A couple of years ago, we were introduced to the Cardsharp from Iain Sinclair. It was a pretty interesting idea at the time–a credit card that transforms into a knife–but now Sinclair has introduced Cardsharp version 2.0 with a stiffer polypropylene build. No one wants a flimsy knife.

Another very notable feature on the newer Cardsharp is a childproof safety lock. This way, the little ones don’t accidentally cut themselves and you don’t accidentally unfold the knife in your jeans pocket. The cutting surface is 2.5-inches of stainless steel and you can swing it out with just three folds. Even though the material is stiffer than its predecessor, Cardsharp 2 is still quite light at just 13 grams. That’s 1/10 the weight fo a Stanley utility knife.

No, you don’t get as much of the multifunctionality of a typical Leatherman utility knife, but this is a lot more portable and slick. As before, the retail price for the new Cardsharp is $25 with the option for custom silk screen printing or laser engraving. Just don’t try to sneak it into your carry-on bags at the airport.

[Source]

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The target market is mostly small businesses, particularly those that are mobile. When they’re reading to ring up a customer, they simply tally up the order in the app–either by selecting items they’ve added to their inventory or simply punching in the full amount–and then select the method of payment. If they opt for a credit card (or presumably debit card too), you use the swiper in the triangle-shaped credit card dongle. The customer adds a tip (if desired) and signs right on the iPhone’s touchscreen. Yes, that means handing over your iPhone to your customer.

The PayPal Here app can also be used to accept payment via cash, check (using the iPhone’s camera), invoice, or PayPal. I imagine they’d have to sign into their PayPal account to get it to work, which could be a little time-consuming. You’ve also run into a snag if someone has a chip and PIN-enabled credit card, since the swiper only seems to work with the standard magnetic stripe.

In any case, the initial rollout is planned for USA, Australia, Hong Kong and Canada. Merchants are charge 2.7% on card swipes and they can get a business debit card with 1% cash back on eligible purchases. The little dongle, which simply plugs into the headphone jack on your iPhone, is free upon request.

[Source]

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The idea is beautiful in its simplicity. The case has a built-in fingerprint reader to protect your security and the kit comes with a credit card reader attachment. You use that to register your various credit cards and you use the iPhone’s camera to take pictures of all the barcodes for your loyalty cards. When you want to collect those points, you set the loyalty card and its barcode is displayed via the embedded e-ink display on the back.

When you want to pay for something, you choose the credit card via the app and the included universal credit card gets temporarily programmed to clone that card, both via the magnetic strip and the chip. You hand over the card and proceed with the transaction as normal. Yes, the Geode is a little bulkier than your typical iPhone case, but it’s a heck of a lot more functional too.

They’re expecting to starting shipping the Geode (which works with the iPhone 4 and 4S) in May or June with a retail price of $199, but if you give at least a $159 backing on the Kickstarter page, you’ll get a Geode for “free.”

[Source]

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Seriously? Are there really going to be random moments over the course of the day where you absolutely must shave your beard? I guess there are some guys out there with wicked four o’clock shadows, but even then, I’m not sure they’d be all that interested in the Carzor.

It’s a razor that’s credit card sized so that you can slip it into your wallet. We hope that the blades of the razor are suitably covered, less you come back with a completely mangled wallet. To make matters even more unique, the Carzor can optionally be scented with mint, sandalwood, lemon, ocean or orange strips. These are supposed to freshen you up.

You might have a fun time trying to explain this to the TSA agent when traveling too. That, and you really don’t want to accidentally pronounce Carzor as karzy either. In any case, it’s $17.

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So, let’s start with the good news. The good news is that the Welcome Back program includes 30 days of free PlayStation Plus. If you don’t have PlayStation Plus, then you get to try it out. If you already have PlayStation Plus, they’ll extend your expiry date by 30 days. They’re also offering a month of free downloads for “selected PlayStation entertainment content.”

Sony is gearing to get PSN back online next week and it’ll get beefed up with increased security, hoping to prevent similar situations in the future. The bad news? In the present, about 10 million credit card accounts may have been compromised by the hackers. So, yeah, you might want to keep an eye on your transactions on those cards or, better still, ask your credit card company for a new number altogether.

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Yes, it’s obviously not the only credit card knife on the market, but this one is made with carbon fiber. That has to make it faster or something, right? At the very least, it makes it look pretty cool.

Dubbed the Creditor, this carbon fiber knife folds up into credit card form when not in use. Carbon fiber on its own might not be sharp enough and that’s why there’s some D2 tool steel and titanium backing it up. That’s why it’s a cool $200 compared to the $25 bargain model we saw late last year.

Either way, I imagine that the TSA won’t like you trying to smuggle this on board your flight to JFK.

[Giz via CarbonFiberGear]

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When it comes to digital cameras, it usually pays to stick with the bigger names in the industry. You can feel a little better with a Canon or Nikon in your hands, because they’re trusted and true. Even so, the Poco Pro camera from Iain Sinclair might turn a few heads with its credit card-sized footprint and slew of features.

Sure, it’s not as thin as a credit card (what’s with that weird bulge in the middle?), but it’ll easily slip into your pocket. The spec sheet calls for a 14MP sensor, but based on the size of the lens, the sensor itself is probably really tiny. More megapixels, as you know, do not equate to better picture quality. The same sensor can be used for 1080p HD video recording.

Running through the features, we find a 2.4-inch AMOLED display, touch-sensitive controls around the bezel, haptic feedback, a mechanical shutter (for that satisfying sound you normally only get out of SLRs), MP3 playback (yes, really), built-in speakers, microSD slot and twin LED flash. There’s no optical zoom to be had, though.

Iain Sinclair’s Poco Pro digital camera is projected to sell for 200GBP ($307), but it won’t be hitting any retail channels until June of next year. That’s assuming if it ever makes it to market at all. This is the same crew who’s making that credit card pocket knife.

[ Iain Sinclair Design]

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Instead of getting customers to walk up to a traditional cash register, they can simply walk up to one of the customer service reps on the floor armed with this device. It’s not entirely new, per se, but the case does come with the ability to swipe credit cards.

Working in tandem with an appropriate app for the iPhone, the yet unnamed Mophie case can then swipe a traditional credit card just like you would with the machine from the bank. I can’t say for sure whether it works for debit too, but I don’t see why they can’t develop an app that does that too.

We’re expecting to see more information about this Mophie credit card iPhone case at CES next month. How this will line up against the Square mobile payment system remains to be seen.

Source: Intomobile

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The One Card Electronic Card is meant to replace every credit card in your wallet. An OLED display occupies the entire face of the device and it will display the information that you would normally see on the front of a credit card. When you want to swap your MasterCard for your Visa, you simply turn the dial on the side.

In doing so, the OLED display will switch to your Visa. What about the magnetic strip, you might ask? There is a special strip on the back that mimics this functionality as well and it will switch at the same time as the front display.

As if the credit card swapping functionality were not enough, the OLED display will also be used to record your transactions and show off your purchase receipts as needed. All of the information for the cards and transactions is stored on a removable memory card, so you can save it on your computer too.

Aside from the technological hurdles, the single biggest obstacle before the One Card Electronic Card can graduate from concept status is to get the support of the major banks and credit card issuers. That might take a while.

Source: Yanko

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