Mastercard and Verizon plan to work together on "transformational" financial technologies. The companies hope their new partnership will start producing results by 2023, pushing Mastercard's Tap on Phone platform to allow compatible mobile devices to double as point of sale terminals. The two plan to explore technologies that will make it easier for businesses to add touchless payment systems to their stores.

Microsoft’s Windows 11 preview has been available for a couple of weeks, but I’m still discovering new animations and details in this new OS that put a smile on my face, including a checkbox that has an animated tick to subtly let you know when you interact with it, or a settings cog that spins when you hover over it.

The Weather app on iOS 14.6 will refuse to show 69 degrees in the forecast, even though the actual temperature in a given location is 69 degrees. The app appears to have similar issues with 65 degrees, 65 and 71 degrees, but the issue is not clear if it is a bug or an attempt to cut down on 69-related humor.

A new Twitter feature will allow anyone on Twitter to adjust who can reply to individual tweets after they've been sent, allowing people to limit replies to people you follow or only people mentioned in a tweet. The feature was added last August to boost conversations and help people feel safer from harassment.

Mercedes-Benz's new car, the 2022 AMG SL Roadster, is taking the screen out of the dashboard, anchoring it to the center console, and letting it electronically flip up and down. The company designed the 11.9-inch portrait touchscreen this way to help fight glare.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is working with Goldman Sachs on a service called "Apple Pay Later" that will allow those with its devices to settle purchases over time, including ones they make at physical shops. The service would allow you to purchase something and pay for it later by splitting up the total cost of the item into several installments.

The French competition authority ordered Google to negotiate deals with news organisations to show extracts of articles in search results, news and other services. The authority accused Google of not taking an order to do so seriously. Google told the BBC the decision "ignores our efforts to reach an agreement"

Market research is the foundation of a successful product or service launch. It's the process of understanding what people want and need, why they want it, and how much they are willing to pay for your product or services.

Artificial intelligence has brought about a new solution: using algorithms developed with data from sources like Amazon, Walmart and Target, businesses can scan huge amounts of market research information in far less time than traditional methods. Commerce firms are becoming aware that artificial intelligence is cheaper than traditional market research methods. While it would take an army of analysts months or years to scan the same amount of data, AI can do so in minutes.

Marc Lore, who led Walmart’s digital counter-attack against Amazon, announced that he was stepping down from the world’s biggest physical retailer, picking up some of his responsibilities picked up by Casey Carl, recently appointed Chief Omni Strategy Officer at Walmart, putting the wind up the entire industry.

Alibaba and jd.com are best placed to make money online, pouring money into upgrading supermarkets, with more than 200 stores that enable shoppers to use apps to learn what they are buying, to eat in-store, and to have their groceries carried home. Also expected in North America and Europe, as supermarkets strive for scale to confront the likes of Amazon and Walmart.

Elon Musk's latest tweet lifted Dogecoin out of its slump, driving the crypto meme-coin back above 22 cents after a steady decline that had seen it slip below 20 cents on Thursday. While the notion that Musk can move the crypto markets with the push of a button is well established at this point, his thoughts on the wonkier aspects of digital currencies are particularly curious, especially for those not well-versed in their technical intricacies.

Binance froze for over an hour just as the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies plunged, locking some of its users out of their money. The exchange seized margin collateral and liquidated their holdings as losses steepened. Binance traders are trying to get their money back, but unlike a more traditional investment platform, Binance is largely unregulated.

Microsoft Corp. plans to acquire cybersecurity company RiskIQ as it seeks to bolster its ability to detect threats and protect its customers’ online properties, adding that RiskIQ’s technology helps security teams “assemble, graph, and identify connections between their digital attack surface and attacker infrastructure and activities to help provide increased protection and faster response.