Mexico Developing Payment System with Amazon
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| Mexico Developing Payment System with Amazon | |
| Number | 768 |
| Broadcast Date | MARCH 6, 2019 |
| Episode Length | 5:10 |
| Hosts | Rich Stroffolino |
Mexico and Amazon working on a payment system, Spotify gains 1 million users in India a week after launching, and Chinese hackers target US universities for military research.
Headlines
- Reuters reports that Banxico, the central bank of Mexico, is working with Amazon on a new government backed payment system. The system will be called CoDi and will allow users to make in-person and online payments via a QR code. Banxico plans to roll out a pilot trial later this month. The central bank hopes CoDi can bring more Mexican citizens into the formal financial sector, where more than half of the population doesn't have a bank account, and only 3.9% of retail sales were made online in 2018.
- Spotify announced it has added more than 1 million users in India across both paid and free tiers since launching last week. India has a population of 1.3 billion, with more than 400 million smartphone users. Reuters reports Tencent-backed Gaana leads the Indian market with 80 million monthly users.
- A report by the cybersecurity firm iDefense claims that 27 universities were targeted by Chinese hackers in an attempt to access maritime military research. The attacks appeared as phishing emails from partner universities, that included a malicious payload once opened. The report states the group behind the attack was likely the same group that breached a US Naval contractor last June. The report listed MIT and the University of Washington as among those affected, with sources telling The Wall Street Journal that Penn State and Duke were affected as well.
- Universities and Academics have been pushing for open access to published research for years as the Internet makes it easier to search and access peer-reviewed research. Journals have pushed back as open access is seen to threaten bottom lines. The University of California System made open access provisions for its research as a requirement for renewing subscriptions to journals from Elsevier. Elsevier agreed to the terms if UC authors paid large publishing fees. As a result, the University of California system and its 10 campuses have decided not to renew a subscription with Elsevier. National library consortiums in Germany, Hungary and Sweden have all made the same decision. UC researchers will rely on preprints and Sci-Hub to obtain copies of hard to obtain research.
- Bloomberg's Sam Kim reports that Samsung is working on two new foldable phones, according to sources. The company plans to roll out a vertical clamshell foldable in late 2019 or early 2020, possibly with a second screen on the outside of the device when folded. An outward folding device, similar to Huawei's Mate X design, would follow. The company will reportedly include an in-screen fingerprint reader, and is still working on improving the durability of foldable panels.
- John Bayne, general manager at glass manufacturer Corning, told Wired his company is working on a bendable version of gorilla glass that could be available in two years. Corning is targeting a 3-5 mm bend radii for its 0.1mm thick glass while increasing damage resistance. Corning makes bendable Willow Glass but its manufacturing process requires a dip in a salt solution which would corrode in-glass transistors needed for displays. Samsung and Huawei's bendable phones use plastic screens, which are likely less scratch resistant. Coincidentally, Apple invested $200 million in Corning in 2017 in order to support research and development.
- IDC is now including earbuds and headphones that connect to smart assistants in its wearables number. Apple still leads as AirPods and some Beats headphone models added to Apple Watches for a total of 46.2 million in 2018. Xiaomi came second up 45% with the Mi Band 3, the best-selling wrist-worn fitness tracker in the world. Fitbits fell 10% to third. Huawei jumped 147% to fourth and Samsung took 5th. IDC noted the disappearance of headphone jacks, and the rise of in-ear biometrics and smart assistants as the reason it sees ear-worn wearables as the next product battleground.
- Fitbit announced new wearables. The Versa Lite smartwatch starts at $170, comes in a variety of colors, and retains the dimensions of the original Versa device. The device offers sleep and exercise tracking, but loses Wi-Fi, NFC, music playback, and swim laps / floor climb counts. The company also officially announced the Inspire and Inspire HR trackers, designed to be bought through health insurance plans, after listing them on its website last month. Finally, there's the Ace 2, a child-focused fitness tracker that starts at $70, and features a monochrome display with kid-friendly animations. The Ace 2 is built off the same body as the Inspire device, and can be firmware updated to the "adult" version when a child is ready. The Versa Lite and Inspire devices are available for preorder, the Ace 2 will come out this summer.
- According to an internal Apple document obtained by MacRumors, the company will now allow devices with batteries installed by third-parties to be elligable for Genius Bar and other authorized repairs. Previous Apple guidelines called for denying service to devices with third-party batteries regardless of circumstances.
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| Preceded by: "Roku Devices Now Alexa-Enabled" |
Mexico Developing Payment System with Amazon |
Followed by: "Mark Zuckerberg Outlines New Privacy-Focused Facebook" |