping up in the next few years thanks to recent relaxations in getting a banking license in the UK.

I spoke to James Nicholson, lead app engineer for one such challenger called Mondo, who believes real change is coming. Before Metro Bank launched in 2010, there hadn't had a new bank in the UK for over 150 years, such was the difficulty in taking on the established brands... but that could be about to change dramatically.

Bank to the future

Mondo definitely isn't banking the way you'll be used to. It's smartphone first, meaning it does things simply and in a way that just seems to make sense. Transactions ping onto your phone the second they're made, you can append receipt images, check out the location of your transaction - all the things that, once you see, you can't believe aren't part of every banking app.

Mondo

When you hear Nicholson's sales pitch for this new bank, it feels like it's designed for millenials used to on-demand content, and the lack of questioning which bank I use, of the status quo, suddenly makes me feel rather ashamed.

The new service is completely based in an app that freezes a card with a tap (quite literally, icing up on your smartphone screen) should you misplace it, with a simple poke again to reactivate when you find it in that pair of jeans you wore at the weekend.

Your bank gathers so much data on your spending habits, but doesn't turn that around to work for you, something Mondo wants to change.

Its mission statement is that banking should be easy, a service that's transparent and isn't trying to convince you that every misstep should be penalised, a service that can use the reams of data flying in and out of your phone to save you cash.

"As Mondo customers spend over time, and once we have our banking licence to become a full current account bank, there will be stuff like 'Your water bill is unusually high, maybe you've sprung a leak?' or 'You forgot to tap out on the underground – tap here to get a refund from TfL,'" says Nicholson.

Mondo

There's a lot we consider immobile in the banking world: overseas charges, penalties for going overdrawn or having a cheque bounce. Mondo (and others) want to change that and disrupt the market.

But Nicholson goes even further, pointing out that banks aren't making use of the staggering amount of technology we carry around. "If we're both in London, great; if I'm in NY and my card is used in China, don't allow it!" says Nicholson.

The whole thing seems blindingly simple: easy transactions that show up with the logos of the merchant rather than a string of unintelligible numbers and letters in a statement. It's something Nicholson agrees with, saying that nothing Mondo is doing is revolutionary - it's just applying today's technology to an archaic system.

Take a moment to think about your bank. It's probably the same one that you've had for many years (if not your whole life) - it just sits there, a necessary part of life, the solid, dependable structure a symbol of financial safety.But we live in different times now, ones where privacy isMaybe the idea of getting a notification on your smartphone that it's time to renew your phone contract, or you're using too much gas, doesn't seem that alien to you. But what if it was your bank telling you that, rather than just letting you know you're overdrawn?If you're anything like me, you consider banking one of two things: a horrendous, guilt-ridden experience where you see how much money you've burned through, or a confirmation that you've tried really hard this month and still have enough cash left to buy beans with.We don't care which it is as long as it does, you know, banking stuff.But... why? What if banking was as easy as ordering shopping online, hailing an Uber, downloading a new game - in short, why isn't banking smartphone first, like so much else in our lives?Welcome to the world of 'challenger banks' - a new breed of financial institutions for the average consumer that will start popping up in the next few years thanks to recent relaxations in getting a banking license in the UK.I spoke to James Nicholson, lead app engineer for one such challenger called Mondo, who believes real change is coming. Before Metro Bank launched in 2010, there hadn't had a new bank in the UK for over 150 years, such was the difficulty in taking on the established brands... but that could be about to change dramatically.Mondo definitely isn't banking the way you'll be used to. It's smartphone first, meaning it does things simply and in a way that just seems to make sense. Transactions ping onto your phone the second they're made, you can append receipt images, check out the location of your transaction - all the things that, once you see, you can't believe aren't part of every banking app.When you hear Nicholson's sales pitch for this new bank, it feels like it's designed for millenials used to on-demand content, and the lack of questioning which bank I use, of the status quo, suddenly makes me feel rather ashamed. The new service is completely based in an app that freezes a card with a tap (quite literally, icing up on your smartphone screen) should you misplace it, with a simple poke again to reactivate when you find it in that pair of jeans you wore at the weekend.Your bank gathers so much data on your spending habits, but doesn't turn that around to work for you, something Mondo wants to change.Its mission statement is that banking should be easy, a service that's transparent and isn't trying to convince you that every misstep should be penalised, a service that can use the reams of data flying in and out of your phone to save you cash.

"But the compliance and risk teams are paid to shoot those ideas down. So very quickly you reach this stalemate where banks have loads of great ideas and implement none of them. The innovation team get their bonuses, the risk team get their bonuses and nothing changes."

Hacking the bank

It's hard to imagine a bank holding a hackathon to get developers to add new features to the platform - a recent event brought 50 such coders in, and created projects like a 3D map of where a night out took you based on transactions or scraping loyalty cards to instantly show the balance of your Nectar account when you shop at Sainsbury's.

It's publishing the APIs needed to start coding for the platform, so developers can get their hands on them and start creating more innovative ways to see our transactions.

But even the word hackathon leads to big questions of security: how do you convince users to trust a new bank enough to switch their current account, and with it control of a key part of their life? What if those APIs can be used to secretly steal your cash? Mondo feels more like a clever app than a bank, which will inevitably lead to worries about hacking and theft.

Questions about customer support, security and long-term viability of a financial service obviously circle as well, but Nicholson states that these are all covered in the application for a banking license, needing to rigorously prove the robustness of the system in many ways before it's granted.

Take a moment to think about your bank. It's probably the same one that you've had for many years (if not your whole life) - it just sits there, a necessary part of life, the solid, dependable structure a symbol of financial safety.But we live in different times now, ones where privacy isMaybe the idea of getting a notification on your smartphone that it's time to renew your phone contract, or you're using too much gas, doesn't seem that alien to you. But what if it was your bank telling you that, rather than just letting you know you're overdrawn?If you're anything like me, you consider banking one of two things: a horrendous, guilt-ridden experience where you see how much money you've burned through, or a confirmation that you've tried really hard this month and still have enough cash left to buy beans with.We don't care which it is as long as it does, you know, banking stuff.But... why? What if banking was as easy as ordering shopping online, hailing an Uber, downloading a new game - in short, why isn't banking smartphone first, like so much else in our lives?Welcome to the world of 'challenger banks' - a new breed of financial institutions for the average consumer that will start popping up in the next few years thanks to recent relaxations in getting a banking license in the UK.I spoke to James Nicholson, lead app engineer for one such challenger called Mondo, who believes real change is coming. Before Metro Bank launched in 2010, there hadn't had a new bank in the UK for over 150 years, such was the difficulty in taking on the established brands... but that could be about to change dramatically.Mondo definitely isn't banking the way you'll be used to. It's smartphone first, meaning it does things simply and in a way that just seems to make sense. Transactions ping onto your phone the second they're made, you can append receipt images, check out the location of your transaction - all the things that, once you see, you can't believe aren't part of every banking app.When you hear Nicholson's sales pitch for this new bank, it feels like it's designed for millenials used to on-demand content, and the lack of questioning which bank I use, of the status quo, suddenly makes me feel rather ashamed. The new service is completely based in an app that freezes a card with a tap (quite literally, icing up on your smartphone screen) should you misplace it, with a simple poke again to reactivate when you find it in that pair of jeans you wore at the weekend.Your bank gathers so much data on your spending habits, but doesn't turn that around to work for you, something Mondo wants to change.Its mission statement is that banking should be easy, a service that's transparent and isn't trying to convince you that every misstep should be penalised, a service that can use the reams of data flying in and out of your phone to save you cash.

To many seeing this project for the first time, it's hard to work out how Mondo will convince people to 'try a bank'. Nicholson thinks its current scheme will be enough to get people started - while Mondo is still applying for a banking license, the only way to use it is by charging a pre-pay card with cash and connecting to that to an app.

Apparently the system takes 30 seconds to get into, and you can then instantly load your virtual card onto Apple or Samsung Pay. Then by using current technology users will be able to verify themselves to move towards an actual bank account - using biometrics like TouchID, selfies, voice recognition or even tapping your passport's NFC chip on an Android phone to prove you are who you say.

None of this is new though - the many outlets offer a fee-free travel card, Apple and Samsung Pay feature up to the minute transaction data and loads of other financial services have jumped on the smartphone bandwagon - Nicholson's view of banks as dusty, outdated services may be a bit harsh, especially since contactless payment has come to our smartphones.

But there's no bank that's bringing it all together in the way Mondo is, and even the questions about security and long term viability don't seem to have dampened Nicholson's enthusiasm for projects likes this, with over 17,000 signed up on the waiting list to be an alpha tester before Mondo launches (the aim is for this to be by early 2017, depending on license approval).

Nicholson admits that the relaxation of the licensing process means we'll have loads of other banks to choose from at the same time, so maybe we'll become as relaxed about our banking as we are with our privacy online, willingly jumping around to whichever service offers us the most benefit, feeling as safe as changing our phone contract, to see banking start offering the benefits these always-on pocket-dwellers can bring.










iPhone mini, Galaxy Marshmallow updates comments & more – Pocketnow Daily Recap

Pocketnow Daily gets an average of 300 to 500 comments a day, and sometimes even a thousand. We’d like to thank you all for participating in our question of the day, and we love your feedback so much, that we decided that since we can’t respond to ever single one of your comments, we should at least feature a couple in a weekly video.This is the Pocketnow Daily Recap. Since we only have 3 minutes on every Daily video to go through the hottest news, the weekly recap will serve as a more extensive discussion where we also include your thoughts on the subject. Sadly, for the sake of time, ...

Continue reading »

The post iPhone mini, Galaxy Marshmallow updates comments & more – Pocketnow Daily Recap appeared first on Pocketnow.

Black Friday: Samsung Galaxy S6 64GB deal: Save £100 with the Black Friday code BLACKFRIS6

Black Friday: Samsung Galaxy S6 64GB deal: Save £100 with the Black Friday code BLACKFRIS6

If you're after a Samsung Galaxy S6 deal this Black Friday, this could be the one. It's a great saving with a Mobiles.co.uk voucher code, it's on the superior 64GB version of the S6, and it's on a great value contract on EE, the UK's most popular network

Using the voucher code BLACKFRIS6 you can save £100 on the Galaxy S6 64GB, leaving you paying just £100 upfront and then £24.99 a month on EE, for 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB data.

If you're after a great value S6 deal - this looks like a winner to us!

Samsung Galaxy S6 Black Friday deal

Samsung Galaxy S6 | £200 £100 upfront | 1000 mins | Unlimited texts | 2GB | £24.99pm










HP Inc. Reports Q4 Results

HP Inc. announced Hewlett-Packard Company financial results for fiscal 2015 and the fourth quarter ended October 31, 2015. These results include Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company ("Hewlett Packard Enterprise"), Hewlett-Packard Company's former enterprise technology infrastructure, software, services and financing businesses, which separated from Hewlett-Packard Company on November 1, 2015. In connection with this separation, Hewlett-Packard Company changed its name to ...
Posted in Uncategorised