Gadget and Techno Updates
Posts tagged testing
Google said testing NFC-based payments with VeriFone
Mar 15th
Google is nearing a trial of an NFC (near field communication) wireless payment system of its own, tipsters claimed Tuesday. A test in New York and San Francisco would see VeriFone supply cash registers with NFC built-in so that owners of NFC-equipped phones like Google’s own Nexus S could pay just by bringing the device close to the register. Bloomberg was told it might go beyond just payment to include gift cards, loyalty programs and coupons.
The test would go live at “thousands” of stores in New York City and San Francisco in the next four months. It’s unclear how soon More >
Best Buy already testing TiVo-equipped televisions?
Mar 15th
Nearly a year after Best Buy first announced plans to build Insignia televisions equipped with TiVo software, the retailer may finally be testing upcoming products. A post on the unofficial TiVo Community Forum suggests that a new TiVo device, without DVR storage capabilities, has surfaced in access logs for a third-party game that works with networked TiVo systems.
The latest detail does not shed any additional light on specific features of the TVs, though the initial reports indicated the Insignia offerings will utilize TiVo’s non-DVR software and interface. Users will be able to access a variety of connected services that More >
iOS 4.3 testing: JavaScript on the iPad 2.5 times faster
Mar 9th
The launch of iOS 4.3 has brought a much improved web browsing experience through the Nitro engine for JavaScript, which until now was previously available only in Safari on the desktop. Electronista has benchmarked the original iPad using the official SunSpider test to see just how much speed comes from software alone. Read on for a comparison with iOS 4.2.1 and just how much faster the iPad 2 is expected to be.
The iOS 4.2.1 test was, to put it mildly, slow. At 8,217.5ms to complete the test, it was not only slower than most Android phones but felt slow to More >
Google testing real-time friend tracking on Android
Oct 28th
Google today rolled out a new version of Latitude in Google Maps that has introduced an experimental real-time tracker feature. The option lets users choose to “temporarily” get live updates from individual friends. Seeing others only needs Android 1.6, but those tracked need to have Android 2.2 or later to broadcast their positions.
Controversially, the company hasn’t said whether other users are asked permission before they’re tracked. Latitude, which shows friends’ positions and updates on the map itself requires permission to start but may not necessarily let users know that they’re being tracked in real time. Electronista has contacted Google for More >
Google surprises with testing of advanced self-driving cars
Oct 11th
Google provided an unusual surprise on Saturday as it revealed that it’s testing fully automated robot cars. The modified Toyota Priuses and lone Audi TT are significantly more advanced even than the DARPA Challenges cars and use a combination of video cameras, radar and laser sensors to find both the road and other vehicles on the road. Test cars have driven over 140,000 miles of real traffic, going distances as far as San Francisco to Los Angeles where earlier robots have only driven short distances.
Distinguished Software Engineer Sebastian Thrun stressed that the cars were safe as they knew details More >