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Mobile devices that are most “breakable” are from Apple

| February 11, 2014

A list of the “Most Breakable Gadgets” has now been released to show that some of the priciest break the most easily.

An insurance company has now released a list of mobile devices that they feel are the most fragile based on their own testing and data, and what they have found is that the Apple iPad Mini and the Samsung Galaxy S4 are among those that are the easiest to break.Broken Mobile Devices

Following some research, the firm came to the conclusion that durability is not Apple’s strong suit.

This is one area where those mobile devices were decidedly not superior to some of the competing brands such as the Google Nexus, Samsung, or Motorola gadgets. That said, even though the iPad Mini was the mobile gadget that was the most breakable, the Samsung Galaxy S4 was a close second, so it shouldn’t be too keen to rub it in, quite yet.

The tests were conducted by SquareTrade Europe to test the durability of top mobile devices.

The research was held based on certain common scenarios that could be experienced by these gadgets throughout their lifetimes. For example, they were dropped onto a concrete floor from a predetermined height, and were dunked into water. According to the SquareTrade managing director, Kevin Gillan, explained that consumers are pouring an increasing amount of money into their portable tech, so it is important to know that the device will be able to hold up to the purchaser’s life, to “get our money’s worth”.

Gillan added that “By putting devices through tests that replicate real life situations, we want to help people make smart choices when it comes to choosing gadgets and ensure they are covered against accidental damage.”

The SquareTrade Most Breakable Gadgets top 10 list actually included four products from Apple, including the iPad Mini at the top of the list, as well as the iPad Air (in third place), the iPhone 5C (in fifth place) and the iPhone 5S (in eighth place). Top competitor, Samsung, had three devices of its own on the list, including the Galaxy S4 (in second place), the Galaxy S3 (in fourth place) and the Galaxy Tab 3 (in seventh place).

To complete this list of fragile mobile devices was the Google Nexus 7 (in sixth place), the Google Nexus 7 2013 (in ninth place), and the Motorola Moto X (in tenth place).

NFC technology for mobile payments expanding in Canada

| February 10, 2014

CIBC has announced its expansion of the smartphone transactions for credit card holders.

Major Canadian bank, CIBC, has now partnered with a second large wireless carrier in the country in order to be able to broaden the availability of its mobile payments services to its customers who have NFC technology enabled smartphones.CIBC - NFC Technology

CIBC and Telus have now announced a new partnership and mobile payments app.

This partnership has brought about a new app that will allow certain models of smartphones with NFC technology that run on the Telus network to be able to be used for making credit card purchases for items costing up to $50. These small purchase include anything from groceries to gas.

CIBC already has an established partnership with Rogers for NFC technology based smartphone payments.

Rogers is one of the largest wireless providers in Canada. That company started its mobile payments partnership in 2012. Customers of both of those companies can use their mobile devices at Canadian “tap and pay” terminals. According to the CIBC senior vice president of payments strategy and innovation, Todd Roberts, “In the next two years, by and large, you will have every bank and every major telco providing the service to clients.”

Roberts explained that he feels that this technology will become just as common as telephone banking and ATMs. He said that when this happens, “we will treat this as an everyday part of our lives.”

In order to encourage mobile payments to spread more broadly, smartphones would have to be enabled with near field communication tech. This makes it possible for the terminals to read the necessary verification data from the mobile devices so that small credit card purchases can be made. At the moment, to use this service, the credit card must have been issued by CIBC and they must have their wireless service through Rogers or Telus. In the future, the bank expects that a partnership may also be possible with Bell, one of the largest wireless providers in the country.

The more wireless carriers there are in partnership with CIBC for NFC technology based mobile payments, the better the chances that a credit card customer will be able to actually use these services.