micro

NFC system to let you pay for dinner via cell phone

You may soon be able to pay for dinner at your favorite restaurant directly through your cell phone courtesy of a new NFC system slated to become available later this year.

Announced today by electronic payment company VeriFone and software developer Micros Systems, the new system would tap into the growing technology of near field communication (NFC) to let customers pay for dinner bills through a digital wallet stored on their mobile devices.

By storing credit card and bank account information, cell phones equipped with the necessary NFC technology can exchange information with other equipped phones as well NFC-based registers … Read more

Apple reportedly aims to shrink micro-SIM card

The micro-SIM card found in Apple's iPhone 4, both generations of the iPad, and an increasing number of mobile devices could be going on a diet once again.

Reuters reported today that Apple has put forth plans to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) for a smaller version of micro-SIM that could bring extra space-saving advantages to mobile gadgets.

"We were quite happy to see last week that Apple has submitted a new requirement to ETSI for a smaller SIM form factor--smaller than the one that goes in iPhone 4 and iPad," Anne Bouverot, Orange's head … Read more

Creative launching iPod Nano rival

Though most of its features mimic those of the iPod Nano, Creative's new Zen Style music player is trying to up the ante by including Bluetooth and a microSD card slot.

Available next month, the Zen Style M300 is Creative's latest attempt to carve out a bigger slice of the portable music player market.

The $79 device is a combination music, photo, and video player with a built-in FM radio and touch-control buttons to maneuver around the 1.45-inch screen. A built-in mic allows for voice recording.

The included Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity lets people listen to music through any compatible Bluetooth wireless headset as well as through Bluetooth wireless speakers. The microSD card slot can hold up to 32GB of music beyond the unit's internal storage space.… Read more

Apple tops Nintendo in MEMS sensor buys in 2010

Apple's component purchases during 2010 have put it on top of Nintendo and just behind leader Samsung as the largest buyers of Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, according to a new report by IHS iSuppli.

These tiny components, which include--but are not limited to--accelerometers, gyroscopes and accelerometers, can be found inside a number of Apple's portable products like iPhones, iPads, and iPods.

"MEMS sensors bought by Apple last year included 3-axis gyroscopes from STMicroelectronics for the iPhone 4, iPod Touch, and--toward the end of 2010--the iPad 2 tablet," the report said. "Apple also bought accelerometers … Read more

Two high-value, high-speed gaming desktops

It's become rare for a developer other than Blizzard to explicitly target PC gamers. Now we have two such PC-centric games on the horizon. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, from Atari and Polish-developer CD Projekt Red, promises visceral, adult-oriented role playing when it launches May 17. Electronic Arts and developer DICE have described this fall's Battlefield 3 as a "love letter" to PC gamers, a claim backed by a Battlefield 3 DirectX 11 presentation at this year's Game Developer's Conference.

With these, and hopefully other graphically modern PC games on the horizon, you … Read more

360 lens for iPhone 4 looks around for funding

Occasionally we post interesting projects that appear on kickstarter.com, a crowdsourced angel investor site that can help folks raise money to produce products that are in various stages of development (some projects get funded, some don't).

EyeSee360, the small company behind the GoPano Micro 360-degree lens for the iPhone 4, already produces a larger version for cameras and camcorders called the GoPano Plus ($699). But it's trying to raise money to commercially produce the Micro, which allows you to capture 360-degree videos with your iPhone 4.

Etymotic ER-4 MicroPro

The Etymotic ER-4 MicroPro series is the company's top-end in-ear headphone line. Currently, the series consists of four models, each of which retail for $299.

According to the company, here's how the differences break down:

The Etymotic MicroPro ER-4B is "for binaural recording monitoring and used in professional settings."

The Etymotic MicroPro ER-4S is the company's "stereo monitoring earphone and geared to those listening through a powered recording or 'front of house' monitoring board."

The Etymotic MicroPro ER-4P is the most mainstream of the bunch, designed for those using a portable audio device … Read more

Trend Micro gives parents an Online Guardian

Trend Micro has created an Online Guardian that it says will help parents monitor and control the online activity of their children. Debuting today, Online Guardian for Parents continues the revamp of Trend Micro's home consumer security line that started last fall with its cloud-based Titanium security suites. In fact, Online Guardian leverages the same cloud-based, proprietary database called Smart Protection to extend rapid-response protection to Web site monitoring.

In addition to standard parental control features such as URL filtering, instant message monitoring, identity data protection, an online time manager, a Web-based control panel, and per-child user profiles, Online … Read more

Tap That App takes on Android security

In this week's episode of Tap That App, we look at the growing Android security field and check out three apps with three different takes on what's important when making Android safer. One thing's for sure: the makers of all three think that there's more to Android security than mere antivirus and malicious app scanning.

For a more detailed analysis, check out the story this episode of Tap That App is based on.