Meet Project Glass: Google’s Augmented Reality

For a while there have been rumors about that Google is working on “augmented reality” glasses that would display information relevant to wearers as they go through their daily routine.

Google has now confirmed this – it’s called Project Glass and they have posted a video of what the future may look like through their new eyeglasses.

Google say that they 'believe technology should work for you — to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't.

A team within our Google[x] group started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment.

Follow along with us at http://g.co/projectglass as we share some of our ideas and stories. We'd love to hear yours, too. What would you like to see from Project Glass?"

Watch it yourself below:

BRICS Seeks New Banking World Order

Brazilian, Russian, Indian, Chinese and South African (BRICS) leaders seek a new world financial leadership free from Western influence.

Your face is your ID

Dutch online and mobile transactions specialist Adyen has unveiled an application that lets people make payments using only their faces.

Tapping smartphone and tablet cameras, the Face-ID app requires customers to show their faces and then uses recognition technology to make a match. To confirm they have been correctly identified, the customers just give a thumbs up sign.

The app unveils today. Find out if your face is already in the system at http://www.adyen.com/FaceID/

PayPal Here – A whole new payment experience

We have taken a bit of time to review the new PayPal Here offering launched recently. We are impressed!


In our view, what Apple did for the tablet and the smartphone, PayPal is doing for business payments. Even though this very comprehensive product is being touted as a small business solution we strongly suspect that the system will be enhanced and available to larger business as well. PayPal has shifted its focus to mobile as a way to bridge the gap between online and offline, notably getting retailer Home Depot to roll out its in-store payment system nationwide.


The following two-part video of the recent PayPal Here launch goes into detail of what the new service offers. Here David Marcus, PayPal's Vice President of Mobile, introduces the new payments solution that will help small businesses get paid - whether they do business online, offline or on mobile.


David Marcus has since been named as president, replacing Scott Thompson, who quit in January. David Marcus, who joined the eBay unit last year when it acquired his direct his direct carrier billing operator Zong.

Pizza emergency button for your belly

Red Tomato Pizza, a Dubai-based pizza chain has developed a fridge magnet that when pressed, communicates and confirms a delivery order via an SMS signal.

The VIP Fridge Magnet is synced via Bluetooth and automatically transmits the customer's favourite order to the pizza restaurant. Once pressed, the restaurant confirms the order via SMS to a standard mobile phone.

The restaurant has dubbed this as one device that “can change your destiny”. Officially it’s called  'The VIP Fridge Magnet'.

Basel II is the foundation for Basel III

Our last post, “Basel III for Dummies” has raised the question about Basel II (which is after all the foundation to the Basel III upgrade). What is it? How is it structured? What does it cover?

For those wanting a bit more information we post this quick overview of Basel II framework that sets capital requirements for banks and forms the basis for Basel III. Three pillars contains the rules & support (supervisor review, market discipline) that say how much eligible regulatory capital must be held against risk-weighted assets.

Basel II is also where Operational Risk was introduced into the equation.

This short informative video covers all these bases.

Basel III for Dummies

This 10 minute animation on Basel III for non-specialists has been prepared by BNP Paribas Fortis. This Video "Basel III for dummies" is based on live presentations by Lars Machenil (CFO BNP Paribas) and Walter Rosenhek (Basel III Program Manager BNP Paribas Fortis).