| You may not get your iPhone 6 until October as pre-order record smashed Sep 15th 2014, 13:20, by John McCann 
Well here's a turn up for the books, Apple's new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are proving rather popular with eager fans pre-ordering the firm's new, larger smartphones in their millions. Apple has confirmed that it took a record 4 million pre-orders for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on the opening day of pre-orders (Friday 12 September). The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus officially go on sale in 10 countries, including the US, UK, and Australia on Friday 19 September, with 20 more countries getting an iPhone treat from September 26 - but Apple is already warning of stock issues. Supply warningOn its site, Apple writes "Demand for the new iPhones exceeds the initial pre-order supply and while a significant amount will be delivered to customers beginning on Friday and throughout September, many iPhone pre-orders are scheduled to be delivered in October." That's going to come as a bit of a blow to hungry fans desperate to get their hands on the latest iPhone handsets, but there is a small crumb of comfort. "Additional supply of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available to walk-in customers on Friday, September 19 at 8:00 a.m. local time at Apple retail stores." Of course that means waiting in line for probably hours, potentially days, so it's time you took a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror and asked yourself; "do I really want the new iPhone that much?" If your answer is yes, well we wish you the best of luck. *salutes*        |  | Industry voice: Has Apple just opened up the world to mobile wallets? Sep 15th 2014, 12:17, by Mark Prior-Egerton 
On the 9th of September, Apple announced a series of products and services that will possibly change the way we pay for things forever. With ApplePay, Apple could be set to move mobile wallets into the mainstream, in much the same way the company's first iPhone ushered in a sea change in personal computing in 2007, proving to be the catalyst for smartphones and apps going mainstream. Apple is far from the first to step into this arena; Google's offering has been available for some time in the US, while Amazon launched its wallet stateside in July. The industry sees mobile wallets as a key component in the future of payments but things haven't quite clicked yet for consumers. But, what has made the likes of Google, Apple, Visa and PayPal push digital wallets with such fervour? For banks and the like, there is a clear practical advantage. The cost of fulfilling credit and debit cards is not limited to the production of the card itself; it includes the management and distribution of cards, including maintaining dedicated customer helplines to activate or reorder lost, stolen or expired cards. Considering this, the fact that financial institutions are so keen on digital wallets as a cost-effective alternative is no surprise. Winner takes all?In spite of this, consumers have yet to really embrace the technology. In the UK, for instance, very few digital wallets are available, with Starbuck's and EE providing customers with the option to "preload" funds for payments to their smartphones. That said, much has been made of the so-called 'Wallet Wars' and the fragmentation resulting from numerous merchants, banks and other players looking at bringing their products to market. As is the case with your everyday physical wallet, the average person only wants one place for all their credit, debit and loyalty cards. This introduces the challenge of which cards take precedence. Every issuer wants their 'card' front and centre in the wallet, meaning that card issuers are looking to deploying their own wallets so as not to be marginalised by competitors. Much of the success of digital wallets will come down to consumer choice. Until now, there hasn't been any real choice in the UK, although Paym is the big move by the banks into mobile payments it only operates on a person-to-person basis, like Barclays' Pingit app. Neither enables the customer to pay in store. Apple, however, has the infrastructure and relationships to make this a possibility. Factor in that the company reports having over 800 million iTunes account holders and the capacity to make new technologies both desirable and user-friendly, ApplePay could be the first truly compelling digital wallet offering. It does no harm that it will come pre-loaded on the most desirable smart devices around too. The security questionWith any payment solution there are also always consumer concerns around security. This has been true of ApplePay with a lot of the early analysis focusing on the issue. In fact, a customer survey from just before Apple's launch found that while 80% of US consumers were aware of digital wallets, concerns around security have been the main barrier to adoption. Interestingly, we have seen that device security itself is not people's biggest worry; the primary concern is what to do when a phone is lost and what happens to their card details then. When mobile wallets and Near Field Communication (NFC) first entered the public consciousness, the focus was on storing payment card credentials on the Secure Element on the devices SIM – if you lost your phone, then there was a complex provisioning process required, which could mean long delays in getting your replacement phone and subsequently your ability to make payments. Now, however, there has been a move towards Host Card Emulation (HCE). HCE allows an app on any NFC-enabled device to emulate a contactless smart card. The app essentially accesses your payment card credentials in a remote location and communicates these via the cloud directly to the devices NFC reader. This uses the same infrastructure as used in the card payments today, so in addition to meeting the stringent security standards set out by the PCI Security Council, if a person should lose their mobile, they can simply get a replacement, download the app and login to their mobile wallet to reactive HCE on their new device. With Apple's long anticipated adoption of NFC in the iPhone 6 and Apple watch, ApplePay is likely to spur the mass adoption of mobile wallets into everyday use. iOS retains over 30% of market share in the UK alone, and the trusted relationships Apple has built with its user base should encourage them to finally embrace wallet technology. However, the UK with the rest of Europe will have to wait a little while longer as ApplePay will only available to the U.S. in October, with no official announcement of when this will be available elsewhere. With Apple finally putting its weight behind the mobile wallet revolution, it could be that we're paying for our iPhone 7s in September 2015 via ApplePay on our Apple Watches.        | | Interview: Will Apple Pay work when it comes to the crunch? Sep 15th 2014, 11:51, by Desire Athow 
Apple Pay lacks the innovation we've come to expect from Apple, but the new payment technology stands a good chance of success based on a reliable technology and smart alliances. Ralf Gladis, CEO of payment specialist, Computop gives his thoughts in an interview with TechRadar Pro TRP: Apple announced Apple Pay for iPhone 6 and Apple Watch last week. According to what we heard from the keynote: How does this work? RG: Apple's iPhone 6 and Apple Watch both include payment functionalities for Visa, MasterCard and American Express. In order to process a payment at a POS terminal in store, Apple Watch and iPhone 6 use the mobile radio technology standard NFC which is an acronym for Near Field Communication. TRP: Is this the innovation the world was expecting from Apple? RG: To be honest, I expected a more innovative new mobile payment system, simply because Apple has a track record of doing innovation better than anyone else. On the other hand, Apple has a global reach and it's a clever move to join a global standard like NFC and take sides with global card organizations like Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Otherwise it would be an endless fight to convince and connect merchants to Apple Pay. By using NFC, Apple will be compatible with millions of POS terminals worldwide giving its users the positive customer experience they need to be able to use their iPhones and Apple Watch everywhere they go. Not every POS terminal is NFC compatible, yet, but many already are and NFC will be mandatory for new POS terminals for instance in Europe, soon. To put it in a nutshell: By aligning itself with Visa, MasterCard, Amex and NFC, Apple ensures its users will be able to pay with multiple merchants globally, which provides excellent user experience. Provided that Apple Pay does not deviate from existing established standards, merchants won't need a lot of integration work because it's an established card payment. TRP: Given the past nude photo scandal, what level of security can we expect from Apple Pay? RG: Apple's iCloud service is a much easier target than data on a device. A cloud service is also more rewarding for hackers than a single device belonging to one person. From what I've heard, Apple Pay uses the Touch-ID fingerprint scanning in order to authenticate payments on the iPhone. Given that Apple Watch doesn't seem to have such a sensor, the amount users can spend with Apple watch will probably be limited to low value purchases. That should be comparable to tap payments with credit cards: Below a certain amount cardholders only need to tap their NFC enabled card at the POS terminal. Beyond that limit, however, cardholders have to enter a PIN. Apple Watch will likely be limited to a certain amount but using the iPhone with Touch-ID fingerprint scanning will be good for larger payments. On a general level, fingerprints are not a secure means of authentication, though and at Computop, we don't trust them [fingerprints]. The German Chaos Computer Club demonstrated in September 2013 that fingerprints can easily be forged and they stressed that all of us leave our fingerprints everywhere. Users will have to decide themselves if they want to trust fingerprints. With regards to the card data on the iPhone, we heard that payment data will be encrypted and stored with the Passbook app. Users can either transfer their iTunes credit card details to Apple Pay or they can take a photograph of their card in order to add a credit card to Apple Pay. In order to avoid handling sensible card data it seems that Apple Pay uses tokens. Tokenisation is nothing new and brings real security to the payment process. Provided that Apple follows the security processes of Visa and MasterCard on the device, I would not expect issues other than risk from phishing attacks. However, if we all start using our phone as a wallet, we all need to start to use dedicated firewalls and virus scanners, too. Fast. TRP: What costs should merchants expect for Apple Pay? RG: First of all, the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch are accelerators for NFC and a door opener for Visa, MasterCard and Amex who have been challenged in the area of mobile payments by many small but innovative competitors. To date, NFC has delivered slow adoption. That might change now. Rumors and comments in the payment industry indicate that current stakeholders (issuers, acquirers and card brands like Visa, MasterCard and Amex) will share their margins with Apple. Ironic really, when you consider the continual hype about mobile payments. If mobile payment is really already such a big trend, why do banks and acquirers need to share their margins with Apple in order to speed-up mobile payment adoption? My view is that if Apple Pay bases this on the back of NFC standards, this shouldn't be different to any other NFC payments. Merchants shouldn't pay extra charges. There another little detail that makes me think twice: Apple mentions a small number of US acquirers they work with. If Apple Pay sticks to industry standards like NFC, then why should the number of acquirers be restricted? Could it be that the future brings a tick box for merchants having to choose Apple Pay 'yes' or 'no' at a certain price? Only the future will tell… - Ralf Gladdis is the co-founder and managing director of the German based companies Computop GmbH and Computop International GmbH. He also acts as a non-executive Director of the Board at Computop USA
       | | Google's $100 Android One smartphones go on sale Sep 15th 2014, 10:45, by Matt Hanson 
Google is gearing up to launch the first devices in its range of Android One smartphones in India. The handsets will be priced around 6,399 rupees (around £64, $105, AU$117) and are marketed at emerging markets. The market for affordable smartphones in developing nations is rapidly expanding – especially in India, which is the world's fastest growing smartphone audience. Google has teamed up with Indian mobile manufacturers Micromax, Karbonn and Spice Mobiles to produce the Android One devices. These devices are known as the Micromax Canvas A1, Karbonn Sparkle V and the Spice Dream UNO. Entering a crowded marketWith the launch of these Android One devices Google is entering an already crowded market with around 80 companies, including Samsung and Motorola, already in India vying for new customers. Most of these low cost handsets run customised versions of Android that can be buggy and unstable. With Android One, Google aims to improve the quality and user experience of low cost smartphones. The reason that India is seen as such an attractive market is that only 10% of the population currently has a smartphone, a number that is likely to double over the next four years. After the launch in India, Google will bring Android One to Indonesia, Philippines and other Asian countries throughout the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. - Mainstream Android handsets can look forward to Android L this year
       | | The new Moto X is going up for pre-order, and the Moto 360 is back Sep 14th 2014, 19:01, by Michael Rougeau 
Motorola is on a role with new gadgets, but so far none of them have been very easy to get. Good news, then, as the new Moto X goes up for pre-order starting Tuesday, September 16, Motorola announced in a blog post. That includes two versions of the phone: the new Moto X for AT&T, and the $500 (about £300, AU$550) unlocked Moto X Pure Edition that comes with stock Android. Possibly even better news is the fact that the Moto 360 is going back on sale in the US on the same day. The first batch sold out quickly, though, and Motorola warns that "quantities will be limited." Charged upBoth versions of the new Moto X, as well as the Moto 360, will be available Tuesday at Motorola's site starting at 11am Central Time. No word on when the new phones will actually be shipped, but Motorola says their individual ship dates will be disclosed at checkout on a per-customer basis. In addition to the phones Motorola is releasing two new gadgets on Tuesday: the Moto Hint Bluetooth headset and the Motorola Turbo Charger that the company promises will provide 8 hours of battery life after just 15 minutes of charging. And finally Motorola wants to make sure everyone is aware of its trade-in program, by which it might trade you up to $300 (about £180, AU$330) for your old phone. Presumably there will be nothing stopping global customers from pre-ordering the unlocked Moto X Pure Edition on Tuesday, but nevertheless Motorola also promises that "you'll hear more from other US carrier partners soon and from our partners around the globe regarding additional Motorola product availability."        | |
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