stores

PayPal's in-store payment partners grow to 23 retailers

Increasingly bringing its service offline, PayPal announced today that it has nearly doubled its brick-and-mortar store lineup to 23 retailers that now accept its payment service.

"Delivering valuable digital and mobile payments is alive and thriving, and consumers all over the U.S. will now start seeing PayPal more where they shop every day, including the grocery store and at the gas pump," PayPal's vice president of retail services Don Kingsborough said in a statement. "No bells, whistles or buzzes -- just technology that works and gets the most from your money."

Throughout the U.… Read more

Use 1Password for iOS? Bookmark this shortcut now

1Password is a popular password management app for iOS and OS X users. 1Password 4.1 was recently released, bringing with it a new URL scheme feature. The URL schemes allow you to append the letters "op" to any URL in mobile Safari to have the page opened in 1Password. In turn you can quickly log into the site using your saved password information in 1Password. The new feature is a huge time saver. You no longer have to switch back and forth from Safari and 1Password to copy and paste your password.

Even though adding two letters … Read more

First all-digital library in the U.S. will look like an Apple Store

The first book-free library in the U.S. may look pretty familiar to visitors. That's because it's being modeled after an Apple retail store.

Bexar County, Texas, which includes San Antonio, will launch the nation's first all-digital public library system, dubbed BiblioTech, this year. A prototype location on the county's south side is slated to open this fall, and the county hopes to open similar libraries in the future.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff got his inspiration for the all-digital library from Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

"… Read more

New-to-vinyl converts talk about the joys of playing LPs

I've heard the naysayers for years, the ones that say vinyl is a fad, or that kids buy records just because they think LPs are cool. But the fact is vinyl sales keep going up year after year. I'd be the first to admit that playing an LP is more of a hassle than listening to Spotify, so why do people who grew up listening to CDs and files invest in a turntable, and search out their favorite music on LP? Why do they do it?

Recently, I talked with a few music lovers who grew up in … Read more

Sony chats up future of Music Unlimited, PlayStation Store

LAS VEGAS--Nearly three years after the formation of Sony Network Entertainment, the company still struggles to capture consumer attention with its Music Unlimited media-streaming service, but things look better than ever for the PlayStation Store.

Sony Network Entertainment COO Shawn Layden remains upbeat despite his company living in the shadow of Pandora, Xbox Live, and other competitors. In a conversation with CNET, Layden relayed the primary goals for Sony's entertainment services: bring content to more regions, expand the number of compatible devices, and design a common user interface across device categories.… Read more

Apple updates App Store screenshot rules to shutter scam

Apple announced a new App Store policy for developers today that effectively puts an end to a common bait-and-switch scam.

In a note on its Developer Portal, Apple said screenshots submitted by developers to accompany app descriptions in its App Store will be locked in place when the app wins approval.

Beginning January 9, app screenshots will be locked in iTunes Connect once your app has been approved. New screenshots may be uploaded when you submit a binary for an update to an existing app or a new app.

Before the new policy went into place, app developers would often … Read more

Apple App Store hits 40 billion downloads; 20 billion in 2012, alone

Apple's App Store has reached a new milestone in total app downloads.

The iPhone maker announced today that there have been 40 billion unique application downloads in its App Store since the marketplace launched in 2008. Apple's unique download tally excludes redownloads and updates. Of the 40 billion apps downloaded so far, nearly 20 billion were downloaded in 2012, the company said.

Apple's App Store now has over 500 million active accounts, and 2 billion apps were downloaded in December alone, making it the best month in the marketplace's history. The App Store has 775,000 … Read more

Bigger is better: Wharfedale Diamond 10.5 speakers

Wharfedale is an 80-year-old speaker company, not to mention one of the oldest names in British audio. They make high-end and affordable speakers with prices starting at around $300 a pair. I recently checked out the Wharfedale Diamond 10.5 towers; their curvy cabinets cut a nice figure in the sound room at the In Living Stereo store in NYC. I listened to a few LPs on the stunning new Rega RP8 turntable. The tower speakers sell for $950 a pair.

The Diamond 10.5 is a three-way design with a 6.5-inch woofer, a 2-inch dome midrange, and a … Read more

About that Microsoft Surface Pro release date

Microsoft Store salespeople expect Surface Pro to arrive at the end of the month. That jibes with the pretty explicit statements Microsoft itself has made in the past.

Calls to Microsoft stores around the country today invariably elicited a response of "end of the month." One store got very specific and said it expects the new tablet on January 26.

That actually makes some sense. When Microsoft announced Surface last year it said the following: "Surface for Windows RT will release with the general availability of Windows 8, and the Windows 8 Pro model will be available … Read more