Software : Intuit launches card reader in the UK

Intuit launches card reader in the UK
Apache OpenOffice 3.4 downloads hit 50 million
Week in Tech: Google tools up against Spotify, Facebook and WhatsApp
iPad and Android tablets not invited to BBM's big coming-out party
Survey says iTunes still top music provider, but streams sneaking up
Google IO: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr apps are coming to Google Glass

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US-based payments software company Intuit is launching its mobile payments service for small businesses in the UK.

Intuit Pay, which was announced in November, lets businesses take payments face-to-face and over the phone using its keypad-equipped Chip & PIN card reader, which connects to a smartphone using Bluetooth.

After purchasing the reader for £49 plus VAT, businesses can download the Intuit Pay app on an iOS or Android mobile device to immediately begin taking payments. The app also features integration with Intuit's own accounting software, Quickbooks.

There are no monthly feeds to use the service, but Intuit charges businsess 2.75% per transaction.

Payments boom

Intuit Pay goes up against a handful of other mobile payment solutions in the European market, including mPowa, which charges a flat 0.25% fee per transaction, iZettle (2.75%) and SumUp (2.75%).

PayPal's own card reader, PayPal Here, is yet to launch in the UK, as is the European version of Square, an equivalent device first launched in the US by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2009.

Apache OpenOffice 3.4 downloads hit 50 million

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Apache OpenOffice 3.4 has passed the 50 million download mark, just a few days after the first anniversary of May 8 release.

A blog from the Apache Sofware Foundation, the non-profit corporation that manages development of the office productivity software, points to two main peaks for downloads.

The first came in June 2012 when upgrade notifications for users of the earlier OpenOffice.org suite were enabled. The second came in September when OpenOffice 3.4.1, which included extra support languages, was released.

However, downloads have remained high, at about 150,000 per day, since early January, indicating that there is a slow burn take-up of the software among users looking for a cost-free option.

Windows alternative

The blog also shows that more than 80% of downloads were made to machines running on Windows operating systems, suggesting a significant number of users looking for alternatives to Microsoft Office. Much smaller numbers were downloaded to machines running Linux or Apple Macs.

The Foundation currently has the successor, Apache OpenOffice 4.0, in testing.

Week in Tech: Google tools up against Spotify, Facebook and WhatsApp

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If there's one thing Google CEO Larry Page hates, it's stories talking about Google versus other companies.

Unfortunately he said that after Google introduced a whole bunch of things to take on Spotify, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and WhatsApp. That can only mean one thing: it's Google IO time!

Google IO is Google's developer conference, but it's still a place where it reveals a lot that's interesting to all of us.

There wasn't much on the hardware front this year - last year we got the Nexus 7 and the ill-fated Nexus Q - but we did see a Nexus-ised version of Samsung's Galaxy S4: this Google S4 dumps TouchWiz, runs Android 4.2 and costs $649 unlocked.

IO, IO, a-Googling we go

This year's Google IO was all about services - and "the end of search as we know it". Google doesn't just want to answer your questions. It wants to anticipate your needs - so for example if you search for the population of India, Google knows your next question might well be how that number compares to other countries. You won't even need to use your fingers: in the Chrome browser and Chrome OS you'll be able to bark Glass-style commands: "OK, Google," followed by whatever you're looking for.

As Matt Swider and Michelle Fitzsimmons explain, it's really very clever: "While traditional search typically relies heavily on keywords, the future of Google's core business will attempt to define 'it'. For example, with as little information as 'how far is it from here', voice search can collaborate distance and directions with current traffic conditions highlighted as well."

Hang with Google

Google+ is getting a massive makeover too. There's a radical redesign, hashtags for finding related content, a new Hangouts app and significantly improved photo features - including Auto Highlight, which judges your photos and picks the best ones, and Auto Awesome, which can create collages, panoramas and animated GIFs.

The Hangouts app is going to be a big deal: it's the project we knew as Babel, and it's going to replace Google Talk - not just on Android, but on iOS and in Chrome too. It combines text, photo and video, moves from device to device and includes the all-important Emoji characters too.

IO, IO, a-Googling we go

Google Play Music has been upgraded as well. The new and terribly named Google Play Music All Access service is "a music service that's about music", which we think sounds like a much better idea than a music service that isn't about music. It's a Spotify-style music subscription offering and it'll cost US$9.99 (around AU$10, £6) per month.

You've got to feel sorry for IO attendees - at over three hours, the keynote was a real bum-number - but the Google goodies did keep on coming. Fancy better Maps? Google has better Maps! The new Maps app brings Google's iOS design to Android, the app to iPads, real-time traffic improvements for everyone and much more information on the desktop - and unlike Apple's maps, when you ask for directions to the shops you won't end up on the Moon. We particularly liked the new Photo Sphere, which can provide 360-degree tours of landmarks - so you might virtually wander around a gallery to check out the masterpieces.

Nokia light up

Did someone say "masterpiece"? Yes, us, just there - and that's the word Nokia's using to describe its new Lumia 925. Does it make Nokia the Michelangelo of mobiles, the Stravinsky of smartphones, Leonardo Da Vinci with da Lumia? No! But it's very good. As Gareth Beavis explains, it's "a tricky beast to rate... but there's no doubting that it's going to be a market-leading cameraphone." We'll get our hands on it properly in June, so watch this space.

iPad and Android tablets not invited to BBM's big coming-out party

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BlackBerry will primarily target smartphones with the momentous expansion of its BBM messaging service for iOS and Android devices.

The company announced at its BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday that the celebrated instant messaging app would be leaving the sanctuary of its own ecosystem for the first time.

However, the company told TrustedReviews the focus would be purely on smartphones, while tablets like the iPad, Google Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 will not be supported at this time.

The reasoning? BlackBerry believes smartphones are more suited to BBM due to the on-the-go nature of the app, whereas user behaviour changes when switching to slates and desktop computers.

Engagement and activity

Vivek Bhardwaj, head of the BlackBerry Software Portfolio said: "Smartphone is our real focus and again it comes back to what BBM is. If you look BBM and the engagement and the activity, it's because it is mobile, because people are on the go."

"When you start looking at tablets, computers and other screens, the usage model changes and behaviour changes. For us right now the absolute focus is getting BBM onto smartphones."

Are you a long-time iOS or Android loyalist who's excited to try BBM for the first time? Or are you already more enamoured with the new Google+ Hangouts app? Let us know below.

Survey says iTunes still top music provider, but streams sneaking up

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Research conducted by the indie music agency Merlin and detailed today crowns iTunes the top source worldwide for digital music revenue.

But the data suggests that streaming music services are catching up to digital downloads, as Spotify took second place in terms of global revenue paid to labels.

Merlin looked to a recent survey of its 20,000 member labels as well as a close examination of 6.5 billion music streams from the last year.

The results aren't surprising, but it may paint a picture of what's to come, especially as Google enters the streaming music fray with its newly announced Google Play Music All Access.

Around the world

Merlin divided its results by U.S., U.K., Europe, and worldwide, and iTunes and Spotify took the top two spots for revenue in all four categories.

Amazon MP3 is in third across the board as well, with eMusic coming in fourth globally and in the U.S. and Deezer taking the fourth spot in the U.K. and Europe.

Both digital downloads and streaming subscription revenues are rising, Merlin reported, but streaming revenue is rising at a more rapid pace.

Check out TechRadar's comparison of Spotify versus Google Play Music All Access to find out how we predict the newly announced service will stack up.

Google IO: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr apps are coming to Google Glass

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Glassholes, rejoice - your nascent eyewear is becoming more functional.

A host of major Glass supporters came out of the woodwork during the second day of Google IO, while Google revealed it's working on an expanded Glass Developer Kit and streaming video capabilities.

"Facebook for Google Glass" app is heading to Glass, allowing users to share photos straight from Glass to the social network, bringing official FB functionality to Google's compu-specs.

For now, tagging with Glass isn't an option, but can be added via a mobile device or computer after an image is posted.

Third-party party

Not to be outdone, Twitter is bringing "Twitter for Google Glass" to the fore, allowing users to share photos with their micro-blogging network.

Photos aren't the only function, as Glass-having Twitterers will receive notifications of mentions, direct messages and tweets from folks they follow, but only if a Glass wearer has turned on alerts. Replying, retweeting and favoriting are additional features.

Tumblr, CNN and Elle magazine are throwing hats in the Glass app ring as well, with Evernote's previously announced app ready for its first look. As is the theme of Twitter and Facebook, Evernote for Glass will let users send a Glass-captured photo or short video to users' Evernote accounts from within the Glass sharing menu.

Reversing the flow, users can choose a note from Evernote Web and send it directly to the Glass Timeline.

Apps from the The New York Times and Path were announced alongside Evernote in March. According to the Times, Google refers to the apps as "Glassware."

Google told us that these Glass apps "are or should be available very soon to everyone who has the device."

Glass growth

During an elbow-to-elbow session earlier today, Google said it's developing a broader Glass kit for developers.

"We're actively building it," Developer Advocate Timothy Jordan told the IO crowd, as reported by AllThingsD.

Google also revealed video streaming is headed to Glass, though there's no word on when it - or the expanded dev kit - will arrive. Until now, Google had only talked about supporting short video snippets.

As for a place to host Glass apps, Jordan said that an app store isn't imminent, though the company will "definitely" have something up.

Glass-a-cations, anyone?

Yahuui Blog

Friday, May 17, 2013