The ‘Special Function’ in Galaxy S6 could be Samsung’s new Mobile Payment System

Back in December, we had heard reports that Samsung was planning to launch its own mobile payment system in 2015 that would pose a direct competition to Apple Pay. Apple had introduced its own payment system Apple Pay during the launch of its two new smartphones iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and the company claims that approximately two-thirds of its mobile transactions are being carried out via Apple Pay.

Now Samsung plans to launch its own payment system with the introduction of its new flagship Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge with curved screen. These will reportedly be Samsung’s first two phones to implement this payment system. The company was already in talks with a LoopPay, a Burlington, MA, startup. A report by South Korean publication DDaily confirms this.

The LoopPay mobile payment system does not use NFC but instead uses a “magnetic secure transmission” technology that mimics a credit or a debit card swipe. The LoopPay payment system is accepted at over 10 million retail locations worldwide, a figure much higher than that of Apple Pay.

Samsung also plans to have a fingerprint scanner embedded inside the home button to provide additional security. Maybe this is the reason that Samsung is switching from swipe scanner present in its current phones to a touch-based scanner in its Galaxy S6. Companies like Apple, Meizu and Huawei already have touch-based sensors in their devices.

Earlier reports have said that Samsung was preparing to introduce an “innovative premium handset” with some “special function”. Maybe this mobile payment system is that special function. We will know it for certain on March 1 when Samsung will be unveiling its new flagship.

Meanwhile, have a look at the LoopPay video showing how it works:

 

Via PhoneArena

The ‘Special Function’ in Galaxy S6 could be Samsung’s new Mobile Payment System

Samsung planning to launch Apple Pay competitor in 2015

A report suggests that Samsung is planning to come out with its own contactless mobile payments system next year. Samsung is reportedly in talks with LoopPay, a payment startup based in Burlington, MA.

A source has informed re/code that a prototype of the wireless payments system running successfully on a Samsung phone has been developed. Will Graylin, CEO of LoopPay has revealed that in 2015, his company’s payments system technology will be embedded inside a smartphone made by a major manufacturer having “massive penetration”. He however declined to disclose the name of the manufacturer or to even to confirm if it was Samsung when asked about it.

By introducing the LoopPay payments system technology in their smartphones, Samsung is posing direct competition to Apple Pay since Apple is offering such kind of mobile payment system on its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones and on the Apple Watch too. A user selects the credit card through which he wants to make payment for his purchases and the payment information is transmitted through NFC (Near Field Communication) just by holding the phone near the terminal. User’s identity is verified through Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

Currently, LoopPay does not use the NFC system but uses a “magnetic secure transmission” technology which transmits information stored on the magnetic stripe of the credit or debit card wirelessly to the store’s checkout terminal. This technology is embedded in a fob or a digital payment card. Users have to tap this device near the spot on the terminal where the credit card is swiped.

LoopPay is available at many more locations compared to Apple Pay. According to LoopPay, Apple Pay is available in 220,000 retail locations in the US while its own system is available in over 10 million retail locations. Now since more and more retail stores are updating their checkout terminal that also includes NFC, LoopPay is planning to use this technology in its payments system.

Will Graylin revealed that after the partnership with the smartphone major, NFC technology would also be used to transmit payment information to the seller, apart from LoopPay’s existing “magnetic secure transmission” technology. This way, the users will not be required to open an app to make the payment.

Samsung planning to launch Apple Pay competitor in 2015

Google Wallet Profited from the Release of Apple Pay

Who would have thought that Apple would be doing Google Wallet a favour by putting in motion a contender, the Apple Pay? The recent launch of the latter ironically boosted Google Wallet’s weekly transactions by 50 percent as well as it has increased tremendously Google Wallet’s new users. With October’s statistics said to be doubled compared to the previous month as stated by a source for Ars Technica.

Apple really knows how the market works. The release of the Apple Pay was very timely considering that the world is already in the process of changing direction to NFC-capable payment or the Near Field Communication-capable payment. And even if this revenue surge for Google Walllet might be temporary, it has still brought enough awareness about the technology.

Google Wallet vs. Apple Pay

• Apple Pay is advertised better than Google Play.


• With Google Wallet you need to swipe and enter a pin. With Apple Pay you only need to hold your phone and tap on the screen.


• Google Wallet has access to information about the user’s purchases while Apple Pay cannot see such information excluding the most recent purchases on the Passbook.


• Google Wallet is available even on older iOS 6 and Android Gingerbread version while Apple Pay can only be used on newer iPhones, which I think is a good selling point. You can also use iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini3 to do transactions.


• Google Wallet is accepted in 300,000 stores while Apple Pay only works in 220,000 stores. However, considering that it is only a few weeks old, it is not totally a disadvantage.

What do you think about the two? And which digital wallet do you prefer?

Google Wallet Profited from the Release of Apple Pay

Challenges of Apple Pay in the Future

Nowadays, we depend so much from our smartphones. We basically use our smartphone to do almost everything, starting from camera, music player, and navigational device until personal assistant. Now, with the launch of Apple Pay recently, we also can use our smartphone as our wallet too.

It has been a long time since technology companies have tried to venture out to mobile payments by convincing the customers that their smartphone is a lot more secure than cash or plastic. Apple’s Apple Pay might be the turning point to the mobile payment industry.

Apple Pay works in iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as Apple Watch (which is going to be launched next year). To use it is very simple. The users just need to load their credit card information into the phone and press the Touch ID fingerprint scanner when they want to make payment that time. This works as an authentication purposes. This is a lot convenient and faster than using credit card. Apple then generates unique ID number for each transaction. Do not worry since the credit card number information does not leave your smartphone.

There are alot of aspects to consider before this mobile payment can work in the market. The customers need to be convinced that they have to invest some time to learn about the new buying process in order to save more time in the future. The retailers need to invest on new equipment to accept the payment from phones and smartwatche, not to mention the banks and credit card issuers also need to convince to the idea.

How Safe is Apple Pay? Another Payment System CurrentC Has Been Hacked Before Launched

CurrentC is another smartphone payment system which is developed from a consortium of retailers, such as Best Buy, WalMart, Target and Sears. The system is currently being test-marketed in some confidential locations. However, unfortunately, the system has been hacked even before it was officially launched.

CurrentC is run by Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) based in Boston. Its main objective is to be the alternative of payment system of Apple Pay. Apple Pay has nabbed 1 million new customers in three days which is considered a huge success.

There are some differences of CurrentC and Apple Pay. For Apple Pay, it only works with iPhones currently and the new iPhones have built-in NFC (Near Field Communication) chips that talk directly to pinpads near the cash register. Therefore, what you need to do is to put your credit card information into a Passbook app on iPhone for Apple Pay and wave the phone at the pinpad when you are about to make payment. After that, secure the transaction with your fingerprint from Apple’s TouchID.

In comparison, CurrentC does not work with credit cards. Therefore what it does is that the mobile payment system connects your checking account directly. This system has an advantage that the user can add in coupons and loyalty information from the retailers. Moreover, instead of using fingerprint technology, CurrentC uses clunky QR code system. To register, you will need your social security number, driver’s license and banking information.

With this news, there should be some impact to the Apple Pay. Yes, we heard about the security issue with the iCloud with the leaked nude celebrity photos however so far we have not heard any issue with iTunes and credit card accounts.

How Safe is Apple Pay? Another Payment System CurrentC Has Been Hacked Before Launched

Reports show that some retailers are not very keen on supporting Apple Pay

There is a lot hype created with the Apple’s recently launched Pay system Apple Pay these days. However, it seems that its certainly not going to be cake walk for Apple to establish this method in mobile. This is because recently a number of very high profile retailers like BestBuy, Rite Aid and Walmart have announced that they would not support this latest creation from the Cupertino giant.

Some merchants have even disabled or modified the NFC readers in their stores to shut out the Apple Pay. The reason behind all these is said to be the Current C which is a payment system backed by some of the retail heavy-weights that aims to cut off credit or debit card processing fees by directly taking the money from user’s bank. The CurrentC is all set to be launched next year and would have a dedicated app for iOS and Android. Apart from just being a payment platform, this app would also serve as a platform for retailers in order to offer promotions to consumers.

There is a big list of CurrentC backers that includes Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Bad and Beyond and other US gas station chains. We don’t know how far would CurrentC be a success but for the time being it has certainly raised worries for Apple and pitched in a new competition ahead.

Source 1 | Source 2

Reports show that some retailers are not very keen on supporting Apple Pay

Leaked Walgreens Memo Stated that Apple Pay is Launching on Oct 18

A leaked Internal Memo for Walgreens hinted that Apple Pay would be going live on Saturday, 18 October 2014.  This launch is unusual but it would make sense to think that the customers mostly will do in-store shopping during weekends and Apple Pay is designed to make it convenient for the customers to do so. Therefore, the customer can try to use the service this weekend.

Apple is also organizing another event on Oct 16, just two days before the Apple Pay rumored launch date. In this event, Apple is expected to show the new iPad Air, Retina iMacs and possibly the new Retina iPad Mini. Apple will also likely to preview OS X Yosemite before its public debut. It will also an opportunity to get more information about Apple Pay and even the launch of the payment services.

Apple has partnered with a few popular store for the Apple Pay payment service. The stores are for example, Walgreens, McDonalds, Macy’s, Staples and more. According to the leaked Walgreens’ memo, the customers who want to use the new payment service, need to use iPhone 6 in the store by tapping the device on the upper portion of the pinpad. It is that convenient.

USAA assistant Vice President Vikram Parekh announced that the bank would also supporting Apple Pay starting on November 7. Apple Pay is enabled on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus devices through an update to iOS8. The next generation of iOS, iOS 8.1, which already distributed to developers will include hidden Apple Pay settings and set up screens.

Leaked Walgreens Memo Stated that Apple Pay is Launching on Oct 18

All about Apple Pay, Apple’s easy and secure mobile wallet

At the Apple’s big event held on September 9 the company’s CEO Tim Cook announced Apple’s new mobile payment service the Apple Pay in addition to two big-screen iPhones and a smartwatch. Instead of swiping your usual credit card, you can now pay with your iPhone 6 or Apple Watch. Apple Pay is “Your Wallet without the Wallet”. The phone will have security features built into it so that there would be no risk.

Initially, Apple Pay will be available in iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+ but updates for the same will be available soon for other iPhones 5,5c and 5s. Apple Pay can be used with the Apple Watch when paired with these iPhones. This service will be available in the United States from October and later in other parts of the world.

The Apple Pay system basically consists of Four components: Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, Secure Element chip and Setup in Passbook.

Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna:

It is an antenna that enables short range wireless communication when two devices are brought near each other. So if you hold your iPhone near the contactless reader in the shop and put your finger on the Touch ID, your payment will be made. A vibration and a beep in the phone will let you know that the payment was successful.

In case of an Apple Watch, you have to double-click the button provided near the Digital Crown and hold the watch near the contactless reader with the watch’s face towards it. A pulse and beep will let you know that the payment has been made. According to the company, this will be available in early 2015.

Touch ID fingerprint sensor:

Touch ID is present in iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 & 6+ and allows you to use your fingerprint as a passcode. This sensor is present in the Home button which is made of laser-cut sapphire crystal to prevent scratches and enable it to work properly. It has a stainless steel detection ring that detects the user’s finger without pressing it. Touch ID reads your fingerprint when you put your finger on it in any direction and unlocks your phone. The fingerprint data is securely stored inside the iPhone’s processor.

Secure Element chip:

When you make payment through your credit card, your card number and identity can be seen but in case of Apple Pay, your credit/debit card information is already stored in your iPhone and is not visible to anyone. When you add your card to the Passbook, a ‘Unique Device Account Number’ is created, encrypted and stored securely in the Secure Element Chip present in the iPhone 6, 6+ and the Apple Watch.

When you make a payment, this ‘Unique Device Account Number’ and a transaction-specific dynamic security code are used to process the payment so that your credit or debit card information remains safe.  The data stored in the Secure Element is free from software and hardware attacks. In case you lose your iPhone, you can use ‘Find My iPhone’ and put it in the Lost Mode so that nothing will be accessible or you can also completely wipe your iPhone clean.

Setup in Passbook:

Your iPhone has a passbook application. You have to add your credit card or debit card information to your passbook app manually or from your iTunes account or by photographing them with your iSight camera. Apple Pay works with Visa Card and Master Card as well as cards issued by American Express, Bank of America, Citi, Capital One, Chase and Wells Fargo. Others whose cards will be added soon are Barclaycard, USAA, Navy Federal, PNC and US Bank.

Apple Pay will be accepted at 220,000 stores at launch. Some of the stores accepting contactless payments through Apple Pay are: Babies R Us, Toys R Us, Bloomingdales, Disney Store, Duanereade, McDonalds, Macy’s, Nike, Panera Bread, Petco, Staples, Sephora, Subway, Unleashed, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Walgreens and Whole Foods Market. Apple Pay can also be used for purchases through the following apps: Disney Store, Groupon, Instacart, MLB.com, OpenTable, Panera Bread, Sephora, Starbucks, Target, Tickets.com and Uber.

If you see the following icon at check out it means you can pay with Apple Pay.

Watch the video of Apple Pay Announcement by Tim Cook uploaded by cnet:

All about Apple Pay, Apple’s easy and secure mobile wallet

Apple iPhone 6 complete review: Official specs, images and Promo Video

Well, after a long long wait, Apple has finally announced its this year flagship Apple iPhone 6, which comes in two different models of 4.7inch and 5.5inch. As just spotted, the 5.5inch model of the device is named as the iPhone 6 Plus. In addition to this two smartphones, the Cupertino giant has also went out announcing its much awaited Apple Watch, but this article will major focus on in-depth details of what all goodies has the 4.7inch model has to offer us!

There are a lot of changes that come in this new flagship in terms of its hardware and software like larger display, more powerful chipset, slimmer design, the latest released developer-friendly iOS 8 on-board and much more.

Design and Display

The design of the iPhone 6 was always much in talks before its official release! With the release, it is clear that this is the second major re-design that comes with rounded edges with a more rectangular narration and has been more squeezed up making it slimmer and lighter. Yes, the new iPhone 6 just packs within 6.9mm of thickness weighing as light as 129 grams only.

Moving to its display, Apple seems to have understood the need for larger sized display and thus taking a larger leap, the new iPhone 6 offers a 4.7” IPS display with a pixel resolution of 1334×750 pixels and 326 ppi density. However, even with the increased size, Apple has ensured to pretty much stay in line with its “retina display” philosophy delivering similar results to the existing Apple iPhone 5s. However, the Cupertino giant claims that the iPhone 6 can deliver brightness up to 500 nits and comes covered with an oleophobic coating over it that ensures that your screen will be free from any kind of fingerprint smudges over it.

The powerful and new Apple A8 chipset with 64-bit architecture

It was quite expected that will bake its new A8 chipset to the core of iPhone 6. To get into details, this is the new quad-core A8 SoC that is the company’s custom made chipset built with the 64-bit ARM architecture, more specifically ARMv8. Compared to its predecessor (A7 in iPhone 5s) the Apple A8 is 13% smaller measuring just 20-nm in size with nearly 2 billion transistors employed for work. Two of the chip’s cores are 25% faster and the GPU performance has been topped up with 50% better performance. Here is a comparison graph showing it with the first ever iPhone till now.

The excellent part is that the new SoC supports over 20 LTE bands that is above any existing smartphone in the market. The new iPhone 6 also supports features like Wi-Fi calling, LTE roaming and Voice Over LTE. Apple has moved over to the Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard that delivers that delivers up to three times faster speeds when connected to a wireless network. With all these enhanced and power-packed features, one thing you would surely be wondering off is what about the battery life of the device! Apple is yet to unveil the exact capacity of the device but says that when compared to the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 would offer 4 extra hours in 3G talk-time, 1 hour of extra video playback and 10 more hours of audio listening.

An enhanced 8MP iSight camera with True Tone flash

Apple said that with the new phase focus technology brought to its iPhone 6 camera, the time required to focus is almost cut to half. Another good thing about the camera is that it can also snap slow-motion videos in 720p resolution at an excellent 240 frames per second. This means capturing slow-motion videos is certainly going to be a delight for users. A bit disappointment here is that, Apple has kept itself from bringing OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) to the new iPhone 6. But the company says that they have incorporated a new software implementation that would compensate for hand shake during video capture.

The camera at the front comes with new sensor with f/2.2 lens offering the company’s much famous FaceTime feature in HD mode. The company claims that this new configuration enables the camera to collect 81% more light means that users will now get even more brighter selfies.

The all new Apple Pay for wireless payments through NFC

One of the biggest announcements that came along with the iPhone 6 was an introduction to the company’s new Apple Pay service. This new feature from Apple will work along with the existing PassBook that would offer new wireless digital payments through NFC.

The new iPhone 6 comes with built-in NFC chip, which along with the Apple Pay will facilitate users to make payments at large number of retail locations like McDonals, Subway, Whole Food Market, Starbucks, Macy’s, Staples, Bloomingdales and Disney and Apple stores. For this Apple has partnered with American Express, Visa, Amex and MasterCard. This means all you need for your weekend picnics is nothing more but just an iPhone 6.

Well, looking it from the security point of view, Apple has promised that this new feature will certainly hold much more enhanced security. Instead of sharing up your credit card info with merchants during transactions, the new Apple Pay will generate one-time-only dynamic security tokens. Thus on completion of the transaction, the security token will not be any more useful even if someone gets note of it. This would ensure more safety and security of your personal banking info.

New iOS 8 with more functional notification bar, improved Siri and latest Health App

Moving up from the design-centric iOS 7, Apple has moved to iOS focusing much more on its functionality additions. Apple has gone up more flexible with its new iOS 8 which hosts a new software keyboard called QuickType. The good things is that the company has given open access to its keyboard component thereby creating an open platform for third party developers to create custom keyboards for people who usually are not much happy with Apple’s own implementation. The new built-in keyboard of iOS 8 comes with few next word suggestions as found in most Android keyboards. According to Apple, the QucikType is now much more smart that is able to differentiate between your formal and informal contacts based on the conversations and will set a more predictive vocabulary as per the need. This means that if you are texting to your boss, it will set a more formal vocabulary while in case texting to your friends it will put an informal vocabulary ahead.

The famous TouchID feature from Apple is now available to third party apps as well! Apple has ensured for this as all the biometric information of fingerprints would be stored inside the chip and no third party apps would have any kind of access to it that ensures higher level of safety. Another major improvement in the iOS 8 is its notification bar. The notification bar has now turned to be more functional that will allow to perform a large number of actions like replying to a text message or like any new Facebook post. Moreover, all this actions could also be performed via the lockscreen as well! Apple has also announced back at the WWDC that it would be bringing widget support in the new iOS 8.

Siri – Apple’s virtual assistant has been given some good attention and is now able to recognize songs, control some smart household gadgets using the HomeKit API and even make iTunes purchases. Siri is now capable of understanding some over two dozen languages which you can just activate by saying “Hey, Siri!” for any kind of assistance needed.

Pricing and Release date

Apple has launched its iPhone 6 in three different storage variants of 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. Apple is the first company as on date to offer a 100+GB built-in memory in a phone. The above image clearly reveals the pricing showing the 16GB version of iPhone 6 to be costing $199 on 2-year contract, the 64GB to be costing $299 and the 128GB version for $399.

Pre-orders for all these models will begin tomorrow on September 12^th and the company would start shipping out the models next week on September 19^th. The first batch of the new flagship would go on sale in countries like USA, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, UK, Singapore and Japan. Nearly 115 countries would be receiving this device by the end of this year.

You can check out our complete review for the 5.5” iPhone 6 Plus as well as the newly launched Apple Watch. Catch a large number of promo videos released by the company here.

Apple iPhone 6 complete review: Official specs, images and Promo Video