The Mobile Phone As Digital Wallet

By Digital Trends Staff September 3, 2007

The Mobile Phone As Digital Wallet As of Saturday, if you were paying for parking or a train ticket in the UK and it cost less than $20, you had a new way to pay for it – via your mobile phone. A new payment system calledPayForIt allows users to securely pay for low-cost items and services, with the amount spent added on to the user’s monthly phone bill. It’s beenadopted by all five of the major UK mobile networks. Essentially, it standardizes the ways phones can be used to pay for goods and services (and as an alternative to the much-hatedpremium-rate texting programs employed in the past) across all the networks. It’s hoped that it will bring more people into the fold of paying via mobile. According to Mike Short,chairman of the Mobile Data Association, “It’s for those customers who have not felt comfortable with mobile transactions or payments.” Users will see an information screen on their phone detailing the purchase. Companies like EA and Sony Ericsson are amongthe big players to have already signed up for PayForIt.

Digital Trends Staff

Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…

Mobile

I used Motorola and Samsung folding phones. Only one gets this feature right

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Motorola Razr Plus folded in hand.

Software plays a crucial role in any device, but it becomes even more important when you have a limited amount of screen space to interact with the user interface. The Motorola Razr series has always been better than the Galaxy Z Flip lineup in terms of usability when folded. This year, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 closes the gap between the two clamshell foldables by offering a big cover screen.

But sporting a big outer display doesn’t immediately make a flip phone foldable a whole lot more useful; case in point – the Oppo Find N2 Flip, where Oppo gave us six widgets (and added a couple more later) to play around with and called it a day. While Samsung brings 13 widgets to the table, the cover screen software is still not on par with the Motorola Razr Plus.

Mobile

How one bad decision is ruining all of Samsung’s new phones

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 in cream, blue, and black.

This summer’s Galaxy Unpacked event was the usual great fun. We got a new Galaxy Z Fold 5 with an improved hinge and more powerful chip, plus the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a cover screen that’s large enough to see what’s going on. These were joined by the return of a much-loved design in the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, with some refinements to make it even more classy, plus a standard Galaxy Watch 6 and a full new lineup of Samsung tablets.

However, Samsung’s latest product lineup also confirms the road I’ve feared the South Korean gadget maker has been on for at least a few months now. Samsung is getting more serious and less fun and whimsical in its product designs, especially when it comes to color choices.

Mobile

The best apps for a second phone number: our 10 favorites

OnePlus 5 soft gold with the phone app open.

A second phone number is a useful thing and can be used to separate your personal life from your business life — or even just used as an extra layer of insulation when interacting with strangers, websites, or just dating. You might think getting a second phone number is difficult and would require swapping out SIM cards or getting a new phone or something similar.

But you couldn't be more wrong! All you need to do is look at some of the best Android apps and iPhone apps. An app is all you need to add a second line to your smartphone and keep your personal phone number private and available only to those who you really trust. Here are the best apps to use for getting a second phone number.
Vyke