The Touch ID sensor on Apple’s iPhone and iPad allows you to unlock your device, verify your identity and buy stuff with your fingerprint. CNET The UK’s biggest bank is letting customers access their accounts with a swipe of their finger on their iPhone’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor. NatWest, the UK’s largest commercial and retail …

LoopPay promises you’ll never carry a wallet again. CNET Samsung has acquired mobile payments startup LoopPay, as good a sign as any that it will soon launch a competitor to Apple Pay. The company didn’t disclose the terms of the deal Wednesday but said it stemmed from an existing partnership with LoopPay. Samsung plans to show off a new mobile …

Joan E. Solsman/CNET Netflix, the US-based video streaming service set to launch in Australia next month, has revealed a line-up of local comedy specials and children’s TV shows that will be available from launch. The shows come via a content deal with Beyond Distribution, a division of Beyond Entertainment. Beyond is an Australian TV, film and entertainment producer and distributor. …

Sarah Tew/CNET Portability and space-saving for computers are generally traits of slim laptops and lightweight tablets, or the new generation of hybrid PCs that combine aspects of both. Several years ago, an eternity in technology time, there was another popular breed of small computers, called small form factor or media center PCs. Some connected to TVs for media streaming and …

The LG G Flex 2 uses the Snapdragon 810 chip. Josh Miller/CNET When discussing new smartphones, people may highlight the speed of the processor or the sharpness of the display. But the modem chip — the thing that actually lets a smartphone make phone calls — many times gets ignored. Qualcomm, the world’s largest smartphone-chip maker, is hoping it can …

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET To force quit a Mac app, you can call up the Force Quit Applications menu from the Apple menu button in the upper-left corner or by hitting Command-Option-Esc. But if it’s a menu bar app that’s hanging or otherwise giving you problems, you won’t find it listed in the Force Quit window. In such instances, you …

Microsoft has made changes to threads, swiping and security in its Outlook apps. Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET Microsoft has polished up its Outlook apps for iOS and Android just two weeks after their debut. In a blog post Tuesday, Microsoft’s Office 365 Team outlined the features available in an update to the mobile email apps. Some of the new features …

Verizon has made some changes in its upper ranks. Verizon Wireless has a new head. Verizon The nation’s largest wireless service provider said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that it had named John Stratton executive vice president and president of operations, responsible for both the wireless and wireline business. Stratton replaces Daniel Mead, who …

Master & Dynamic MH40 headphones Steve Guttenberg/CNET All that separates audiophiles from everybody else is we care about what our music sounds like. That, and audiophiles pay more attention to music than most other people because we, at times, focus solely on the music. It’s that important to us. Once you’re really listening you start to notice sound quality, and …

Google has faced similar accusations in the US and Europe. CNET Google may find itself the target of yet another antitrust probe. Russia-based search engine Yandex has sent a request to the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia for an investigation of Google over potential violations of Russian antitrust law, Yandex said Wednesday. Yandex’s complaint focuses on the bundling of the …

Pinterest is said to be seeking $500 million in new funding. CNET A new round of funding in Pinterest could pin down a doubling in the valuation of the social discovery startup. Pinterest, which lets people “pin” photos, websites, products and other items on virtual boards for others to see, is in talks to raise $500 million in a funding …

You can now live stream shows via NBC’s mobile app, if you live in the right market. Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET NBC has pushed live streaming to its mobile app, which means you can watch shows as they’re being aired — so long as you meet certain conditions. The iOS and Android flavors of the NBC app allow you to …

Matt Elliott/CNET Until now, the songs I asked Shazam to identify sat as a curiosity in the Shazam app. After a recent update, however, I can now listen to them as a Spotify or Rdio playlist. The playlist is created automatically; all you need to do is connect Shazam to either Spotify or Rdio (but not both at the same …

A look at how Pebble integrates with Android Wear. Pebble Anyone who owns a Pebble smartwatch will now be able to reply and act on Android Wear notifications they see from their device, the hardware maker has announced. The smartwatch comes with its own operating system, but in December, Pebble announced that a beta version of its software would include …

The Apple Watch reportedly won’t include all of the health features initially envisioned. James Martin/CNET The health-focused smartwatch that Apple initially envisioned is not the same one the company will unveil next month, according to a new report. Apple’s original concept for the Apple Watch was one that would track blood pressure, heart activity, stress levels and other functions, the …