Apple might have legitimized mobile payments by including an NFC chip and, with its singular simplicity, helped to mainstream the long talked-about mobile wallet.

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It's a potentially strong start to one of the few truly cross-network mobile payment systems in the US, but we see a long road ahead before Isis gives Google Wallet some jitters -- there's legions of banks, cities and stores needed before Isis is widespread, and we're not counting on that ever-elusive universal hardware support.

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Whether the criticism is fair or not, what the Eagles do prove is that Anschutz is not afraid to open his wallet when he thinks there is a long-term profit on the horizon.

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Customers are voting with their wallet that they want a car that gives them the freedom to travel long distances when needed.

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Air travel has become increasingly annoying and enervating: delayed flights, more restrictive rules on the size of carry-ons (anything bigger than a wallet may force a gate check), delayed or lost luggage, long check-in lines, etc.

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