Apple Pay may finally be coming to Canada this Fall

During the past few months, Apple has made it abundantly clear that it is ready and more than willing to invest heftily in pushing its new NFC-based payment system. The Cupertino giant has really sets its goals high with Apple Pay and despite some distrust from major retailers, as well as customers in the US, the service has been growing steadily on the home market.

Most of this success, however, can be attributed to Apple's tireless efforts to expand the service, despite numerous reports of security issues and bad user experience. Internationall expansion for Apple Pay is another move Apple has been battling for quite some time and currently, its primary target markets are Canada and China. As some of you might remember, negotiations with Chinese authorities have beenpretty tough and the future is still uncertain for the payment service in the vast market.

A new report by the Wall Street Journal, however, reveals that the Cupertino giant might be pretty close to releasing Apple Pay in neighboring Canada, but there are still some tough points to negotiate. Industry sources have revealed, that Apple is currently in talks with six major Canadian bands - Royal Bank of Canada,Toronto-Dominion Bank,Bank of Nova Scotia,Bank of Montreal,Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and National Bank of Canada. Between them, they constitute for about 90% of all retail bank accounts, so a potential deal could insure spectacular exposure for the payment service.

This, however, does not mean that Apple Pay is in for some clear sailing in Canada, on the contrary. The aforementioned banking institutions have formed a consortium to address major issues they have with Apple's service. Unsurprisingly, the dispute revolves around pretty much the same aspect that are struggling to pass UnionPay approval in China. For one, Apple Pay hasn't proven to be particularly secure and, although cases of fraud have been few, most banks tend to show a lot of distrust towards the service.

To address this problem, McKinsey & Co has been hired as a consultant to develop a new security protocol for use with Apple Pay in Canada. And, while, this is sure to be costly and time-consuming, Apple has little choice but to comply and wait patiently, especially considering the end-reward. The Canadian market has all the characteristics to be a particularly nourishing environment for the payment service. Apple's market share in the country constitutes a whopping one third of all mobile devices and most local retailers are already equipped with the technology to accept NFC-based payments.

But even if security concerns get straightened out, there is still the question of royalties, which some sources have speculated might be even higher for retailers and banks outside the US. Ultimately, this could mean that transaction made through Apple Pay are significantly more expensive for banks than more-traditional card-based ones. And seeing how "tap-and-go" seamless card payment are already wide-spread in Canada, there is little actual incentive to favor Apple Pay, which might even require users to go through an extra verification step to address all the possible security issues.

But, needless to say, Apple has proven itself to be very persuasive and judging by the vigorous efforts to push Apple Pay, the situation might actually get sorted out sooner than we expect. All we can do is hope that the customer won’t be the one left "paying the bill" in the end.

Microsoft pauses Lumia 520, 525 update due to bricking

Did you update Nokia Lumia 520 or Lumia 525 (including the 526 variant) with the preview Windows 10 build? Then you should hold off on rolling back to Windows Phone 8.1, multiple users report that they bricked their devices doing so with the Windows Phone Recover Tool.

Microsoft has paused the availability of the update while the issue is being investigated. You can join the discussion, the Microsoft team is working with users trying to resolve the issue.

Some users are offering solutions, though it would be best to wait for the official team to resolve the issue. Also note that some users are having similar issues with the Lumia 920.

New leaked renders might showcase the Xperia Z3 Neo

The plot continues to thicken around Sony's long-overdue Xperia Z4 flagship. Rumors about the handset are still plentiful, but despite the vigorous talk of a metal unibody and a fingerprint sensor, recent rumors have thrown a major curve ball into the saga and its name is the Sony Xperia Z3 Neo.

There has been a lot of speculation around the new Neo model, mostly, that it is next in line for a releasein just a few hours on April 20 with the eagerly-anticipated Xperia Z4 postponed once again, or perhaps even indefinitely. Other speculations have stated that what we thought was the Z4 will actually turn out to be the Z3 Neo, with a model number E6553, leaving us to wonder what to think of the sea of recent Z4 leaks.

A new set of leaked internal renders now claim to showcase the Z3 Neo, but at this point, we can’t really be sure what we are looking at. Furthermore, one of them is clearly annotated as "Xperia Z The fourth Generation", perplexing us even further. In any case, the handset in the three pictures is airily similar to the current Xperia Z3, but frankly, that was all but expected. Looking at the renders closely, however, we do detect minor changes, like the absence of a flap on the right side of the device, but generally, the Sony design is all but intact.

Whatever this device may be, we still hope that an unveiling will take place on April 20. Also, we can't really be sure if our previous information concerts the Xperia Z4, Z3 Neo, both or none of them, for that matter, but rumors state the next Sony device will pack a 5.2" screen (either 1080p or QHD). The specs sheet should also include a Snapdragon 810 chipset with 4GB of RAM, the usual 20.7MP camera and the IP68 waterproofing.

What is your take on Sony's current situation and do you have any expectations or prediction as to what is going to happen next? Tell us in the comment section.

BlackBerry Passport now available for $549

Just over a month after brokerage firm Morgan Stanley said that the BlackBerry Passport and Classicaren't selling well, the Canadian company has started selling the unlocked version of the devices at discounted prices on its online store (hit the Source link below).

The Passport, which usually sells for $599, is available for $549, while the $449 Classic can now be bought for $399. In addition, the BlackBerry Q5 and Z30 are also available at reduced rates - $149 and $229, respectively.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry is rumored to be working on a new smartphone, dubbed Oslo. We are yet to find out more about it, though.

New Samsung Galaxy Tab 5 specifications leak

A brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab 5 has been spotted on TENAA, as well as in a Bluetooth certification. This means that the next iteration of the tablet family is well on its way, which, frankly, surprised us a little.

Earlier this month, the current generation Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, received a 64-bit processor upgrade and so did the Galaxy Tab 4 8.0, a few months earlier, so we naturally assumed Samsung was futureproofing its tech and thus postponing a fifth series.

A set of recently uncovered TENAA certification pages definitely says otherwise. According to the enclosed specifications, the pair of devices will come equipped with an 8.0-inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. Both will also feature quad-core CPUs, clocked at 1.2 GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage.

In terms of dimensions, the Tab 5 will be thinner than the previous Galaxy Tab 4, but perhaps, a little shorter and wider. The certification pages for both models seem to show little difference between then, so at this point, we can't really be sure what their main distinction will be. The SM-P355C is listed as being a little heavier and only with white color as an option, although its picture clearly shows a different pallet.

The camera setup on the P variant is also described in more detail. The tablet should come with a 5MP main shooter and a 2MP front one. Judging from the photos, the SM-T355C will also come with two cameras, most probably the same. Undoubtedly, both models will run Android Lollipop out of the box and if rumors are to be belied, will also come with a stylus, better known as S Pen, just like Samsung's Note series. It will, allegedly, reside in a slot neat the upper right corner of the Galaxy Tab 5.

There is no official information on the new Tab series yet and we will surely know more about the upcoming tablets once Samsung discloses its future plans for the Galaxy Tab lineup.