Apps and Software

Meccano is known for its model toys that are put together using bolts and metal slabs. But model cranes aren't going to cut it in 2015, so the company is focusing on two new Meccanoids — "personal robot friends" you build using the latest Meccano pieces.

The bigger Meccanoid, the G15 KS, is 4 feet tall and has two motors — and more importantly, it can mimic your movements and voice

Users can connect their smartphone to the robot; it mimics your movements in real time and connects using Bluetooth. Meccano uses LIM — a programming language for "Learned Intelligent Movement."

Visa wants to put an end to those annoying calls you sometimes get from your bank when buying things far from home.

The credit card company will roll out a new feature in April that allows cardholders to automatically let Visa know where they are using the location services built into nearly every smartphone. The optional service will match up the coordinates of the smartphone with the location of the sale to more accurately predict instances of credit card fraud.

To set up the location tracker, Visa has made deals with card-issuing banks to add the option to their mobile banking apps. Over time, the location service will plot out a home range with a radius of about 50 miles. If the customer leaves that territory, the tracker will send that information to Visa, and the company will be less likely to flag that card for fraud when purchases are made ...

LOS ANGELES — A smartphone app that aims to let moviegoers hear any Hollywood film dubbed into their language at the theater in real time will translate Disney Studios' McFarland, USA later this month, making it the first major Hollywood studio release to widely use the technology.

The studio on Thursday announced its collaboration with myLINGO, an app that uses the smartphone's microphone to “listen” to the film's audio in the theater and play back the alternate language in perfect sync. You simply download the audio file — which only plays when the movie plays — beforehand, and the app deletes it when the film is over. ...