No one has yet to unseat Jawbone's Jambox from the Bluetooth speaker throne, but the king of the heap is starting to show its age, leaving room for feature-packed competitors to challenge its reign. Creative hopes its updated Airwave HD might be in line for the throne by offering the citizens NFC capabilities so it's…

It sounds boring, but one of the most important frontiers in technology right now is how mobile can make paying for stuff easier. And while this year's Mobile World Congress might have been a little lacking in four-star hardware, there were some serious steps taken towards replacing your wallet with your smartphone.

Samsung's just announced its 2013 lineup of home theater and audio devices. The new set features an interesting mix of vintage and developing technologies designed to combine classic sound with modern connectivity.

Normally you hear about NFC in some kind of "mobile payments" context, but that's not the only place it could shake things up. Hyundai is working on some new prototype tech that could have you using your NFC smartphone as the keys to your car.

Not everybody has the available floor space or audiophilic conviction for 9.1 surround sound—sometimes just a sound bar or even headphones may suffice. With the wall of sound-producing devices that LG just unveiled, finding a system to match your situation should be a cinch—even if it is 9.1 surround.

Google Wallet is getting an overhaul, and Google has started accepting requests for invites to the new incarnation of its mobile payment platform. While there aren't any details about what exactly will be new about the upcoming wallet, the invite process asks you whether you're using Android, iOS, or "other devices,"…

Today, Austin and Salt Lake City are getting the first Isis-enabled phones from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. It's a test program for the NFC-based payment system before it gets released to everyone else. But what is Isis, exactly, and how is it different from the dozens of other mobile payment techs?

It's 2012, and we're still fussing with paper currency. Why isn't everything electronic? Or at the very least, exclusively utilizing magnetic strips on plastic rectangles? Where are those ID/Passport/money-replacing cards we were promised in the 90s?

Pushing war and world hunger to the back of the line, the next important issue that technology is tackling is mismatched and missing socks. A company called Blacksocks has developed what it's claiming are the world's first smart socks that make them virtually impossible to mis-match, and incredibly easy to find in a…

Public transit can be both a blessing and a curse. It gets you where you need to go, but only pulsating herd of other coughing, sneezing humans. But maybe that wouldn't seem so bad if you didn't have to pay for it. There's an app for that.