Firefox 34.0 Beta 5 is now available.
The latest Adobe Flash Player 15 beta is available (October 22, 2014)
Complicated and Convoluted
Complicated and convoluted are the current C-words.
According to The New York Times:
The problem is that under the terms of their MCX contractual agreement, they are not supposed to accept competing mobile payments products like Apple Pay, according to multiple retailers involved with MCX, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. If these retailers break their contracts, they will face steep fines for doing so, these people said.
Target who is a member of Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) is not taking Apple Pay at its 1,801 stores in the United States and 133 stores in Canada. Interestingly, Target is taking Apple Pay as payment method in its iOS App.
Target offers REDcard® which gives everyday 5% discount on almost everything in its stores in exchange for the customer’s information (nytimes.com).
CurrentC looks like the digital counterpart of Target REDcard® but with a really clunky implementation (techcrunch.com).
Are those QR-codes?
Reminds me of this collection of “Pictures of People Scanning QR-Codes” (via Daring Fireball).
Apparently CurrentC is the common enemy that spawn a union between Android and iOS users on Reddit. Thread 1 | Thread 2
CurrentC, a c-word, which is both complicated and convoluted.
Amazon Fire TV Stick
Pretty interesting move by Amazon to release Fire TV Stick. It sells for $39.00 and comes with a free 30-day trial of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Existing Amazon Prime customers get $20 off Fire TV Stick.
Amazon is clearly positioning Fire TV Stick against Google Chromecast, which currently sells for under $30 at Amazon and Roku Streaming Stick, which currently sells for $49.00 at Amazon.
It’s all thanks to a dual-core processor with 6x the processing power of Roku Streaming Stick, a dedicated VideoCore4 GPU, and 8 GB of storage—4x that of Chromecast and 32x that of Roku Streaming Stick.
I have Google Chromecast which currently is not connected to any TV. I ordered Amazon Fire TV Stick out of curiosity. I do enjoy Amazon Fire TV, until I stopped using it in favor of Apple TV; blame it on HBO GO and iTunes Home Sharing.
Falling Gas Prices, Lowest Since February 2011.
For the past few weeks gas prices have been falling to the lowest since February 2011. In Southern California, unleaded Octane 87 gas sells as low as $3.139 per gallon. Quite a difference compared to $4+ per gallon prices this April 2014.
Invites for Google Inbox and Domains
Pixelmator for iPad
Inbox by Gmail
Inbox by Gmail requires an invite. Email inbox@google.com to request one.
Your email inbox should help you live and work better, but instead it often buries the important stuff and creates more stress than it relieves. Inbox, built by the Gmail team, keeps things organized and helps you get back to what matters.
- BUNDLES – Similar messages are bundled together so you can deal with them all at once. And get rid of them with one tap.
- HIGHLIGHTS – Get the most important information without even opening the message. Check-in for flights, see shipping information for purchases, and view photos from friends right up front.
- REMINDERS: More than mail, you can add Reminders so your inbox contains all the things you need to get back to.
- SNOOZE: Snooze emails and Reminders to come back when you are ready to deal with them: next week, when you get home, or whenever you choose.
- SEARCH: Inbox helps you find exactly what you’re looking for— from your upcoming flight to a friend’s address— without having to dig through messages.
- WORKS WITH GMAIL: Inbox is built by the Gmail team, so all your messages from Gmail are here, along with the reliability and spam protection of Gmail. All of your messages are still in Gmail and always will be.
Inbox by Gmail is available for Android and iOS.
Yes, it is working with Gmail only and currently requires an invite.
I am really intrigued by Google’s attempt to redefine what email is. At the same time I am curious what Google get from out of this. I use Google Apps for my email services and Google Domains for my personal domain. Haven’t I even Google enough pieces of myself?
By the way, I have a few Google Domains invite left.