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Submission + - Google Teams up With 3 Wireless Carriers to Combat Apple Pay

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: AP reports that in an effort to undercut Apple's hit service Apple Pay, Google is teaming up with three wireless carriers by building its payment service into Android smartphones sold by AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA. Besides trying to make it more convenient to use Wallet, Google also is hoping to improve the nearly 4-year-old service. Toward that end, Google is buying some mobile payment technology and patents from Softcard, a 5-year-old venture owned by the wireless carriers. Financial terms weren't disclosed but Apple Pay's popularity probably helped forge the unlikely alliance between Google and the wireless carriers. Google traditionally has had a prickly relationship with the carriers, largely because it doesn't believe enough has been done to upgrade wireless networks and make them cheaper so more people can spend more time online.

The biggest challenge however is one that both Apple and Google face: Only a small fraction of the 10 million or store retail outlets in the U.S.–220,000 at last count–have checkout readers that can accept payments from either system. Both wallets both use a radio technology called Near Field Communication to send payment, and it’s expected to take years for most stores to be upgraded. What’s at play? The big tech companies and carriers seem convinced that our phones will eventually replace our wallets. For carriers, that could make mobile wallet technology table stakes over the next few years as they compete for consumers.

Submission + - Dispite Hack Gemalto claims there is nothing to worry about (betanews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Gemato denies risk to customers or financial blow back from this revelation. Perhaps to avoid litigation a settlement was quietly reached? This raises more questions than answers

Submission + - Solar eclipse puts Europe's power supplies at risk

Submitted by mrvan
mrvan writes: An eclipse of the sun next month could disrupt Europe’s power supplies because so many countries now use solar energy, electricity system operators have warned. “The risk of incident cannot be completely ruled out,” the European Network Transmission System Operators for Electricity said on Monday, adding the eclipse on March 20 would be “an unprecedented test for Europe’s electricity system”.

Normally, it is generally cloudy in some parts or Europe while the sun shines in other parts: “Within 30 minutes the solar power production would decrease from 17.5 gigawatts to 6.2GW and then increase again up to 24.6GW. This means that within 30 minutes the system will have to adapt to a load change of -10GW to +15GW,” if it is a sunny day and all solar power stations were producing at full load. Solar power covered just 0.1 per cent of all the electricity produced in Europe from renewable energy sources around the time of the last large solar eclipse in Europe in 1999, according to the network, known as ENTSO-E. But since then solar power generation has soared to at least 10.5 per cent, as countries subsidise green power to meet EU renewable energy targets.

Submission + - Marijuana may be even safer than previously thought, researchers say (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Compared to other recreational drugs — including alcohol — marijuana may be even safer than previously thought. And researchers may be systematically underestimating risks associated with alcohol use. They found that at the level of individual use, alcohol was the deadliest substance, followed by heroin and cocaine.

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