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Phone numbers as unique user identity: Are you ready?

Mar23
by on March 23, 2015 at 2:00 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Future of Communications, Insider

mobile security laptop fingerprint

This post is part of a series titled, ‘Future of Communications,’ and is brought to you by Nexmo.

Using the Web to support the social process has significantly increased in the last decade with the explosion of social network services like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and online dating sites. While having an online identity has certain strengths in providing easy communication by minimizing the need for a physical presence, the nature of online identities also has its flaws. It makes it easy for one to fake elements of one’s online identity, create a false identity or steal another person’s identity altogether. Creating a completely fake online identity The existence of a temporary virtual wall before one meets face-to- face…

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Square’s $Cashtags let you pay people and businesses anywhere easily via the Web

Mar23
by on March 23, 2015 at 1:47 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Square Cash
Square introduced Square Cash in 2013 to go against Venmo as an easy payment system anyone can use to send some money over to friends and families. Turns out companies liked the idea too, so Square has now made Cash available for businesses in the US. As with Cash for consumers, payments are deposited directly into bank accounts with an intermediary holding account. Square is charging businesses a 1.5 percent fee for the service – just over half the 2.75 percent it charges for payments via its hardware devices. Non-business money transfers are still free. To make it easier for…

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‘Free’ is a lie: Watch this video now

Mar23
by on March 23, 2015 at 1:46 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, video, Voice

freeisalie

Aral Balkan taps into our inner fears and asks uncomfortable questions. Probably everyone would be opposed to mailman going through our mail. So why don’t we mind that Google looks through our email? We’ve just added Balkan’s talk at last year’s TNW Europe Conference to our TNW Video site and you can watch it right now for free.  Balkan, founder of Ind.ie, discusses how companies like Google and Facebook promise us free services in exchange for the right to watch and study us; to mine and farm us. He claims that the brave new digital world of ‘corporate surveillance’ threatens…

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Google’s Nexus Player is bringing Android TV to the UK on March 26

Mar23
by on March 23, 2015 at 1:15 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, Product Launches

If you’ve been tempted by Chromecast but need the gadgets connected to your TV to do a little bit more – good news! Google’s Nexus Player, its first Android TV device, is launching in the UK on March 26. The black puck’s biggest advantage over the Chromecast is that it’s a dedicated set-top box so you don’t need another device to use it. Its Google’s assault on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV. Pair it with the gamepad accessory and it becomes an Android console. The Nexus Player’s been available for pre-order in the US since October but it’s…

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Why online publications can live without Twitter

Mar23
by on March 23, 2015 at 1:07 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Profiles and Interviews, Social Media, the atlantic

Twitter
This article first appeared on Simon Owens’ blog. Though Facebook drives far more traffic to content than any other social media network, Twitter plays a vital role not only as a direct source of traffic, but also to reach industry influencers who can propagate content across all platforms, from Facebook to Reddit to even the mainstream media (a disproportionate number of journalists hang out on Twitter). It used to be that websites simply set up an RSS feed that automatically tweeted out any new content, but it quickly became apparent that if you wanted to maximize the traffic-driving potential of…

This story continues at The Next Web

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