How Will Verizon's Network Handle the iPhone?

Expect a spate of commercials and ads claiming that the iPhone works better on either AT&T's network, or Verizon's network. I suspect few consumers are going to be swayed, one way or the other, by such ads.

eBay Introduces "Try It On Before You Buy" iPhone App

"With “See It On,” iPhone 4 owners can take a picture of themselves using a forward-facing camera and then pinch and zoom to fit the glasses to their face. Users can choose from a small section, including Aviator, Wayfarer or Rimless, in various colors. From there, they can search for matching listings on eBay.

For clothing, the augmented reality feature is called “Outfit Builder.” Users can designate favorite pieces of clothing with the eBay app and store them in their “Personalized Closet.” Then, they use “Outfit Builder” to mix and match items in the closet. To try the items on, the user can similarly overlay the clothes on a white canvas or a saved photo or live image (by pointing the camera toward a friend or a mirror).

Once an outfit is created, it can be saved for future reference or shared via email.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ebay-fashion/id378358380?mt=8

eBay Introduces Augmented Reality Into Apps to Try It On Before You Buy | Tricia Duryee | eMoney | AllThingsD:

NFC Explosion Sets Stage for Mobile Payments Growth

Technology by itself does not always enable creation of new markets. But technology often is required for such new markets to form. If so, then the growth of near field communications capability in mobile phones is going to create the underpinning for a new mobile payments business, though many would not be at all surprised if mobile advertising, promotion and marketing emerged as a key driver of the value proposition for users.

Worldwide shipments of cell phones with built-in NFC capability will rise to 220.1 million units in 2014, up by a factor of four from 52.6 million in 2010. In 2014, 13 percent of cell phones shipped will integrate NFC, up from 4.1 percent in 2010, according to researchers at iSuppli

Cell Phone Mobile Payment Market Set for Take Off

There's Money in Virtual Goods

Virtual goods might be a viable revenue model for games developers. Tapjoy began testing out a freemium model for one of its mobile games "Tap Defense" a year ago and found that within a week, it was making six times more money going freemium than paid, based on revenue earned from sales of virtual goods or premium digital goods.

Eventually, the game was making 10 times what it was before. The market for freemium mobile apps went from about 20 a year ago to about 2,500 today, of which he said 90 percent use Tapjoy.

Tapjoy provides monetization, distribution and publishing services for social games, mobile applications, virtual worlds and other social publishers.

The Tapjoy platform includes a turnkey software library that enables mobile developers to embed fully functional virtual goods storefronts with the ability to process microtransactions. The library also comes with a built-in "pay-per-install" user acquisition program, an ad optimization layer and application analytics.

https://www.tapjoy.com/press/tapjoy-closes-21-million-funding.html

Klout says it can Measure "Influence"

Measurement is why marketeers like online, mobile and other Internet-mediated advertising and marketing channels. Klout now claims it can use the same tools to measure influence.

Facebook Valuation

You can decide for yourself whether there is a bubble building (again) in the Internet app space.

Global mobile data subscriptions to double in 2011

During 2010, mobile broadband subscriptions surpassed the half-a-billion mark globally. But Ericsson estimates that this number will double before 2011 ends. The greatest number of subscriptions, around 400 million, is expected to be concentrated in the Asia Pacific region, followed by North America and Western Europe with more than 200 million subscriptions each.

Mobile broadband adoption has accelerated with strong growth of smartphones, connected laptops and tablets, supported by the introduction of high- performance networks. Smartphones' users are increasingly using applications and internet services on the go. Global mobile data traffic continues to grow rapidly, with Ericsson announcing in August 2010 that it had tripled in just one year.

Global mobile data has nearly tripled in the last year, growing more than 10 times faster than voice, according to Ericsson measurements. According to Ericsson statistics, global measured mobile data traffic stands at nearly 225,000 terabytes per month as of the second quarter of 2010.

Mobile broadband currently accounts for only 10 percent of total mobile subscriptions but a rapidly increasing majority of the traffic, Ericsson says. Mobile data traffic continues to grow exponentially even after the historic cross over point in December 2009 when data first exceeded voice, as reported by Ericsson earlier this year

Global mobile data traffic nearly triples in 1 year - Ericsson

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Mobile-broadband-subscriptions-to-hit-one-billion-mark-in-2011-NASDAQ-ERIC-1378254.htm

Groupon Expands Local Commerce Platform to India, Israel and South Africa | Business Wire

Groupon has launched of Groupon India, Groupon Israel and Groupon South Africa by means of the firm's acquisitions of daily deal sites SoSasta, Grouper and Twangoo.

Groupon negotiates discounts with popular businesses and shares them with subscribers by means of free daily emails. The deals are activated only when a minimum number of people agree to buy, encouraging subscribers to share the promotion with family and friends.

By guaranteeing a large number of new customers, Groupon has created a new marketing vehicle for local merchants, and also has pioneered a new channel for mobile and local advertising.

Groupon Expands Local Commerce Platform to India, Israel and South Africa | Business Wire

Google Goggles "Reads" Ad Images

The Google Goggles 1.3 client for Android can scan barcodes almost instantly. But all versions of Goggles can now recognize print ads in popular magazines and newspapers.

"The next time you're flipping through the pages of your favorite magazine, try taking a picture of an ad with Goggles," Google says. "Goggles will recognize print ad and return web search results about the product or brand."

This new feature of Goggles is enabled for print ads appearing in major U.S. magazines and newspapers from August 2010 onwards.

Official Google Mobile Blog

IPhone May Cost Verizon $5 Billion in Subsidies in First Year

Verizon Wireless, set to get Apple Inc.’s iPhone Jan. 11 after four years of waiting, may spend $3 billion to $5 billion to subsidize customer purchases of the device in 2011 alone, based on the expected $400 per iPhone subsidy Verizon will absorb.

While the smartphone will help Verizon add more subscribers this year than rival AT&T Inc., currently the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone, it will also crimp profits, said John Hodulik, an analyst at UBS AG.

Hodulik said Verizon may sell 13 million of the devices with an estimated $400 subsidy this year, which would add up to a total of $5.2 billion. Of course, some observers say Verizon Wireless will not sell nearly that many devices.

Verizon will sell only five million to seven million iPhones in 2011, argues Dan Hays, PRTM director. Still, a hit to earnings of $2 billion to $5 billion in a single year suggests significant competition in the mobile business. Executives in non-competitive industries do not willingly sacrifice $2 billion to $5 billion in earnings.

IPhone May Cost Verizon $5 Billion in Subsidies in First Year - BusinessWeek

Intuit Mobile "Go Payment" Push: No Charge and a Free Card Reader

Intuit will offer its "GoPayment" mobile payment service with a free credit card reader and no monthly service fees to business owners who sign up by mid-February. “By offering a free card reader and no monthly service fees, we want to give more small businesses a head start in the New Year by enabling them to take mobile payments without any upfront investment,” says Chris Hylen, general manager of Intuit’s Payment Solutions division.

GoPayment is compatible with more than 40 popular mobile handsets and a range of credit card readers, Intuit says. This includes a free credit card reader from ROAM Data, which works on a variety of iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices, to make it easier for the cost-conscious new business owner to start taking mobile payments.

“We expect the point-of-sale mobile payments market in the U.S. to grow to $55 billion by 2015, up from an estimated $1 billion in 2010,” says Gwenn Bézard of Aite Group.

read more here

TV as "an App"

If you take a look at this sample Internet TV interface, you will almost immediately sense something important: entertainment video, with some important advances in content availability, could someday become an "application" accessed from an icon on a mobile or fixed device. 


That doesn't mean "application" in the sense of a program, but as a gateway or portal to an entire menu of streaming services. 


You can figure out why a cable operator wouldn't like that. 

Sling Media Subscription for Verizon Wireless 4G

Entertainment video might not wind up being the killer app for mobile 4G, but Sling Media seems to think it could be. Sling Media is offering subscriptions that allow users of some Verizon Wireless 4G smartphones the ability to watch their home TV on new 4G smartphones.

Some users might not think the offer is a reasonable way of using online video, but the offer has one important attribute: it probably is one of the first offerings that allows a Verizon FiOS TV user to watch all the "good stuff" he or she is paying for, on a mobile.

Sling Media - Sling Media Announces Subscription Offering for Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Customers

Amdocs: How the Business is Changing

Are "Smart TVs" a Threat to Cable TV?

Internet-connected TVs pose some problems for cable TV operators, satellite and telco TV providers. Obviously, in making direct access to Internet video a lot easier, Internet-capable TVs create more danger for linear video providers in a strategic sense, allowing people to view video on their home TVs without a lot of work.

To the extent that cable operators always have seen the set-top decoder as a gateway device, the widespread availability of TVs and third-party devices that make it easier to watch Internet video on a home TV also threaten to weaken the hold linear video providers have over their customers.

Netflix streaming looks to be emerging as a primary case in point.

"Smart TVs" Add The Best Of The Internet To Your TV - PCWorld