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Meijer is first MCX member to break ranks, continuing to support Apple Pay | 9to5Mac : "While CurrentC consortium MCX’s contracts state that members cannot accept competing forms of mobile payment, Midwest grocery chain Meijer appears to be the first member to break ranks by continuing to allow NFC payment – including Apple Pay." Seems kind of crazy to disable a technology that's already installed.

First Look Review: Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Player Lollipops | 9to5Google : "Google invited some journalists to a location near its New York office today to look at its new Nexus products. On display were the Nexus 6, Player and 9 with plenty of accessories. I asked some questions, I took some notes I played around a little bit." Goog!

Leading NFC terminal maker Verifone encourages merchants to enable Apple Pay | 9to5Mac : "" I think the banks/credit card companies will save much in terms of fraud and chargebacks.

LG enters the ARM chip-making game with its Octa-core NUCLUN | 9to5Google : "LG just dropped an TSMC-built octo-core NUCLUN bomb on us this evening. The smartphone and electronics manufacturer announced its own, long rumored ARM processor which will go into its phones later this year." ARM is the future. It's the practical realization of MIPS and PowerPC.

Google exec Alan Eustace’s 135,908-foot jump from the stratosphere sets a new world record | 9to5Google : "Today, Google executive Alan Eustace quietly and successfully parachuted from 135,908 feet back to Earth, breaking Baumgartner’s record. Here’s a look at the Googler making his ascension into the record books." Nothing against RedBull, but this is a record that belongs to an innovator.

Apple avoids $94M patent infringement suit leveled by patent troll GPNE : "The case, which dates back to 2011, saw Honolulu, Hawaii-based GPNE Corp. assert patents related to 3G wireless technologies against Apple. GPNE sought $94 million in damages, but received nothing after a San Jose jury found Apple not in infringement, reports CNET." Yay!

Full video of Jony Ive's Vanity Fair interview posted online : "During a question and answer session following the formal interview, Ive was asked if he felt flattered that Chinese phone maker Xiaomi's handset designs are aesthetically similar to certain iPhone models. At the time, much was made of Ive's response, with some publications reporting that he 'slammed' the firm's design tactics. But the full video reveals otherwise." At this point in the mobile wars, it's hard to tell who is stealing from who. After all, it was Steve Jobs himself who said "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Or so I've heard.

Google announces 8.9-inch HTC-made Nexus 9 tablet, preorder Oct. 17, ships Nov 3 | 9to5Google : "Alongside Android 5.0 Lollipop announcements and the new Nexus 6 smartphone, Google has officially announced the much rumoured Nexus 9 tablet." If seven was nine I'll be fine.

Report: Google to announce Nexus 9 and Nexus 6 tomorrow, retail availability in November | 9to5Google : "According to a new report out of Forbes, Google will announce both the Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus 6 smartphone tomorrow. The report claims that Google had originally planned to hold an event for the devices, but decided it against it due to it wanting to continue to fine tweak Android ‘L’ until the last-minute. Instead, both of the devices will be announced via a blog post." A new upgrade path for iPad2 owners whose devices are slow and useless after iOS 8 upgrade. Seriously. Enough with the bloatware.

Opinion: What can we expect from a Retina iMac, and who will buy it? | 9to5Mac : "Desktop fans have waited a long time for a Retina iMac, but it now seems pretty clear the wait won’t last too much longer. Our sources told us last month that the machines are ‘in the late testing phases,’ and the rumor is that the machine will have a 5K display, with a resolution of 5120×2880 – exactly double that of the current 27-inch iMac." Groovy news for Mac lovers.

Purported next-gen iPad Air logic board shows 2GB of RAM, A8X chip : "With new iPad Air and iPad mini models expected to be introduced on Thursday, a newly leaked logic board claimed to be from a 2014 iPad Air purports to show an A8X processor, as well as an Elipda RAM module with 2 gigabytes of memory." Wowzers. Hoping rumors about dual boot iPad are true. Although I can't imagine Apple would do it.

Apple sends out invitations for Oct. 16 iPad event: 'It's been way too long' : "Apple is widely expected to use the event to unveil new iPad models, which are rumored to feature Touch ID fingerprint sensors. Recent reports have also suggested the company may unveil a new 27-inch iMac with a high-resolution Retina display." Way too too way.

Apple sapphire partner GT Advanced Technologies files for bankruptcy : "Monday's announcement came with no information on how or if the bankruptcy filing might affect its relationship with Apple. The infusion of cash from the iPhone maker had helped enable GT Advanced to expand, retrofitting a facility in Massachusetts, and also adding new furnaces for expanded production at its operations in Arizona." Nobody saw that coming.