Smartphones are Top U.S. Consumer Electronics Items in 2011

Consumers in the United States are more likely to buy a smartphone in 2011 than PCs, mobile phones, e-readers, media tablets and gaming products, according to a recent survey by Gartner.

U.S. smartphone sales are expected to grow from 67 million units in 2010 to 95 million units in 2011. By comparison, mobile PC shipments are forecast to total 50.9 million in the United States. in 2011, up from 45.6 million from 2010.

Gartner Survey Shows U.S. Consumers More Likely to Purchase a Smartphone Than Other Consumer Devices in 2011

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"Social" Business Invoicing Using PayPal

Tradeshift declares invoicing social from venturecup.tv on Vimeo.

It's part of the broader trend of experimentation with mobile remittances, mobile payments, mobile banking, online payment, online banking, online money transfer and shopping.

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By serial entrepreneur Christian Lanng, Tradeshift CEO. 

Intel Moves Ahead with MeeGo, Despite Nokia Shift

Intel says it is moving ahead to commercialize MeeGo, the smartphone operating system Nokia recently abandoned in favor of Windows Mobile.

Big changes in Mobile Carrier Billing Will Affect Payment Possibilities

In most businesses, it makes a difference whether a firm's direct costs are 40 percent or 10 percent. Up to this point, revenue splits of about 60 percent for the merchant and 40 percent for a mobile carrier have sharply limited the types of products that can be sold using the mobile device and carrier billing.

In other words, products bought and billed directly to the mobile statement have imposed higher transaction costs, by far, than use of credit and debit cards, for example. Zong knows all about carrier billing, but has been predicting there would be significant movement on the charges, as Zong volume has grown. That appears to be happening.

The carriers are dropping the revenue splits to closer to 10 percent, from 40 percent. “The carriers won’t go below 10 percent for digital or virtual goods, but they will lower their rates for physical,” says David Marcus, the CEO of Zong.

Zong Sees Mobile Payments Coming for Physical Goods Sooner Than You Think

Google Sees Both Loyalty and Advertising Angles to Mobile Payments

There's little question at this point but that Google intends to use near field communications in ways that might use the payment function, but almost certainly will focus on advertising, couponing, loyalty and other elements of the retail shopping experience.

In fact, payments as such might not be Google's primary interest in near field communications. Google might see much more upside in working with advertisers to extend offers to phones, perhaps including couponing and other offers as part of the ads.

Google's Eric Schmidt Reveals NFC Smartphone Plans: It's All About Advertising | Fast Company