May 15th, 2014 by Elma Jane
Looking to buy a new business phone? Wait!!! A slew of hot new smartphones are set to launch in the coming months, 2014 has already seen its share of major releases. This spring, HTC unveiled the new HTC One M8, which packs a slick all-metal body and Samsung debuted the featured-packed Galaxy S5. Nokia also released the Lumia Icon, its new flagship Windows Phone. But some of the year’s biggest releases are still to come, including a new version of Apple’s iPhone and a follow-up to Samsung’s stylus-equipped Galaxy Note 3. Meanwhile, a new Android phone from startup OnePlus could make a splash.
Galaxy Note 4
Samsung is expected to launch a follow-up to the Galaxy Note 3 this fall, one of the best business phones ever made, thanks in part to the included S Pen stylus, which slides out from a slot on the phone’s chassis and turns the device into a note-taking machine. The phablet also boasts a stunning 5.7-inch display that’s big enough for real productivity tasks. Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed any details about the Note 3’s successor, but there are a few safe bets. For starters, fans can expect the line’s trademark stylus to return for the Galaxy Note 4. Its display meanwhile, should rival the Samsung’s newer Galaxy S5 in terms of brightness and picture quality. Finally, considering Samsung packed a fingerprint reader into the S5’s home button, it’s likely the company will do the same for the Note 4. A fingerprint reader can make your business phone more secure, since only you can unlock the device with a quick swipe of your finger.
iPhone 6
Apple’s iPhone 5s is a great phone, but its compact 4-inch display could be too small for some people. Reports indicate that Apple might deliver a much bigger device in the iPhone 6, which is expected to debut this fall in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variants. That’s a big deal for business users who depend on their smartphone to stay productive but prefer a larger display. Both models are also rumored to include a blazing-fast A8 processor, an upgrade over the speedy 64-bit A7 chip found in the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 6 is also expected to include the same fingerprint reader that debuted with the iPhone 5s. The reader is embedded in the phone’s home button, and lets you unlock the device simply by placing your finger on the button. And of course, the iPhone is the only smartphone that gives you access to Apple’s App Store, which features the biggest and arguably the best, library of business and productivity apps on any platform.
LG G3
LG is preparing to unveil a successor to its flagship phone, the LG G2 this spring. The so-called LG G3 could be one of the year’s most noteworthy business phones if it retains the G2’s superlong battery life. The phone ran for up to 11 hours in tests that involved continuous Web browsing, making it one of the longest-lasting smartphones ever made. In addition to longevity, the G2 boasts a snappy quad-core processor, a roomy 5.2-inch display and a handy multitasking feature called QSlide, which lets you run a second app in a floating window over your main app. That’s a plus for business users who need to juggle tasks such as responding to email while conducting research in a Web browser. LG hasn’t yet announced which features will get an upgrade for the LG G3, but fans won’t have to wait long to find out. The company is expected to show the device off at a special press event on May 27, though it’s not yet known when the phone will hit store shelves.
Lumia 635
Windows Phone fans saw the release of a new flagship device in the Nokia Lumia Icon this spring. Now, Nokia is following that up with the Lumia 635. A new midrange Windows Phone with a lower price point, that could make it worth a look for budget-minded business users, especially since the device runs on Windows Phone 8.1, a new version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system. One of the phone’s standout features is Cortana, a voice-activated personal digital assistant that can notify you of upcoming appointments, flight information, weather alerts and more. Also, new in Windows Phone 8.1 is the Action Center, which is similar to the notification hub found on both the Android and iOS operating systems. Just swipe down from the top of your phone’s display to view all of your alerts at a glance, and like every Windows Phone device. The Lumia 635 is fully integrated with the desktop version of Microsoft Office.
OnePlus One
The OnePlusOne set to launch this June, is a powerful new business phone with a unique set of features. The 5.5-inch Android device packs a huge display, a top-tier processor and a high-capacity battery. The phone also adds features you won’t find in many flagship phones, such as always-on voice commands. So instead of fiddling with menus and touch-screen controls, you can set an alarm, place an appointment in your calendar or access turn-by-turn directions by uttering a few words – even when the display is off. The OnePlus One also offers a few notable security features you won’t find in most other smartphones. For instance, the phone’s Privacy Guard setting lets you block individual apps from accessing personal information stored on your device. The OnePlus One also ships with built-in encryption for SMS text messages to ensure your private business communications remain private.
Posted in Smartphone Tagged with: Android, Android and iOS operating systems, Android device, Android phone, App Store, Apple's iPhone, Apple's iPhone 5s, chip, Cortana, desktop, device, digital, email, encryption, fingerprint reader, flagship phones, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S5, high-capacity, HTC, HTC One M8, hub, integrated, iOS, iPhone 6, LG G2, LG G3, Lumia 635, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Microsoft's mobile operating system, mobile, Nokia, Nokia Lumia Icon, OnePlusOne, operating systems, phablet, phones, platform, Privacy Guard, processor, QSlide, S Pen stylus, Samsung, Security, slot, Smartphones, sms, stylus, swipe, top-tier processor, touch-screen controls, voice commands, web, Web browsing, windows, windows phone, Windows Phone 8.1
December 2nd, 2013 by Elma Jane
Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) standards. Considered safer and widely used across Europe and other nations, the chip-based cards require insertion of the card into a terminal for the duration of a transaction, a break here from our traditional swipe-and-buy behavior. That’s just one way in which EMV changes things here… but it’s not the only way, nor is it the most important way. By way of reminder, October 2015 is the date by which all restaurants and other merchants are due to have implemented these standards, or potentially be liable for counterfeit fraud, which primarily reflects a shift from magnetic-stripe credit cards to chip cards.
The main driver in the EMV migration is card-related financial fraud. As an example, and traditionally, card fraud in the United Kingdom has always been considerably higher than here in the States, primarily because the U.K. previously used offline card authorization as opposed to the online card methodology used here. As losses due to fraud rose steadily in Europe, despite the best efforts of global law enforcement agencies to reduce it, the pressure to find a solution built around some alternative authentication strategy mounted. From this concern, EMV was born.
Is it working? Recent statistics from the European Central Bank (ECB) revealed that, despite growing card usage, fraud in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) – a mature EMV territory that includes all 28 members of the European Union, Finland, Iceland , Liechenstein, Monaco and Norway, – fell 7.6% between 2007 and 2011. This decline is underpinned by a slowdown in the growth of ATM fraud as well as a 24% drop in fraud carried out at point of sale terminals. The 2008 Canadian roll-out of Chip and PIN had a dramatic impact on fraud there. Card Skimming had accounted for losses totaling $142 million, but that figure dropped to $38.5 million in 2009, according to figures provided by the Interac Association. Some critics point to the fact that most of this decrease comes in the form of face-to-face card fraud, and that criminals merely shift their focus onto some other area that is less anti-fraud focused. Still, there are positive gains and as technologies improve, more successes are sure to follow.
Part of the reason why the U.S. not embraced EMV sooner is because our fraud problem, while significant, has typically been among the lowest rates in the world among highly developed economically mature countries. Much of that is due to the online authentication methods at work here. Here at home, our online authentication methodology permits authorizations to be done in real-time, thus thwarting a significant percentage of the fraudulent attempts at the point-of-sale, the best place to stop fraud. Our online authentication methods also incorporate multiple fraud and risk parameters as well as advanced neural networks that are ‘built-in’ to the approval process. It’s been a highly effective system that works well, when compared to most alternatives. The effectiveness of our authentication processes has helped fuel the resistance to full EMV adoption here. However, the EMV migration has gained momentum to the point where it is only a matter of time. The truth is that, despite the gains in preventing credit card fraud, and despite the best efforts of EMV’s backers to push acceptance through, global adoption of the EMV standard is still considerably less than 100%.
In England’s old offline authentication method, credit card transactions were gathered together at specific times- typically, at the end of the business day- and then batched over to the card issuers for authorization. It’s a method that gave those committing fraud a significant time lag between the transaction and the authorization, and this time lag contributed greatly to the higher levels of fraudulent activities in England. However, for Europe and for much of the rest of the world, adoption of the EMV technologies changes things dramatically, at least in terms of authentication protocols for both online and offline purchases. During an offline transaction using the EMV chip card, the payment terminal communicates with the integrated circuit chip (ICC), embedded in the payment card. This is a break from the old method which involved using telecommunications to connect with the issuing bank. The ICC / terminal connection enables real-time card authentication, cardholder verification, and payment authorization offline. Alternatively, in an online EMV transaction, the chip generates a cryptogram that is authenticated by the card issuer in real time.
Posted in Electronic Payments, EMV EuroPay MasterCard Visa, Financial Services, Near Field Communication, Payment Card Industry PCI Security, Visa MasterCard American Express Tagged with: authentication, batched, card, card authorization, card-related, chip cards, chip-based, credit cards, cryptogram, EMV, EuroPay, financial, fraud, fraudulent, icc, insertion, integrated, magnetic stripe, MasterCard, Merchant's, networks, online, payment, restaurants, Skimming, standards, swipe-and-buy, terminal, transaction, verification, visa
