The United Nations predicts that by spring 2024 the world’s population will reach 8 billion. Meeting the energy needs of the world’s ever-growing population is a hot-button issue, especially in the context of finite carbon-based energy sources and the looming danger of irreversible climate change. While going carbon-neutral can seem like an unachievable goal in its complexity, there are trailblazers whose goals are exactly that: shifting populated environments away from fossil fuel dependency and onto a system of renewable energies. We’ll be taking a look at some the superstars of carbon-neutral environments and renewable energy trailblazers. Costa Rica The 2010 winner of the World Future Council’s Future Policy Award, Costa Rica has long been lauded for its environmental conservation and protection initiatives. But the little Latin American country was the focus of intense global acclaim in March 2015 when it announced that it has generated 100 percent of all its electricity from renewable sources for the 75 days straight of the year. The state-run Costa Rican Electricity Council (ICE) released information detailing that it had managed to avoid using any fossil fuels to generate electricity until mid-March by using a combination of biomass, wind, solar, geothermal and most importantly hydroelectric power plants, boosted by heavy rainfall experienced this year. Under normal conditions, Costa Rica already sources 88 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Hydroelectric plants provide 68 percent of Costa Rica’s electricity followed by geothermal plants with a 15 percent share, wind farms provide 5 percent, biomass sources under one percent and solar chips in with 0.1 percent. Carbon-zero 2021 The Central American country plans to further expand its renewable power plant infrastructure in a bid to achieve carbon neutrality by 2021, as pledged six years ago. 100 megawatts worth of wind warms...

There is one thing the Egyptian Pyramids, Rome’s Colosseum, India’s Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall of China have in common: masonry. All these astonishing architectural achievements, scattered all over the globe, share the same building technique chosen for its beauty, versatility, and durability. The level of complexity varies from simple masonry to ornate exteriors or high-rise buildings. After more than 6000 years, masonry is still used today. Just go down the street and look around at the office buildings, schools, houses, or patios and you’ll see some form of masonry. Traditional builders are convinced that regardless of the material used – whether it is brick, block, tile, terra-cotta, or stone – the skill and precision of the mason can never be replaced by machines. One Australian engineer presented a robot that wants to prove otherwise. Fastbrick Robotics has finished developing the robot named Hadrian (after the ancient Roman emperor Hadrian, who had a thing for construction and ordered the building of Great Britain’s famous Hadrian’s Wall). It took the engineers ten years and $7 million spent in research and development to bring Hadrian to life. Even though the robot is still in the prototype stage, Mike Pivac, an aeronautical and mechanical engineer, and the CEO of Fastbrick Robotics, hopes to bring the commercial machine onto the market within the next couple of years. Hadrian is able to handle, process, and lay 1,000 bricks an hour, work 24/7, and complete the shell of a brick house in just two days. This means 150 homes a year! Here is god to know that a standard house takes around 15,000 bricks to develop, and about six weeks to complete through the traditional method. The first step in putting Hadrian to work is creating the layout of...

Remember last year’s $300 smartphone? If you liked it, soon is your chance to upgrade to the next generation of good, cheap smartphones built by the Chinese manufacturer OnePlus. Following OnePlus One – the little Android that could –  OnePlus 2 has already requested by over 2.6 million people, even though the device has just been unveiled, with the official launch scheduled for later this month. The new OnePlus phone shows significant improvements to the specifications while keeping the price relatively low – $329 (£239) for 16GB, $389 (£289) for 64GB. Sandwiched in the middle of this meaty smartphone are high quality ingredients paired tastefully for a satisfying experience. OnePlus 2 is fueled by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor that’s been tweaked to correct the notorious overheating issue experienced in other phones. The octa-core runs at 1.8GHz with 4GB or RAM if you opt for the model with 64GB of internal storage; only 3GB of RAM are allocated for the 16GB version of the phone. Both have Adreno 430 GPU running graphics duty. The device is powered by a 3300mAh non-removable battery, ample enough to get you through the day without recharging. One of the downsides of the device is the missing micro-SD card slot and of the NFC chip (present on last year’s model). Yet, OnePlus 2 features dual nano SIM support with 4GT LTE capability. An interesting addition is the new USB Type C port and charger made popular by the new MacBook, making OnePlus 2 one of the few smartphones out there that’s laying the bricks for the adoption of the USB-C. Furthermore, the company claims that the OnePlus charging cable uses patented technology that makes the Type-A side reversible as well. The smartphone comes equipped with a fingerprint scanner too,...

You’ve probably heard – or personally experienced – the convenience and controversy of Uber. Taking on the traditional taxi transportation model, this global ride-sharing company has made a huge splash in changing the way ridesharing works. But Uber isn’t just about using an easy app to find a ride home from a party or the airport. The company is now branching out and setting its sights on the senior demographic cohort, hoping that it can make their lives a little easier – and maybe even help them stay independent longer. Two less well-known Uber services, uberASSIST and uberWAV, are designed specifically with seniors and the disabled in mind. Drivers for these services will operate vehicles that are accessible (such as a van with a ramp able to load a wheelchair), and often will have to take extra time to assist their passengers with boarding and departing the vehicle. uberASSIST, the senior service, hit the news in a big way last week because it was talked about at the White House Conference on Aging, an annual event that focuses on elder issues. Not long ago, Uber and competitor Lyft were hit with criticism, even lawsuits, for not complying with state and federal disability access regulations. Now, it appears that the company is taking steps to address those concerns. Pilot programs of uberASSIST include Ventura, Calif.; two Florida cities (Gainesville and Miami Lakes), Columbus, Ohio; Austin, Texas; and Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz. The intent is to partner with cities and community senior centers to get seniors access to the technology required to request a ride – and even teach them how to use an app or mobile communication device. As the Baby Boomers age into retirement and their senior stage of their lives, services like this...

Google is already Internet Service Provider and pay-TV operator. Now, it’s starting its adventure as mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Frankly, it was about time to be able to Google a phone call. The long-awaited cell phone service – Project Fi is finally here. For now, the product can be considered an experiment; Even more so considering that it will be available only to people using Google’s flagship phone, the Nexus 6. This choice doesn’t only limit its reach, but also doesn’t make Google a serious competitor to Verizon, AT&T, and other wireless service providers. The service offers the same basic functionality as traditional wireless carriers: voice, text, and Internet access – but at a lower price than many of the plans out there. It can be called an attempt to combine cellular calls and VoIP calls (like those offered by Skype) into one phone number and service. “Wherever you’re connected to Wi-Fi — whether that’s at home, your favorite coffee shop or your Batcave — you can talk and text like you normally do,” wrote Nick Fox, Google’s vice president of communications products, in a blog post. “If you leave an area of Wi-Fi coverage, your call will seamlessly transition from Wi-Fi to cell networks so your conversation doesn’t skip a beat.” Project Fi is designed to be able to switch between different high-speed wireless networks operated by Sprint and T-Mobile, choosing the stronger one in any given area. Moreover, phones on Project Fi will switch from cellular networks to Wi-Fi networks when available to place calls or access the Internet without using the customer’s data plans. The service will also bounce around between devices, allowing users to talk and text on smartphones, tablets and laptops. Google won’t be building its own cell phone...

France, the epicenter of style and fashion, has recently dealt a blow to the detractors of solar panels and green roofs by passing legislation that will require all new commercial buildings to feature green roofs. New buildings constructed in French commercial zones will have to be partially covered by either living foliage or solar panels, under the new law, which, albeit less drastic than its initial form (which would have applied to all buildings and the entire surface of roofs), will have a significant impact. Installing solar panels will obviously add green energy to France’s massive energy appetite. Green roofs will bring their own plethora of environmentally friendly features. Higher costs –bigger returns Green roofs significantly increase the insulation of a structure, thus decreasing the need for air conditioning and heating. According to a recent study by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Università Politecnica delle Marche researchers, roofs with dense vegetation are 60 percent more efficient than traditional roofs and can in fact act as passive cooling systems. Furthermore green roofs absorb less heat during the day than traditional roofs, thus lowering the heat island effect that plagues cities, especially large urban environments. This is further exacerbated by the fact that green roofs release less energy during the night than they absorb during the day. Moreover, green roofs absorb a large quantity of rainwater, reducing runoff, decreasing the pressure put on city sewage systems, especially during large weather events. When local and/or drought-resistant flora is used for green roofs, there is little to no added water consumption. Green roofs also contribute to healthier environments by absorbing pollutants and releasing oxygen and providing shelter and nesting places for birds and small local fauna, contributing to local biodiversity. Green roofs can also be used as gardens...

LG is on to something. After having its LG G3 crowned by TrustedReviews as 2014 Phone of the Year, the Korean manufacturer strikes again, unveiling its latest flagship phone – the LG G4. Visually, the G4 doesn’t differ much from the G3, on the front side that is. It’s a 5.5-inch device with 2560 x 1440 pixel display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and volume buttons on the back. The G4 has a slight curve, subtle enough to go unnoticed by many, but with 20 percent less chances than the flat G3 to have the display break on impact, claims LG. Furthermore, the slim arc allows for a natural, firm grip. There is one feature that makes enthusiasts want to get their hands on it: LG has decorated the back of the phone in leather, real leather, featuring an exquisite stitch. The materials and the processes used are the same as luxury handbags and LG expects to sell millions of it. These premium back covers are made of vegetable tanned full grain leather, the type that doesn’t harm any animals; and they come in brown, black, and red. However, the more conventional plastic backs are made available as well, with metallic or ceramic finish in metallic gray, ceramic white, and gold. The back covers are removable and interchangeable, enabling access to a removable, monstrous 3,000mAh battery and Micro-SD Card slot that can add up to 2TB of storage space. It’s helpful to remind that Samsung’s Galaxy S6 has a 2,500mAh battery, while iPhone 6’s is a 1,800mAh battery. Also, Samsung has stopped offering the expandable memory, as well as the replaceable battery. The G4 has a “Quantum IPS” panel – one that has the same color accuracy as displays used for color grading...

The 26th WWDC presented a new level of Apple software power, setting a high standard for hardware improvements that will be announced later this year. Attendees gathered from over 70 countries to celebrate the 100 billion Apple app download milestone (an impressive 850 apps are downloaded per second) and to assess future opportunities. The App Store currently holds 1.5 million apps, an exponential increase over the 500 apps in 2008, with over $30 billion paid out to developers so far. El Capitan is the new OS X, which summarizes what the update is all about. It’s named for the iconic rock tower and popular climbing destination inside Yosemite National Park.  Unlike OS X Yosemite, which came with a series of big modifications for the operating system, the new upgrade is a relatively small upgrade. It focuses on three aspects for improved performance and user experience: Spotlight, Built-In App improvements, and Window Management. Spotlight now allows more extensive and integrated search capabilities such as looking up sporting event tickets, weather, and upcoming events using natural language; the search improvements extend to apps like Mail where queries like “Show me emails from Bill that I ignored” will work. Built-in Apps like Mail have swipe interaction enabled – swipe left on a message to delete it, swipe right to mark as unread. Moreover, Tabs are enabled in the Mail app and links and files can be added by simply dragging them in. Safari now allows to “pin” sites, so they’ll load instantly from the landing page. Furthermore, it lets mute audio tabs without entering the specific pages. With the new Window Management the user can automatically split the screen between apps and store multiple desktop layouts in a navigation bar on top. Performance-wise, El Capitan is presented...

It’s been all over the news – the real-life Tony Stark has unveiled Tesla Energy, an ambitious plan to power the world with a home battery which eventually will not only make the consumers less dependent on the grid, but take them off it entirely. Tesla founder Elon Musk has presented the Powerwall. And it makes complete sense. Tesla launched the home battery system and Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk is the chairman at SolarCity; SolarCity will handle the installation of the Powerwall. The Powerwall measures 51.2” x 33.9” x 7.1” and comes in different colors; its primary function is that of storage system for solar power, but will also work for non-solar energy consumers in cases of power outage and furthermore to avoid feeding from outside electricity during peak periods (evenings) when utility prices are highest. Up to 9 devices (totaling 90kilowatt hours) can be stacked per home. It is good to know that the typical American home consumes daily about 30 kWh, so in order to cover the entire power need, one would need several batteries. Additionally, Musk announced that there will also be the Powerpack, a similar device designed with industrial usage in mind, as well as a smaller 7 kWh Powerwall. Here are some specifications on the Powerwall: Models: 10 kWh $3,500 – For backup applications 7 kWh $3,000 – For daily cycle applications Warranty – 10 years Compatibility – Single phase and three phase utility grid compatible. Power – 2.0 kW continuous, 3.3 kW peak Operating Temperature: -4°F to 110°F / -20°C to 43°C Musk’s new baby is already promising to grow big and strong as there is major interest in the product – the company has announced that so far it has taken 38,000 reservations for the home battery, a number that made...

The Smart Home is a very entertained interest in the technology industry; nowadays it comes equipped with devices capable to increase comfort, protect occupants, and save on utility bills. Houses already have Nest – the smart thermostat, Goji – the smart lock, Tado Cooling – the air conditioning/ thermostat smart device, and Luna – the smart mattress cover. Using the smartphone as the device to turn on lights, lock doors, check humidity levels, and monitor energy use inside the home, requires a large data set, and systems must be programmed individually and connected to the controlling transmitter. Terralux, a LED lighting company, recently launched a new product named Ledsense, which is a cloud based lighting system with brain power. Looking at the evolution of LEDs, not too long ago, they were not only ineffective, but also very expensive; those were the shining times of the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). Since then things evolved and nowadays LEDs show increased improvement in efficacy, today demonstrating some of the highest light outputs – measured in lumens per watt – and at the same time, the economics of LEDs are compatible with other light sources. Slowly, but surely, LEDs are replacing CFLs, with more and more organizations looking to save money and deliver a lighting alternative that is friendly with the environment. The Ledsense platform integrates the LED light unit with sensor communication and control technology; it acts like an Internet of Things on LED lights. These units are quite amazing: they include sensors that can determine building temperature, sense motion from a person in the vicinity, and even sense odors and potentially toxic chemicals in the air. All this data is collected and then communicated back to the building owner, through the cloud. “A light is no...

The Atlanta Braves and Comcast have entered into a landmark multi-year technology and real estate partnership that will call for multi-terabit network capabilities to SunTrust Park and the surrounding community, creating the most technologically advanced mixed-use development in the U.S. Under the terms of the deal, Comcast will provide video, voice and high-speed Internet connectivity throughout the 60-acre development, which includes the new ballpark, retail shops, restaurants, an office tower, hotel, an entertainment venue and residential units. Comcast will become the signature tenant in the office project. “From the outset, we said the Braves would set a new standard of excellence in every aspect of this project, and building the most technologically advanced ballpark in history and redefining fan connectivity is key to accomplishing that,” Terry McGuirk, Atlanta Braves chairman, said during a live news feed. “Our partnership with Comcast will keep us head-and-shoulders above other sports venues and mixed-use communities around the country and allow us to meet our fans’ high expectations for engagement, awareness and access. Shoppers, hotel guests and office tenants will also enjoy an experience unlike any other community.” The development’s all-fiber network will be capable of delivering multi-gigabit speeds throughout the complex on game days and every day in between. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported last month that Braves ownership Liberty Media is spending $452 million to develop their new mixed-use project adjacent to SunTrust Park, putting the total cost of the ballpark and mixed-use project at $1.1 billion. Located at the intersection of I-75 and I-285 in the bustling Cumberland CID, SunTrust Park will flow directly into the surrounding development, creating a vibrant atmosphere with unique shops, restaurants, offices, residences and entertainment venues that are accessible 365 days a year. The new nine-story office tower will house more than 1,000...

As green features become more and more important both from an environmental point of view, as well as a tool to increase occupancy and attract eco-conscious renters, the pressure is on for apartment owners. While many green upgrades do come with a high price tag, plenty of green upgrades can be achieved at relatively low cost and plentiful gains down the line. We explore the easiest solar-powered green solution that you can introduce into your apartment communities right now. Easily one of the least eco-friendly amenities, the pool can easily be greened harnessing the (free) power of the sun. It can be as simple as switching to solar-powered pool lights. Once bought, these tiny gadgets work away on their own. It’s as simple as placing them in a pool, where they will automatically charge during daylight hours and come on at night, when the sunlight fades. Some also have lightshow features that can set the mood for an impromptu pool party. Others also double as pool sanitizers, dispensing chlorine while giving off light at night. If you really want to green your pool, but don’t want to switch to saltwater, there are numerous mineral-based and solar-powered gadgets that cut down chlorination by 80 percent or even more. While these gadgets take care of algae and microorganism, they don’t clear surface debris. If you’re looking to fully automate pool maintenance, a solar pool skimmer is just the thing for your apartment community. This little gadget cleans up to 95 percent of surface debris, eliminating the need to hand skim, while also significantly cutting down on filtration and bottom cleaning. The solar-powered robot also features solar-charged batteries, meaning it also works well into the night. It can also double as a chlorine dispenser. BBQ facilities are...

SAN FRANCISCO – Last week, The Moscone Center West hosted one of the world’s largest games of Pong while Google presented the products and services it’s been brewing up for the past year. At the I/O keynote, Google showed primary focus on optimizing Android, complemented by a new Google Cardboard and a VR camera system that will be sold by GoPro. Also, we’re found out that right now there are out there over 4,000 distinct devices using Android of which you probably only know a few, such as Samsung, LG, Motorola. And Sundar Pichai, senior vice president, announced HBO coming to Google Play. Android M mostly follows its predecessor L, but comes with a few big improvements. App Permissions – is a way to simplify what data you allow the apps to access. Instead of the long list of permissions upon installation, the user will be prompted for permission when the app needs to use a feature, such as microphone or camera. App Links – or Chrome Custom Tabs, is a useful feature that enables developers to add custom components that overlay on top of apps; for instance, Pinterest can add custom transition animation to link to the web, within the app. Furthermore, there’s a new app linking feature that allows apps to verify links to switch from app to app rapidly. Battery & Charging – introduces Doze, a new feature that in Android M uses motion detection to go into a deeper sleep state if inactive for longer periods of time. While dozing, the device will still be able to respond to high-priority messages and alarms. Their test in which a Nexus 9 running on Lollipop against M Nexus showed that the latter lasted up to two times longer in standby, Google claims....

Alongside the evolving smartphone industry develops another one: accessories for these can’t-live-without devices, and particularly smartphone cases. Most of them are meant to protect the smartphone in case you drop it, other are designed with a heightened sense of fashion and put vibrant colors and intricate patterns on it, some add juice to the battery life, some add protection to the holder, while others add physical keyboards for those less attracted to the touchscreens. The possibilities seem endless. Nikola Labs, an Ohio-based company, has found the way to build a case for iPhone 6 that converts RF (radio frequency) energy to DC power, in other words it pulls battery power out of thin air. Incredible? It sure sounds so, but behind this magic trick there is a scientific explanation and an issue in meeting your great expectations after reading up to this point. According to Nikola Labs co-founder Dr. Rob Lee, over 90 percent of the smartphone’s energy is lost into the environment while spending it to forge data and voice connections by using radio frequencies. Besides protection, the case has a harvesting antenna and a RF-DC power-converting rectifier circuit that through Nikola Labs’ formula can be collected and redirected to the battery life. However, this can only add about thirty percent of battery life to your iPhone 6; this is a slow process as well. On the positive side, as long as the case is connected to the smartphone, the process of collecting and reusing the wasted energy is ongoing. This translates into a slower battery depletion and not into a sudden burst of charging process. The case doesn’t have an internal battery or the capacity to store the energy, thus having a thinner figure than the already popular Mophie case. The company...

Canonical’s first Ubuntu-based smartphone has finally been released – BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is available in the European Union for €170 ($190). Chinese distribution is also underway – a date for U.S. release hasn’t yet been publicized. The technical specifications of the phone are far from exciting, especially after the much talked about Ubuntu Edge – the device that behaves like a phone until it’s plugged into a keyboard and monitor, at which point becomes a fully-fledged Ubuntu desktop. The Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding campaign failed to pique the interest of major manufacturers, but made people talk about Ubuntu Mobile. Aquaris E4.5 is a modest, mid-tier handset from Spanish manufacturer BQ, more popular for developing e-readers. The device has a 4.5-inch screen, 1GB RAM, a quad core A7 chip running up to 1.3Ghz, 8GB of on-board storage – expandable through a microSD slot, 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera, plus a dual-SIM slot. The battery feeding the phone is a LiPo 2150mAh. Basically, it’s the same phone used by Google, but pre-loaded with Ubuntu’s mobile software. The scope of the phone is… Scopes!     Here is where things become interesting. Ubuntu has created a unique platform endowed with all a mobile experience should be: seamless, effortless, uncluttered interface between user and hardware – through Scopes. Scopes represent universal search; these are a series of themed cards that compile content and which the user swipes between to navigate through the functions of the phone, with the app icons hidden to the side of the screen, or placed together on a single Scope card. The examples used refer to ‘Today’ card – it contains info such as weather and calendar, to ‘Nearby’ card – it contains location-specific local services, to ‘Music’ or ‘News’. Basically,...

Google likes to play, and the company’s innovative ATAP group has been toying with a 3D-mapping project  that would enable hardware to approximate with the same visual acuity of the human eye. The feature was already available in autonomous robots and military research labs, but Google’s Advanced Technologies and Projects division wants to make it available to everyone. Project lead Johnny Lee and his team intend to break the boundaries of mobile devices, currently limited to their own screens, and extend to them the human-scale understanding of space and motion. The mission is to build mobile devices capable of using depth sensors and high-spec cameras to craft three-dimensional maps more cheaply and easily than existing efforts. In collaboration with universities, research labs, and industrial partners, the team has built prototypes and shared them with developers who can imagine a wide range of possibilities and work on bringing those ideas into reality. So far ATAP released two pieces of hardware: a prototype smartphone equipped with Kinect-like 3D sensors and other components and a more powerful seven-inch tablet. The tablet has a 1080p display that runs on Android 4.4 KitKat powered by NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra K1 chip next to 4GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage, without microSD slot. Additionally it features USB 3.0, micro-HDMI, Bluetooth LE and LTE. The Tango tablet was built with a depth sensor on the back and two cameras: one has a 4MP sensor capable of offering high light sensitivity and fast speeds, and the other tracks motion more broadly with a 170-degree wide-angle fisheye lens. Designed with developers in mind, the tablet doesn’t focus on aesthetics, but doesn’t disregard it completely. The cameras are mounted at a 13-degree angle to give the needed view for gathering accurate data without having...

One is tough, you drop it and it doesn’t shatter, the other is super resistant to scratches; one is named after a massive primate, the other after a wonderful gemstone. Gorilla Glass and Sapphire Glass are the two major product players in the tough glass race. Gorrilla Glass is developed by Corning, a leading innovator in materials science. Corning has been continuously working on improving the toughness of their product, attempting to strengthen it to survive all types of disastrous scenarios. So far the company created the best product on the market, but has as principal flaw its low scratch resistance. The latest update released by Corning is Gorilla Glass 4, introduced in November. This is one twice as strong as the previous generation, claimed the company, and survived the fall 80 percent of the time, unlike the soda-lime glass used in other phones which shattered in every test. However, the Glass 4 proved to be less resilient to scratches than the Gorilla Glass 3 and thus engineers went back to the drawing board.   Recently, Corning started focusing on the qualities of sapphire glass and looked for ways to insert the scratch-resistance feature into their product. Thus originated Project Phire, an initiative that wishes to combine Gorilla’s strength and the resistance of the sapphire. The new material has been unveiled at a New York investor meeting, reports CNET. The new glass will start selling later this year, without specific details on price or date. Why not synthetic sapphire? According to Corning, even though synthetic sapphire is extremely resistant to scratches, it doesn’t hold up when dropped. And smartphones are dropped a lot. According to some analysts the price of the sapphire glass would increase painfully the price of the smartphone wearing it. We...

The battle for territory in the mobile payments sector is heating up. The ability to pay at the cash register with just the smartphone is motivating other mobile armies to take a stand, especially after Apple Pay was launched with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apple Pay proved to be easy to use; the user simply needs to hold the iPhone near the contactless reader with the finger on the Touch ID and the Near Field Communication antenna in the Apple device will do the rest. Apple Pay is secure; the company uses a Secure Element chip that encrypts user data in such a way that is preventing the company and curious eyes from getting it. The only parties that see the transaction details are the banks, credit card companies and the merchants that are directly involved in the purchase. According to Apple, a unique device number is “assigned, encrypted and securely stored” to each phone instead of the actual credit card number. Moreover, each individual transaction features a one-time dynamic security code number, too. Even though Apple Pay is limited to the users who own iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models, mobile payments have been increasing – the Business Insider research shows that “payments made through Apple Pay accounted for between 0.1%-1.6% of transactions at five top retailers in the month following the launch of the feature.” The results might seem like a small fraction, but for a brand new platform in its first month, this is actually good progress. Joining in is Google who announced partnering with Softcard, a joint venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile, to expand the reach of Google Wallet mobile payment service. In accordance with the deal, Google acquired Softcard’s technology, and the US...

Microsoft recently announced the next element of its Surface line, the tablet that can play double role as laptop due to a keyboard attachment (sold separately). Surface 3, now available for pre-order at $499, will ship by May 5th. Surface 3 has lost some weight, in figure and in price, marking a steep discount on the Surface Pro 3’s $800 price tag. The youngest sibling will complement the Surface Pro 3 by offering a 10.8-inch device in a 1920×1280 resolution; a bit more than full-HD, but with a 3:2 resolution like its older brother. It could be that Microsoft wanted the display to look and feel more like a sheet of paper. The device is fed by an Intel Atom x7 processor, a chip with enough juice to power a full version of Windows 8.1 and, later this summer, Windows 10. This is the high-end model, the release suggesting a quad-core Atom design running above 2GHz. The SoC will be accompanied by 64GB of storage with 2GB RAM or 128GB of storage with 4GB RAM, plus a 4G ‘LTE Ready’ version that will join at a later date. Battery life is claimed to run for up to 10 hours for video playback and the screen is described as having “incredibly accurate colors.” Surface 3 will be 8.7mm (0.34 inch) thin at 622 grams (1.37 pounds). It will bring with it a standard 3-position stand and a few accessories: the standard Type Cover, a Docking Station with USB ports, an Ethernet jack and an additional Mini Display Port, and The Surface Pen. The later will be available in red, blue, black, and silver with 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. On the hybrid device will be a full-size USB 3.0 port, a mini-DisplayPort, and a microSD...

In a world where getting around a foreign city is unimaginable without Google Maps, the hospitality industry has no other option than staying ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. The top hospitality players are aggressively expanding new ways to enhance guest experience with dedicated apps, software and even robots. Here are four of the technologies providing a whole new dimension to business and pleasure travel.   Mobile Room Access is the hot new trend in the hospitality industry. Using a dedicated, hotel-branded app, guests simply swiping their mobile device across a specialized keypad to access their room. Some hotels have already rolled out mobile key cards, among them Starwood Hotels. Its dedicated Bluetooth-enabled SPG Keyless technology was launched in early November 2015 at its W, Aloft and Element brands, numbering close to 150 hotels totaling 30,000 rooms. Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) members can download the app from the App Store or Google Play and register their device. When a guest’s upcoming stay is eligible for SPG Keyless, the guest receives a push notification and by opening the app is able to access the room by swiping it across a keyless pad. The Cromwell, the only standalone boutique hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, became the first hotel in Sin City to offer the trendy technology. Hilton Worldwide will start offering Hilton HHonors members mobile room keys at four of its brands starting early 2015 and will deploy the technology across 11 brands globally.   Booking via Instagram. Courtesy of Conrad Hotels and Resorts, travelers can use the ‘gram not only to post enviable photos of their vacations, but also book a stay at one of its destinations. Guests simply click on an Instagram photo and via Curalate’s Like2Buy technology are redirected...