cnet.com - here's a tiny-but-terrific change coming to phoneland. It's one of those things that gadgetheads geek out over that's seemingly insignificant to 99 percent of the population*, but we should talk about it right now anyway because one day you'll look at your phone and think, "Hey, what's this thing?"
It's called USB Type-C, or USB-C, and you can learn a lot more about it here. That's right, that's the little port at the bottom of the phone that you mostly use for plugging in your charger. The bottom line is that the USB protocol for phones and for a whole lot of other devices, like tablets and computers, is changing -- for the better.
(P.S. The shape of the plug that your non-iPhone phone has now is called USB-B and the one your computer has is called USB-A. Apple's is called the Lightning port and it's totally different and proprietary and it won't work with USB-C.)
The promise
USB-C is cool for a bunch of reasons. First, it's reversible, which means that unlike the Micro-USB plug you use now, you can stick in a USB-C cable any which way and it doesn't matter because either side is "up." No more fumbling and swearing under your breath when you can't get the connector in just-so.
USB Type-C: One cable to connect them all
Hands-on with USB-C: It's great
Meet the first phone with the USB Type-C port
In addition to that, USB-C (which describes the plug's shape) supports the USB 3.1 standard, which describes some stuff you can do besides simply charging your own phone. For example, you'll be able to quickly transfer data and videos through the cable. The standard can also help your phone (or tablet or laptop) power other gadgets in a pinch.
Finally, the fact that device-makers along the entire electronics spectrum are also implementing USB-C means that your handset can potentially share charging cords with other devices, too -- always a bonus.
But wait, there's more
So, before we go on, just nod if you understand that a phone can have the USB-C port for charging, but it still might not immediately support the nifty features with USB 3.1. That'll all happen eventually, because these things always do as part of industry growth, and if your phone has the USB-C plug, you'll be prepared to take full advantage when it does.
In order to bask in USB-C's full USB 3.1 effect, the operating system really does make a difference because the software has to be coded to work with all those extra features other than plain-old charging. This Chinese company called Letv whose three phones run on Android 5.0 Lollipop right now? Sure, they can use the USB-C charger as a charger, but Google says they won't be able to share power with other devices until Android M, its next-gen operating system, arrives.
That's because Google developers still have to write that code into Android. The good news is that Google did get up on stage at its flashy big annual I/O developer conference in May and say that it'll support for USB-C connections (specifically, those USB 3.1 goodies), so we know that's coming pretty soon.
According to Google, it'll work like this: their software will present a menu when you plug in the cable to let you choose the kind of connection you're making (for example, charging) and if you want to use the cord to power another device.
(Microsoft says "While we don't comment on future products, Microsoft is an active participant and contributor in the development of the Type-C specification through the USB 3.0 Promoter group," and BlackBerry says "We use USB 2.0 on current BlackBerry 10 smartphones and we can't comment on future products.")
Mo' cables, mo' problems
So until then, if your phone has USB-C without all the extra good stuff, you now have to change cables for pretty much no reason or advantage. And while the smallness of the thing is great and space-saving for laptops, that Micro-USB port your phone already has is pretty small anyway, so that particular change isn't really a big deal.
There's also that awkward period of 6 to 18 months where your gadgets could all use different cables, which is a pain to mentally sort out, and which can be a real hassle if suddenly you need to buy a bunch of $20 cables to make sure you can keep using all your stuff together. For example, you might need to pick up a separate USB-C-to-USB-A cable to make sure your new phone still plugs into your old laptop.
Coming to flagships first
Still, overall, this is a Good Thing to happen to the electronics industry, and USB-C is already on a handful of devices, including a MacBook (that's right, Apple computers will use Type-C, but the phones don't), a Chromebook, the Nokia N1 tablet and those three phones in the Letv Le Superphone family. The OnePlus 2 will probably have it, too, we think (but don't yet know) that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 could have it, and so on, out into pretty much all future flagship phones (except Apple, of course).
Starting out with flagships is exactly what the pundits expect. For example, Carolina Milanesi, Chief of Research and Head of US Business at Kantar Worldpanel, points out that in the beginning, faced with lower supply, electronics-makers will need to judiciously place the connector in the devices that benefit most from supplying cutting-edge tech -- in other words, your highest-profile phones.
After that, and as the parts become cheaper over time, look for the midrange and entry-level handsets to start getting Type-C, too. Since PCs use Type-C as well, "We should see price points come down fast enough to make it viable throughout the [phone-maker's] portfolio," Milanesi said.
Stephen Baker, a vice president of industry analysis at the NPD Group, agrees, adding that "it will take place over a few years, as it will in PCs, where we expect to see lots of USB-C PCs starting to show up in Q4."
Holiday boom
Even though it'll take awhile before every phone and non-phone gets USB-C and all its USB 3.1 powers, phone-makers are going to prepare themselves by building momentum fast, and likely in time for the holiday crush.
"We expect to see more of a proliferation on the PC side going into holiday season," said Trevor Hirsch, product development manager at Belkin, which is best known for making cases, cables, routers and power packs. Mobile devices should also pick up "in the fall nearing towards Holiday."
Pretty soon, you'll be stocking up on these Type-C USB cables.
Of course, while holiday sales will be huge, device makers all have different cycles for updating their phones, and I doubt they'll fast-track their roadmap just to take advantage of USB-C. So if the phone you're looking at usually launches its next iteration in summer, my guess is that it won't get USB-C until then, or maybe the year after.
Now what?
So now you've just let me throw a lot of stuff about this new standard in your direction, and I thank you for that. In addition to now being able to impress your family and friends with your extensive knowledge of this fairly minor (but still really cool) aspect of your future phone, you yourself are at the forefront of this quiet USB revolution.
When your new non-iPhone comes with USB-C, as it will inevitably will, you'll know exactly what to do, how you might have to prepare with more cables, and that even if it doesn't support USB 3.1 features right now, you'll get those in the future, and it'll be better for everyone.
Oh, and just one more thing. When you do buy anything with the new USB standard, just make sure you get the certified one with the USB logo on it. That guarantees that those cables and accessories you're buying have been tested against the standard protocol, and will work safely and reliably.

gadgets.ndtv.com - Google on Tuesday announced a new Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon-based platform, dubbed Eddystone. The platform is said to rival Apple's iBeacon tech. It has been designed to let developers work with beacons to deliver location-based information to users on their smartphones. Google also unveiled its Nearby API, called Nearby Messages, a communications and discovery framework for devices in close proximity.
For those unaware, beacons are low-energy Bluetooth hardware that transmit data to users. Bluetooth is used in this technology as it has a shorter range than Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity. This would result in pin-pointing a more precise location of the user. This tech would help retailers and other firms to send information to the users based on their precise location.
Eddystone, unlike Apple iBeacon, would work with both Android and iOS. The platform can send URLs that would work with any app or a Web browser. Google is also making the platform open source. It has been noted that the company is planning to use beacons to send non-interruptive notifications to Google Now, which can then show location-based suggestions "like showing you menu items when you're inside a restaurant."
Google in its developers blog post has added that, keeping safety and security into consideration, it has built in a feature called Ephemeral Identifiers (EIDs) which will change frequently, and will allow only authorised clients to decode them. "EIDs will enable you to securely do things like find your luggage once you get off the plane or find your lost keys." Also, the firm will gradually be improving its Google products with beacons. Notably, Google Maps has already launched beacon-based transit notifications in Portland earlier this year.
The Mountain View giant also finally announced the much-anticipated communications and discovery framework, Nearby, which had been tipped since June last year.
The firm on Tuesday unveiled the Nearby API and Proximity Beacon API for developers. Nearby API has been called Nearby Messages, both for Android and iOS to discover nearby devices, including aforementioned Beacons, and communicate with them. The API uses a mix of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and inaudible sound from the device's microphones and speakers.
The search giant has already included Nearby in Chromecast Guest Mode, Nearby Players in Google Play Games, and Google Tone. The API will be available with the latest release of Google Play Services 7.8. More details can be seen on Google's Developer Blog.

cnet.com - The moment your phone reads "No service," Google Maps suddenly drops out. That is, unless you've saved your maps for offline access. With this feature, you can store large map areas for guidance, even when you're stuck without reception.
The process is identical on both iOS and Android. Before we dive into the process, take a moment to visit the App Store on your iOS device, or the Play store on your Android device and check for any available updates for Google Maps.
The process to save offline Google Maps on iOS.
After verifying you have the latest version, launch Google Maps on your respective device and search for the area you'd like to save for offline access.
Google Maps will then show the area you search for, with the name being displayed along the bottom of the screen. Tap on the name.
Next, tap on the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of your screen.
Select Save offline map.
You'll then be tasked adjusting the area to be saved via panning and zooming around, making sure to pay attention to the size limit alert along the top of the screen. If the mapped area is deemed to large, you'll need to zoom in and repeat the process for the area left out. Once you're happy, tap on Save and give the offline map a name.
To access your saved maps, slide you the menu draw and select My Places from the list of options. Scroll to the bottom of the page, where you should find any offline maps still stored on your device.
Keep in mind that any saved maps will only remain on your device for 30 days. Presumably, after that the app will purge a saved map to clear up space on your device.

yahoo.com - Anyone who wants cutting-edge hardware on their oversized smartphone won't be able to do much better than the upcoming Galaxy Note 5. SamMobile has posted a new report that confirms the Note 5 will feature 4GB of LP-DDR4 RAM and will run on a brand-new chipset called the Exynos 7422 SoC that "will be the company's first true single-chip solution (ePOP) combining an octa-core 64-bit CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and the Shannon 333 LTE modem in the same package."
What else can we expect from the Note 5? According to SamMobile, the device will feature a 5.67-inch Super AMOLED QHD display and will feature the same metal-and-glass design that won high acclaim with the Galaxy S6 when it released earlier this year. The device will also feature support for wireless charging that will be compatible with both WPC and PMA standards.
SamMobile's report follows a report that came out last month claiming that the Note 5 would feature both a 4,100mAh battery and a USB Type-C port, although that report also said the device would have a 5.9-inch display, so we'd take it with a grain of salt.

mashable.com - With Wednesday's layoffs, Microsoft, saddled with the losing mobile hand that is Windows Phone, has essentially folded. The bulk of the 7,800 people let go are from the company's phone division, a tacit admission that its big plans for Windows Phone haven't exactly worked out.
The company's not leaving the casino, though: Windows Phone, the platform, isn't going anywhere, even as Microsoft greatly scales back its hardware ambitions. The company has labored for years to create both a full-featured mobile operating system as well as an ecosystem of devices - PC, phone, tablet and more - that all use the same code base. It would be silly to just abandon its mobile platform, especially as people spend more and more of their time on smartphones.
In fact, if you're not one of the 7,800 people losing their jobs, there's actually a lot to like in Satya Nadella's explanation: Microsoft will continue to build Windows Lumia handsets, but only three types: flagships, business-focused enterprise phones and low-end budget devices.
" They're retreating from being a mainstream player They're retreating from being a mainstream player," says Martin Reynolds, vice president at Gartner Research. "They'll continue to bring products to market, but not particularly aggressively."
The move represents a clear refocusing, putting Microsoft's phones in the arenas where they might actually score a few punches before Android and the iPhone walk away with all the market share. It also rightly ditches the current strategy of offering several different Lumias, each with region-specific models, which led to a muddled brand and a confusing market strategy message to consumers.
Retreating forward
Even without the model shake-up, trimming the fat on the handset business Microsoft acquired from Nokia was probably inevitable. With a few exceptions (hello, curved screens), smartphone design and technology have more or less plateaued - it's no coincidence that both iOS and Android have essentially taken a "bye" in 2015, with few feature updates. Big hardware teams aren't really needed to build good smartphones in 2015, as illustrated by upstart Chinese companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus.
"Things have changed in the last few years," says Reynolds. "You don't have [to be a] big company to run a small phone business. They certainly don't need the design teams and manufacturing people going forward."
Still, there are new Lumias - and certainly a new flagship - coming soon. A couple of months after Windows 10 debuts, Windows 10 for phones will arrive, and, as Nadella suggested in his letter to employees, those phones will emphasize the big differentiators in the Windows ecosystem. Commentators like Daniel Rubino at Windows Central almost have you believing that a leaner-and-meaner Microsoft mobile division will be poised to succeed, albeit with lowered expectations, once Windows 10 is fully formed.
Almost.
That point of view overlooks the crux of the matter: Windows Phone's fate was never in the hands of Microsoft. What the company does in mobile at this point is virtually irrelevant. It designed a beautiful (and influential!) user interface, offered sweeter deals to developers than competitors, and helped engineer some of the most sophisticated cameras ever seen on mobile.
None of it mattered. Developers and consumers didn't respond, locked in a deadly catch-22: If the apps weren't there, consumers wouldn't buy the phones; if there weren't enough people on the platform, developers wouldn't bother creating apps.
"Windows Phone is not even a blip on [developers'] radar," says Richard Hay, a longtime Microsoft observer and contributor to SuperSite for Windows. "They're not going to start flocking to it, because what's the draw? You're still going to have the app gap."
The "app gap" ultimately dug Windows Phone's grave, and even though it's only got one foot in it, today's news will be widely perceived as an admission that the other will soon follow. If there were other Windows Phone manufacturers, it might be a different story, but Microsoft makes 97% of the Windows Phones being sold, according to Ad Duplex. If they're scaling back, who's going to step up?
Windows 10 and mobile
If there's a way Microsoft can resuscitate Windows Phone, it's with Windows 10. Its ecosystem strategy doesn't depend on it, but with the new OS, Windows Phones will be more connected to the platform than before, sharing all the same code and development tools.
"The universal Windows platform helps," says Hay. "Will that persuade developers to develop for handsets and smaller tablets? Is it enough to come back from the edge? i'm just not sure it is."
That means Windows developers will be able to create Windows Phone versions of their apps with minimal effort, and some of Windows Phone's key differentiators, like Cortana, will get a chance to shine on PCs, which could ultimately have a positive impact on the platform.
Finally, there's Continuum - the feature that allows Windows apps to adapt from PC to tablet to phone seamlessly and lets a Windows Phone theoretically act as your PC when it's plugged into an external screen. And although there will always be performance concerns when trying to do PC with a mobile processor, it's a pretty cool trick.
Continuum, though, has only the slimmest chance of being the ace in the hole that wins the day - any day - for Windows Phone. Even for enterprise customers, it's hard to picture any of Windows 10's differentiators winning over users, especially now that we're firmly in a BYOD and single-device world.
Even if Continuum ends up being an X factor, who's left to give Windows Phones a chance? Even if Continuum ends up being an X factor, who's left to give Windows Phones a chance? Microsoft is certainly hoping today's belt-tightening and the Windows 10 launch will lead to some kind of success in mobile, albeit on redefined terms. But it's not acting in a vacuum. Today's retreat - or rather the perception of it - may have sealed Windows Phone's fate. Who would believe the recommendation of a Windows handset after today?
Without those new users, developers will have even less incentive to create apps. And without those experiences, Windows Phone will be even more of shell than it is now. What then?
It's admirable that Microsoft is taking painful steps to preserve what it's built, but it's hard not to see its Windows Phone restructuring as delaying the inevitable. Yes, by reducing its ambitions, it's no longer losing on big bets. But in mobile, there really isn't a low-stakes table.

bbc.com - Mastercard is testing a smartphone app that uses facial recognition to verify online purchases.
Users in the trial can hold their phone up as though taking a selfie to approve transactions.
"The new generation, which is into selfies... I think they'll find it cool," the firm's security expert Ajay Bhalla told CNN.
One security expert told the BBC facial recognition should be complemented with "extra layers of security".
"Google tried facial recognition on Android phones and there were a lot of problems in the early days", said Ken Munro, security researcher at Pen Test Partners.
"People realised you could take a photo of somebody and present it to the camera, and the phone would unlock."
Google admits its facial recognition is "less secure than a pattern, PIN or password" on the website for one of its devices.
Mastercard's app asks users to blink to prove that they are human, but even this has been spoofed in the past.
"People took photographs and animated them, drawing eyelids on," said Mr Munro. "There have been advances in biometrics since then, but they're not quite there yet."
Ajay Bhalla is Mastercard's president of enterprise security
Mastercard is exploring facial recognition as an alternative to SecureCode, its security software that asks online shoppers for a password to make purchases.
The company said the technology was used in three billion transactions last year.
In March, Chinese shopping brand Alibaba demonstrated a facial recognition app, but hasn't brought it to market yet.
Mastercard's facial recognition trial involves 500 users in the United States.
'Cumbersome'
"Mastercard will want this to be secure because they're dealing with money. But there is a case for adding extra layers of security," said Mr Munro.
"If an ordinary password gets compromised you can simply revoke it or change it.
"What happens if your facial recognition data gets stolen? You can't change your face."
Mastercard said it was also exploring fingerprint security and voice recognition, which could make life easier for customers.
Mr Munro was clear that the best security would be a little more "cumbersome".
"Ideally I'd like to see facial recognition used in conjunction with a Pin. Both systems have flaws, but work brilliantly when you combine them."