The future of wireless transactions, and Square in particular, is bright, according to a recent GigaOmTech article. Square is a personal financial services company which processes transactions through its square piece of hardware and accompanying app. The small magnetic strip reader plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone or iPod Touch, enabling the user to accept credit card payments. The system targets small business owners rather than large merchants or companies. Think of roadside food stands, or home merchandise parties.

In the article, Square dismisses NFC, stating that it is emerging technology with no compelling apps. With Apple and other heavy hitters potentially developing NFC and NFC apps for the next gen iPhone, it seems odd that Square wouldn’t see it as a threat. They do have a point, that consumers will still have credit cards and wallets and use them for the forseeable future, or least until the infrastructure is in place to offer an attractive alternative to cash and/or credit cards. The future of the usability then becomes dependent not on the ever-evolving technology but the ablity to market and deliver a safe, reliable, cost-effective transaction system. In this sense, Square has an edge in offering lower cost transactions for the nearly 26 million merchants who may not be able to sustain merchant accounts through Visa or Mastercard. And they are prepared to integrate NFC in the future for marketing their niche in small business financial services.

[GigaOmTech]

Listeners of Sirius XM Radio have a new website to access their content, with some distinctive improvements. Choosing channels is much quicker and easier, with a graphic akin to an old FM dial where the user positions the mouse pointer along a horizontal bar of lines indicating the different stations. Pick a music category like rock or pop, and only those stations are highlighed. Users can now share and purchase their music more easily as well. Songs can be shared through Facebook and Twitter, and music can be downloaded from Amazon and iTunes (as long as iTunes is installed on the same computer). The iTunes purchase option already exists in the free Sirius XM iOS app. (Although the website radio app has changed significantly, PocketTunes, a satellite and Internet radio app that includes all of the Sirius content rather than just the selected stations of the official app, is still operational for now). Expect an official announcement from Sirius XM in the next few days.

Check after the jump for a screenshot.

And check here on how to get a $2 off an mp3 purchase through Amazon. Thanks jastevenson!

[MacDailyNews] [SatWavesPro]

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A week ago I posted a few apps to check out to get geared up for The Big Game. Since then, the NFL has released its official Superbowl XLV program. Okay, it’s already half-time, but it is a pretty nice app, with a few astounding exceptions. The interactive rosters, articles about the Green Bay Packers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Comebacks in the Super Bowls are covered well. The app runs smoothly, particularly given the massive amount of content. But there are a few problems. First, with the library of NFL Films, why is the embedded content from the networks? Secondly, this is a program to accompany probably the most-watched television program to date, backed by billions of dollars, sponsors, staffers – and they have typos – plural?

Check after the break for screenshots, including some glaring errors.

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From Innovelis, the creators of BudFits, comes two new cord management tools, CordFits and CordShrink. I met the marketers of these products at CES. After the BudFits review, they were kind enough to provide samples of their other products for review and a major giveaway!

BudFits are built specifically with the stock Apple earphones in mind. They provide a sturdy over-the-ear cradle, which allows the user to really wedge the buds in place, particularly useful for activities such as running. CordFits enable the listener to adjust the cord length and offers a tangle-free option for wrapping the buds for storage. CordShrink is a clip-on attachment specifically for the iPod Nano, 6th generation. It comes in two profiles for cord management.

Read on for the reviews and giveaway details.  (more…)

Dev InfectionFX has released a handy tweak called Voice Notifications that calls out the contact name of the person texting or calling you. This would be helpful if a person has their hands full performing a task and doesn’t want to stop and pick up their phone just to see a text or call is from persona non grata. However, it might not be that helpful if you’re out with one girl and get a text from, say, their roommate whom you are also dating. This tweak allows you to customize the alert messages spoken by a computerized female voice. It does not yet allow you to choose custom recordings for individual contacts. The creator is taking suggestions for improvements and is already working on supporting BiteSMS and Boxcar. The tweak is 99 cents in the Cydia store, and runs on iPhone 3GS or newer running iOS 4.0 or later.

Click on the below image to watch the demo video.

Andy Baio from The Tumblr blog has generated his own index of stories from The Daily, the iPad-only newspaper publication launched just yesterday. The app itself does not contain an index of stories, but a table of contents of ten featured stories. The Daily:Indexed (“a very unofficial index”) was ostensibly created to fill this void. The website allows users to review all available stories and launch links to them. The links are not available through The Daily’s own website or search engine. In essence, readers without iPads, or those not wanting to pay for the content, can view it for free. However, it does not replace the iPad experience, as the iPad versions of the stories do not translate nicely to the web, with the interactive component of photos and images being stripped down.

It is a common feature for iPad or online magazine content to be available for sharing via email, Twitter, Facebook, et al. However, it is not common for all the links to be aggregated and posted on a dedicated website. In the end, the Daily’s website may see more traffic, which won’t necessarily be a bad thing. But with Apple taking a 30% cut, and readers doling out content for free, it may make publishers more leery of developing iPad-specific apps and content.

[Techcrunch]

To satisfy the vast majority of its users, Verizon has released a PDF memo outlining its strategy as it attempts to keep its data network humming. With new iPhone users about to flood the system, Verizon plans to lessen the data flow to their heaviest users (those 5% that use an “extraordinary” amount of data) over this and the next billing cycle. To regulate the flow, they plan to optimize video, and use transcoding technologies to make the most efficient use of their stream. More details of the process are available. 

In other words, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. Verizon is trying to avoid the pitfalls AT&T faced when the iPhone was first launched. 3G smartphone users already use about one-fourth of Verizon’s available data feeds and the launch of the Verizon iPhone will compound any network problems. 

You can read the Verizon memo after the jump. 

[Ars Technica via BGR] 

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Apple is taking steps towards their new digital publication subscription policy. With the release of The Daily today, subscribers may purchase, through Apple, weekly issues for 99 cents, or an annual subscription for $39.99. Apple also changed their terms and conditions for the App Store to reflect the new subscription policy. In essence, the change states that subscriptions may now be paid through iTunes, with Apple handling the billing – and taking their 30% cut. Apple has now solidified its position that it will not allow apps, like Sony’s eBook reader, to circumvent the in-app purchase procedure, if publications which to push subscriptions through their apps. Publishers offering free access to their iPad or iOS versions to paid print subscribers will not be affected.

The still unresolved issue is what access publishers will have to consumer data as relegated through the App Store. And will the new one-click subscription model help the rapid decline in emagazine downloads? Apple exec Eddy Cue hinted at a future announcement regarding the new policy ”very soon.”

[TechCrunch] [TUAW]

CameraWallpaper, the long-awaited tweak previously available for Android phones is now available in the Cydia store. iOS devices running 4.0 or higher with cameras can set their camera view as the wallpaper and take screenshots from the Springboard. No word yet on battery issues, although it does offer battery saving options. Other features include:

• Use your live camera as your wallpaper.
• Take a picture anytime from SpringBoard.
• Innovative control menu, activator-enabled.
• Toggle between front and rear camera*.
• Turn the torch on/off*.
• Set flash mode (auto,force-on,force-off) when capturing photos*.
• (* on devices that support it).
• Auto Focus.
• Auto Exposure.
• Auto WhiteBalance.
• Pause-resume camera.
• Auto-start modes.
• Battery saving options.
• Set video tranparency so you can see your wallpaper in the back.
• Set icons transparency, and more!

The app, created by limneos, is $1.99 in the Cydia store. Click the image below to see the app in action on YouTube.

[FreakGeeks]

An iPhone user in California is suing AT&T for supposedly inflating his data usage and charging him for data transfers that never took place. To confirm his suspicions, Patrick Hendricks hired a consulting firm to test his claims. They claim to have found AT&T regularly inflated incoming data transfers between seven to fourteen percent, and up to as much as 300 percent.

To further test their theory, the firm monitored data charges for 10 days on an iPhone with all push notifications shut off, location function disabled, no active apps and no email account set-up. AT&T reported 2.2 MB of data usage for the phone.

Hendricks claims that not only was he charged for data transfers that never took place, but the practice curtailed his use to the point that he feared taking full advantage of the data he was allotted for his $15 per month plan which allowed for 200 MB data.

Other users have chimed in with similar experiences, citing multiple megabyte drains literally overnight, when phones were inactive.

If the lawsuit is deemed to have merit, it could turn into a class-action suit involving millions of AT&T subscribers who use capped data plans. It would not include those who are covered under an unlimited plan.

The timing could not be worse for AT&T, as some experts suggest they could lose approximately 25% of their users to Verizon. It also coincides with rumors that AT&T may be allowing once-unlimited users unhappy with their capped plans to return to their former plans. Apple has not been named as a defendant in the case.

[InfoWorld] [Computerworld]