Apple has now brought its Tap to Pay easy-payment technology to New Zealand. Merchants can now use an iPhone or Apple Watch to accept payments from contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, or other digital wallets.Merchants can use iPhones to accept contactless payments. Image credit: AppleThe technology requires a partner-enabled iOS app on the merchant's iPhone for payment processing. Consumers can use Tap to Pay with the iPhone Xs or later running the latest iOS version, as well as with Apple Watch, with no additional hardware required."Starting today, Adyen, ANZ Bank, Stripe, Windcave and Worldline are the first payment platforms in New Zealand to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone," the company said in a statement. Apple noted that payment apps in New Zealand, including me&u and Timely, will also have Tap to Pay on iPhone available at launch. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

A planned sequel to the Apple TV+ original movie "Wolfs" has reportedly been dropped, marking another unexpected turn for both this film series, and for how it appears Apple is changing its movie ambitions.Brad Pitt, George Clooney in the film "Wolfs." Image credit: Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett CollectionWriter/director Jon Watts now says that he will not be doing a sequel, despite the first film's success. "[Apple] were extremely enthusiastic about it, and immediately commissioned me to start writing a sequel. But their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion," he told industry publication Deadline."I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel," Watts added. "They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin to their streaming pivot so I quietly returned the money they gave me for the sequel." Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Lishui Airport building design by MAD Architects in Zhejiang province, China: in the foothill valleys, reflecting forest city identity integrating architecture with the surrounding natural landscapehttps://www.e-architect.com/china/lishui-airport-building-design #AirportBUILDING #Architects #China #architecture #naturallandscapeLishui Airport building design by MAD Architects in Zhejiang province, China forest city identity integrates architecture & natural landscape

Istanbul Modern, Trkiyes first museum of modern and contemporary art, design by Renzo Piano Building Workshop WAF winner news:https://www.e-architect.com/istanbul/istanbul-modern-building-by-renzo-piano#Istanbul #RenzoPiano #Turkey #architecture #artgalleryIstanbul Modern, Trkiyes first museum of modern and contemporary art opens in a new building designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop

This year, to mark the 200th anniversary of the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy, OMA has collaborated with the local architect Andrea Tabocchini for a reset of its historic Gallery of the Kings.Partner David Gianotten and Project Architect Andreas Karavanas were responsible for leading the design, which remodeled the existing space to better display Egyptian statuary pieces as they were originally presented in the context of Karnakan ancient temple complex that served as an architectural showcase to which Pharaohs added their various creations.Image: Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA and Andrea Tabocchini ArchitectureThe emerging Tabocchini, who was recently named a40under40 European Design award winner,says of the design: "From the outset, we all saw this project as an opportunity to redesign a unique exhibition space. Culture must honor the past while remaining alive, evolving, being relevant in the present and inspiring the future."Image: Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of...

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to reenter the White House, California housing advocates are bracing for how a second term could impact the states notoriously high home prices, rents and rates of homelessness.This time around, thats changed, and Trump has recognized housing affordability is a problem, said Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the policy organization the California Housing Partnership.Democrats were also pushing a housing-heavy agenda during the campaign.Trump's return to the White House comes as the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies reports many cities across the Golden State are missing their marks where it comes to planning an adequate housing supply that matches the expanding crisis.Trump has vocally supported the call for massive tent cities for unhoused citizens, vowing at the same time to issue tariffs, deport undocumented immigrants, open federal land to housing development, cut government assistance programs, and relax zoning restrictions, among several othercountervailing ideas that could cancel out progress on what became one of the 2024 election's most significant issues.

You know John Wongs work even if you dont. Wong is a design principal in SWA. His legacy is freshly evident thanks to a new book, Selected Works of Landscape Architect John L. Wong: From Private to Public Ground, from Small to Tall.ow.ly/YzWA50UasRZ

Bruner/Cott reskinned Gund Hall with a new high-performance envelope, helping it cut down energy costs and improve usability while providing other ancillary benefits.By the numbers, 1,617 glazing units were swapped out with new ones on the building envelope of Gund Hall. The renovation project headed by Bruner/Cott focused on improving the buildings energy efficiency and

What is it that makes aliens such a threatening opponent in humanitys mind? Is it the fear of the unknown? Is it the likelihood that whatever invading extra-terrestrial force we might encounter will be more technologically advanced than us? Whatever aliens appeal, theyve been an ever-present in pop culture far longer than any of us can remember, so its unsurprising theyre prominent fodder in video games. Heres a selection of 15 excellent single player games where you face off against interstellar forces.Mass Effect TrilogyThe much-acclaimed Mass Effect trilogy needs no introduction, these action RPGs ushering a new standard for narrative-heavy third person shooting that other space-faring shooters have struggled to match. The series central antagonist are the Reapers, a race of sentient star-ships who originated one-billion years prior when the galaxy controlling Leviathans created the synthetic lifeform the Catalyst which then turned on its creators, absorbing their genetic material to create the Reapers. The Reapers awaken every 50,000 years to conduct galactic-level mass destruction with the trilogy centring on Commander Shepard and his crew stopping them.

In a time when single player campaigns werent shaped or undermined by their online counterparts, the games released from 2000 to 2009 exhibited innovativeness in terms of gameplay and story (and sometimes both), with the fifteen featured here all standing the test of time.Grand Theft Auto IVWith the hype surrounding GTA VI plus GTA: The Trilogys semi-recent release, GTA IVs foray through Liberty Citys grimy suburbs has become an outcast. Granted, most of you have completed Niko Bellics rise through LCs criminal underworld already but take a moment to remember its surprisingly emotional story, of Bellic desperately outrunning his past in pursuit of a better life for him and his family. If youll allow us to describe it as such, its arguably the most relatable narrative in GTAs canon.