Visa Inc. (V) unveiled plans to encourage U.S. retailers to shift to checkout systems that let consumers pay using their mobile phones, as the biggest payment network aims to jump ahead of rivals and curb credit-card fraud.
The company said it will let merchants that switch to credit-card readers supporting so-called EMV technology forego costly annual security certifications. Starting in 2015, it will also stop requiring banks to reimburse most merchants for some types of credit-card fraud, which can be prevented by using EMV systems, Visa said in a statement yesterday.

Facebook wants to hook into mobile phone users who don't necessarily have a profile set up on the dominant social network.
The company has launched a service in the US that's a separate app linking messages in Facebook with texts, chats and emails on a mobile phone.
In effect, the Web2.0 outfit has tapped into the SMS market by fanning out its existing messaging service to a mobile phone app that's available on Google's Android and Apple's iPhone, but, somewhat surprisingly, not on the Windows Phone.

After outer space was proclaimed as hackers' newest target, thunderous applause followed at the opening of Chaos Communication Camp 2011 in Finowfurt, Germany. In the next ten years, hackers want to have their own communication satellites in orbit, reported Heise Online. Nick Farr (@hackersonaplane) of Hackers on a Plane said, "We can conquer the entire galaxy, if we stop for five minutes, to behave like idiots."
The plan to conquer space was followed by former WikiLeaks Daniel Domscheit-Berg announcing four days of public testing of Open.Leak.org. Domscheit-Berg told Forbes, "We need to be sure for the people who use such a system that it can't be compromised. Whistleblowers are the ones who take the risks. And they're the ones that get screwed if something goes wrong. So it's inherently important for us to make these people as comfortable as possible." The live testing will be here.

The EVO 3D is a successor of the largely popular and perhaps the first 4G smartphone to be launched in the U.S., the EVO 4G. This is the latest release from the Google, HTC collaboration following the EVO 4G and the Nexus One, and offers first ever glasses free 3D technology. On the HTC Evo 3D, you cannot only view 3D content, but you can also create your own 3D photos and videos.
Hardware

* By: Maria Tomasch
As more consumers use their smartphones for banking and shopping, threats to your phone become more prevalent.
That is according to the Mobile Threat Report released Wednesday by mobile security company, Lookout.
In January, there were 80 Android apps infected with malicious software, according to their data. By June, there were more than 400. The report claimed as many as 1 million Android owners were affected.

(Credit: T-Mobile)
In preparation for honoring its commitments to make Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system Nokia's primary OS going forward, the Finnish cell phone maker will stop selling Symbian smartphones and feature phones in the U.S. and Canada, according to All Things D.
In addition, Nokia will apparently wave goodbye to its traditional model of selling many of its higher-end phones unlocked, says All Things D's Ina Fried, and will work more closely with wireless carriers to price and distribute Nokia's Windows Phones. This is a wise move that will give Nokia its best chance for competing against other Windows Phone vendors, and subsidized Android phones as well.

The mobile phone market is deluged with data. Four times a year there is a spike in market share estimates just after quarterly financial results are released, while the time in between is filled with analyst forecasts and surveys from market research firms trying to get to the bottom of changing market trends.
July has been a particularly big month, with a number of studies, surveys and predictions. Individually they're of varying interest and credibility, but there is some value for app developers in pulling the data together and poring over the likely implications. So that's what we've done.

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that a mobile phone app can help patients manage their Type 2 diabetes. Their study, which is one of the first to look at mobile health technology, involved software that provides real-time feedback on blood sugar levels – if levels are too high or too low, patients are prompted to take the necessary steps to correct it. The 163 patients who participated in the interactive program over a 12-month period were able to lower their hemoglobin A1 (a key measure of blood sugar control) by an average of 1.9 percent.

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 11.3% year over year in the second quarter of 2011, despite a weaker feature phone market, which declined for the first time since Q3 2009. Nokia Corp. remained the top maker of mobile phone despite of major losses of the market of smartphones.
According to the International Data Corp. (IDC), vendors shipped 365.4 million units in Q2 2011 compared to 328.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010. The 11.3% growth was lower than IDC's forecast of 13.3% for the quarter and was also below the 16.8% growth in Q1 2011.

The E-Commerce company Alibaba Group has introduced its own mobile operating system for mobile phones and tablets in China. The aim of company is to promote its online products in its home country as both Android and Apple’s iOS devices are increasingly popular in China.
Alibaba subsidiary Alibaba Cloud Computing launched the Aliyun operating system. A Chinese handset manufacturer, Beijing Tianyu Communications Equipment will launch the first smartphone running on Aliyun operating system by the end of July. Aliyun OS based tablet will also be unveiled in China later this year.