Facebook Testing Mobile Payment Service, Rival To PayPal

Facebook is conducting tests with selected partners regarding a new payment product for online purchases on mobile apps. The service would allow any Facebook user that has provided their credit card to make purchases on partnering e-commerce mobile apps without having to enter billing information. The payment system could provide valuable data for itself and advertisers on shopper behavior and preferences in and out of Facebook. Continue reading Facebook Testing Mobile Payment Service, Rival To PayPal

Innovation: IBM and 3M to Jointly Develop Super-Fast 3D Semiconductors

  • IBM and 3M have announced they will partner to build 100 layer silicon towers that promise a “computer chip 1,000 times faster than today’s fastest microprocessor enabling more powerful smartphones, tablets, computers and gaming devices.”
  • “That’s a heady claim for a tech that doesn’t yet exist, but is already taking swings at current faux 3D transistors,” comments Engadget.
  • Under the agreement, IBM will provide its experience in packaging the new processors, while 3M will develop an adhesive that can be applied in batches and allow for heat transfer without damaging logic circuitry.
  • If successful, the companies would create commercial microprocessors composed of layers of up to 100 chips. According to the press release: “Such stacking would allow for dramatically higher levels of integration for information technology and consumer electronics applications. Processors could be tightly packed with memory and networking, for example, into a ‘brick’ of silicon… The companies’ work can potentially leapfrog today’s current attempts at stacking chips vertically – known as 3D packaging.”