Square brings support for Tap to Pay on iPhones to merchants in the U.S.

In February this year, Apple announced that U.S. merchants would finally be able to accept payments using Tap to Pay on iPhones. At the time, the company said that the feature would become available sometime later this year. However, it did not share a definite release timeline. U.S.-based payments platform Square has now finally implemented the feature, allowing merchants to accept payments using Tap to Pay on iPhones.

The feature will be available within the Square Point of Sale (POS) iOS app, and it will allow U.S. retailers to accept payments using just an iPhone. Tap to Pay on iPhones will not require any additional hardware, and Square will not charge retailers anything extra for using the feature. Tap to Pay on iPhones is available on iPhone XS and newer models, and it is compatible with most major networks, including American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa.

In a press release, Square clarifies that Tap to Pay on iPhones won’t store users’ credit card numbers on the device or on Apple’s servers. It will utilize built-in security features on iPhones to keep the merchant’s and customer’s data secure.

Talking about the feature, Square’s Head of Financial Services, David Talach, said, “As commerce continues to rapidly evolve and contactless adoption in the U.S. continues to grow, Square is focused on ensuring sellers of all types and sizes have the technology needed to delight their customers and never miss a sale. Tap to Pay on iPhone offers a new level of accessibility for merchants to begin taking payments in minutes and processing transactions in seconds from anywhere in the store or on the go without the need for a separate payments device.”

Square sellers and merchants can use Tap to Pay on iPhones in the U.S. starting today by downloading the Square POS app.

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Best Surface Go 3 Pen Options: Microsoft, Tesha, and more

Microsoft launched the all-new Surface Go 3 at the company’s fall 2021 event. While the Surface Go 3 is a great machine, it unfortunately does not come bundled with a pen. Of course, you can buy the official Surface pen separately from Microsoft or another vendor, but there are plenty of other options to consider. When searching for alternative Surface pens, make sure they support the Microsoft Pen Protocol or MPP. In this article, we’ve curated a selection of the best pens to use with your Microsoft Surface Go 3 at any budget.

Some of the key considerations when selecting a new pen are tilt, pressure sensitivity, and battery life. If you do a lot of drawing with your Surface, you’ll want a pen that has accurate tilt and excellent pressure sensitivity. These aspects are key to achieving high precision when sketching or coloring with your pen. For those who do an exceptional amount of writing each day, make sure you get a pen with solid battery life. Several of the pens below are rechargeable, but some of them still take regular AAA batteries. Keep in mind that having a rechargeable pen will increase flexibility when traveling. In the case of a rechargeable pen, you can throw a portable charger in your bag and not worry about running out of juice.

Microsoft Official Surface Pen

Microsoft reliability

If you want to match your new Surface Go 3 perfectly, the official Microsoft Surface Pen is the way to go. Writes like pen on paper. Surface Pen is a natural writing and drawing tool, with precision ink on one end that now enables tilt and a natural-feeling rubber eraser on the other. Responds to an artists touch. Effortlessly express the finest sketches and lines with Surface Pen. Rest your hand on the screen of your Surface device, just as you would writing on a notebook.

See at Best Buy

Tesha Surface pen

Best affordable alternative

At under $30, the Tesha Surface pen has just about everything the Microsoft version offers. It features 1024 pressure points is designed for writing, drawing, and notes taking. Instant response, low latency, truly accurate handwriting reproduction. Palm rejection technology allows you to rest your hand naturally on the screen while writing, no need wearing anti-friction gloves. Super convenient for kids.

View at Amazon

Renaisser 520

Cheap and versatile

The Renaisser 520 is a an affordable stylus pen that still offers some great capabilities. It has 4,096 levels of pressure and tilt support, so it can handle writing, doodling, and even more advanced art just fine. It also has a rechargeable battery so you don't have to worry about buying new batteries, and it even supports magnetic attachment. For this price, you can't ask for much more.

See at Amazon

Dell Premium Active Pen

Excellent pressure sensitivity

The Dell Premium Active Pen features flexible, multi-protocol compatibility with select Dell 2-in-1s with a Windows Ink compatible display. Quickly launch OneNote by clicking the top button and write notes (even on a locked screen), capture a screenshot, or activate Cortana. Efficiently erase or launch the context menu with the side buttons. Install Windows Ink Workspace to customize buttons to your needs.

View at Dell

Wacom Bamboo Ink (2nd Gen)

Dual protocols

The Wacom Bamboo Ink is a very cool pen in that it supports both the Microsoft Pen Protocol and Wacom AES, meaning it will work on the Surface Go 3, but also a lot of devices from other brands. It has 4.096 levels of pressure, too, so you get a fantastic experience for a very reasonable price.

See at Best Buy

iafer Surface Pro Pen

No charging

This pen from iafer is relatively basic, but it does everything you need, with 1,024 levels of pressure and palm rejection. It comes with a replaceable AAAA battery that can last for over 1,000 hours, so you never have to worry about charging it. It also has a pen clip so you can easily store it in a pocket without losing it.

See at Amazon

Those are our picks for the best Surface pens available today for your Microsoft Surface Go 3 tablet. If you’re looking for the best value, the Renaisser Raphael 520 is probably your best option. It’s affordable, yet it has very good pressure sensing capabilities and tilt support, along with other niceties. For those that want the full Microsoft Surface experience, the official Surface pen is of course still your best bet. We’ll keep this list updated as new products arrive. Let us know which Surface pen you use in the comments below.

Surface Go 3

The Surface Go 3 refreshes its predecessor with new 10th-gen processors.

See at Best Buy

See at Amazon

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The Oura Ring Gen 3 now comes in a sleeker ‘Horizon’ avatar

After launching a premium version of its fitness tracking ring in collaboration with Gucci earlier this year, Oura is back with another new product. Its latest release, the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon, is essentially the same as the Oura Ring Gen 3 Heritage from last year, with a minor design change and a new colorway.

The new Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon offers the same hardware and software features as the older model. However, it now features a perfectly round titanium case with no flat edge. In addition, the newer model is also available in a Rose Gold colorway, which is not available on the Heritage lineup.

In terms of features, the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon boasts of an impressive seven-day battery life, detailed sleep analysis, heart rate tracking, and blood oxygen monitoring. It also comes with a new Restorative Time feature that tracks your physical and mental recovery by understanding how much time you need to spend in a relaxed state each day. Other noteworthy features include workout and activity tracking, period prediction, guided audio sessions, and Readiness metrics.

Talking about the new Horizon model, Oura’s CEO Tom Hale said, “One of the most powerful attributes of the Oura Ring is its form factor. Our research shows that consumers want a tracker that empowers them to live healthier, seamlessly fits into their lives, and looks and feels good on the body. The new Oura Horizon furthers our promise to deliver the most innovative and advanced health tracker while maintaining exceptional comfort and design.”

The Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon is available in Silver, Black, Stealth, Gold, and Rose Gold colorways through Oura’s website. It will set you back $349. If that’s a bit too expensive, you can get the Heritage model for $299 instead.

What do you think of the Oura Ring Gen 3 Horizon? Do you like its updated design? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Truecaller debuts AI-powered Assistant in the U.S. to help users easily filter scam calls

Truecaller today debuted a new AI-powered Assistant feature to help users combat the growing threat of scam calls. The feature answers incoming calls on your behalf and provides a live transcription of what the caller says. This makes it easy for you to answer important calls from unknown numbers while avoiding scams.

Truecaller Assistant works a lot like the Call Screening feature in the Google Phone app. It uses machine learning, speech-to-text, and natural language processing technologies to understand caller requests with over 90% accuracy. As mentioned earlier, it then provides a live transcription to help you figure out if you wish to answer the call, mark it as spam, or ask the caller for more information.

Talking about the new feature, Truecaller’s Co-founder and CEO, Alan Mamedi, said, “Assistant is a game changer for the global market because it does so much more than simply block robocalls. Until now, you had to make a split-second decision as to whether you think a call is important. Assistant focuses on what the caller is saying to filter out the robocalls and spam so you know whether the call is worth your time or not.”

What makes Truecaller Assistant potentially better than Google Phone’s Call Screening feature is that it’s available on iOS and Android and doesn’t require you to use a Google Pixel device. On the downside, it isn’t free. Truecaller Assistant will initially be available for a free, 14-day trial in the U.S.

Following the free trial, users will be able to access it as part of the Truecaller Premium subscription. The Assistant currently supports calls in English, but Truecaller plans to add support for more languages soon. The feature will be available in other regions as well. However, the company has not shared a tentative release timeline at the moment.

It’s worth mentioning that you can get Google Phone’s Call Screening feature on any rooted Android device using this Magisk mod. If you’d like to try it out, follow the instructions provided in our Magisk installation guide.

What do you think of Truecaller’s new AI-powered Assistant? Are you open to paying a monthly fee to use the feature? Let us know in the comments section below.

Truecaller: Caller ID & Block (Free, Google Play) →

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Google Phone update brings new in-call UI for some users

The Google Phone app received a new dial pad UI in April this year, featuring bigger buttons and new animations. The updated design included pill-shaped buttons similar to what we previously saw in the redesigned Calculator app, along with some cool new animations. Google is now rolling out a new in-call UI for the Phone app, but it takes a slightly different approach.

As per a few screenshots shared by users on Twitter, the new in-call UI features circular buttons instead of the pill-shaped buttons on the dial pad. While the design looks inconsistent, it will likely be more intuitive to use as it brings all the buttons closer to the bottom of the display. In addition, the new UI features a card behind the buttons that adds some contrast for enhanced visibility.

Hello @9to5Google

New InCall UI for Google dialer in pixel 6 pic.twitter.com/6DMIJsyse6

— Shazams (@Azamshams_75) September 28, 2022

The screenshots show that the new layout gives users access to four buttons in a row, Keypad, Mute, Speaker, and More, along with a button to end the call underneath. Tapping on the More button adds another row at the top with shortcuts to put the call on hold, record the call, and add another call.

@aamirsidd94 @MishaalRahman
Is this new or did I get it late? pic.twitter.com/67X8RXPgcL

— Abdulla Niyaz عبداللہ نیاز (@_AbdNz) September 28, 2022

The new in-call UI appears to be rolling out with version 90.0.475844574 of the Google Phone app on the beta channel. However, it is not available on any of our devices at the moment. Since Google has not shared any details so far, we can’t say for sure when it will reach your device. But, given that the new UI has already started showing up for some users, a wider rollout should follow soon.

What do you think of the new in-call UI in the Google Phone app? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Latest iPadOS 16.1 beta brings Stage Manager support to older iPad Pro models

Although there are many new features in iPadOS 16, Stage Manager is perhaps the most important and interesting, as it brings a new multitasking system, allowing for a more productive and layered experience. The feature is quite powerful and will even include external display support, as long as the iPad is equipped with an Apple M1 chip. Now, with the latest iPadOS 16 developer beta, Stage Manager is being expanded to work with other iPad models like the older 11-inch iPad Pro and also the 12.9-inch iPad Pro as long as it’s a third-generation or newer.

While this is exciting news, there is one caveat, which is older iPad Pro models will not offer support for Stage Manager on an external display. Furthermore, Apple states that for those with third and fourth-generation iPad Pros, the feature will work in a reduced capacity, only allowing support for up to four apps on a single screen instead of the eight apps that can be run on M1 iPad models. As to why this feature is now rolling out when initially it was said it couldn’t deliver the right experience to older iPads, Apple had this to say:

“Delivering this multi-display support is only possible with the full power of M1-based iPads. Customers with iPad Pro 3rd and 4th generation have expressed strong interest in being able to experience Stage Manager on their iPads. In response, our teams have worked hard to find a way to deliver a single-screen version for these systems, with support for up to four live apps on the iPad screen at once.”

Back in June during WWDC22, Apple announced iPadOS 16, alongside iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. iPadOS 16 was originally slated to be released alongside iOS 16 but was later delayed. The Cupertino giant stated that the reason for the delay was that it was an “especially big year for iPadOS” and that it had the ability to deliver the software “on its own schedule.” While it didn’t come out and say it, early reports indicated that the delay was caused in part due to its complex Stage Manager feature. Although external display support on M1 iPads for Stage Manager had been present since the first developer beta, Apple has removed the feature in the latest beta update. It plans to restore it with a software update sometime later this year. The public release of iPadOS 16 is scheduled to arrive sometime in October.

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Source: Engadget

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Google Play Store gets optimized for non-phone devices

The Google Play Store has been constantly evolving in order to meet the needs of its users, developers, and the devices that rely on the platform. Today, Google has announced new changes that will make it easier to navigate, find, and install apps for your non-phone products.

With a variety of devices being supported on the Google Play Store, sometimes it can be a bit confusing to find exactly what you’re looking for. Going forward, Google will offer new ways to search for apps with specific home pages for non-phone devices, introduce filtered searches, and the ability to remotely install apps from your phone to other supported items of your choosing.

The revamped home page will feature icons for non-phone devices like Android tablets, TVs, Wear OS watches, Chromebooks, and connected car audio products. Users will be able to browse compatible apps using these same categories, also gaining access to relevant editorials and reviews. Furthermore, users will now be able to filter apps and games by device type, making it easier to find what they are looking for. Finally, it will now be possible to remotely install apps from a phone to other non-phone devices that offer compatibility.

In addition to the changes found in the app, a number of quality-of-life updates have been made to the Google Play Store website. The website will now look more simplified, making it easier to navigate, manage, and install apps. Furthermore, users will also be able to filter apps by their device type while also being able to remotely install apps to non-phone products.

Google has been hard at work as of late, implementing changes to its review and rating system. To better the experience of its users and developers, it will now hold reviews for up to 24 hours before they are publicly posted to the Google Play Store. It enacted this policy to make it easier to combat and filter out suspicious activity. If you’re someone that owns or uses different kinds of non-phone devices, it will probably be worthwhile to take a look at the new updates to the Play store.

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