Norwegian payment service Vipps has become the world's first company to launch a competing tap-to-pay solution to Apple Pay on iPhone, following Apple's agreement with European regulators to open up its NFC technology to third parties.
Starting December 9, Vipps users in Norway can make contactless payments in stores using their iPhones. The service initially supports customers of SpareBank 1, DNB, and over 40 other Norwegian banks, representing approximately 70% of Norwegian bank customers.
Apple today announced plans to expand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, starting with the launch of the Apple Store online in summer 2025. [...]
Starting in 2026, Apple will begin opening the first of several flagship Apple Store locations in Saudi Arabia. These retail stores will offer customers in the country even more ways to connect with Apple’s knowledgable team members and find the perfect products and services. As part of this expansion, Apple is in the initial stages of planning an iconic retail store coming to Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Our biometric data is freely available to anybody with an AI model and a camera. Facial recognition software is such a pervasive technology that we submit our data whenever we go through airport security or walk into a drug store. You start to wonder if it’s possible to hide our facial features or—on the extreme end—change our appearance to such an extent that it fools the AI algorithm.
If the Vision Pro taught me anything, it’s that on a device designed for immersive experiences the Safari browser feels like an afterthought. In a world where AR, VR, and voice-controlled systems are becoming more integrated into daily life, the browser’s limitations become glaringly obvious. At this point, there is no way the Vision Pro is leaving my life, but I wouldn’t mind at all if my browser did.
The dictionary defines it as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging”. But few people are aware of how literally technology is rotting our brains, and how decisively compulsive internet use is destroying our grey matter.
On the one hand, when the next pandemic arrives, contact tracing in many public spaces may well be so much easier, and we don't have to scan QR codes or install privacy-invading apps on our smartphones anymore.
On the other hand, we can no longer be anonymous anywhere we go. Cookies? Bluetooth beacons? How quaint.
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