PayPal has announced a new phone-to-phone NFC payment application at MobileBeat 2011, offering Nexus S owners the ability to request and transfer funds between handsets. As of now, the functionality is quite limited because, as you’ve already guesses, there’s just a single smartphone with the hardware capabilities to take advantage on this planet, and there’s no phone-to-anything not a phone supported as of now. In other words, this is definitely something for the sued folks at Google to pay attention to. We’re also hearing that P2P transactions through PayPal are gratis “if using a bank account or existing balance in the customer’s PayPal account,” but no one’s coughing up details on what’ll be deducted in the form of fees when using a different method of payment. A video demo of the 48 second transaction awaits you after the break, but sadly, there’s no detail on how soon it’ll be made available to the public.

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It may look like it’s losing the ongoing smartphone war, but they doesn’t seem to be giving up as Research in Motion is preparing for the next battle with reinforcements. Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis announced at this week’s annual shareholder meeting that seven new OS 7-powered BlackBerry smartphones are set to be launched in the near future.

As the company struggles to meet its financial goals due to delays, it’s confident that releasing a large number of smartphones will make up for a miserable Q1 and get RIM back on track by the end of the year. This seems to be a bitter contrast to earlier rumors suggesting the company scrapped other projects to make room for its QNX “superphone.”

No word was given by neither executives as to which phones we can expect, nor the precise dates when these devices will become available. We also haven’t heard if the Bold Touch series is included as part of that count since its launch looks to have been pushed back. Lazaridis mentioned the delays are a result of his company trying to meet (read: not exceed) consumer expectations, and that RIM will “come out ahead” in the smartphone race. Now that’s extraordinary confidence; unless the execs had a heart-to-heart with the anonymous letter-writer, however, it’s a hard pill to swallow.

SOURCE via Guardian

Apple’s lawyers in its lawsuit against Samsung are an impatient bunch. First, they asked the court for an accelerated discovery process so they could get their hands on Sammy’s forthcoming products ASAP. Then they filed a motion to trim the time until trial and asked for an order shortening the time to file the briefs for that motion. Yesterday, the court told Apple to slow its roll by denying its request to compress the briefing schedule. In doing so, the judge cited Apple’s knowledge of Samsung’s alleged infringement for more than a year and the fact it engaged in license negotiations with the Korean company during that time — which the court thinks undermines Jobs and Co.’s argument that they’ll suffer substantial harm without a hurried hearing schedule. It’s a minor ruling in the grand scheme of things, but it indicates that Apple’s cries to condense the time until trial may fall upon deaf judicial ears. Looks like the folks in Cupertino may have to look to the ITC if they want the rocket docket treatment.

SOURCE via FOSS Patents

Sony doesn’t seem to be shaken from all the attacks of the cyber warriors, and not only that, they’re also seeking new gold mine, and perhaps have already found one, in the EV-charged streets.

The company just announced its intentions to fab lithium-ion batteries for the cars mid-decade. The statement, made from its plant in Motomiya, hinges on a future market flush with consumer demand for the earth-friendly autos, and could see the construction of several dedicated factories.

Given the Japanese company’s recent history eating bits of competitor dust; we understand its forward-facing desire to become king of this Li-ion hill. But the mega-electronics maker isn’t placing all of its batteries in one fuel-source just yet — it’s “also [considering] developing batteries for gasoline-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids” — should they win the green energy popularity contest.

SOURCE via TechCrunch

ASUS’s mighty 2-piece morphing Eee Pad Transformer might be a commercial success, even despite early delays, but it seems there’s something amiss with the shape shifting earth-saving tablet nicknamed ‘Autobotsus’. Earlier today, the company admitted to an issue relating to the slate’s keyboard dock. A post to ASUS’ UK Facebook page reads:

“Apologies to anyone who has encountered issues with their Transformer keyboard dock (power drain and charging). The issue is related to the way we configured the device’s power management in/out of sleep mode. We will shortly be announcing details on how this will be resolved for our customers.“

Well, hopefully they’ll fix it ASAP before the product’s name gets tarnished even further.

SOURCE via Asus[Facebook]

Do you love Pentax very much? If you don’t fall into either of the Nikon and Canon camp, and love the Pentax so much, then you’ll probably like what you see above. It’s not a normal DSLR mind you. Also, it could be yours… if you’re willing to wait four months. Pentax is giving a very limited edition high-five to its medium-format 645D DSLR. The 40 megapixel stunner, recently crowned 2011 “Camera of the Year” at the Camera Grand Prix Japan, is getting a luxe lacquered makeover in this made-to-order kit. If you’re the type to collect overpriced (we assume) pieces of photographic paraphernalia, then this custom paulownia-wood box and its contents are probably up your alley. What do you get for all this premium exclusiveness? Well, there’s the aforementioned specially-designed body, a leather strap, body mount cap and center-spot-matte focusing screen. Not included is an actual photographer to take the pictures for you (or keep your swag clean) — now that would be high-end. There’s no word yet as to what this stately beauty’s gonna cost, but that shouldn’t stop you from pre-ordering it on the company’s site right now. Money may not buy you happiness, but it can get you a rare toy.

Before watching the video pasted after the break, it’s important to consider an oft-overlooked fact of life. For each person of greater-than-average intelligence, there’s one at the opposite end of the smart scale, one that goes beyond stupidity and retard and cannot be described with words.

With that properly addressed, we urge you to check out the video after the break. But please take out your brain before watching this video, if you don’t want your IQ to drop over nine thousand. You’ll be introduced to Robbie as the game start, a young man with a piece of black tape on his forehead. Robbie is about to demonstrate what happens when you stick your face in front of the tailpipe of what we believe is a full-size diesel-powered Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Why? Ostensibly it’s to find out how much soot is expelled from said tailpipe. For the real reason why this exercise was carried out, please refer to the first paragraph of this post. See the rather predictable results in the video after the break.

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