Visa, the world’s largest credit and debit card network, has unveiled a new product that allows people to access a prepaid account through their mobile phone.The product, which appears to be nameless, was developed in conjunction with Fundamo, a leading South African mobile money platform bought out by Visa for $110m earlier this year.The mobile banking solution is aimed specifically at emerging markets and, according to Visa, offers "unbanked and under-banked" people in those regions a "secure, ...

This is an odd review for me to write, because my opinion doesn’t count. It’s not designed for me, it’s designed for kids. But kids suck at writing gadget reviews, so I dug deep into my inner toddler to seek out any childish delight in the LeapPad, a low-tech iPad for kids that’s packed with educational apps.As a geek-tastic adult, my first instinct was to label the LeapPad a complete failure.It uses outdated technology. Its touchscreen is an old skool ...

This Army first launched Tank five years ago as a hosted site-builder application in an already competitive DIY web publishing arena. Slowly but surely it gained a following in the local market, mostly spread by word-of-mouth amongst the creative crowd. The simple, minimal designs and a certain “less is more” approach has seen it gradually being adopted by everyone from photographers to galleries and wine farms. Tank empowered those with little to no web development skills to quickly and easily ...

Digital strategy is often sidelined as the poor cousin of traditional planning and strategy. Even when it isn't overlooked it still seems that many forget about why they are actually creating a digital strategy in the first place.I want to highlight five of the top mistakes made when developing a digital strategy.1. Not Clearly Understanding the Business ObjectivesSeems pretty straight forward - you'd be surprised at how badly wrong this stage of the process can go. Clearly defining the business ...

Google has finally opened its online music offering, via its Android store, to US residents after months of beta testing."Today we are happy to announce you can buy millions of songs right from Android Market," Google product manager Paul Joyce said at Google's Android event.At the moment users can only purchase music via a desktop web browser but the internet giant is set to rollout the service for Android devices in the coming days.The beta version of Google ...

On the sidelines of a meeting of the Southeast-Asian economic and political grouping, ASEAN , around 200 bloggers from the region met to offer each other support in the face of government restrictions on freedom of speech.With news and information tightly restricted by some governments in the regional bloc, social media and blogs have seen a sharp increase in popularity.In August, one Vietnamese blogger was arrested and charged with "subversion" after having been involved in protests denouncing the authoritarian ...

Apple has been deemed the worst offender when it comes to flouting occupational safety regulations by a coalition of Chinese environmental groups.Included in this coalition is Beijing-based environmental NGO, Institute of Environmental and Public Affairs, who released a damning 26-page report called "The Other Side of Apple" (in Chinese). The report apparently documents cases where Apple's mainland suppliers violated environmental and health protections, reports PC Mag.Following the accusations, Apple has decided to go into talks with the environmental groups.Director ...

The world’s leading augmented reality platform, Aurasma has teamed up with one of Taiwan’s biggest newspapers, the United Daily News, to create the world’s first augmented reality newspaper. Placing a mobile phone's camera over images, advertorials and featured editorials makes them fully interactive.Martina King, Managing Director of Aurasma, explained how readers would be able to identify the ads: "Look at any newspaper today and chances are advertising inside will be carrying the 'A' logo - identifying to readers ...

Off the cuff comments by Nokia’s new France head honcho Paul Ansellem have got the rumour mill into high gear. Speaking to Les Echos, he said, “Et en juin 2012, nous aurons une tablette fonctionnant sous Windows 8”. So that seems pretty open and shut. Since then the Nokia Thought Police have kicked in, and no more is coming out of Espoo.This does confirm very elliptical comments by Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who was quoted in BusinessWeek a few days ...

I have mixed feelings about iOS 5, and I could probably write another article based on my meandering anecdotal experiences with Apple's latest mobile OS, but this one is about the data usage, and in particular that of iCloud, iMessage and Location Services.iCloud is enchanting, and maybe one day when I can afford an unlimited data plan, I can fully enjoy its wonders, but for now I'd like to share my experience -- a cautionary tale perhaps -- ...