Mobile Payments, Privacy, Lasting Phone, Band

The Droid Turbo could be my ideal phone but it is only available for Verizon. Though it is possible that the phone will be rebranded as another phone since Verizon has sole ownership of the Droid brand. What makes it a great phone? The 3900 mAh battery that could last two full days, the quad HD display, 21 megapixel camera (no OIS), Motorola software, and it's not as massive as the Nexus 6. Downsides: Dedicated capacitive menu buttons, no fingerprint reader.

A Virginia judge has ruled that the police can force someone to unlock their phone with their own fingerprint, but passcodes are protected by the fifth amendment (particularly, "nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself"). So will this expand to face detection unlocking too. I'm not familiar with law enough to give a good judgement.

Looks like mobile payments has taken a step back with major retailers that partnered up with MCX like CVS, Walmart, and Best Buy. MCX is planning on creating their own mobile payment system, CurrentC. CurrentC allows retailers to eliminate the fees imposed by credit cards by taking money directly from consumer's bank accounts. While Apple Pay and Google Wallet is tap and pay, the CurrentC will not be as simple as you have to open the application to get to the QR code to use for your payment. Though, they may move to NFC technology like Apply Pay and Google Wallet as early tests of CurrentC were terrible and was easily hackable. 

While I will have my credit cards on hand that this point in time, knowing that a retailer supports universal mobile payments entices me to their store rather than a store that does not support it. It's even worse when they have the device sensor and capable to accept the payment but it's turned off. I just look like a fool and get embarrassed in front of the cashier and others in line.

Good news on the Microsoft front though, the Microsoft Band looks like a device that may succeed. Though, I hope it supports voice command with Android in the near future. It has a ridiculous number of sensors including a UV monitor, skin temperature, heart rate monitor, and a GPS.