Five minute guide to pin-free payments using your phone

The cashless society moved another step closer this week with the launch of Android Pay, which allows users to conduct simple transactions using their smartphones.

Android Pay allows people to make payments easily using their smartphones

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This is the latest stage in the mobile payments revolution, with Apple Pay for iPhone users launching last year and Samsung Pay due shortly.

Millions of Britons also use contactless payment cards, which let shoppers make low-cost purchases without entering their PIN. They spent a record £1.5billion on such cards in March alone, accounting for one in six high-street card purchases, according to the UK Cards Association.

Head of policy Richard Koch says: “Paying with contactless is second nature for millions of consumers now, who see it as an alternative to cash.”

Is it time you signed up to the mobile payment revolution?

Many smartphones run on Android

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Paranoid Android

Android is the mobile operating system developed by Google and works with popular smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy and Sony Xperia, plus handsets from Nexus, LG, Huawei and HTC.

This week Google announced that Android Pay is now live in the UK, allowing Britons to make contactless payments at more than 460,000 terminals here and millions worldwide.

Android Pay is actually late to the mobile payments party, trailing Apple Pay by nearly a year, while Pingit from Barclays and Paym Mobile Payments, which allows family and friends to send and receive money using their mobiles, are also popular.

Android Pay therefore has some catching up to do and even after this week’s launch not every user is eligible. To use it you need to download the free app onto a phone using the Android 4.4 (KitKat+) operating system or higher, and a near field communications (NFC) wireless data transfer chip.

Halifax, Lloyds and Visa customers will be able to use the app

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Pay Day

Many of the major banks have signed up to Android Pay. Customers of Lloyds Banking Group, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, M&S Bank, MasterCard, Visa, First Direct, HSBC, MBNA and Nationwide Building Society can now download the app.

London Underground will also accept payments this way. Stephen Noakes, managing director, retail customer products, at Lloyds says: “Contactless payment capability will be made available to the majority of our customers who want to use their smartphones to make payments.”

Britons have been early adopters of this payment technology, with one in four saying they would even change their phone to take advantage, according to research from Nationwide.

Head of payments Paul Horlock says using your mobile to pay for goods and services is fast, secure and convenient: “With our lives becoming ever-more reliant on mobile phones, we believe the service will be a valuable addition.”

It found mobiles have replaced landlines for more than two out of five people, while nearly a third say they use their phone instead of wearing a watch. Ultimately, the mobile could replace your wallet, though only one in 20 has reached that point today.

Security can be a concern for people using contactless payment technology

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Mobile Wallet

Dan Howdle, technology specialist at broadband and mobile phone comparison site Cable.co.uk, says switching to mobile payments is pretty straightforward. “Once you have downloaded the app from the Google Play Store and keyed in your debit or credit card details, you can tap your phone in any shop that has a contactless terminal.”

The big worry for many is that a thief could steal their phone or contactless card, and use it to go on a shopping spree without having to know the PIN.

However, Howdle says these fears may be overblown: “It is no different to losing your wallet; you phone up and cancel your cards as soon as you have discovered your loss, then your smartphone can no longer pay for anything.”

Also, most people protect their phone with a security lock, which can only be unlocked with a passcode or fingerprint ID. Howdle says the biggest drawback is that the maximum spend on smartphones and contactless cards is just £30.

“For larger sums, it is back to chip and PIN. At present, few of us can leave our wallets at home, but that it is unlikely to be the case for long.”

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Barclays to launch contactless ‘tap and pay’ service for Android phones

Customers will not need to open an app, enter a PIN or give their finger print but simply press the home button on the phone

The service is expected to go live in June

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Barclays has said customers will be able to use their Android phones to “tap and pay” in June after the bank launches a contactless payment service.

Contactless Mobile will be integrated in Barclays own existing banking app, allowing users to pay in 400,000 locations across the UK and the London transport network.

The move means Contactless Mobile could beat Google’s Android Pay which is due to launch imminently in the UK but has not been given a release date.

Android Pay service is supported by several major bank including HSBC and Lloyds but Barclays has confirmed it is not planning on participating in Google’s service once it goes live.

Similar to a contactless card service, Barclays’ new service will allow users to make payments up to £30 by taping their mobile on a retailer’s terminal.

They will not need to open an app, enter a PIN or give their finger print but simply press the home button on the phone.

The platform will also support payments between £30 and £100, which involves first tapping the phone against the terminal, entering the card's usual PIN and then tapping again.

The service is only available to customers with the necessary near field communication (NFC) technology – a technology that allows two devices placed within a few centimetres of each other to exchange data.

Apple iPhone users already have access to Apple Pay in the UK, a service allows payments through major banks including Barclays, which joined in April.

Ashok Vaswani, chief executive officer of Barclays UK, said Contactless Mobile was designed to give customers the choice about how to make their everyday payments.

“It’s all there, in one place, ready to go with no need to ender card details, delivering brilliance in an instant,” Vaswani said.

Barclays said it will contact customers once the service goes live in June.

Barclays' mobile banking app is already used by five million customers, who access the app 27 times a month on average, according to the bank.

Contactless card payments have seen huge growth as consumers have recognised the ease, speed and convenience they offer.

Some £7.75 billion was spent in one billion contactless card transactions in 2015 alone, according the UK Cards Association. That’s three times the total spent in 2014, and more than double the combined amount for the previous seven years.

SourcE: Independent UK

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iPhone Or Android? Here’s One Big Difference To Consider

The vast majority of smartphones around the world are Android devices, but few of them are what you’d call modern.

Way back in October 2015, Google officially released Android Marshmallow, the latest version of its smartphone and tablet operating system. It’s packed with cool, useful features like Now on Tap, an interactive service that helps you do more with whatever is on your screen. But most Android folks can’t use it: Only 7.5 percent of devices have actually been able to upgrade to it, according to new statistics.

Those same statistics reveal that a significant portion — 32.5 percent — of Android devices are still on KitKat, a version of the operating system that came out in fall 2013. More than 24 percent of Android devices are on even older versions.

Things are different in Apple’s walled garden. The company reported last month that 84 percent of iPhones and iPads have updated to iOS 9, which came out in September 2015. Only 11 percent are on the previous version, iOS 8, and a meager 5 percent of devices run an earlier version.

The takeaway is clear: Apple can get people to upgrade their phones, but Google can’t. Why that is — and what the difference ultimately means — can help you understand a lot about the two companies and inform your smartphone purchases moving forward.

Google’s Android phones are created by a variety of companies. You can get a sleek new Samsung device with a high-end camera, or you can try the budget-friendly (and less sexy) Moto G. There are options from LG, Sony, HTC and a slew of other companies, meaning you can find a phone that matches your price range and your personality.

The iPhone is created by Apple. Period. Full stop.

When Google releases a new version of its software, it has to distribute it to manufacturers that are ultimately responsible for pushing it to your device. When it comes to a significant overhaul like Marshmallow, a phone maker like Samsung might decide to reserve it for its premium models — the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, for example — while neglecting older models like the Galaxy S4.

If you bought a phone in 2013, when KitKat was cutting edge, it’s possible that your manufacturer never gave you the opportunity to update your software. That doesn’t mean your hardware is inadequate, though: A lot of people are happy with technically “old” devices.

In recent years, Google has offered its own Nexus line of phones that can receive speedier updates directly from the tech giant. But these devices may have to be purchased outside of your wireless carrier’s stores and don’t necessarily compete with devices offered by other manufacturers in terms of screen quality, camera and so on. They’re far from a standard option, in other words.

Because Apple is the only manufacturer of the iPhone, it can roll out updates across devices simultaneously. The drawback is that those iOS upgrades can slow your phone and make you more inclined to purchase a new device. Of course, the upside is that any security problems can be patched immediately — not so with Android.

So, next time you’re shopping for a phone, remember that an Android device purchased today is less likely to receive a software upgrade than an iPhone is, but you’ll also be able to choose from a variety of manufacturers and price points.

Source: Techspot & Huffingtonpost

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Android N to get pressure-sensitive displays, mimicking Apple’s 3D touch for iPhone

The feature allows people to perform actions more quickly – without ever going into an app

Google is bringing the biggest new feature of iPhones to Android.

The company looks set to support pressure-sensitive displays in the next version of its operating system, Android N. That will let it catch up with Apple, which put the technology into its iPhone 6s late last year under the name 3D Touch.

The rumour comes from Google’s support for “Launcher shortcuts” in the latest beta version of the upcoming operating system. Google describes that feature as allowing developers to “define shortcuts which users can expose in the launcher to help them perform actions quicker”.

That is an almost exact description of how 3D Touch works on the iPhone. It allows people to quickly get to certain parts of the app: selecting the “Record Video” option on the camera app means that people can record video with one press, for instance.

Google still hasn’t said how the option to launch the shortcuts will be triggered. But since it looks exactly the same as it does on the iPhone, and so will likely be triggered the same way – with a hard press on the app shortcut, rather than a soft one.

Since device makers decide what they want to do with Android, there’s no guarantee that the feature will eventually make its way to many handsets. But Huawei has already brought the feature to Android with its own code and so more handsets are likely to have it in the future.

Source:Independent UK

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Europe ‘Readies’ Formal Android Antitrust Charges

Android

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Google showdown with the European Commission deepens as regulators finalise Android antitrust charges

Google could be facing European antitrust charges over its Android mobile operating system very soon, following a report in the Financial Times, which claims formal proceedings could be filed as soon as next Wednesday.

The search giant is already locked in an antitrust battle with the European Union over its comparison shopping service, after the European Commission launched an investigation back in November 2010.

But then matters escalated this time last year, when the EU laid the ground for formal antitrust charges against Google, after it opened a separate investigation into the domination of Android in the smartphone arena, after complaints from two firms, thought to be Nokia and Microsoft.

The FT, quoting four lawyers involved in the case, said that the EC had sent out requests for information from complainants with 24-hour deadlines. This tight deadline strongly suggests the regulators are close to finalising charges against Google.

Antitrust Probe

The EC is reportedly investigating whether Google hinders the development of alternatives to its own smartphone mapping, search and app store services by requiring handset makers to exclusively pre-install its own apps and services.

The FT said that one person close to the commission said it was likely that Margrethe Vestager, EU competition commissioner, could publicly deliver a statement of objections – or formal charge sheet – as early as Wednesday next week, although the process could still take slightly longer.

The EC and Google both reportedly declined to comment on the matter.

If the EC does find any wrongdoing against Google, it has the power to impose a financial penalty of up to 10 percent of the previous financial year’s revenue. To give an idea of how expensive this could be, Google’s revenue from its core businesses rose 13.5 percent to $74.5bn (£52.5bn) in 2015.

Android Domination

Google of course is now a division of its parent firm, Alphabet. It has strongly denied any wrongdoing in either the Android or shopping cases. The EU isn’t the only place where Google’s smartphone OS market dominance has been under scrutiny. Android is facing similar investigations in Russia as well as the United States.

Android is the dominant mobile operating system around the world, by some margin. Analyst house IDC recently predicted that Android shipments will grow from 1.17 billion in 2015 to 1.62 billion in 2020, pushing the company’s share of the smartphone industry from 81 percent to 85 percent.

In comparison, Apple iPhone shipments is expected to be flat this year after a record of 231.5 million in 2015. Windows Phone shipments meanwhile have fallen 18 percent over the course of 2015 at 11.1 million units.

Source: Techweekeurope

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Google Play services icons get a major makeover

Google has updated the icon designs for all of its ‘Play’ branded apps. The new icons show off the play symbol (often used in media controls) and mixes them with the currently available line up of icons from its Play services. The news comes from the official Google Android blog and the changes will begin to show up on Android devices in the coming weeks.

The current list of changes come to the Google Play icon, the Google Play Store icon and these are followed by some heavily modified versions of the current Play services like Play Movies and TV, Play Music, Play Games, Play Books and the Play Newstand.

Looking at the new changes from the image above, we can tell that users will have a hard time finding the ‘Play Music’ icon as it gets a complete revamp and moves past the old headset icon.

“You’ll start to see the new Google Play icons across devices and online in the coming weeks. We hope you’ll continue enjoying the Play family of products—now with a new look” says Jonathan Chung, Visual Design Lead, Google Play.

Certainly, the new Play button-oriented design adds a bit of uniformity and consistency when it comes to Google’s Play services so they can now be instantly recognizable no matter where you come across them.

Indeed these could be the shape of things to come in Google’s Android N update, the Preview of which was out a bit too early this year. We could expect similar iconography on Nexus devices for Google’s default apps like Messenger, the Contacts and Dialer apps, etc. Moreover, this could move on to other services like Gmail as well as this will help them give all of them a uniform look.

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Google issues biggest Android security update yet

With fixes for 39 vulnerabilities in Android, the April Nexus Security Bulletin is the largest security update from Google since the company began the monthly update process eight months ago.

Google fixed 15 vulnerabilities rated as critical, 16 rated as high, and eight as moderate in the latest monthly bulletin, across 26 different components, including DHCPCD, Mediaserver, Bluetooth, Exchange ActiveSync, Wi-Fi, Telephony, media codec, video kernel driver, and Debuggerd. The update also covers the March 18 out-of-band emergency patch fixing a local privilege escalation flaw in the Android kernel.

“There have been no reports of active customer exploitation or abuse of the other newly reported issues,” Google said in the latest advisory.

The privilege escalation flaw was originally patched in 2014 in the Linux kernel, and researchers reported the same bug (CVE-2015-1805) affected Android devices earlier this year. Zimperium researchers reported that an app capable of exploiting the vulnerability to root Nexus 5 devices was available in the wild in March, prompting Google to release the emergency patch. At the time, Google said attackers could abuse the flaw to gain root privileges on Android devices on kernel versions 3.4, 3.10, and 3.14. Nexus 5 and 6 devices are vulnerable too, Google said.

The Verify Apps feature in Android also blocks installation of apps from outside of Google Play that attempt to exploit the vulnerability, making it harder for attackers to abuse.

Devices with Security Patch Levels of April 2, 2016, or later have both the emergency patch and the latest monthly update. Supported Nexus devices will receive the updates over the air directly from Google, but other Android devices will have to wait for carriers and handset makers to release the updates.

Mediaserver still the biggest headache

As expected, Google again patched critical Mediaserver and libstagefright -- seven critical vulnerabilities and five high-severity bugs in the process itself, as well as one critical flaw in the library. Issues in Mediaserver and libstagefright first came to light last summer with Stagefright, and since then, security researchers in and out of Google have focused on the two components to find and squash other bugs. These security issues are “tangential” to the original Stagefright vulnerability, as they exist in the same component but are distinct concerns, Christopher Budd, a global threat communications manager at Trend Micro said earlier this year.

Mediaserver is a particularly attractive target because it can be attacked via multiple methods, including remote content such as MMS files and browser playback of media files. The service can access audio and video streams, as well as privileges that third-party apps cannot normally touch. If the attack is successful, the attacker could cause memory corruption and remotely execute code with the privileges available to the Mediaserver process.

“The most severe of these issues is a critical security vulnerability that could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods such as email, Web browsing, and MMS when processing media files,” Google said in its advisory.

Google also patched a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the media codec.

Bugs in core operating system

Along with Mediaserver and related components, Google fixed a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service and a critical elevation of privilege vulnerability in the kernel. The DHCP flaw would let an attacker cause memory corruption and remotely execute code as the DHCP client. Like Mediaserver, the DHCP service has access to privileges not typically available to third-party apps. As for the kernel bug, a local malicious app could execute arbitrary code and permanently compromise the device. The only way to restore the device would be to reflash the operating system.

The final critical vulnerabilities were in two Qualcomm components: the Qualcomm Performance Module and Qualcomm RF driver. Both escalation-of-privilege vulnerabilities would let malicious apps exploit the Qualcomm components to execute arbitrary code within the kernel, leading to a permanent device compromise.

An elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in a Texas Instrument haptic kernel driver could let a malicious app execute arbitrary code within the context of the kernel. Normally, this kind of a bug would be rated as critical, but Google noted that attackers would first have to compromise a service that can call the driver.

The majority of the issues rated as high severity were elevation-of-privilege flaws, and most of them could be abused to gain special permissions, such as Signature or SignatureOrSystem, which are not typically available to third-party apps. These flaws in IMemory Native Interface, Telecom component, Download Manager, the Recovery Procedure, and System Server could be abused as part of a multistep process.

Fragmented Android

While the ideal situation would be able to update all Android devices with the latest security fixes as soon as they are released, the patchwork of dependencies between Google, the wireless carriers, the device manufacturers, and maintainers of Android-based distributions means a significant number of devices don’t receive the updates on a regular basis. But maybe that can be considered a security advantage, not a security weakness.

At the recent Black Hat Asia conference in Singapore, Dino Dai Zovi, security lead at mobile payments company Square, said the fragmented ecosystem is safer for Android users with unpatched devices because attackers have to customize their attacks for each device model and operating system version. Security programs like Verify Apps and the background scans performed by Google Play, as well as new features in Android Lollipop and Marshmallow, make it harder for users to mistakenly load malicious apps.

“The number of actually infected devices is exceeding low,” Dai Zovi said.

Security flaws need to be patched, and there must be a better way to let Android devices receive regular updates. But so long as the cost of developing exploits for each Android permutation remains high, new vulnerabilities will not result in the sky falling for the unpatched masses.

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Android battery problems? Google's hidden power setting will extend your battery life by 30%

Google's Nexus 6P comes with Android Marshmallow preinstalled

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Smartphones aren't just for communicating - they're also for taking pictures, watching videos and playing games. So it's not surprising that most of us are always plagued with low battery warnings .

Thankfully, Google has recognised this and added an extra battery-saving feature into the newest version of its Android operating system .

Buried in the settings menu is the option to flip on "Ultra Power Saving Mode" that will drastically improve your phone's life. According to Google, it could extend your battery life by up to 30%.

In fact, the amount of extra time you'll get until your phone croaks is displayed next to the option to turn on the setting.

To find it, go to the settings menu on your phone (providing it's been upgraded to or is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow) and scroll down to the battery sub-menu.

There you'll find an estimated time left until your battery dies and the extra options to prolong it.

The battery submenu on a Galaxy S7 edge displaying the amount of power left and the Ultra power saving mode setting

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The battery submenu on a Galaxy S7 edge displaying the amount of power left and the Ultra power saving mode setting

Once activated, your phone will automatically goes into a deep sleep state when it’s idle, and all the apps you don't use will be put into a reduced activity state.

The mode will also apply a greyscale theme to your homepage and turn off extra connectivity like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and even mobile data when the screen is turned off.

The push for better battery life comes as many phone maufacturers are making their handsets thinner and lighter - limiting the size of the battery they can put in it.

Which begs the question...

Source: Mirror UK

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Android Pay is coming to the UK - but what is it and how does it work?

Android Pay is launching in the UK. But what does it do, how does it work, and which banks support it?

Android Pay, Google's payment system for Android phones, is finally coming to the UK.

There's no official launch date yet, but Google announced today that it will be arriving "in the next few months".

The service has been available in the United States since September 2015, where Google claims it's getting 1.5 million new registrations each month.

So what is Android Pay, and what can you do with it?

What is Android Pay?

It's a part of Android that lets you store your credit and debit cards on your phone.

If you're one of the people who used Google Wallet – and not many did – that will sound familiar, which is because Android Pay is essentially a rebranded and updated of the old system.

It will work with pretty much any NFC-equipped Android device running Android 4.4 or later.

How does Android Pay work?

Android Pay is an Android app that may be pre-installed on your phone. If it's not, you can download it from Google Play.

When you open it, you can add your cards; if you already have a card associated with your Google account, you can opt to add it in automatically.

Then, when you're in a store, all you need to do is unlock your phone and hold it near to a contactless payment terminal and – just like Apple Pay – you're notified and it's done.

You can also use Android Pay with selected third-party apps.

Which UK banks support Android Pay?

Most of the major UK banks support Android Pay, including Bank of Scotland, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, MBNA and Nationwide Building Society.

Notable by their absence at present are the Royal Bank of Scotland group banks: RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank.

However, Google says that "new banks [are] being added all the time", so you can expect them to support Android Pay at some point in the future.

Which shops support Android Pay?

Any shop with a contactless payment terminal should accept Android Pay too.

Can I use Android Pay on the London Underground?

Yes. Transport for London (TfL) supports Android Pay in the same way it supports Apple Pay, so you'll be able to tap and pay as you go across London's network of Tube, buses and trains.

Source:Mirror UK

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Google's Android N preview has a hidden 'Night Mode' for nighttime viewing

OS users finally have the long-awaited Night Shift feature, which rolled out Monday in iOS 9.3, but Android users may not have long to wait for a similar nighttime viewing mode.

A hidden feature in Google's developer preview of Android N, the next version of Android, suggests Google may be looking to add a similar nighttime viewing mode to its smartphones and tablets.

The feature is called Night Mode and, like Apple's Night Shift feature, it will change the color temperature of your display at night. The feature is tucked away in a hidden settings menu, so it's not clear if Google plans to make this an official part of its next operating system or if it's just an experiment.

Here's what it looks like in action:



If you are using the developer preview of Android N, which was released last week, you can take the feature for a spin now — if you know where to look. (While anyone with a Nexus device can opt-in to test Google's beta software, keep in mind that it's still a very early build so it's best not to test it on your primary device.)

In order to use Night Mode you first need to access a hidden settings menu called "System UI Tuner," which you can activate by holding down on the gear icon in the notifications drawer. Wait until you feel a vibration to let go. This activates the System UI Tuner menu in the device's main settings.

From settings, head to System UI Tuner —> Color and Appearance —> Night Mode. There you can turn the feature on and off manually or opt to have it kick in automatically based on the time of day. In my testing on a Nexus 9 tablet, turning the feature on and off was a bit buggy though it worked just as well as the iOS version once it was on.

While it's still too early to know what Google's plans for the feature are — we'll likely be hearing a lot more about Android N at Google's I/O developer conference in May — we're hoping Google plans to keep it around for the final release.

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Customize Google Maps on Android With Stickers

Google just announced a cute new feature for its Android Maps app, which lets you customize your home and work addresses with virtual stickers.

Live in a barn? How about a high-rise apartment complex? What about a yellow submarine, or a teepee, or an old farmhouse? Now, you can reflect that in Maps.

"Whatever your dream home may be, Google Maps can help make it a little less make-believe," Google Maps Software Engineer Beth Findley wrote in a blog post. "Starting today you can customize your home and work addresses in Google Maps on Android with stickers, so your map is a little more you."

There are some benefits to saving your home and work addresses in Google Maps. You can, for instance, use the new driving mode feature for one-tap access to driving directions from your phone's home screen. You can also label places like your child's school or your best friend's house for quicker access to directions, traffic conditions, and best routes, Findley pointed out.

To save an address in Maps, make sure you're signed into your Google account, head over to the Your Places tab or just type an address, then press Add label. Once you get it set up, just type "home," "work," or "gym" in the search bar to quickly get directions instead of having to manually type the address every time.

The driving mode feature, introduced in January, makes assumptions about where you're going to make it easier to input destinations. It also analyzes the path ahead to alert you about possible traffic slow-downs and other issues. Google maps also recently got a little more detour-friendly on iOS and Android.

Source:PC MAG

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Android's largest malware threat is back

Bad news for Android users -- the 'worst Android vulnerability in the mobile OS history' is back.

This is the third time the malicious malware, Stagefright, also referred to as Metaphor, has emerged and has the potential to infect one billion handsets allowing cybercriminals to hack an Android smartphone in less than 10 seconds, according to tech experts.

According to a March 19 Engadget article:

“The key is a back-and-forth procedure that gauges a device’s defenses before diving in. Visit a website with a maliciously-designed MPEG-4 video and the attack will crash Android’s media server, send hardware data back to the attacker, send another video file, collect additional security data and deliver one last video file that actually infects the device. It sounds laborious, but it works quickly: a typical attack breaks into a phone within 20 seconds.”

The hacker will be able to gain access to data on the phone and control key operations. According to Engadget, devices like the Nexus 5, LG G3, and even the Samsung Galaxy 5 are possible victims of this hack.

Android users who run Android 6.0 Marshmallow or any other OS version that have Stagefright patches built in shouldn't worry. The phones most at risk are versions of Android phones with older operating systems.

“Android devices with a security patch level of October 1, 2015 or greater are protected because of a fix we released for this issue (CVE-2015-3864) last year. As always, we appreciate the security community’s research efforts as they help further secure the Android ecosystem for everyone,” Google said in a statement to Forbes.

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What is Android Pay and how is it different from PayPal wallet and Apple Pay?

Google has announced that Android Pay will come to the UK later this month, thus bringing the ability to make contactless payments to millions of Android phone users in the country.

While this is great news for owners of Android phones, the success of Android Pay will depend on how soon users can adapt to making cashless transactions through an entirely new system.


The launch of Apple Pay in June of last year had an immediate impact on the way people made payments for using public services. As per data released by Transport for London, journeys that were paid for via smartphones increased seven-fold ever since Apple Pay was launched. Over 200,000 smartphones were used in the last six months of 2015. On a daily basis, over 35,000 journeys are made on the system and more than 1,000 unique smartphone users are added to the network every day.

The success of Apple Pay is encouraging for Android Pay given that the number of Android phone users far outnumber iPhone users in the UK. However, the success of Android Pay also depends on the number of phones that will support the feature and if the compatibility will be restricted to premium phones only.

So how does Android Pay work?

Android Pay is based on a technology that will enable you to make in-store payments from your Android phone without having to swipe your credit card every time you make a purchase.

The feature works very much like your e-wallet, letting you store your credit cards, loyalty cards and other sensitive information on your phone through which you will be able to perform transactions from your phone.

Last year, Google entered into a partnership with Visa for Android Pay to enable Visa cardholders to make contactless payments using this feature. This takes place through an integration of Android Pay’s secure APIs with Google’s existing Host Card Emulation (HCE) functionality. In the United States, numerous banks, retailers, mobile carriers and payment networks are now working with Android Pay to let you make contactless payments through any of your accounts.

Is it any different from Apple Pay?

Apple maintains that Apple Pay is the most secure form of making payments and storing credit card information. Once a credit card number is saved on the Passbook app, it is assigned a Device Account Number which is separately saved on a chip inside iPhones. While making payments, the Device Account Number is shared via NFC accompanied by a one-time dynamic security code to verify the transaction. Stored credit card information is also never uploaded to iCloud.

Apple's Device Account Numbers and dynamic security codes ensure that payments are completely verified and also ensure credit card information isn't compromised either through public sharing or via system hacks.

While making payments through Apple Pay, your iPhone will automatically open the Passbook app where you can choose the credit card you wishes to pay from. The best part is that the vendor will know nothing about the credit card used except for the amount of the transaction. Once a transaction is completed, a light vibration and a beep will let you know that transaction has been successful.

Just like Apple Pay, Android Pay also uses a virtual account number to represent your account information to keep your card details safe. The system also notifies you about every transaction including location of transaction, details of merchant and transaction amount.

Is Android Pay any different from PayPal wallet?

PayPal is widely known for facilitating financial transactions on the web by letting you transfer funds from one account to another. You can use it to send money to a relative/friend and even make a purchase online or in a shop.

Vodafone has now launched a service to allow its users to make contactless PayPal payments through smartphones, thus making it easier for you to travel anywhere without carrying your wallet. In Spain, Vodafone customers can make contactless payments with PayPal in their Vodafone Wallet at more than 710,000 stores and the number is rising in other European countries as well.

While Android Pay and PayPal were till now different because of the contactless payment option in the former, the arrival of Vodafone Wallet has now bridged the gap and you will now be able to use both services to make contactless payments with equal speed and ease.

What other cashless payment options do Android phone users have?

Samsung Pay is yet another cashless payment platform which lets you make contactless payments with ease. The system is currently available only to owners of Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus phones but according to Thomas Ko, global co-general manager of Samsung Pay, it will be available on cheaper Samsung phones within the next year.

Ko also revealed that you will also be able to use Samsung Pay to make online payments. If this really happens, you'll be able to use the service just like PayPal, making online payments for fun.

Samsung Pay is based on MasterCard's MDES technology which enables tokenization of credit, debit, co-brand, prepaid and small business cards for use in e-wallet services. In addition, MasterCard is also working on a new biometric technology named ID Check which will let you to make payments at stores just by clicking your selfie!

Back in February of 2015, Samsung acquired wireless payment system LoopPay with a view to counter the increasingly popular Apple Pay wireless payment technology. Using add-on devices for smartphones, LoopPay can transmit stored credit card information to magnetic card readers to ensure smooth payments.

LG has also launched its own LG Pay mobile payment platform in Korea and will launch it in Europe soon. It will work in premium phones like G4, G3, G Flex 2, V10 and G5 which are NFC-enabled and if LG supports magnetic secure transmission technology as well, a lot of its users will be able to use the new platform in the coming days.


Source:MobileChoiceUK

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Best Android smartphones (and new handsets to look out for): March 2016 edition

Looking to buy a new Android smartphone? Want to know what the best smartphones out there currently are? Looking for the "iPhone" of Android smartphones? read on!


Whatever you requirements or budget, there's an Android handset on this list for you. This list also has a few handsets that aren't currently available but might be worth waiting a few weeks for it you want to live life on the cutting edge.

Worried that your Android smartphone won't make you as cool as the cool kids with their iPhones? Don't be!

These devices not only feature quality hardware, they will also give you an excellent Android user experience (hint: if you want a pure Android experience, got for the Nexus).

As always, prices and availability will vary from carrier to carrier, and if you buy an unlocked handset, expect to pay a premium price upfront. However, unlocked handsets offer you the freedom to switch between carriers as you please, a feature that can be a real help to world travelers.

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Android Pay will hit the UK in March

GOOGLE’S ANDROID PAY is set to hit the UK late, bringing a the contactless and mobile payments service to Britain ready to do battle with Apple Pay.

Some loose-lipped sources from the industry sources revealed the rumoured launch date, according to a report in The Telegraph, but Google has yet to confirm any details.

Apple already has the lead on Android Pay in the UK, Having launched in Blighty way back in July. But Android Pay found some success in with its US launch back in September, so is poised to rollout the service in the UK.

Mimicking Apple Pay, Android Pay works by enabling people who hate rifling through their wallets to pay for purchases using a smartphone loaded with Visa or MasterCard details at an NFC-enabled contactless terminal.

But things are about to get crowded in the mobile payments arena. Samsung is due to launch the Samsung Pay contactless payments service in the UK, although the company hasn’t divulged an official launch date. Already live in Korean and the US, Samsung Pay offers contactless payment through NFC and Magnetic Secure Transmission, a technology gained through the acquisition of LoopPay.

Unlike Apple Pay and Android Pay, this means that Samsung Pay will work with older payment terminals without NFC functionality, potentially giving it much more reach with UK retailers.

But Apple has enjoyed a pretty successful rollout of Apple Pay probably due to offering the market a limited selection of smartphones all running the same or very similar versions of iOS. While Google has a bigger challenge owing to the complicated and fragmented mass of handsets running Android with multiple and customised versions of the operating system.

With ever more retailers accepting contactless and mobile payments, we’re likely to see increasing numbers of people waving their smartphones over terminals to pay for their fancy coffees and artisan breads

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Facebook Live Video Coming to Android

Once Facebook's Live Video service came to the iPhone, Android users didn't have to wait very long for their turn. Less than a month after Facebook launched Live Video streaming to iPhone users in the United States, it's doing the same for Android users.

On its news page, Facebook said it would start its Android rollout over the next week in the U.S. with Android support coming to other countries later. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the Android launch Feb. 26th, during a town hall Q&A session in Berlin.

Easy To Use

Facebook Live (pictured above) is a way for users to share their experiences and perspectives in real time, whether the users want to broadcast to friends or colleagues, or public figures who want to connect with fans and followers, according to the company. Once the live video is broadcast, friends and followers can respond with comments. The stream is then saved to the broadcaster's Timeline so it can be watched again later.

Facebook did not address possible business applications for the app, but presumably any company with its own Facebook page could use Live Video to reach users who follow and like their companies.

"Live videos on Facebook are authentic and exciting, and we're seeing people tuning in and engaging directly with broadcasters in the moment," said Facebook product manager Vadim Lavrusik and engineering manager Dave Capra in a blog post.

To share live video, users need to tap the button reading "What's on your mind?" at the top of their News Feeds and select the Live Video icon. From there they can write quick descriptions and select who has access to the videos before sending them out live.

While the videos are being broadcast, the users will see the number of live viewers, the names of people who are tuning in, and have the ability to respond to real-time comments. Conversely, users can use the feature to discover live videos from their friends and the public figures they follow via their News Feed. While watching a live video, users can tap the Subscribe button to get notifications the next time the broadcaster releases more live videos.

Live Is Used More Frequently

Facebook said that the average user of its app spends three times as many minutes watching live video than watching video that is not live. Facebook also pointed out that more than half of the people watching live videos are using Android devices to do so. In addition to the Live Video rollout to Android users in the U.S., Facebook is expanding live video streaming to iOS users in 30 other countries.

The new initiative represents Facebook’s effort to take on Twitter in the live-video arena. Twitter-owned Periscope is currently one of the most popular live-streaming video apps. Also, the independent startup Meerkat works with Facebook’s API but is no longer functional on Twitter’s platform.

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How to speed up your Android tablet

How to speed up your Android tablet: Give your tablet a new lease of life!

Getting old sucks. We slow down, simple tasks take a little longer and new generations threaten to take our place. Just like us, Android tablets can become less responsive as they get older. Maybe they take a few extra seconds to load an app or start stuttering and pausing more than they used to. The good news is with a few tweaks, we can give your tablet a new lease of life.

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

A quick restart of your Android tablet is the quickest way to clear cached data, close background apps and free up your tablet’s processor and RAM resources. Simply press and hold the power button until you see the options to Restart or Power Off. This is only a temporary fix, but if your tablet has been up and running for months on end without shutting down, chances are a restart may give it a little speed boost.

Update Android

A more substantial fix is to check your tablet's Android software is up-to date. Go to Settings > About > Software Update to see if there are any updates available as these will often come with new features, performance enhancements, and bug fixes.

App updates are also worth downloading from the Google Play Store as developers are continually optimising and improving their apps.

Save Power

Now let’s figure out what apps or services are draining the most battery - but hang on what’s that got to do with speeding up our tablet? Go to Android Settings > Battery > Usage and if it turns out a particular app or game is using a lot of battery, chances are it’s using a fair amount of processor power too – so it may be worth uninstalling it.

Pesky Widgets

One of the advantages of Android devices over certain, fruity rivals is they support widgets. Widgets can show information like the time and weather or provide app shortcuts, news feeds, and music players. Some will regularly update (such as weather widgets) and may use up a chunk of your tablet's RAM and processing power – contributing to your tablet's performance issues.

Shorter Animations

You probably don’t even notice, but every time you press the Home button or open the app drawer for example, you’ll see an animation like a crossfade or zoom. They may look nice, but they can make your phone feel a bit on the slow side.

To reduce animation times, go to Settings > About and tap on ‘Build Number’ seven times to unlock Developer Mode. Don’t worry you don’t have to be a developer; anyone can do this! Go back to Settings and open Developer Mode, then scroll down until you see Window, Transition and Animator Duration Scale settings. Select each one and return the animation scale to .5x.

That’s it! Your tablet should feel quite a bit nipper now with shorter animations.

Faster SD Cards

If your tablet supports expandable storage in the form of MicroSD cards, it’s definitely worth investing in a better card with faster read and write speeds.

If you’re already using a card and you want to get a new one, make sure you back up your data first. The easiest way is to buy a USB card reader adaptor which plugs into a USB port on your laptop or computer. Plug the MicroSD card into the adaptor, open it the computer’s file explorer, and then copy and paste the contents to your desktop or a ‘backup’ folder. Reverse the process when you have your new card and simply pop it back into your tablet.

If you’re not sure which card to buy, you can’t go wrong with a Class 10 (guaranteed write speed of 10 MB/s) 32GB or 64GB capacity card from brands like Samsung, SanDisk, or Kingston.

Custom launchers

Nova and Google Now are two of the most popular launchers you can download and install from the Play Store onto your device. Launchers add what’s known as a ‘skin’ that changes things like animations, icon styles, and fonts. The changes may seem superficial, but depending on the launcher you install, they can have a big impact your tablet's performance

Clear Caches

As you use your device, data caches build up and can start to slow down the tablet’s software. Sometimes a good spring clean is in order so it’s a good idea to delete these caches every now and then. You can delete individual caches via the Apps menu in Settings or, more conveniently, use one of the popular (and free) apps such as Clean Master, CCleaner, and App Cache Cleaner which are available to download from the Google Play Store.

Rooting & Custom ROMS

Rooting your tablet and installing a custom ROM can speed up your device and give you access to hidden settings, including the ability to overlock your tablet’s processor and add or remove individual features. Be careful though, it’s a tricky process which has the potential to ‘brick’ your tablet as well as void its warranty.

There are a variety of tools and programs designed to help you root your device along with a range of custom ROMs available to download. However, most are designed for specific devices so it’s worth doing some research on how to safely root your tablet.

Factory reset

This step is for when all else fails and you think starting fresh is the best way forward. Back up your data first and then perform a factory reset by going to Settings > Backup and Reset > Factory Data Reset. After a few minutes you’ll be able to use your tablet again, good as new!

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Facebook Adds Multi-Account Support for Messenger (on Android)

If you run multiple accounts on Facebook, it can feel like a herculean task to try and manage all the communications going in and out. (And, of course, it would be bad form to reply to a question to a business' page you manage from your personal account, or vice versa.) More common, though, are families that all share one device throughout the day. If everyone in the house uses a communal tablet, you'd normally have to (annoyingly) sign in and out of a bunch of Facebook accounts whenever you want to talk to your specific Facebook friends.

Facebook has been testing a multi-account feature for Messenger for a little while, and the company is now officially rolling out the feature for its mobile app—Android first, as it's not clear when (or if) iOS users might get the feature.

"All over the world, hundreds of millions of people share their phones and tablets with members of their family and friends. At Messenger, we want to make communication simpler, more seamless and secure, so we are happy that we have now launched a feature on Android that enables multiple people to log in and use Messenger from a single, shared device," Facebook's post reads.

"The beauty of this new feature is that your messages stay completely private. Anyone else who shares the device will just see the number of notifications of messages that you have, but they will never be able to see the content of your messages."

Adding multiple accounts to your Android version of Facebook Messenger is fairly easy. All you have to do is pull up the app's settings menu (from within the app itself) and look for a new option labeled "Accounts." You'll add all the various accounts you want to use in Messenger there, but you'll still have to input a password the first time you switch over to any of them. After that, you can elect to have Facebook Messenger remember the password for any account—assuming you trust your family members to not mess with your chats.

On the plus side, each account will only receive notifications for itself. So, if you're signed into your account, you won't get any kind of notice if your siblings' accounts are blowing up with messages. They'll have to pry the device out of your hands and check for themselves.

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This Trojan for Android can steal your online banking passwords and wipe your smartphone

Mazar Bot is hidden in mutimedia messages, and gains admin rights on a user's phone to read banking OTP text messages.

Reports are emerging that a new Trojan on the Android platform is capable of wiping your smartphone, but not beofre stealing your banking information.

Mazar Bot, as it is called uses multimedia messages with a hidden payload. Once you read the message, the Trojan is installed and gains administrator rights. That can give the virus the ability to do pretty much anything, but here's the kicker. What it does is scan your incoming SMS messages, thereby gaining randomly generated passwords and codes used to carry out transactions from your online banking account, part of the two-factor authentication traditionally in place.

According to The Register, security specialists at Heimdal Security warn that the Trojan is masquerading as a banking helper, and is being advertised for sale on various websites. The in addition, the code first showed up on websites in the Dark Web, and uses a TOR connection to carry out attacks.

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Android N 7.0 - 7 things we'd like to see

We're big fans of the latest version of Android, as you'll see in our Android 6.0 Marshmallow review, but there's always room for improvement, even in the world's most popular mobile operating system. Google is constantly evolving its operating system and adds new features with every major iteration. We figured the time was right to throw our respective hats into the ring with a list of ideas generated partly but the Expert Reviews team and also partly inspired this /r/Android discussion. Here goes:

1. Multi-window support

This is a big one, but also a big challenge. Being able to run any app side-by-side with another would be brilliant, especially on today's huge phones and tablets. Samsung has done this for some time on its larger tablets, but only certain apps are compatible. By adding a split screen API to Android N, the operating system would at least start to allow app makers to develop their app with split screen in mind. Ultimately it will be down to device manufacturers as to whether they'd actually allow this feature on their devices - it'd be a resource hog - but by at least putting an API out into the wild Google would stimulate a genuine game-changing feature.

2. Night mode and blue light reduction

Available through the Twilight app for some time, a mode that automatically shifts your screen's colours to the warmer end of the spectrum would be handy for those of us who stay up far too late on our devices. Studies (although their accuracy is still up for debate) have shown that cooler (blue) colours on screen make you more alert, giving merit to the theory that tech is keeping us awake. By reducing the amount of blue on screen (and making the whole screen darker, too), we'll all have a better chance of a good night's sleep. Apple beat Android to the punch on this one, introducing Night Shift in iOS 9.3.

3. Better notifications

Android's notifications were well ahead of their time when the OS was introduced, but frankly times have moved on and notifications still feel just a little too static.

For example, properly interactive notifications would be brilliant. Android already supports action buttons in notifications (such as Reply and Snooze) but there's still work to be done. For example, you'll want some notifications to stick around even when you've cleared the rest of your notifications. Pinning a notification would be a great way to make it part of your workflow, a sort of mini to-do list in your notifications area.

We'd also love to see built-in text boxes in notifications, which is something iOS already offers. This allows you to compose quick replies to messages without having to delve into the app that fired the notification.

This final notification suggestion will appeal to anyone who's ever left an Android device switched off for a week: cloud-synced notifications, please. Right now, if you switch on an Android device that's been off for a while, every single notification that was waiting to be fired will come through at once, bombarding you with literally hundreds of messages all at once. If Google's cloud-based notifications system simply kept track of where notifications had been seen - for example on a different device also used by the same Google user - this would be solved.

4. 3D Touch-style peeking and contextual actions

Apple's 3D touch tech, currently available on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, is brilliant. It lets you perform actions on apps and objects without having to open that app or object. For example, you can 3D touch an email message or link to see a preview of said item without having to commit to opening. 3D touch is also useful for quick actions, where you'll tap on an app's icon and get it to perform a function without opening it.

^3D touch on iOS

An elegant example of this is already available on Android in the form of Action Launcher, which lets you swipe up on an app's icon and open a corresponding widget. It's not a perfect solution, since widgets weren't designed for this purpose, but it's a great example of how this sort of software update could be used. Adding an API for a action shortcuts on app icons would be a great start, but fully-fledged 3D touch-style support would be much appreciated.

An example of a recent phone that's actually tried this is the Huawei Mate S, which incorporates Huawei's own TouchPress tech. It's not massively useful because only Huawei's apps support it, but it's a great example of what's possible with more developer support.

5. SMS backup

This one's simple: allow SMS messages to be backed up to Google Drive. This can be done using third-party apps and many manufacturers have their own phone backup serice, but integration directly into Android and Drive would be handy.

6. Edge-screen swiping controls for back and forward commands

Android apps are fairly inconsistent in how they handle swipes from the very edge of the screen. Some apps open side menus, while others do nothing. More consistent handling of this extremely basic gesture would make the whole operating system flow better and also free up room at the bottom of the screen, as you'd no longer require a permanent on-screen 'back' button.

7. Better OLED support

OLED screens are a great way to save power because each pixel is individually lit, meaning when a pixel is black, it's switched off. This is unlike LED backlit phones where the backlight is always on, even if most of the pixels are only displaying black.

Phones with OLED screens have been around for a while, so a setting that prioritises completely black screens would not only save power, but also be useful in other applications such as bedside clocks and notifications fired while the phone is in standby.


Source: Expert Reviews

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