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Amazon reaches deal to continue accepting Visa payments worldwide
Amazon and Visa have resolved their simmering dispute over payment fees in the UK and elsewhere.
Tesla now accepts Dogecoin payments for some of its merch
Tesla is allowing customers to buy select merchandise items using Dogecoin, according to the website and a tweet from CEO Elon Musk
Uber wants to sell you Echos, AirPods and Oculus headsets
Uber is taking its retail offerings up a notch. Last year, the company teamed up with Cargo to let drivers hawk goods ranging from snacks to phone chargers. Now, Uber and Cargo are hoping riders will buy more expensive products, like Amazon Echos, Apple AirPods, Oculus devices and Glossier make-up.
Apple Pay can be used for iTunes, App Store and Apple Book purchases
You can now use Apple Pay to make purchases from iTunes, the App Store and Apple Books. MacRumors spotted the change in a recently updated support document. The added Apple Pay options are coming to users in the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, but they might not be available in all of those locations just yet.
Apple Pay will support NFC stickers on scooters and parking meters
Apple is reportedly working on a new NFC feature that will allow iPhone users to make Apple Pay purchases by tapping special, NFC-equipped tags. That means retailers won't need bulky terminals, and iPhone users won't need to download a third-party app before, say, buying clothes or adding miles to their scooter rental. According to 9to5mac, Apple is partnering with Bonobos clothing store, PayByPhone parking meters and Bird scooters on the initial roll out.
ESRB addresses loot box controversy with ‘in-game purchases’ label
The controversy over loot boxes in games like Star Wars: Battlefront II, Need for Speed: Payback and Destiny 2 hasn't settled and state legislators in the US and governments abroad are considering legislation that would limit their use or straight up ban them. Central to the debate is whether loot boxes should be considered gambling and in that regard, the ESRB has maintained that's not the case, saying last year, "While there's an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don't want)." But that hasn't kept people from pushing the ESRB to do more. New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan sent an open letter to the regulatory body earlier this month, asking it to review its policies on loot boxes and take into account their potential to do harm. And today, the ESRB announced what it will be doing to address concerns over loot boxes.
GM thinks you'll buy stuff through your car's dashboard
As more cars roll off production lines with WiFi and LTE capabilities as standard, brands are falling over themselves to find ways to monetize this connectivity. Jaguar and Shell have partnered for in-car fuel payments, while BMW and Ford are bringing Alexa to your dashboard. Now, General Motors (GM) has unveiled a new on-board marketplace where drivers can buy coffee and gas, and make restaurant and hotel reservations, without getting out of their car.
You can get a refund on Oculus Rift and Gear VR games and apps
Buying games and apps digitally is less risky when there's a solid refund policy in place. Apple offers refunds for purchases through its iTunes app store and Microsoft has a self-service system. PC distribution portal Steam allows for refunds within 14 days of purchase if you've played a game for two hours or less. Now virtual reality company Oculus has made it clear that you can get a refund for an app or game purchased digitally for the Rift or Gear VR.
You can buy Nintendo games with Paypal now
PayPal has been on the Xbox One and PS4 stores since day one of each, but so far, Nintendo users haven't had the option. That has changed, though, as Nintendo says that Switch owners can now pay for games with PayPal directly on the console's eShop or at its web store. Wii U and 3DS owners, meanwhile, can't use PayPal directly from their consoles, but can use the payment service to buy games from Nintendo's online store.
Microsoft to offer self-service refunds for digital games
According to a Reddit user, Microsoft may be looking to offer self-service refunds for games. The feature, as discovered by user gaymerRaver, apparently enables users that have purchased a game on Xbox One or Windows 10 to get a full refund. There are some caveats, however, including that any title you want to return must have been played for less than two hours.
Facebook's Buy button lets you purchase products directly from Page posts and ads
Facebook doesn't want you to ever leave Facebook -- not to look at photos, read the news or chat with friends -- and now you don't even have to leave to buy a product. The social giant's new Buy button (and associated e-commerce infrastructure) lets you make a purchase directly on the site. Once you click the button, which is currently being tested with select small business partners in the US, a pop-up will prompt you to confirm payment and shipping info, then complete the purchase, all without leaving Facebook. The tool is only available on select merchants' pages for the time being, including Modify Watches seen in the example above, though it could roll out to more companies if this trial is deemed a success.
WildStar announces business model and new 2014 release window
There are players out there right now who would happily spend money on WildStar but don't know how or when. Obviously you can't spend money on WildStar right now; the game isn't out yet and won't be until spring 2014, we've just learned, so there's nothing to spend money on yet. But even when it does get released, how will anyone be able to tell the people at Carbine Studios to shut up and take our money? Wonder no longer because the game's business model has finally been revealed to the world. No more lying awake wondering how you'll be able to pay for the game (something you really shouldn't be lying awake wondering about anyhow). So is it buy-to-play? Free-to-play? Subscription-based? Yes. It's all three at the same time, if you look at it from the right angles. How does it manage that? Well, you have to understand how C.R.E.D.D. works -- starting with what in the world it is.
The Daily Grind: What have you purchased in-game lately?
I'm always fascinated with gamers' spending habits. Some of us have plenty of disposable income to splurge on frills while others of us have to watch what we buy very closely. MMOs are littered with ways to spend your money, from outfits to boosts to character slots to lockbox keys. I am still burning through my virtual wad in RIFT, having accumulated a great amount of credits from my previous subscriptions. I indulged in a guilty pleasure of picking up a swimsuit for Summerfest the other day because I just had to be a Cleric kicking butt in a tasteful two-piece beachwear. But I also resolved to save the rest of my credits for RIFT 3.0's new souls when they come out. Other than that, I haven't bought a lot in MMOs lately. What about you? What have you purchased in-game this past month or so? Was it worth it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Did you buy any MMOs on Steam this year?
You spent a bunch of money on Steam's summer sale. It's all right; you don't have to deny it. We did too. The real question isn't whether you spent the money; it's what you spent all that money on. EVE Online and The Secret World both made compelling cases for spending your money, offering steep discounts for anyone in the market for a new MMO. And who wouldn't be tempted? Well, maybe you wouldn't be. Maybe you're completely satisfied with your current lineup of MMOs and saved all of your money for one of the millions of other titles on sale this summer. So with the annual money drain finally out of the way, we have to ask you -- did you buy any MMOs on Steam this year? Or did you spend your rent money on a vast array of single-player titles instead? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Threadflip redesigns, seeing 20% of purchases made through mobile app
Threadflip is an app where users can buy, sell and discover various clothing and other fashion items, and it's just undergone a major redesign. The app was introduced about a year ago, and since then, Threadflip has seen about 20 percent of purchases made and 40 percent of items listed come directly from the mobile app, so it's a fairly big market for them. That follows the trends that we've seen with mobile shopping lately, with more and more people using their iPhones and iPads to shop, either buying items directly on the touchscreen, or using the mobile devices while out in a more traditional retail environment. Threadflip's new design includes both a new shopping experience and a new seller dashboard, so users can easily and quickly find what they want to buy (and then check out with those items), or put items up for sale. The app is available now, and to celebrate the redesign, Threadflip is offering 20 percent on purchases from the app until Sunday, June 2, when you enter "TFAPP" at checkout. Threadflip seems like an excellent example of the growth of mobile commerce, and odds are that we'll see more and more of these apps in the future.
Kids' iPad magazine Timbuktu rethinks in-app purchasing model
Timbuktu is an iPad magazine meant for children, and as our friends over at TechCrunch have noted, its developers recently rethought how it implements in-app purchases. The previous incarnation of Timbuktu (and most famously, Smurf Village, among others), made in-app purchases too tempting and easy for children. The result was high rates of in-app purchases, which was good for the company, but bad for parents who didn't approve of the large associated costs. Before, Timbuktu had little virtual bubbles that you "popped" to make an in-app purchase. The interface was clearly designed to pique childrens' interest, perhaps too much so. Now, Timbuktu has implemented a subscription plan, so that parents can buy lots of content all at once, and then kids can be free to discover it themselves without accidentally spending any money they're not supposed to. That definitely sounds more reasonable. It's worth noting that there are other ways to block in-app purchases. For example, Apple's Restrictions settings lets you to disable all in-app purchases entirely. Also, you can customize the amount of time iOS will require your Apple ID between successful App Store purchases. By default, it's set to 15 minutes. Keeping your children from spending too much on in-app purchases is an avoidable problem, and it's good to hear companies like the makers of Timbuktu are taking steps as well.
Gartner report finds Samsung topped Apple as biggest chip buyer in 2012
They were neck and neck in 2011, spending 18.6 and 18.8 billion on semiconductors worldwide, but a new Gartner report out today finds that Samsung has pulled ahead of Apple as the world's biggest chip buyer by a decent margin. According to the research group, Samsung's chip purchases shot up nearly 29 percent to $23.9 billion in 2012, or 8 percent of the worldwide market, while Apple's purchases rose 13.6 percent to $21.4 billion, or a share of 7.2 percent. Doing that math, that means the two companies account for over 15 percent of worldwide semiconductor purchases (or more than $45 billion), with each well ahead of runners-up HP, Dell and Sony, who stood at shares of 4.7, 2.9 and 2.7 percent for the year. Despite the significant growth of those two leaders, though, overall semiconductor purchases actually dropped three percent in 2012 to a total of $297.6 billion. The biggest decline among the top ten companies? That would be Nokia, which fell from fifth to tenth place with chip purchases dropping a whopping 42.6 percent to five billion, compared to 8.6 billion in 2011.
Google Play hits 25 billion app downloads, holds celebratory yard sale with $0.25 games
Google Play crossed a rather significant milestone this morning: something to the tune of 25 billion app downloads. While the accomplishment is weighty enough on its own -- especially given that the store also offers books, music and movies, which aren't included in this tally -- Google is celebrating in symbolic style with a number of apps and games for sale at just $0.25 over the next five days. Among the mix of discounted titles, you'll find publishers such as Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Rovio, Runtastic and Full Fat. Not to stop there, shoppers will also discover a curated collection of 25 must-own movies, 25 banned books, 25 albums that changed the world and 25 top-selling magazines. With today's announcement, it was revealed that 675,000 apps and games now live in Google Play -- a healthy increase when compared to 600,000 titles and 20 billion installs just three months ago. As you might expect, Apple still claims the largest selection with 700,000 titles in its App Store, although with such a thin separation between the two, we may see Google Play eclipse its rival in short order.
Google patents buyer-specific price drops for follow-up sales, can tell if you're a cheapskate
Ever been tempted to rent a movie again, but thought the price was just a little too dear? Google may soon be willing to haggle a deal. One of its newly-granted patents could automatically lower the price of repurchase-friendly content, such as a Google Play Movies rental, depending on how likely you are to pull the trigger. Its algorithm weighs your personal tastes and repurchasing habits against those of your peers: if the code senses you'll be relatively stingy, you'll get a better discount. The analysis could even factor in the nature of the content itself. A thoughtful movie, ownership of the soundtrack or just a lot of related searches could lead to a repurchase at the usual price, while a simple action flick with no previous interest may bring the discount into effect. We don't know if Google will offer these extra-personal discounts to the public at any point in the future, but if you suddenly notice a lot of follow-up bargains in Google Play, you'll know how they came to be.
Apple lands patent for NFC-ready shopping app, could make impulse spending an iPhone tap away
Apple has been filing more than its fair share of NFC-related patents, but it was just granted what could be one of its more important wins at the USPTO. The design for an "on-the-go shopping list" app would help buyers find and pull the trigger on deals through every tool an iPhone has at its disposal, whether it's taking a snapshot of goods with the camera, punching in the UPC code by hand or tapping an item for an NFC-based "touch scan." We'll admit that we're a bit disappointed at how NFC is used, however. As with an earlier filing, the very short range wireless is kept largely to price comparisons and adding products to a list for a purchase from a store clerk later on, rather than closing the deal outright as we've seen with Google Wallet. The original 2008 filing date will also have seen a lot of water flowing under the bridge; there's no guarantee that any enthusiasm for NFC from the iPhone 3G era will have transferred to the present day. Accordingly, we would be careful about drawing any connections between iOS 6's Passbook and Apple's ideas from four years ago -- even if Apple has regularly been a never-say-never sort of company.
