New Technology Reviews!.: London

Explained: How to pay with your iPhone

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Taking payments with your iPhone</h3>
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Your mobile phone started out as just that, a phone. Then it was a phone and a crummy camera and <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">Tetris</span> player in one. As phones got more advanced - smarter, if you will - they've evolved to take over more and more functions that used to require their own devices.</div>
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An iPhone can be an ereader, video camera, GPS navigation system, music player, games console… even a level to help you hang pictures straight. But has it ever bought you lunch?</div>
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New technologies, apps and add-ons let smartphones both receive and make payments, and the next generation of phones in the coming years will go further than ever to letting your mobile replace your wallet.</div>
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Taking cards on iPhone</h4>
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Cash transactions are getting rarer with debit and credit cards being accepted nearly anywhere, but you still run into places that stubbornly remain cash-only, whether it's a lunch wagon, a little independent caf</div>
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Explained: How to pay with your iPhone

Taking payments with your iPhone Your mobile phone started out as just that, a phone. Then it was a phone and a crummy camera and T...

Video: How museums will look in the future

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Near Field Communications, or NFC as it's more commonly known, is a technology few know that much about.</div>
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You might have used it to travel in London using an Oyster Card or have a smart pass at work that lets you into the building, but despite increasing numbers of phones packing NFC technology, not many people really know what it's for.</div>
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Thankfully, TechRadar has found a real life application at the Museum of London, where NFC tags have been deployed in partnership with Nokia to offer visitors insights and info on exhibits, quick access to social networking and NFC-only offers for the gift shop.</div>
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It's early days with the technology at the moment - the tags mostly just offer simple links to the relevant websites - but Antony Robbins, head of communications at the Museum of London, gives some insight into how difficult it was integrating the next-gen tech into a building containing so many exhibits.</div>
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Video: How museums will look in the future

Near Field Communications, or NFC as it's more commonly known, is a technology few know that much about. You might have used it ...

Nokia brings NFC technology to London museum

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Nokia is bringing brought Near Field Communication technology to life by giving London's museum visitors an easy way to learn more through their phones.</div>
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Nokia is using its new NFC Hub service at the Museum of London to enable users to touch their phones to certain exhibits and instantly learn more information about the display.</div>
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The tags around the museum will not only give information on exhibits but also allow users to directly interact with the location's social networks, download dedicated apps for their phone and get vouchers for the shops and cafes.</div>
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It's not all direct information - things like booking tickets or app downloads offer redirects to the relevant website, but still offers an easy way for users to see how smartphones can be used in new ways.</div>
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"NFC technology has the potential to change how we interact with our visitors. By simply touching tags located throughout both our venues, visitors can delve deeper into London's story in an immediate and engaging way, plus keep in touch with us by following the museum online," said Vicky Lee, Marketing Manager, Museum of London.</div>
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It's interesting to note that Nokia has carefully removed any mention of its own NFC-enabled handsets in this release; given the only device using the tech is the N9, which is apparently not coming to the UK, we'd have to assume the Finns are planning to launch new NFC-packing phones soon.</div>
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Either way, we're fans of this initiative - NFC has been talked about for a long time now, and beyond paying for a coffee we've been itching to see new uses for the tech.</div>
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Nokia brings NFC technology to London museum

Nokia is bringing brought Near Field Communication technology to life by giving London's museum visitors an easy way to learn more...

London scraps plans for cellular coverage on the tube, bums Huawei out

<P align=center><img alt="" border="0" hspace="4" src="http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/5337/11x0401n8i3bv.jpg" vspace="4"></P>Technical complexity and financial naiveté have meant that London's ambitious plans to cover its underground train network with cellular signal by the 2012 Olympics are hitting the scrapheap. In spite of Huawei's most generous offer to provide £50 million ($81m) of equipment for the project for free, the London Mayor's wish that UK mobile operators be the ones to foot the installation bill -- without a penny coming out of public coffers -- has unsurprisingly found little favor. Compounded with the logistical hellride of trying to get everything up and running by next summer, that's now led to a mutual agreement among all parties concerned to abandon the project. Mind you, the plans to get WiFi up at 120 stations in time for the Olympics are still on track, so at least we'll be able to pull down some data before diving into those dark, damp tunnels.London scraps plans for cellular coverage on the tube, bums Huawei out <br /><P><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/01/london-scraps-plans-for-cellular-coverage-on-the-tube-bums-huaw/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">via</A></P>

London scraps plans for cellular coverage on the tube, bums Huawei out

Technical complexity and financial naiveté have meant that London's ambitious plans to cover its underground train network with cellular...

Cameron asks Twitter to move to London

<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com///classifications/images/twitter%20logo-200-200.jpg"></div><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=latesttecompu-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0470563362&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Prime Minister David Cameron managed to fight his way through the student riots this week and bag himself a table with some of Twitter's biggest execs.<br>
The meeting took place in London and consisted of Twitter delegates, including head of international strategy Katie Jacobs Stanton, and Boris Johnson.<br>
The crux of the meeting was to see if Twitter would consider London as a base for its European endeavours.<br>
More precisely, if Twitter would open up shop in what has been dubbed the Silicon Roundabout in London's Old Street.<br>
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Cameron asks Twitter to move to London

Prime Minister David Cameron managed to fight his way through the student riots this week and bag himself a table with some of Twitter's...

Mobile signal coming soon to London Tubes

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com/classifications/gadgets/phones/mobile-phones/images/canary-wharf-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>Mobile operators and TfL could be close to agreeing a deal that will see mobile phone signal offered on the London Underground rail network.</P><br /><P>Sources have told <a href="http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Mobile_Exec/Networks_seal_%C2%A3150m_tube_deal.aspx">Mobile Magazine</A> a deal is in the offing and expected to be signed in two weeks, although issues with which company will supply the infrastructure could delay proceedings, with French company Thales in competition with Huawei to manage the services.</P><br /><P>Initially the trial will see the Jubilee and Central line converted to areas where businesspeople can shout louder on their mobile to be heard over the deafening train rattling, but the Mayor of London hopes for a wider roll out in time for the Olympics.</P><br /><P><STRONG>'We're sorry, but this announcement has been delayed...</STRONG>'</P><br /><P>TfL has confirmed that deals are in still being discussed, with a spokeperson stating:</P><br /><P>"TfL and the Mayor of London are currently in discussion with mobile phone operators and other suppliers about the potential provision of mobile phone services on the deep tube network. </P><br /><P>"Given the financial pressures on TfL's budgets any solution would need to be funded through mobile operators with no cost to fare or taxpayers. Discussions are ongoing."</P><br /><P>TechRadar has contacted the UK's mobile networks for comment, but none would speak on the proceedings at this time.</P><br /><P>The issue of mobile signal on London's Underground network has been rumbling on for a long time, with the <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/television/digital-britain-report-the-key-points-514478">Digital Britain proposal of nearly two years ago</A> advising that the problem would be solved soon.</P><br /><P>However, TfL <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/tfl-mobiles-on-tube-not-commercially-viable-609149">issued a statement to the contrary</A>, highlighting the intrinsic difficulties in installing such a system - but it looks like that problem has now been solved.</P>

Mobile signal coming soon to London Tubes

Mobile operators and TfL could be close to agreeing a deal that will see mobile phone signal offered on the London Underground rail network....