Android Authority |
- Google’s Nexus Q now listed as “no longer available” on Google Play
- Sprint’s Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE gets outed by FCC
- O2 UK wants to mobile industry to stop bundling chargers with their devices
- Google is actually happy that Acer and ASUS are undercutting the Nexus 7
- Xperia Z LTE spotted at O2 Germany, February launch mentioned
- LG Optimus G Pro / G2 specs and features reportedly leaked
- Researchers in Korea invent flexible batteries, but when will they come out?
- What is a Nexus device?
- Green Dot introduces “real” smartphone banking with GoBank
- Sony giving out free games on PlayStation Mobile for the next 6 weeks
| Google’s Nexus Q now listed as “no longer available” on Google Play Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:44 AM PST
Those who are still waiting for some sliver of good news regarding Google's "experimental" media streaming device will not be too pleased to hear that the Nexus Q has moved further away from ever being released. While the Nexus Q is still listed on Google Play, the description now says that it's "no longer available for sale", which means you can probably stop saving up for the device — $299 was the expected price — and start moving on to something else.
Back in October, Google removed all traces of the Q's existence on the Nexus landing page. Prior to that, we also saw the device's listing went from "shipping soon" to "not for sale" on the Play Store, before Google finally dropped the bomb that it's been indefinitely delayed. Is this it then for Nexus Q? Quite possibly. However, there's always a chance that Google will resurrect the device in another form, one that also offers more functionality. Who knows what surprise awaits us at the Google I/O 2013, which has been scheduled to take place in May. Even though you’ve barely gotten to know the Nexus Q, are you going to miss the orb-shaped hardware? Related Posts |
| Sprint’s Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE gets outed by FCC Posted: 18 Jan 2013 12:06 AM PST
If you find yourself hooked to the S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (or the original) and are considering making the move to a bigger tablet that sports the same magic wand, the Galaxy Note 10.1 is the natural candidate. The WiFi-only Galaxy Note 10.1 is readily available for purchase, but we're also weeks away – if not days – from the launch of the Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE on Verizon. If you hold out a bit longer, you should be able to get the Sprint variant as well, which has made its first showing at FCC. From the FCC filing, we know that the Galaxy Note 10.1 (SPH-P600) in Sprint flavor will boast LTE and HSPA connectivity, as well as WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. Unlike Verizon's, Sprint has yet to make the bigger Note official. When it does land, we do hope it’ll come with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, one that its WiFi cousin has just received a few days back. Related Posts |
| O2 UK wants to mobile industry to stop bundling chargers with their devices Posted: 17 Jan 2013 10:35 PM PST
O2 UK recently tried something with HTC’s flagship of the month, the One X+. They gave people an option to buy it with or without a charger. They were hoping that 70% of people would opt for the device sans charger. The actual result? An astonishing 82% decided they didn’t need yet another wall wart to USB converter in their home. O2 estimates that there are 100 million chargers in the UK not being used, enough to fill up four Olympic sized swimming pools. But forget about the size, think about all that wasted copper and rubber! So what’s the end goal here? O2 hopes that manufacturers will stop bundling chargers with their devices by the year 2015. That’s less than two years away. Can it be done? Let’s think this through. The first and most obvious thing that comes to mind is that wireless charging is going to explode this year. We would be shocked if the Galaxy S4 didn’t come with wireless charging. That means people are going to want to buy a wireless charger since most companies don’t bother bundling one in the box since it’s too expensive. Second, wired chargers are cheap to make, so not putting one in the box isn’t going to save much on the bill of materials. What is going to save a company money is the fact that they can use a smaller retail box, meaning more of said boxes can be put on a plane/boat/truck. That reduces transportation costs. And third … one and two should be good enough! We hope the industry listens to O2, but truth be told, companies don’t often make such major changes unless they’re forced to by the government. It was China and Europe that forced all phones to have microUSB. Which country is going to force HTC, Samsung, and everyone else to not bundle a charger? Related Posts |
| Google is actually happy that Acer and ASUS are undercutting the Nexus 7 Posted: 17 Jan 2013 10:00 PM PST
Google is a company that makes money off advertising. Period. The Nexus program isn’t a profit center, and neither is Android. Why did Google create Android then? Because back then, believe it or not, Google was scared of Microsoft taking control of the mobile landscape with Windows Mobile. Why are we explaining Google’s business model yet again? Because some people are not going to understand today’s story. According to DigiTimes, Google is thrilled that both ASUS and Acer are going to release sub $149 tablets in Asia and South America. Of course Google is thrilled, because that means more people are going to browse the internet. How do most websites fund their existence? Ads. Who is the largest advertising company? Google. The DigiTimes report also gives us some estimated sales numbers. Acer, with their MediaTek powered Android tablet, hopes to sell around 600,000 units during the first quarter of this year. And then there’s ASUS, who plans to use a VIA chipset in their cheap tablet. They want to sell 5 million of them by the end of this year. That’s a big number, but is it actually significant when it comes to tablets in general? We really want to see Google taking tablets seriously this year. No more telling developers that their smartphone applications will scale to large screen sizes. And no more ignoring designers either. It’s one thing to tell developers they should make apps for Android, but it’s something totally different to tell those developers how they should work with their design department to make their apps shine. If you’re in the market for an Android tablet, which one would we recommend? Easy. Try and find a 32 GB Nexus 7 with cellular connectivity. Chances are it’ll get refreshed at some point during the second half of 2013, but that just means the 2012 model will get that much cheaper. Related Posts |
| Xperia Z LTE spotted at O2 Germany, February launch mentioned Posted: 17 Jan 2013 09:57 PM PST
One of the most interesting devices of early 2013 is the freshly announced Sony Xperia Z, which was unveiled a few days ago in Las Vegas at CES. Since then we saw a variety of mobile operators and electronics retailers announcing plans to sell the device, with the smartphone slated to hit stores in the first quarter of the year. O2 Germany is ready to join the group of future Xperia Z providers, and the German mobile operator is already listing on its website the LTE version of the handset. While pricing details and actual availability dates are not public yet, the carrier does that the Xperia Z LTE will be available to order in February, so there's plenty of reasons to get excited. We expect even more carriers to announce Xperia Z availability soon, and we can't but notice that Sony is doing quite well so far at ensuring its next flagship device will enjoy a close-to-simultaneous launch in various international markets several months ahead before some of its main competitors will be released, including the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC M7, the LG Optimus G2, the upcoming Nexus 5 or the iPhone 5S/6. Let's hear it from German Android fans out there! Will you buy the Xperia Z LTE next month? Related Posts |
| LG Optimus G Pro / G2 specs and features reportedly leaked Posted: 17 Jan 2013 09:40 PM PST
Even though it's early in the new year, it's clear that LG will play a more important role in the Android universe in 2013, considering the plethora of LG-related Android rumors we get almost on a daily basis. We have recently heard that the Nexus 4 production has been stopped for the company to focus on 2013 devices (that report has been denied a couple of times since) and that the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7.7 are coming at Google I/O via LG (also denied). Now we're looking at a different LG device that's also rumored to be unveiled later this year, the LG Optimus G2. Or is it the Optimus G Pro? Or is it possible that we're going to have two new family members of the Optimus G family this year, the G2 and the G Pro? LG has confirmed that the G line will hold its top-of-the-line Android handsets, without mentioning what such devices will be called. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at this new rumor that seems to detail the Optimus G Pro. According to Japanese forum 2channel the Optimus G Pro (model number L-04E) will be launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan later this year and will offer buyers the following set of specs and features:
Evidently, we can't confirm anything just yet, but we'll remind you that this isn't the first time we hear that one of LG's upcoming flagship devices will come with a 5-inch 1080p display, a feature that all high-end 2013 handsets will apparently offer. Are you looking forward for the next Optimus G model or are you shopping for something different this year? Related Posts |
| Researchers in Korea invent flexible batteries, but when will they come out? Posted: 17 Jan 2013 09:28 PM PST
We can make flexible screens, we can make flexible motherboards, but if we can’t make flexible batteries, then what’s the point of dreaming about bendy smartphones? Researchers in Korea claim to have figured out the battery problem. They say the traditional liquids used to make a lithium-ion battery aren’t very safe. If they get too hot, then it’s possible for the battery to melt, causing the positive and negative sides of the battery to touch, which results in an explosion. What the researchers did with their battery was to swap out the liquid parts of the battery with solid compounds. It sounds counter intuitive, but these solid compounds are flexible, and they’re allegedly even safer than their liquid counterparts. Now all of this is fine and dandy, but we care about one thing and one thing only: When will this technology reach our smartphones? There sadly isn’t an answer. We love scientists working on new and interesting inventions, but if they can’t bring them to market, then are they really inventions or are they just lab demos? This writer used to work in a laboratory that was trying to figure out which materials could be used to build future transistors. That was over half a decade ago. Have transistors changed in that time? Sure, they’re now smaller than ever, but they’re built pretty much the same way they have been since the first silicon chip rolled off the assembly line. Again, science is great, and we need more people doing science, but we also need people to figure out how to bring the latest advances to the masses. Faster and cheaper, that’s the creed of the industry we’re in. Related Posts |
| Posted: 17 Jan 2013 07:22 PM PST
"What is a Nexus device?" seems like a very strange question to ask on a site dedicated to all things Android. But that’s not entirely so, because there are plenty of mobile consumers that don’t happen to own a smart device yet, whether we're talking smartphones or a tablets. Despite being an integral part of Android, the Nexus brand may not be as well known to new smart device buyers as the iPhone and/or the iPad, or Apple’s mobile devices. Similarly, it may be not clear to some people that the Nexus is an Android device, which brings us to the point of this particular article. In case you haven’t guessed it by now, a Nexus is a family of smart devices that are sold by Google. Whether a smartphone or a tablet, the Nexus runs Android – in most cases the latest Android version out there – and represents Google’s own vision of what an Android device should look and feel like. Unlike the heavily marketed iPhone and iPad that are selling by the boatload, Nexus devices are yet to become equally popular when it comes to sales, but Google keeps making them, and for good reason. Without Nexus devices around, we’d hardly have any smartphone or tablet out there running the latest Android software, and Google can’t have that. If you will, we’ll use the tree-in-the-forest existential question. If a tree falls in the forest but there’s nobody there, does it make any sounds? Similarly, if Google launches an Android OS version, but there’s no device running it to be launched immediately after, will Android make the same noise in the mobile ecosystem? The Search giant needs to be in a dominant position in the smartphone business, when it comes to market share, in order to have a better chance to position itself on top of mobile search, in order to keep making lots of ad- and search-based cash in the so-called "Post PC" computing era that's dominated by portable devices. Therefore, to successfully convince potential mobile device buyers to get an Android device, Google needs to have its own smarphones and tablets out there, its own flagship devices to highlight the new features of its latest Android OS versions. In their turn, users get to appreciate the new Android features each new release brings to the table and they aspire to experience them as soon as possible on their existing or future Android devices via custom ROMs and subsequent official releases – we'll get into the actual software Nexus devices run further down the road. Without Nexus devices, the alternative would be for Google to wait for its OEM partners to rollout Android updates to consumers, and that would certainly not be beneficial for the company. The latest Android version would only be released months after being officially introduced, with users and developers having to wait longer times to experience the new software. And that could hurt Google in this highly competitive business. Since we did mention new Android OS launches, we’ll mention that you can expect at least a new Nexus device to come out every time Google unveils a major Android update. Google has gotten us used to expect new Nexus hardware every time we’re moving to a different desert kind, with the next one(s) supposed to come out this May at the Google I/O 2013 developer event when the company will reportedly unveil Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie.  HTC Nexus One What Nexus devices are there?To date, there have been released seven Nexus branded devices as follows: four smartphones, two tablets and a media device. The most recent Nexus devices have been launched at various times last year including the Nexus 7 tablet by Asus, the Nexus 4 smartphone by LG (review here) and the Nexus 10 tablet by Samsung (review here). Google also unveiled in mid-2012 the Nexus Q, a media device that was quickly killed off, or at least delayed. As you can see, Google is working with a variety of partners when making Nexus devices, and it’s not conceiving them in-house with Motorola, or at least not yet. But we’ll talk more on that later. The previous Nexus devices were all smartphones: the HTC Nexus One, the Samsung Nexus S and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and were released in early 2010, late 2010 and late 2011, respectively. The 2011 Motorola Xoom tablet is also a device that was built together with Google, running at the time of its release the first Android version optimized for tablet use. But the device, one of the first tablets to take on the iPad, or at least to try to do it, was never marketed as a Nexus gadget.  Motorola Xoom Nexus naming nightmareAs you can see from the product names mentioned above, Nexus devices don't have a cohesive naming scheme and that could turn out to be a marketing annoyance in the coming years and I'll show you why. The first Nexus handset was the HTC Nexus One, which had a rather logical name. We were expecting a Nexus Two to follow, but legend has it that Samsung did not want to be second to anybody. Consequently the second and third Nexus smartphones were called the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus, respectively. Finally, the fourth model was unexpectedly baptized the Nexus 4 – not Nexus Four mind you – and we expect this year's Nexus smartphone to be called the Nexus 5, as long the company making it will not have a different opinion.  Samsung Nexus S That's all fine and dandy, but while Nexus smartphones numbers represent their generation, moving along to Nexus tablets will complicate things. The Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 are not the seventh and tenth, respectively, Nexus tablets. They're the first two, only one is a 7 incher while the other sports a 10-inch display. In case you don't see the problem yet, then in couple of years we may have a strange mix of Nexus products including the Nexus 7 smartphone and the third-generation Nexus 7 tablet or Nexus 7 3.0. What matters though is that you remember that Nexus devices are made only by/for Google. Nexus vs Android devicesSo if Nexus devices are running Android, what are the differences between Nexus smartphones and tablets and all the other Android-running gadgets out there? HardwareIn the Android universe, it’s not exactly possible to have the latest hardware on a device for more than a few months. Because a variety of worldwide retailers launch new Android gadgets every few months, Nexus devices will not always be the hottest devices in town. That said, you should know that at the time of their original launch, Nexus smartphones sport the latest hardware features available to OEMs, and with few exceptions they're ready to offer you the same set of specs and features found on top-shelf Android handsets So Nexus smartphones are usually high-end devices, but they may lack certain features, including microSD support, which happens to be a deal breaker for some, and even LTE support (see the Nexus 4) which could be a problem in the future if the trend continues. With Nexus tablets, or at least with some of them, things are a bit different. Because it wasn’t able to really compete against the iPad since Apple launched the iOS tablet, and because the Search company received an unexpected hit from Amazon, which released the Kindle Fire tablet in late 2011, a device running a forked Android version stripped off all Google elements and apps, and sold at cost, Google was forced to come out with a budget tablet of its own, the Nexus 7, in mid-2012. Therefore the Nexus 7 tablet isn’t a high-end device specs-wise. It’s not targeting the iPad directly, not that you’re likely to feel any performance troubles during daily tablet operations because it still sports some great internal components. The Nexus 10, on the other hand, is Google’s first try at directly fighting the iPad, and therefore it’s offering some higher-end features.  Samsung Galaxy Nexus SoftwareThis is where Nexus devices shine and where things will get interesting. Since they run the latest Android OS version, usually getting it a few days/weeks after it’s released, the Nexus smartphones and tablets offer you a pure Android experience without any custom user interface built on top of the OS. And without the bloatware apps. This way, Google is able to let users enjoy a pure vanilla/stock Android experience compared to OEMs that try to customize the look and feel of Android in order to differentiate themselves from their Android competitors. Because of this practice, non-Nexus devices that run customized Android builds are upgraded to the latest OS much later. Sure, you’ll say that there are some OEMs out there that are ready to offer you a stock Android experience, which is basically what Nexus devices do. But those OEMs will not be able to offer you equally fast Android updates, since they’ll only have access to the software later compared to Google, who’s building it, and on top of that, they’ll have to coordinate with carriers selling their hardware to release the updated Android ROMs. Mobile operators and their agendas are other reasons that explain the delay in Android OS upgrades. OEMs can't push the updates directly and they require an annoying middleman, the carrier. And carriers aren't really interested in having those updates out as fast as possible to meet the needs of their customers. What they want is to sell as many handsets and tablets, on-contract devices if possible, and that those devices have plenty of bloatware apps installed on them from the get-go. Once Android updates are ready, carriers still get to approve and disapprove their rollout and will release them at their own convenience, which is usually several months after the Nexus devices have received the latest Android OS available. Obviously there are some exceptions for Nexus devices when it comes to updates. Since Google, OEMs and mobile operators have different goals in mind which affect Android OS update rollouts and increase fragmentation, some innocent Nexus devices will get caught in the fire. Just check out Verizon’s or Sprint’s Galaxy Nexu models, which aren’t always running the latest and greatest Android OS has to offer. Buying Nexus vs buying other Android devicesSo now that you have an idea what Nexus devices have to offer compared to their Android equivalents, and especially if you're just moving away from cellphones / featurephones to smartphones and/or tablets, you may be wondering whether it's better to buy a Nexus or an Android device. You know, since they’re essentially running the same software.  Asus Nexus 7 But there is no right answer. Going the Nexus way is encouraged if you want to have a pure Google Android experience and have access to the latest software updates without installing custom ROMs based on those software releases. In most cases you'll run Google's latest OS version after a few days since it becomes official, although some carriers may still get in the way of timely Nexus updates (see Verizon and Sprint in the USA). You won’t have to deal with custom user interfaces built on top of Android and you won’t have to deal with all the pre-loaded apps from carriers and their partners that you’ll find on other Android handsets and tablets. Furthermore, if you are a software developer looking to create Android apps and/or bringing your existing mobile apps to the Google Play Store, then owning a Nexus device may be a must, in order for you to stay up to date with the latest Android releases and what not. At the same time, owning a bunch of other Android hardware may be required in order for you to optimize app experience on different smartphones and tablets. If the timeliness of software updates isn't such an important factor in your Android device buying decision, then going for any other device isn't a bad thing either. No matter what your budget is, you'll be able to afford a new Android handset and/or tablet, and you'll have a rich mobile experience. You don't need to buy a Nexus to get that. Not to mention that you may be interested in having a device that comes with a microSD slot or LTE connectivity, which would mean they wouldn’t be available by purchasing the latest Nexus devices out there. The better acquainted you get with Android on these non-Nexus devices, the more likely you'll be to try out custom ROMs, and there are a lot of them out there – although we'll never encourage you to install any unofficial software on any device you own – and you'll get access to Android updates faster than your carrier wants you to. Aren't Nexus devices cheaper though?So if software updates or Android development aren't going to affect your Android buying decision, handset and tablet pricing certainly matters nowadays. The Nexus devices are generally high-end handsets and tablets, and you'd expect them to sell at high-end-device prices, right? That's not entirely so though, because Google has made a clear statement in 2012 that it's willing to drop prices on its Nexus devices in order to get more and more customers through the Google Play Store door. The thinking here is that, once inside, these customers would use more and more Google mobile services and download more apps and other digital content, thus becoming hooked on the mobile OS. Not only would Google be making some money in the process off of content sales and ads, but Nexus buyers could upgrade to a future Nexus or non-Nexus device in the coming months and/or years, all the while remaining faithful Android consumers. The Nexus 7 sells at cost at $199 for the 8GB version, while the cheapest Nexus 4 (8GB model) retails starting at $299 when available in Google Play. The Nexus 10 is slightly more expensive, at $399 (16GB version) but still more affordable than its competition.  LG Nexus 4 How is Google able to pull it off? First off, in the tablet sector it has to fight the Amazon threat, not to mention that Apple has its own cheaper tablet as well, so that's an area where we can't expect any price hikes for the foreseeable future. But what surprised everyone in late 2012 is that Google managed to strike an interesting deal with LG to sell the Nexus 4 for a lot less than anticipated, as long as the device is purchased through its Google Play storefront. The device sells starting at $299 and that's the off-contract price. But carriers and retailers around the world do not get the same preferential treatment. Will the trend continue in 2013? That's certainly something we're interested to see, because while Google is definitely making waves with its Nexus phones and tablets (with price being an important marketing factor,) it's also indirectly hurting its partners. All the other Android OEMs don't have a second revenue stream like the Google Play Store to fall back to and they want to make money from handset and tablet sales. And that’s harder to do when Google is selling hot devices with lower starting prices. And then there are the carriers, who can't really afford to offer buyers cheap high-end handsets as the Nexus 4 because subscribers would quickly move from postpaid to prepaid plans, which is not what any mobile operator wants. On the other hand, the tougher the economy, the more attention one pays to the budget for mobile purchases. With that in mind, getting a brand-new high-end off-contract Nexus 4 smartphone is probably one of the best deals one can look forward to – in fact it’s the only such offer available out there, as no other high-end smartphone will sell for as low under the same conditions (new device, without a subsidy and contract). If only Google had enough Nexus 4 units to go around, right? Google and MotorolaAs you have noticed so far, Google worked with a variety of companies including HTC, Samsung, Asus and LG to release Nexus devices. And that's certainly the best business practice for the company. Google can't just partner up with one Android device maker for Nexus handsets and tablets because at the end of the day Google wants to keep its partners happy in order to have as them making as many Android devices as possible year after year. However, Google failed to use Motorola to build Nexus devices so far. Starting with May 2012, Motorola is officially a Google subsidiary which means that in theory the two companies could create a plethora of Nexus smartphones and tablets and sell them at cost to hook as many new mobile users into Google's mobile environment.  Samsung Nexus 10 But Google said it wouldn't treat Motorola preferentially now that it owns it, and it probably had to show everyone it means that by not creating any Nexus device in partnership with Motorola in 2012. In fact, it looks like it intentionally stayed away from doing so. Moreover, Moto launched several new Android devices in the RAZR family in fall 2012 without equipping them with the then-freshly launched Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS version. Google execs did say that the Motorola purchase was mainly for its patent chest needed to fight Apple, Microsoft and anyone else that's attacking Android, although that kind of didn't work for the company, attractive negative reactions from U.S. and European regulatory commission that went as far as to initiate inquiries into Google's patent-related business practices. Will 2013 be the year of the first Motorola Nexus device? We'll just have to wait and see. Nexus devices are here to stayGoogle's former CEO and current chairman Eric Schmidt once said that the HTC Nexus One was a one time deal, hinting that a Nexus Two was not in the works. However, a short while after those statements were made, the second-generation Nexus came out, at which point it was clear that Nexus handsets are here to stay. Fast-forward to 2012, and the same Schmidt said that Google is very much interested in hardware. As you can see, I never said Google is making Nexus devices to counter iPhone sales and to make lots and lots of money off of Nexuses. In fact, to date, no Nexus device has enjoyed impressive sales numbers, at least until 2012. The Nexus 7 and Nexus 4 could see increased sales compared to their predecessors, but we have to take into account here the fact that they're selling at cost and that the mobile market has increased significantly in the last couple of years, with more and more buyers turning their attention to smart mobile devices. It’s also worth pointing out that Google is not sharing Nexus sales data, so we only have educated and uneducated guess to go with when it comes to Nexus sales performance, particularly for the latest models. But Google needs to continue to make Nexuses, keep the buzz around them at high-levels and sell as many as possible for the reasons mentioned earlier. It needs to have a competitive mobile OS, it needs to show its latest Android OS version to the growing number of potential buyers around the same time iOS, Windows Phone or BlackBerry OS get new releases in order to have a high number of overall Android activations, it needs to increase its Google Play Store and Google services user base and it needs to rule the smartphone mobile landscape in order to get a comfortable enough lead in mobile search to keep money coming in.  Google Nexus Q So do expect to see more Nexus devices in the coming years. And whether you pick one up or not next time you're buying a smartphone or tablet, it won't necessarily matter for Google, as long as you choose an Android device. Will you buy a Nexus devices as soon as possible? Related Posts |
| Green Dot introduces “real” smartphone banking with GoBank Posted: 17 Jan 2013 05:49 PM PST
There has not been any real internet bank. At least not until now. Even if you can use PayPal, Passbook or Google Wallet to pay for purchase online or on-site, money has to come from somewhere, which is usually a credit card or even your PayPal balance (which itself comes from a card or bank account). Green Dot, a company that provides prepaid Visa debit cards, has announced a smartphone app which serves as a bank in itself. Called GoBank, it is an aggressive attempt at making true internet banking a reality. GoBank does not have any brick-and-mortar building, nor any branches. But account holders can withdraw funds from more than 40,000 ATMs without any usage fees. Most of the other services will also be for free. There are no overdraft nor penalty fees. Accounts do not have a minimum maintaining balance, and there are no monthly fees. Sounds too good to be true? There are some fees and charges for only four services: use of out-of-network ATM, using the debit card abroad, adding a personal photo to the debit card, and membership fees. Account members can pay whatever they want for the membership fees. Bank interaction and signup is through the smartphone app. Users can pay for online and in-store purchases and send money via SMS or email. They can also take a glance at their bank balance without signing in. GoBank can write up a check on the account holder’s behalf, for paying bills and the like. Like Green Dot credit cards, account holders’ funds are linked to a Visa debit card account. Funds can be reloaded from an existing bank account, and can be done through established online transfer methods. Account holders will also have a debit card, and they can have a Facebook photo printed on it instead of a bank logo. Initially, there will be a limited number of slots for account holders. Only 10,000 people would be allowed to sign up for the beta test. Expansion will depend on the outcome of the beta. For skeptics of internet banking, it would be good to know that Green Dot bought an FDIC-insured bank in Utah in 2011. GoBank accounts are FDIC-insured. They also bought Loopt in March last year. Loopt has been better known as a mobile location app developer even before the iPhone was introduced. The app seems to be the right app at the right time. The most likely signups will come from iPhone or Android users who transact regularly on the internet, and are dissatisfied with their banks. This is a huge potential market which has remained largely untapped. After all, Green Dot calls this sector — mostly in the below-40 demographic — as “underbanked,” which means users are not satisfied with traditional banks and the limitations of traditional accounts. Internet banking has a long history. Most banks and credit card companies will usually have their own customer portals where the client can check their balances and transfer money from one account to another. However, operations of these internet banking services are tied with their established banks, and a client has to go to a branch to sign up for services at some point. With GoBank, all bank transactions are done purely online. GoBank is available as a free iOS and Android app, and can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store, respectively. Related Posts |
| Sony giving out free games on PlayStation Mobile for the next 6 weeks Posted: 17 Jan 2013 02:43 PM PST
All gamers need to get started is either a Playstation Vita or a PlayStation Certified Android device. Then it’s a matter of opening up the PlayStation Mobile store, finding the game and downloading it. So there is nothing complicated involved. According to the official PlayStation Mobile blog, the fine people at Sony have a little left over holiday spirit they want to let out. That is very nice of them. It will also help get more people into PlayStation Mobile. Free stuff is a seriously great way to advertise. So what is this week’s free game from PlayStation Mobile?This week’s free title is called Samurai Beatdown. It’s your typical hack’n'slash, 2D side scroller game. You go through levels and cut up everyone who gets in your way. It’ll remain free until next Tuesday, then a new game will be made available for free next Wednesday. PlayStation Mobile fans, is anyone excited about getting six free games? Let us know if you plan on grabbing these up. Related Posts |
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