A one click payment that uses social media login credentials to make payments is being tested by a major European media company. The inspiration behind such an idea was to make it easy for people to make minute or small scale payments, even in the range of 10 to 20 cents. The pay wall structure of online publishing houses can be bought down if the system comes into effect. For e.g. let’s say a user clicks on a link that interests him/her and leads to the article on the publisher’s website, however the article is behind a pay wall. In this scenario, one would have to miss out on reading the article or pay the subscription fee for the entire magazine. The proposed payment system will let you pay for this article alone in a single click by logging in through Facebook/Twitter.

Such a shrewd business idea can help online publishers, media companies, low-priced goods and service companies flourish. The system has been developed by a start-up company in Belgium. The company named Paycento will offer both small payment services as well as large scale.

Ever since its inception, Google’s Android marketplace has been a huge hit in the mobile world. Over the years the collection of apps, music and videos has grown to unimaginable levels. Google feels that through the name of Android Marketplace it is losing out on precious brand value, due to which they have renamed it as Google Play. They felt the older name was restrictive and did not present a picture of what the company wanted to offer. Beginning from the 7^th of March all of Google’s digital media services will roll under the name of Google Play.

This move is not a knee-jerk reaction but one that’s been in the making for a while now. Google has been contemplating a move to convert the marketplace into streamlined hub for digital media. To rent movies or buy music or e-books there is no need for an Android device as the name Android Marketplace suggests, because of which many users have ignored the service before.

Consumers are soon to be treated to a third helping of the iPad tablet. Apple execs unveiled the new HD empowered iPad Tablet at an event in California on Wednesday. This iPad tablet has a stunning new display which Apple says has more pixels than those of your HDTV with its 1080p.

The overall look of the new iPad Tablet will remain the same, with a 9.7 inch screen it will be 9.4mm thick and weigh 1.5 pounds. In addition to an extremely high resolution screen this version of the iPad uses the LTE network for 4G wireless connectivity which means that it cruise the internet at higher speeds from wireless providers like AT&T and Verizon. Also it has a more powerful processor in its A5X chip, where the X is short for the quad core graphics power built into the processor.

NASA has admitted to have been hacked into at least 13 times over the last year. In these major security lapses, hackers have gotten information on various critical projects and employee details putting National Security in jeopardy.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in a recent report “NASA Cyber security: An Examination of the Agency’s Information Security” revealed the disconcerting information. Close to 47 attempts were made by hackers across the world, of which 13 were successful and were major breaches. The agency highlighted an instance where a group of Chinese hackers got into NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL is key part of NASA’s active spaces activities that include missions to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

The hackers had full functionality within the system. They could have modified, copied or deleted sensitive files. They also had capability to add or remove user accounts to gain access to critical JPL systems. They could have uploaded high-end malware applications or hacking tools that could keep track of user credentials and compromise NASA’s other functionalities. They were also equally clever enough to modify system logs to conceal their digital footprint.

After a drug bust in Indiana, the cell phones of those indicted and arrested were checked and their numbers recorded during the investigations by the police. However, one of those arrested protested against this act as believed it as a violation of his privacy. If the Fourth Amendment is to be consulted, all unreasonable searches are indeed a violation and the person in question refused to part with any information that his cell phone contained and he also refused to reveal his cell phone number. However, when the case was brought in for judgment, the Appeal was rejected and the court not just ruled the suspect in for a 10 year prison sentence but also disregarded his claim for privacy in context if the mobile content checks carried out by the investigating officers.

In an age where information on almost all occasions is equated with economic value, the company that has taken as its responsibility the organization of world’s information is currently in breach of law set by the European Union. The ruling from the European Justice Commissioner just a few days after Google restructured its privacy policy towards making it more simple and understandable by users of the site. Google has already been in trouble before on the other side of the Atlantic because of the controversial street view feature in Google maps. The feature raised privacy issues much like the current restricting is considered to be breach of. The doubt in its privacy policy could lead to a Europe wide investigation that can be potentially harmful for the already tainted reputation of the company. The move is unlikely to have huge monetary impact of the company that enjoys immense and deep loyalty either out of convenience that users find with its products or out of pure love and respect for the company.

Microsoft gave its users the first taste of its latest and most important operating system yet; Windows 8. Users logged on to the Microsoft website to download and get a first look-see on Wednesday. As usual, the feedback till now has been pretty skewed, some loving it without bounds and other hating it. There’s not much to read into the feedback for the teaser, it is just as case of building up euphoria and momentum towards the final release.

The occasion for the release was the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain. Microsoft thoughtfully released it during an event that is primarily a platform for Mobile phones and Tablets. The biggest challenge for Windows is going to be its performance on Phones and Tablets. This is the first time in the company’s history an all-gadget OS has made it to the market. The move comes close on the heels of Apple eating into Microsoft’s consumer base with their operating system designed to work on Mac Desktop’s, notebooks, i-Phones and i-pads. The advent of Android has also adversely affected Microsoft’s positioning as a major mobile computing manufacturer.

The mobile wallet concept or the option of paying through your mobile has not taken the World by storm as yet. At this stage, it remains a niche market still discovering the best way to attract customers. In-spite of not being as huge as the credit card market, the transaction volume numbers are pretty impressive.

Various merchants, banks, service providers, technology companies, handset makers are all involved in the process of a mobile payment, which automatically brings a huge user base to tap into. The challenges that are stalling the industry are to be put forward in the upcoming mobile congress in Barcelona, Spain. The biggies that are set to make waves are Google Visa and eBay backed by PayPal. There are other small newbies such as Boku that has made an entry recently and has tied up with MasterCard.

AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless are all coming together to form New-York based Isis, which is set to spar with Google Wallet to rule the mobile payment market. To its credit Isis has bought major players like Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard on board for their customers to place their credit, debit and prepaid cards into the Isis Mobile Wallet. The service is set to roll out in the middle of 2012. Their plan to launch with a bang has been pretty apparent when they tied-up with U.S. payment networks: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express in July, 2011.

In the age of Tablets and Mobile gaming, the handheld gaming console is quite a niche market, but if you’re talking of Sony, then it’s a market that they own. Their latest offering is the PlayStation Vita that boasts of a power packed processor and a sleek 5 inch display backed by the usually brilliant graphics that we have come to except of Sony. The product is sold at a premium price and most have tagged it over-priced for what it offers, but it’s far from the truth. It’s a little dynamo that is worth every cent you pay for.

Nokia has been a reputed name in the phone market and is one that held sway over half of the world market until Apple’s Iphone and Blackberry phone took away its thunder. Nokia has been monumentally behind in capturing the smartphone market but has recently entered this market space through their Lumia series. The Lumia series until now are receiving good reviews but because of the dominant smartphones market that Nokia has missed in a large way is still making success elude Nokia and its erstwhile legacy. While Nokia had marketed its E and N series phones as smartphones many believed that these weren’t as smart as others out there. Nokia’s limited flexibility software was to blame and it almost had miss the bus had it not have launched its Lumia series.