NEWS
31 Aussie credit unions and small banks get Apple Pay support Apple Pay will be available with 31 Australian banks and credit unions soon, thanks to a deal between Cuscal and Apple. Cuscal does all the card transactions for the smaller banks, so that's why all these small ones will pick up Apple Pay without having to deal with Apple on their own. The list of supporting institutions is on Cuscal's website. There's never been a better time to ditch the big 4 banks and go with a credit union I reckon. Discuss
The UAE is gonna build a passenger hyperloop between Abu Dhabi and Dubai Hyperloop One and the UAE have stitched up another deal to build a hyperloop system in the cashed up state. The plan is to build a 160km long hyperloop track that'll move people between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in just 12 minutes instead of a 2 hour car drive. That's pretty fucking sweet if it can actually happen. This is on top of the recently announced plan to build a hyperloop system at the Dubai port to shuttle containers around. Imagine going between say, Sydney and Newcastle or Melbourne and Bendigo in 12 minutes. I hope it doesn't end up as vapourware. Discuss
Theranos gets slapped with another lawsuit, time time it's Walgreens If you thought things couldn't get worse for Theranos, Walgreens has now decided to sue them for being lying dirtbags and risking their reputation and customer's health on unproven science. This is on top of the lawsuit one of their major investors launched a few weeks ago and the announcement of Theranos shutting their lab and sacking 40% of their workforce. Discuss
Samsung wrapped up in another corruption mess in South Korea Samsung has Theranos trumped (sorry) for shit news though. After their flagship product exploding, their washing machines also turning into bombs, they now have to deal with some new major corruption allegations back at home in South Korea. It's stupidly complicated, but bear with me: in South Korea right now, there's a shitstorm about some cult-leader influencing the President (it's weird) and Samsung is accused of paying for the cult-leader's daughter's horse riding lessons in return for influence into government decisions via this cult-leader who apparently strongly had the ear of the president. Samsung's HQ in Seoul was raided by police investigating the matter. It's made even more sensitive since Samsung produces about a fifth of South Korea's GDP and there's a constant tension between regulating it and the country's overall prosperity. Discuss
Tesla buys a German automation engineering company to increase car production Tesla has purchased Grohmann Engineering - a Germany company that specialises in automating manufacturing, part of its plan to produce 500,000 cars a year by 2018. In what's seen as a nice fuck you to the German auto industry, they'll be developing these new manufacturing techniques in Germany. I'm still skeptical of Tesla actually meeting their Model 3 targets and being able to ramp up to 500,000 cars a year so quickly, but good luck to em. Tesla has been pretty busy announcing all sorts of things lately and it feels like every day I'm mentioning something they do. Discuss
COOL SHIT
A guide to the latest wi-fi router tech Wireless routers have been loaded up with new features lately. Do you know about the different kinds of MU-MIMO systems, 802.11ad, the ability to create mesh networks, 160MHz channels and DFS support? Check this article from Small Net Builder out and get up to speed on the latest in wi-fi tech. Discuss
Anandtech reviews the Pixel XL Anandtech have a review of the Pixel XL. It's still a bit slow on some web benchmarks though, which is what shits me about Android phones. The iPhone and Safari is just so much better - in the Kraken and JetStream benchmarks, the Pixel XL is slower than an iPhone 6. That said, the review does specifically mention that the UI on the Pixel XL is vastly superior to any Android phone they've used. Surprisingly, Anandtech isn't totally convinced it's the best Android phone though - liking the Galaxy S7 edge better. Hmmm. Discuss
Review of the official NES emulator TechCrunch has reviewed that little official Nintendo emulator that's coming out in Australia in a few days. Apparently it's loads of fun. The games play very faithfully, the controller is nice and the only bummer is that they wish there were more games to choose from. This thing is gonna sell like crazy for Christmas. Discuss
Here endeth the sizzle (until tomorrow!) --Anthony
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