What Future Roles Could Netflix Play?

Cable operators and other multichannel video providers, as well as studios and networks, now are worried about Netflix. Some investors and analysts are worried about Netflix as an equity. One might say Netflix is a marketplace, like Amazon or eBay. That's basically another way of saying Netflix is a distributor, a middleman between sellers of content and buyers of content.

Some might argue there are other possible roles for Netflix that do not cause concern in other parts of the video ecosystem. If Netflix were part of the payments ecosystem, for example, would it be the retailer, the buyer's bank, the retailer's bank, a settlement bank or a settlements processor?

Right now, you'd probably say Netflix is the retailer, a distribution channel for content creators and packagers, and buyers of content. One might speculate that a better long-term model if for Netflix to become a settlements processor, getting out of the retailer role. In other words, Netflix would cease to be a retailer (not Best Buy or Amazon or eBay) and become Visa or MasterCard, a processing network that basically deals in messages that instruct issuing or acquiring banks where and how to settle payments, but not dealing with the actual payments themselves.

You can decide for yourself how difficult it would be for Netflix to change in that way, and how others in the video ecosystem would react.

Visa: Netflix's Future

The Mobile Traffic Explosion

If Cisco's projections for mobile data consumption are anywhere near correct, some changes in end user retail pricing for access, or some other new revenue streams based on such traffic, will be needed. Smartphones represent only 13 percent of total global handsets, but 78 percent of total handset traffic.

And if the predictions for tablet growth are anywhere near correct, demand is going to grow even more than projected for smartphones. In 2010, three million tablets were connected to the mobile network, each generating five times more traffic than the average smartphone.

Mobile data traffic will increase 26-fold between 2010 and 2015, as a result. In fact, there might be 788 million mobile-only Internet users by 2015.

To be sure, bandwidth and cost-per-bit do not scale linearly. In the global backbone network, additional capacity can be purchased at lower prices "per-bit" of capacity. New fourth-generation networks are helpful in the access network, where most of the actual cost of end-to-end service lies. But it stands to reason that an order of magnitude increase in bandwidth consumption, with matching investment in facilities, must be accompanied by some increases in retail pricing, even if the increases are not linear.

The likely way such increases could be avoided or limited is if significant new revenue streams can be created that are not the result of end-user subscription fees.

The Mobile Traffic Explosion and its Impact

Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty

Of the nearly 131 million housing units in this country, 112.5 million are occupied. There were 18.4 million vacant homes in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2010, 11 percent of all housing units vacant all year round.

That is bound to have a depressing effect on all services and products sold to "home dwellers," ranging from fixed-line voice and entertainment video to home furnishings, household goods, remodeling and so forth.

Home Ownership—Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty - CNBC

Brands See Mobile Social Channels Growing in Importance

U.S. marketers surveyed by PRWeek and MS&L Group believed mobile social would have important consequences for their brand.

Asked which social media efforts would have the greatest effect on their company, 17 percent said more usage of social media on mobile platforms and a further 12 percent cited uptake of mobile location-based social networking.

The Influence of Mobile on Social Marketing’s Future - eMarketer

Tablets Driving Higher Interest in Video Advertising

Bigger screens on tablets seem to be driving consumer interest in video-based advertising, a Nielsen report suggests.

Nielsen’s research among connected device owners suggests that iPad owners are more receptive to ads than other mobile device owners, particularly when the ads contain video and other interactive features.

These findings square with the general purpose of the device. After all, the iPad shines when it comes to video and multi-media consumption.

What the Tron iAd Means for the Future of Tablet Advertising

"Financial Reforms" Lead to More Unbanked Americans

All well-intentioned bits of regulation have unintended consequences. Some of those consequences are foreseeable, in fact. Consumer protection legislation provides a good example. "The number of Americans who have bank accounts is likely to drop in the coming months as financial institutions seek to make up the costs of additional regulation with greater fees," says the Credit Union Times.

In response to new limits on fees, banks are setting new minimum balance requirements in order to avoid paying fees for checking services, while others have begun charging fees for debit cards and debit card use.

All financial institutions have faced increased regulations, but financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets also face a cap on their debit card interchange which has been proposed as low as 12 cents per transaction. That is going to slice the profitability of the credit card business, and in some cases could put issuers under water, says Philip Philiou, partner at Selwanes Philliou.

The unintended consequence is a likely increase in the number of U.S. citizens and residents who do not use bank accounts. Ironically, that is going to increase the opportunity for mobile payment and money transfer services that do not require linking mobile payments to credit or debit accounts or checking accounts.

Interchange Cap Likely Leading To More Unbanked Americans

Remote Deposit for Mobile Banking: Potential "Killer" App

You might have encountered remote deposit capture at an automated teller machine, where the ATM scans a check, or takes a picture of the front and back of a check, and sends it into the cloud for deposit, giving you a copy of the photo? Some think that sort of feature, available on a mobile phone, could be a "killer" app for mobile banking, which today in the U.S. market mostly offers ability to check balances and conduct other simple operations from a mobile device.

But what if banking services also included the ability to snap a picture of a check, send it into the cloud, determine validity of check and get instant funds deposited to a mobile account. That might not be so valuable in the U.S. market, but could be quite useful in many parts of the world where the banking system is undeveloped.

Is Remote Deposit Capture the Killer App for Mobile?

All the Super Bowl Commercials in One Place

I admit, I liked "Carma" and the Volkswagen ads.....

Sony Ericsson Experia Pllay: First "Gaming Phone

Smartphones have proven to be popular casual gaming devices. So Sony Ericsson's new Experia Play is the first serious attempt to design a smartphone with gaming as a lead experience, much as BlackBerries had email as a lead experience, and some other devices are designed to lead with social media, Facebook access or navigation.

Motorola Xoom Tablet Super Bowl Ad

The Motorola Xoom ad obviously is a take on the famous 1984 Apple ad, aired at a time when Apple, struggling against Microsoft, wanted to emphasize its "be different" ethos.

Here's the Apple ad, for comparison. Oddly enough, it now is Apple that is the tablet "incumbent", Apple that is taking some heat for curation of the end user experience. Android devices such as Xoom that are more "open."

Groupon Super Bowl Ad

Save the rainforest.....

New 7-Inch iPad?

Despite dismissals of seven-inch tablets by Apple executives, Apple might be working on a seven-inch model. To some extent, that dismissive attitude can be chalked up to corporate sparring with competitors that have elected to come to market with devices using that form factor, when Apple is selling only 10-inch models.

New iPad details: RFID/NFC add-ons, carbon body, 7” iPad still in works

Skype Sees Cloud Services Revenue Opportunity

Skype will be making a big move to the cloud in 2011. Skype’s cloud products will vary, from a plug-in to the ability for developers and advertisers to embed click-to call ads using Skype’s technology.

Specifically, click-to-call advertising on the web is a way for Skype to bring in revenue, the company believes. Another potential revenue model is to work with carriers to include Skype’s mobile services as part of a consumer’s phone bill.

Skype’s VP Of Consumer Products On Mobile Video; The Cloud And Monetization

TD Bank Launches Mobile Banking App for BlackBerry Devices

TD Bank has launched its banking app for BlackBerry devices. With the TD Bank mobile app, BlackBerry users can:
Check deposit, loan and credit card balances
Transfer funds
Make bill payments
Find local branch and ATM locations
View pending transactions and account history
Enroll in TD Debit Card Advance
Use the easy one-click option to call TD Bank’s 24/7 live customer service center

TD Bank Launches Mobile Banking App for BlackBerry Devices

Smartphones More Effective for Ad Campaigns

Compared to feature phone users, smartphone users are most impacted by mobile campaigns, according to Millennial Media.

Direct comparisons show that smartphones are an especially superior vehicle for advertising compared to feature phones in the area of mobile ad awareness, or capturing customer attention. Smartphone campaigns have 39 percent effectiveness in this area, about 39 percent more than the 28 percent effectiveness of feature phones.

In addition, smartphones are 30 percent more effective than feature phones in the area of unaided awareness (17 percent compared to 13 percent), and 25 percent more effective in purchase intent (15 percent compared to 12 percent).

Smartphones More Effective for Ad Campaigns