Android Pay Finally Makes it to Canada

It took a lot longer than anyone expected, but Canadians can finally get going on Android Pay.  The tap-to-pay service has added the country today, with the support of eight financial institutions.  That list will grow over the summer.  With the addition of Canada, Android Pay is now in 12 countries globally.

Over the next several days, Android Pay is rolling out with support from eligible Visa and MasterCard credit cards from BMO Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Banque Nationale, Scotiabank, Desjardins, President’s Choice Financial, ATB Financial, and Canadian Tire Financial Services in Canada, and prepaid Scotiabank and Desjardins cards. Support for Interac-branded debit cards will begin roll-out on Monday, and support for American Express cards and Tangerine is coming later this summer.

Like other countries, there are already a long list of retailers that can accept payments by touching your NFC compatible phone to a terminal.  These include Tim Hortons, Loblaws, Petro-Canada, McDonald’s, Indigo, Pizza Pizza, Sears Canada.  You can also use it in Telus, Rogers and Freedom Mobile retail locations.

Android O Coming to OnePlus 3 & 3T

Good news for those of you who have a OnePlus 3 or 3T.  Pete Lau, the Founder & CEO of the company has confirmed via Twitter that Android O will be coming to the 3 and 3T once it is released.

The question, of course, is when?  OnePlus has been catching a lot of grief lately because of previous commitments to get Android Nougat out for the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X.  Those updates simply haven’t happened and at this point, could well never happen.  So while the company’s CEO has said it will be coming, there are probably more than a few OnePlus 3 & 3T owners that are hesitant to believe it.

Real Racing 3 Update Brings Le Mans Challenges Back to The Racing Sim

EA Sports has released a massive update to their racing sim game, Real Racing 3.  The update, as it has for the past four years about this time, brings challenges and cars focusing on the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.  That race happens June 17-18 in Le Mans, France.  This year, the updates and cars are spectacular for those who love the game.

First, the mighty Mazda 787B is now a part of the game.  This rotary engine racer won the 24 Hours race in 1991 and had a notable, unique sound (as most rotary engines).  But there is a lot more to this update including the Porsche 911 RSR which can be found in the Rennsport Redefined event in the sim as well as events for Scuderia Ferrari.

Google Play Newsstand Updated With Improved Browsing Speed & Image Viewing

The Google Play Newsstand, Google’s news curation and information app, has an update rolling out in the Play Store.  The update, version 4.5 for those keeping score at home, improves browsing within the app and also improves the handling of photos with improved zooming in on photos.  If you have the app installed, you can expect the OTA update to the new version over the course of the next few days.

While the Newsstand app relies heavily on AMP pages, there are still plenty of sites that it leverages that don’t use or fully use it.  That can make browsing slower which is something Google addressed in this build.  Browsing of these non-AMP sources is much faster within the app now with far less loading time.  I tested this on both LTE and Wi-Fi connections and in both cases, they content loaded noticeably quicker.

iOS 10.3.3 Beta 2 Released to Testers

Apple has seeded the second beta build of iOS 10.3.3 to both their developer and public beta testing communities today.  The update is available for download for those with registered iPhones and iPads that are compatible with the update.  This second beta does not bring any new features and focuses on overall performance and bug fixes.

While it is not clear when 10.3.3 will be released, it will likely be soon for a few reasons.  First, this is very much a maintenance release and with the exception of a new wallpaper for the iPad Pro 12.3″, there is nothing new to be found.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, WWDC starts next week.

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