Wired is reporting that later today Instagram will announce an all-new standalone app called Hyperlapse, which allows the creation of stabilized moving timelapse videos . It's a feature previously only available to those with more advanced photographic gear and know-how. Update: Here's our hands-on!
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iPhone rumor season is just days away from becoming iPhone reality season , and a new leak from a usually reliable source appears to confirm some basic details.
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A newly public patent application from Apple describes a detailed backend architecture for a mobile wallet designed to hold digital credit, debit cards and coupons issued by a range of merchants and financial institutions.
The filing describes the system as capable of powering mobile transactions conducted via QR codes, the cloud, and contactless NFC (near field communication). It's also explicitly engineered to handle large bursts of traffic, "such as can occur on a so-called 'launch day' of a client device."
According to a detailed review by BI Intelligence and independent experts, the patent application describes an "omni-wallet," which allows other parties to securely send data to Apple device owners, using sophisticated encryption and secure hardware to prevent fraudsters from intercepting or duplicating sensitive information such as digital credit cards.
The system would also allow coupon and store-card issuers to track redemption and transactions without launching their own payment apps. This would be of benefit to retailers hungry for better consumer data.
The latest application, which follows another Apple patent document depicting a Passbook-like digital wallet, comes just weeks ahead of the rumored Sept. 9 launch of the iPhone 6. Apple did not respond to requests for comment on either patent application.
Apple has a significant natural advantage in payments: its huge number of customer accounts, many of them with a credit card on file. (See chart, below.)
The patent also mentions "virtualized currencies," a possible reference to digital currency such as Bitcoin.
"Traditional cryptocoins like Bitcoin don't need the method described above to remain secure," Reed Jessen, a professional patent analyst and co-founder of a non-profit Bitcoin patent pool, tells us in an email.
But, Jessen adds, "one could imagine this method being used by Apple to send their own non-blockchain, non-decentralized digital currency, 'AppleCoin' to the omni-wallets of fanboys everywhere."
At BI Intelligence, Business Insider's subscription research service, we have published detailed research on where Apple is with mobile payments, and where we think it's headed. The full coverage is only available to BI Intelligence members.
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It looks as if Amazon may be getting some company in its bid to build and use commercial drones.
Disney has applied for three separate drone-related patents that discuss the possible uses of "aerial display systems," which means that Walt Disney's theme parks could one day roll out a whole new level of entertainment.
The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch first noticed the patent applications, which were filed Thursday.
The first patent discusses using unmanned aerial vehicles to create a "floating pixel or 'flixel'" that could possibly replace fireworks. The second one details using UAVs for floating projection screens that would display lights or images in the sky. The third patent looks to fly around marionettes and puppets on top of the UAVs.
"Presently, aerial displays have been limited in how easy it has been to alter the choreography and to provide a repeatable show," one patent says.
"Other aerial shows rely on fireworks, which can be dangerous to implement and often provide a different show result with each use. Other displays may us [sic] aircraft such as blimps dragging banners or even large display screens. While useful in some settings, these aircraft-based displays typically have been limited in size and use only a small number of aircraft and display devices."
If the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approves the patents, Disney's numerous stage performances at its theme parks, which use laser lights and fireworks, could theoretically see a massive upgrade.
Drones could one day fly around Cinderella's Castle.
They could replace fireworks shows with colorful "flixels."
They could carry tiny houses and ladders.
Or they could be flying around Disney characters in the air.
SEE ALSO: This Guy Was Detained In China For Flying A GoPro-Wielding Drone Over Government Buildings
SEE ALSO: This Russian Pizzeria Will Deliver Your Pizza By Drone
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Google just acquired a company called Zync, a visual effects cloud rendering company that worked on movies like "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Looper" in the past.
The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Google said Zync will be joining Google's Cloud Platform team following today's announcement.
Zync's technology gives visual artists and designers the flexibility to process image rendering and special effects - all in the cloud. Usually, you would need big hardware to establish the same type of render performance, which is more expensive and time consuming.
Zync's solution has been used in over a dozen feature films and hundreds of commercials so far, amounting to more than 6.5 million hours of video, its website says.
Here's what Google had to say about today's acquisition:
Together Zync and Cloud Platform will offer studios the rendering performance and capacity they need, while helping them manage costs. For example, with per-minute billing studios aren't trapped into paying for unused capacity when their rendering needs don't fit in perfect hour increments.
SEE ALSO: Amazon buys Twitch for $970 million in cash
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Coin already blew their launch, pusing back the release of the all-in-one credit card eight-plus months right before pre-orders were supposed to ship. Now, customers will only be able to use their $100 Coin card for a few months before it's made obsolete.
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Apple is working on an even bigger version of the iPad that it plans to launch next year, Bloomberg reports.
The new iPad will have a 12.9-inch screen. Today's iPad Air has a 9.7-inch screen. The iPad Mini has a 7.85-inch screen. The big-screen iPad will launch in the first quarter of 2015, according to the report.
There have been rumors throughout Apple's supply chain for months that the company was working on a larger version of the iPad. Some people have been calling it the iPad Pro. However, this report from Bloomberg is the most solid evidence we've had yet of such a device.
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