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Mastercard warns: invest or face economic consequences. Many UK businesses are struggling to expand and develop to their full potential due to a lack of proper investment into new technologies such as alternative payment methods, a senior Mastercard executive has told CBR. Marcia Clay, the groups' UK and Ireland head of strategy and commercial development, explained that UK consumers are increasingly calling for innovative technologies such as mobile payments as they look to simplify their everyday lives. "I believe we need to prioritise support for innovative start-ups, businesses in the eCommerce and mobile payments sector for example, which are in a unique position to propel the UK economy forward in 2014 and beyond," she said. Clay detailed how Mastercard is working with London-based Startupbootcamp FinTech, providing the expertise, mentoring and access to a network of industry professionals that most early-stage FinTech start-ups would not be able to access otherwise. Mastercard has found that many small businesses still do not use electronic payments, despite almost 80% of UK businesses having a website or some sort of online presence. A much smaller percentage can currently accept card payments, and the company believes that businesses of all sizes should be encouraged to invest in new technology and services that give consumers more choice. The company also found that UK consumers are using mobile and contactless payment methods and wide-spread adoption is reaching a critical mass; with around 5.7m transactions taking place on UK smartphones every day. This has been spurred on by a major growth in contactless payments, which grew by 383% from 2012 to 2013 across the country a

Technology stocks have never been the best friend of the equity income investor. Until the financial crisis struck in 2008, the yield on the MSCI Global Technology index remained resolutely below 1 per cent, with many tech companies simply not having the free cash flows to pay meaningful dividends. Those that did generally preferred to splurge on acquisitions as they chased market share in a frenetic land grab. And even after the global stock market sell-off briefly pushed yields above 2 per cent in late 2008 and early 2009, they sank back to little over 1 per cent in 2010. However, yields have since climbed back above 1.5 per cent and some equity income fund managers, at least, are starting to take note. "Traditionally, technology companies never really paid dividends, so we were unable to make investments, resulting in us being structurally underweight technology for a long time," says Nick Clay, co-manager of the £4bn Newton Global Higher Income fund. Tech Reviews by The Corliss Group

It weighs just 34 grams, is 72 x 35 x 12 mm in size, and costs only the $39: The Google Chromecast looks and feels like a USB flash drive with a glandular problem. Cheap, easy to set up and even easier to use, there's really nothing to dislike about the Google streaming device, except for one thing: Canadian content (which we will get to in a moment). The Chromecast is so small that once it's plugged into an HDMI port in the back of a television set, there's almost no indication that it's a part of your home theatre setup. Only its power cord, which can either be plugged into a wall socket or available USB port, gives a hint that it's even there. Unlike other streaming media devices like the Apple TV or Roku 3, Google Chromecast doesn't come with a remote control, or in fact, any onboard applications or content. Everything, from setting up the device to watching a video from your personal media collection or browsing YouTube, is done through the use of apps on an Android phone or tablet, iOS device or via Google Chrome browser on a Chrome OS, Windows or Mac PC. No matter which device you use with the Chromecast, setup is a cinch. Simply power the device, plug it into an available television HDMI port and follow the Chromecast's onscreen prompts. The device will walk you through the process of connecting it to a Wi-Fi network, pairing with your choice of source device and downloading any available firmware updates. Even with the lousy Internet speeds I suffered while testing the hardware in rural southwestern Ontario I was setup and ready to start streaming content to my Chromecast in under 10 minutes.

Android, iOS, Windows Phone. Each of these mobile platforms had to start somewhere, and none were anywhere near perfect on the first try. Fortunately, each OS gets better with every iteration until, at some point, it all just clicks. Arguably, Windows Phone just came of age with its latest update, version 8.1. Even before today, Windows Phone only had a few big holes remaining and indeed, 8.1 appears to fill those gaps. In particular, the OS now has a fancy notification center in addition to those signature Live Tiles; the keyboard now allows for swipe gestures; and last but not least, it now has Cortana, a virtual assistant to take on Siri, Google Now and Samsung S Voice. The 8.1 update is a fairly significant one, and I got the opportunity to take it for a spin ahead of the official developer preview's launch. It may not be perfect yet, but it's clear Windows Phone has finally grown up. Cortana Windows Phone included a search option from the beginning, and though it was useful at the time, rivals like Siri, S Voice and Google Now have quickly turned the tide, rendering Microsoft first "voice assistant" completely obsolete. Thankfully, the 8.1 update introduces a personal assistant named Cortana to help bring Windows Phone into the modern era. Named after Master Chiefs trusty AI sidekick in Halo, Cortana is designed to help you do whatever you do on a phone. Think: scheduling appointments, alerting you to upcoming flights, telling you the weather, offering up directions, dictating messages, opening apps and adjusting settings. She even tells jokes and responds in humorous ways to (most) silly questions. Those are all givens these days, so let's instead move on to the more unusual things she can do.

Welcome to Gadget Review's new weekly app review column. We are starting out with iOS apps only, but in the future we will extend to other OSS ecosystems. If you have an app to recommend, please do so in the comments or via our social media channels. 1. Mynd Calendar apps have come and gone, and nothing has yet replaced the tried and true calendars from Google, Apple and Microsoft. Enter Mynd, an "intelligent mobile calendar" from Alminder Inc. This, loyal readers, is the game changer. 2. FTL: Faster Than Light Though more and more people are playing games on their iOS devices, most of those games are pretty basic and, for self-identifying gamers, extremely boring. If you've been looking for a real-deal game to sink your thumbs into, buckle up for Faster Than Light. 3. Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock In my humble opinion, the worst part of the day is setting an alarm for the next morning. But it doesn't have to be that way anymore, thanks to Sleep Cycle, an intelligent alarm clock from Northcube AB. 4. Data Count In an era of data caps, we could all use a tool to help us avoid the additional charges that accompany all those streaming overages. Data Count, from Creo, is just the ticket. 5. Monument Valley Sometimes, apps transcend ones and zeros. They usher in a new way of life, perhaps, or offer a major social improvement. And, in rare cases, they become true art. 6. Pinnacle Studio for iPhone Heres one for the pros. Or anyone who takes a lot of photos. Which is just about everyone with an iPhone.

If you are a gadget enthusiast and aching to have your hands on Galaxy S5 or you just cannot since you have your Galaxy S4 from the previous year, you have a way to work it out. Consider trading your device with your carrier for a credit to your new phone. To get the most of your device, you can sell your phone, which you have lots of options. Here are some of them: EBay EBay provides you a marketplace for your items where predictability is less. Auctions can give you more or less earnings. Posting and managing items for sale are quite tedious until eBay introduced My Gadgets which will help you create a listing. You may list what you own and My Gadget will tell you how you can make based on eBay price trends if you sell it. EBay may not be the best choice for making more money with regard to selling your handsets. But it is usually a site where you can locate items which are extremely low or high demand or those which are difficult to find. Amazon Amazon is one of the most convenient ways to sell your old phone with some drawbacks. Find your device on Amazon, click the "Sell on Amazon" button and provide details. Tech Reviews by The Corliss Group