Tech Geek

Discover card shoppers can  finally use their credit card  with Samsung Pay on their phones, two years after the credit card company  announced that the card would come to the system . A customer service representative for Discover confirmed that customers can now add their cards to Samsung Pay. Samsung unveiled its  mobile payment system in 2015 , and Discover  announced at the time  that support for the card would come in early 2016. However, that functionality was delayed until now,  prompting   some   complaints  from users. Like Android Pay, Apple Pay, or Google Wallet, Samsung Pay use Near Field Communications to securely transmit the card information to a retailer. However, not all retailers have activated their NFC systems, which can leave customers guessing. To get around this, Samsung Pay also uses something called Magnetic Secure Transmission, which works with a regular credit card terminal.

Piloting a ferry boat can be a surreal trip Deep in the bowels of a 134-year-old military fort on a tiny spit of land that can barely still be considered part of New York City, ferry boat captains make weekly visits to brush up on their nautical skills. But instead of breaking out the sextant or paddling around in kayaks, these captains get their training at the hands of a high-tech simulator, complete with a colorful instrument panel of blinking switches and lights and seven high-resolution screens with an eerily accurate rendering of the New York City waterfront. At the helm on a recent Friday in April was Tony Sanchez, a ferry boat captain sporting an unironic mustache and a belt embroidered with glittery fish. With an expertise that comes from being a licensed boat captain since 1984, Sanchez piloted the virtual ferry (named “Lunchbox” by some precocious New York City public school kids) through a variety of obstacles — container ships, kayakers, buoys, and, of course...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=bvl82FfnUvw Earlier this week, Snapchat introduced  Snap Map , an opt-in function that allows you to share your location with your friends on a map. Snapchat’s introduction video to Snap Map, seen above, focuses on sharing the location of posted Snaps to Our Story, which is public, and could be useful for, say, seeing a collection of Snaps from a particular event. But what Snapchat doesn’t tell you in the video, or in the app, is that if you aren’t careful, Snap Map will broadcast your exact location to anyone on your friends list every time you open the app. When you update Snapchat and get to the Snap Map walkthrough, as seen below, only three screens need to be clicked through to complete it. Though it mentions sharing your location, it’s vague on what that exactly means. Users might not understand that Snap is posting your location on Snap Map every time you open the app. Not just when you share Snaps to Our Story....

Asus Asus launched a new VivoBook S, the S510, today that features a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor, runs Windows 10, and is designed to look nearly identical to the MacBook Air. The laptop weighs only 3.3 pounds and has 7.8mm-thick bezel. Here are the specs: 15.6-inch Full HD, 1920 x 1280 display Either Intel Core i7-7500U or i7-7200U processor (depending on model) 8GB of RAM Ports: USB-C, USB Type-A, USB 2.0, HDMI, headphone jack Up to 1TB of storage (depending on model) Windows 10 Home Included SD card reader It starts at $699 and goes up to $799 for a better processor and more storage. It’s available through Asus’  online store ,  ABT ,  B&H ,  Computer Upgrade King , and  Newegg . Asus debuted its VivoBook S line at Computex this year. We had some  hands-on time  with one model and found that the screen didn’t look great, but for the price, it seemed okay. More than anything else, the weight and price will pro...

Google is  launching a new , more limited cinematic VR format that it hopes will be almost as accessible as regular YouTube videos. It’s called  VR180 , a collaboration between YouTube and Google’s Daydream VR division. And it’ll be produced with a new line of cameras from Yi, Lenovo, and LG, as well as other partners who meet VR180 certification standards. As the name suggests, VR180 videos don’t stretch all the way around a viewer in VR. They’re supposed to be immersive if you’re facing forward, but you can’t turn and glance behind you. Outside VR, they’ll appear as traditional flat videos, but you can watch them in 3D virtual reality through the YouTube app with a Google Cardboard, Daydream, or PlayStation VR headset. https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8732279/VR180_Gif.gif Creators can shoot the videos using any camera with a VR180 certification. Google’s Daydream team is working with the three companies above, and the first of their VR180 produc...

Lenovo has some wild ideas to share. At an event in New York today, the company showed off its idea of the future of personal computing with an image of a bendable laptop with a flexible display; a built-in keyboard; and even the signature ThinkPad pointing stick, or mouse nub — whatever you want to call it. With this concept, most of the interaction would happen over voice commands or a stylus. Lenovo says that this concept would be achieved through “advanced materials” and “new screen technologies.” That’s not very specific. As much as I want to believe, I have to point out that this concept isn’t likely to happen, at least not for a while. We’ve seen flexible displays at CES events for years, and yet, we have no flexible displays in our daily lives. The concepts that have come out as physical prototypes, are often  so thick  that we wouldn’t even get a  truly flexible  experience like Lenovo is portraying. Plus, integrating stylus technology is only going to ma...