cards

Do a quick search on Twitter and you'll find many iOS users sending request after request (or in some cases, demand after demand) to retailers, airlines, and merchants for Passbook integration. Passbook is clearly one feature iOS users are eager to use, but the delay in adoption is driving them mad.

Enter Gyft.

Gyft is a gift card app for iOS that allows you to store gift card information in a single, easy-to-access place. Sound familiar?

As TechCrunch pointed out this morning, Gyft received a big update last night, bringing with it the ability to add any gift card … Read more

The Verizon iPhone 5 comes unlocked out of the box, a Verizon representative confirmed with CNET today.

Reports have been trickling out over the last 24 hours or so saying that Verizon's iPhone 5 can used on AT&T's network.

A Verizon representative confirmed that it is "GSM unlocked" -- and that the iPhone is unlocked out of the box.

Of course, there are a bunch of caveats. This "feature" could be "fixed" via a future update. And AT&T's and Verizon's 3G/4G-class networks achieve different levels … Read more

Well, yesterday was kind of a train wreck, huh? Believe me that I get just as frustrated as you when a vendor suddenly jacks up the price on a product, as TigerDirect did yesterday on the Vizio sound bar. It's worse than a sellout, because it smacks of bait-and-switch tactics (even though the company's own promotional e-mail showed it at the higher price, so that accusation doesn't hold water).

Anyway, I still feel bad about it, which is why I'm giving you five -- count 'em, five -- deals today. Without further ado:

1. Wal-Mart has … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- There's room for a higher-end flash card format that's faster and more capacious than SD Card, and for years, CompactFlash has occupied that market niche.

But CompactFlash is running out of steam, and finding a successor to CompactFlash just got a lot messier courtesy of a new standard that arrived this week at the Photokina trade show here.

Last year, Nikon and Sony carried the XQD format to market as the would-be CompactFlash successor, with Nikon's flagship D4 camera accepting the cards and Sony making the cards. But Canon and professional camera maker Phase … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- Three words describe the Lexar Professional 400x SDXC UHS-I memory card: big, fast, and expensive.

The company is pitching the $900 card at those who need to shoot lots of 1080p or 3D video, a market noted for its capacity-gobbling files, intolerance for hiccups in data transfer, and deep pockets.

The card can transfer data at a sustained speed of 60MBps, and it will ship in October, the Micron subsidiary said. The company does offer faster cards with a 600x rating, but they top out at 64GB capacities.

As usual, ordinary photographers shouldn't bother getting excited … Read more

For many urban dwellers who live close to work, commuting by bike is like eating vegetables. You know you should, but sometimes you just want the burger and fries.

Industrial designer Adam Taylor, who is working toward a master's degree in future design in England, has devised a system that he thinks will help motivate commuters to pedal to the office. The two key features are the system's self-powered smart card and the bike itself, which is a beauty.

On the blog Bicycle Design, Taylor says he envisions the bike, which he calls "Tim," and the system, which he calls "Go Fara," to be bought in bulk by major corporations that institute a "green employee of the week" rewards program. Using the smart card, the employer has access to mileage and time stats to reward the highest achievers.… Read more

After seemingly overcoming a series of security issues, Google is cashing out of the prepaid payment card market next month.

The Web giant began telling users today to get busy spending whatever balances remain on their cards because those cards will be discontinued on October 17.

The prepaid cards were made obsolete with the introduction of the ability to use any debit and credit cards with Google Wallet, the company said. Google announced on August 1 that its payment system was moving to the cloud, meaning it would be able to accept all major credit and debit cards.

Debuting in … Read more

Nokia's new Lumia 920 smartphone is missing an SD card slot, but that was intentional.

Speaking with tech news site PC Pro, Nokia executive VP Kevin Shields said that a memory card slot would have ruined the clean design of the phone.

"We started with the premise that we wanted an uncompromised physical form," Shields told PC Pro. "To put an SD card slot in it would have defiled it."

The Lumia 820 comes with only 8GB of internal storage but includes a microSD card slot that can handle up to 32GB worth of data. … Read more

True story: The cable guy was over just last week, troubleshooting a signal-strength problem with our service. When he saw my CableCard-equipped media center PC, he said, "I've been wanting to do that with my computer, because Windows' channel guide is so much better than ours."

True dat. Windows Media Center offers a mighty sweet 10-foot interface, and when you pair your PC with a CableCard tuner, you've got everything you need for DVR awesomeness.

There are three such tuners on the market, and today's deal is for the most versatile of them. While supplies … Read more