Apple Pay now available in Canada's Big Five banks, In-app purchases

Apple Pay is now available in Canada to customers of BMO (MasterCard, Interac), TD (Visa, Interac), Scotiabank (Visa, Amex, Interac) which are joining CIBC, Canadian Tire and RBC Credit which launched the service last month. 

Apple Pay also extends to purchasing physical goods within apps or purchasing items from the Apple Store, while American Express is currently live and that won't change, support for all of the rest of the banks above will is also going live.

Launching payments within apps (all credit-card only; Interac support for in-app coming at a later date across these issuing banks) 

• ATB
• Canadian Tire
• CIBC
• RBC
• BMO
• TD
• Scotiabank
• American Express (already live).

Various Canadian apps have updated to be able to integrate Apple Pay for in-app purchases. For Apple Pay to work, users need an iPhone 6/6S, iPhone SE or an Apple Watch since these are the models that feature a secure enclave to enable the safe and secure transactions.

Source: Apple

Dell reveals world’s first 17-inch 2-in-1 and next generation of laptops

Dell unveiled a new line of Inspiron 2-in-1s ideal for students heading back to school, aspiring entrepreneurs and families seeking an affordable solution to meet their everyday computing needs. The new devices include the Inspiron 17 7000 2-in-1, the world’s first 17-inch 2-in-1 laptop. 

The latest additions to Dell’s award-winning line of innovative products are specially designed to deliver strong performance with an array of choices to meet customer needs. The refreshed 2016 Inspiron 2-in-1 lineup features a premium 7000 Series, a mainstream 5000 Series, or an entry-level 3000 Series. These new devices are available with a wide range of processor options and configurable features, enabling students, families and users.

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ASUS targets Retina MacBook with new ZenBook 3 notebook

ASUS unloaded some impressive new hardware during Computex 2016. The Ultra-sleek and light ZenBook 3 is ASUS' take on the Retina MacBook and even comes in similar gold and silver colours as well as a blue variant. The ZenBook 3 may look like a Retina MacBook, right down to its single USB Type-C port (groan),  12.5-inch display (slightly bigger than the MacBook's 12-inch display), but it improves over the Apple subnotebook in various ways.

The ASUS ZenBook 3 can run up to Core i7 processors more powerful than the MacBook's Core m processor) and it offers 9 hours of battery life. ASUS expects to sell the ZevBook 3 starting at US $999 in the next few months.

ASUS goes premium with new ZenFone 3 line of smartphones

ASUS has just announced a series of ZenFone 3 smartphones. ASUS says that these new smartphones set a new standard in design and innovation while maintaining ASUS’ leadership in providing intelligent feature sets in an affordable package. Coming to North America in Q3, this is ASUS' most comprehensive release in various smartphone categories.

Starting with the ZenFone 3 Deluxe, a 5.7-inch Full HD device with (1920 by 1080) AMOLED display featuring a gamut of over 100% NTSC color space for rich, vibrant colors even in harsh, outdoor lighting. Inside, ZenFone 3 Deluxe has a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Series processor and up to 6GB RAM to deliver the best performance for demanding apps, games, and media.

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