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Waze's carpooling service is now available all over the US
Waze has gradually been expanding its Carpool app to states around the US, and now it's rolling out everywhere. From today, drivers and ride-seekers in all 50 states can use the app to save time and money getting around, while helping reduce congestion on the roads.
The sequel to HQ Trivia is a Wheel of Fortune-style word game
HQ Trivia hit our phone screens around a year ago, promising us sweet cash money in exchange for our general knowledge skills. Since then it's kept up momentum, partnering with big name franchises and leveraging a social network-like model, in a bid to prove it's not just a passing fad. Now it's expanding further with the launch of a new game, HQ Words.
Square sellers no longer need signatures for card payments
Square Cash is continuing its crusade to make the business of parting with your hard-earned money a little less painful. It's just announced that it's cut down EMV transaction time on Square Reader for contactless and chip even further, to just two seconds, compared to the average eight to 13 seconds. The process uses a new "dip transaction flow" that prioritizes the parts of a transaction that are critical to security, which means less time standing in line, waiting for your card info to churn through to the issuer.
Chase now offers phone-based withdrawals at 'nearly all' ATMs
It took a long, long time, but Chase's phone-based ATM withdrawals are finally widespread. The bank has expanded its card-free access to "nearly all" of its ATMs across the US, giving you one less reason to panic if you leave your wallet at home. As before, you can get in by tapping a device with a Chase debit or Liquid card linked to Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, and then entering your PIN code. It's functionally equivalent to using your regular card, so you're not facing the usual limits that come with making tap-to-pay purchases.
AT&T quietly hikes customer fees to pay for Time Warner deal
After splashing out $85.4 billion on Time Warner, AT&T needed to find some extra cash from somewhere, so it's been quietly bumping up customer fees since April. The company has increased prices twice in the last three months, first by 50 cents, then by a further 73 cents in June. Customers are now paying an additional $1.23 in administrative fees, adding up to an estimated $800 million in extra revenue for the telecommunications carrier.
Massachusetts halts five ICOs for defying financial rules
It's not just the feds concerned about sketchy cryptocurrency fundraising. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has ordered a halt to the sale of five initial coin offerings (18 Moons, Across Platforms, Mattervest, Pink Ribbon and Sparkco) for offering "unregistered securities." All five listed the state as their place of business, but hadn't registered with the state to sell their wares. That should be a "red flag" to any potential investors, Galvin said.
Venmo temporarily halts instant money transfers
Did you need a friend to pay you back on Venmo as soon as humanly possible? You might have to twiddle your thumbs for a little while. Venmo has temporarily pulled its instant transfer feature in order to make a "few changes" to the service. You can still use regular bank transfers, but that won't help much if you need that money to pay a bill.
Square's Cash app now supports direct deposits for paychecks
Square's Cash app now supports direct deposits for paychecks, which means it's one step closer to becoming a fully functional bank account, without actually being a bank account. Users just need to give their employer their account and routing number (found in Cash settings), and the app will notify them when a deposit hits their account. The funds are added to their regular Cash balance and can be spent via debit card, sent to a friend, put into another account or even used to buy bitcoin.
Nearly half of 2017's cryptocurrencies have already failed
The surging price of bitcoin (among others) in 2017 led more than a few companies to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon with hopes of striking it rich almost overnight. Many of their initial coin offerings seemed dodgy from the outset... and it turns out they were. Bitcoin.com has conducted a study of ICOs tracked by Tokendata, and a whopping 46 percent of the 902 crowdsale-based virtual currencies have already failed. Of these, 142 never got enough funding; another 276 have either slowly faded away or were out and out scams.
Apple Pay Cash nears its first international expansion
Apple Pay Cash may not be limited to Americans for much longer. Users in Brazil, Ireland and Spain have all reported seeing the peer-to-peer payment service show up in iOS' Messages app, suggesting that launches in their countries (and potentially more) are just around the bend. Apple hasn't officially announced anything yet, but it's hard to imagine the company asking people to configure the feature and letting it sit unused for more than a short while.
'Angry Birds Champions' lets players fling pheasants for real money
Angry Birds Champions is now available on iOS devices and through the developer's website, allowing players to fling their feathered friends against precarious piles of pigs in a bid to win real money for the first time. The game is accessible through the WorldWinner iOS app or on WorldWinner.com, joining the studio's other real-money tournament games like Wheel of Fortune, Solitaire, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. "It's really the original Angry Birds physics game -- and obviously Rovio's done a number of different derivatives using the iconography -- but this is the core physics game of shooting birds and killing pigs," WorldWinner boss Jeremy Shea told Engadget.
YouTube reportedly curbing musician criticism with promotion deals
YouTube has always had a rocky relationship with the music industry, and the struggle looks set to continue following reports that the video streaming service is effectively bribing artists to keep their criticisms to themselves. According to sources cited by Bloomberg, YouTube has given a number of musicians several hundred thousand dollars for promotional support, on the promise that they don't say negative things about the site.
Kodak is jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon
Kodak's big film revival isn't working out as well as planned, which leaves it in a tough spot. How is it going to spark interest and raise a ton of cash in a hurry? Easy -- hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. The former legend has partnered with Wenn Digital to launch a KodakOne image-rights platform that takes advantage of KodakCoin, a photo-centric virtual currency. In theory, the monetary format creates a reliable photo economy -- the distributed trust of blockchain ensures you get paid instantly and securely the moment someone buys your pictures. KodakOne, meanwhile, continuously crawls the web looking for copyright violations.
Coinbase halts Bitcoin Cash transactions over insider trading fears
The start of Bitcoin Cash trading on the Coinbase exchange was supposed to be a great opportunity to get into a major new cryptocurrency while its values weren't yet through the roof, but that's... not how it panned out. Coinbase froze transactions just a few hours after they began in order to investigate numerous accusations of insider trading. Observers noticed that the price of Bitcoin Cash rose sharply before news of its availability on the exchange broke, and that there was a sharp selloff virtually the moment trading started. From a cursory glance, it looked like someone knew about the Coinbase move in advance, triggered a flurry of trading that led to a spike in price, and took advantage of this for a massive windfall.
Indiegogo makes it easy to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon
There's a frenzy over cryptocurrency at the moment (helped in no small part by bitcoin's sky-high value), and Indiegogo is determined to milk the trend for all it's worth. The crowdfunding site has partnered with MicroVentures to enable investments in the initial coin offerings (ICOs) that are all the rage as of late. If you think a new digital cash format is going to be the next big thing, you now have a potentially easier way to pour money into it -- and you don't need to be an accredited investor, which limits the scope of many ICOs. The first offering on tap is the Fan-Controlled Football League, which is running a pre-sale for $5 million tokens for 10 days after this writing.
First US bitcoin futures start trading at 6PM Eastern
Bitcoin is one step closer to becoming a part of the mainstream financial world. Cboe is launching the first US bitcoin futures exchange at 6PM Eastern, giving speculators a chance to bet on the value of the cryptocurrency through a listed (XBT), regulated entity. You don't use a digital wallet or otherwise require bitcoins -- instead, you trade and settle futures contracts using cash, with a $10 minimum price interval and a $1 transaction fee from January onward. There aren't any price limits, and you can short your futures (that is, immediately sell them in hopes of turning a quick profit) if your broker allows it.
Steam no longer accepts bitcoin for game purchases
Have you been stockpiling bitcoin to go on a Steam shopping spree? You'll need to change your plans. Valve has stopped accepting bitcoin due to a combination of high transaction costs (up from 20 cents in the beginning to $20) and "volatility" in the cryptocurrency's value. While the virtual cash has never been especially stable, its worth has taken a roller coaster ride over the past few months. Its value has been skyrocketing lately (one bitcoin is worth $13,300 US as of this writing), but it has also crashed hard -- Valve cited a 25 percent drop "over a period of days" as an example. That fluctuation creates a huge problem if you make a purchase and it doesn't complete before the usual bitcoin price guarantee elapses, as you may have to pay an outstanding balance and a second transaction fee.
Apple Pay Cash money transfers are available in the US
Apple had to rush-release iOS 11.2 to tackle a nasty date-sensitive bug, leaving hopeful Apple Pay Cash users twiddling their thumbs. Thankfully, you haven't had to wait too long -- Apple's money transfer service is rolling out in the US. As promised, you can add a virtual Apple Pay Cash card to iOS' Wallet app and send Venmo-style payments through your iMessage chats. If you owe a friend for pizza, you don't have to download a separate app or hit the ATM to settle your debt.
Venezuela will start its own digital currency to beat sanctions
The authoritarian streak of Venezuela's recent leaders has cost the country dearly. Mismanagement and sanctions have crippled its infrastructure, its money is increasingly worthless and the public is fuming. President Maduro thinks he has a solution, though: creating the country's own cryptocurrency. The "petro" will be backed by Venezuela's key natural resources (diamonds, gas, gold and oil) and, in theory, will help it get around the "financial blockade" imposed by the US and other nations.
Code mistake freezes up to $280 million in digital currency
Imagine if one person's code error deprived you of a pile of money, and there was no guarantee you'd get your funds back. Wouldn't you be hopping mad? That's how many cryptocurrency owners are feeling right now. The digital wallet company Parity is warning users that a large volume of Ethereum funds have effectively been frozen after code contributor devops199 claims to have accidentally deleted the library needed to use multi-signature wallets (those that require more than one signature to move funds) created after July 20th. Devops triggered a long-unpatched bug that turned Parity's wallet contract into a standard multi-signature wallet, making every wallet "suicide" and erase the guiding library code.
