Amazon.com is considering the introduction of a service that would let consumers pay for goods in brick-and-mortar stores using their mobile phones, according to Bloomberg.
The company’s “Amazon Payments” unit is said to be exploring whether to start a service based on near field communications.
Amazon.com Said to Be Considering Mobile-Payment Service for Smartphones – Bloomberg
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Amazon.com Considering Mobile Payments Service
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Mobile Broadband to Produce Majority of Subscriber Growth to 2014
The number of mobile broadband subscribers passed the number of fixed broadband subscribers, globally, in 2010, says Infonetics Research. A goodly part of the growth now is coming from smart phones, tablets and other devices, leading Infonetics to forecast that 1.5 billion connected devices will be in use by 2014.
As a consequence, fixed broadband will show slower growth as mobile broadband becomes the broadband of choice, on a global basis. That doesn't mean fixed line services will be abandoned, but simply that mobility is a "personal" service, used by people and sensors, where fixed line service is generally to a location. Since there are more people and sensors than homes or offices or factories, the unit growth will tend, over time, to be for mobile devices and sensors.
read more here
As a consequence, fixed broadband will show slower growth as mobile broadband becomes the broadband of choice, on a global basis. That doesn't mean fixed line services will be abandoned, but simply that mobility is a "personal" service, used by people and sensors, where fixed line service is generally to a location. Since there are more people and sensors than homes or offices or factories, the unit growth will tend, over time, to be for mobile devices and sensors.
read more here
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Friday, April 1, 2011
SK Telecom Runs Out of Domestic Growth Opportunities
South Korea's SK Telecom Co. is considering a bid for movie-rental chain Blockbuster Inc., which filed for bankruptcy court protection last year, the Wall Street Journal reports. Whether a bid emerges, and whether it is the best use for SK Telecom's cash, is probably debatable, some might think.
But the possible move does indicate a problem that faces many fixed-line and mobile service providers, namely that opportunities for domestic growth are very challenging. To stay within their historic industry areas of competence, service providers are being forced to look to international, out of region markets, or, as this possible idea suggests, businesses outside the original core competency.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Use of Mobile Apps Grows 3% Last Quarter
In February 2011, 69 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device. Browsers were used by 38 percent of subscribers (up 3.1 percentage points from the prior quarter), while downloaded applications were used by 36.6 percent of the mobile audience (up 3.2 percentage points from the previous quarter).
Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.3 percentage points, representing 27 percent of mobile subscribers. Playing games represented 25 percent of the mobile audience, while listening to music represented 17.5 percent.
| Mobile Content Usage 3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2010 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens | |||
| Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers | |||
| Nov-10 | Feb-11 | Point Change | |
| Total Mobile Subscribers | 100.0% | 100.0% | N/A |
| Sent text message to another phone | 67.1% | 68.8% | 1.7 |
| Used browser | 35.3% | 38.4% | 3.1 |
| Used downloaded apps | 33.4% | 36.6% | 3.2 |
| Accessed social networking site or blog | 23.5% | 26.8% | 3.3 |
| Played Games | 22.6% | 24.6% | 2.0 |
| Listened to music on mobile phone | 15.0% | 17.5% | 2.5 |
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
It's April Fools Day, So Techsters Will Play Jokes on People, Including Google
Here are some other "pranks" of the day from Googlers:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/gmail-is-moving-fingers-are-fitter.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FMKuf+%28Official+Google+Blog%29
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
85% of Smartphone Users Access Mobile Web
There aren't yet any apps, aside from specific "mobile apps" or "social apps," that people access more on a smartphone than on a PC, a survey by Yankee Group has found. But researchers also find that use of smartphones to access web apps of all sorts is growing, and that most popular apps people like to use on their PCs also get used from their smartphones, though at a lower frequency, so far.
GPS and navigation apps likely are one clear exception, likely used virtually exclusively in a mobile context.
Most likely, we will relatively soon find there are some apps that are used primarily from a smartphone or other mobile device, compared to a PC. Mobile payment apps come to mind.
GPS and navigation apps likely are one clear exception, likely used virtually exclusively in a mobile context.
Most likely, we will relatively soon find there are some apps that are used primarily from a smartphone or other mobile device, compared to a PC. Mobile payment apps come to mind.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
39% of Small Businesses Will Be Buying Cloud Services Within 3 Years
Accounting and payroll apps, project management, data storage and customer relationship management are among the top categories of apps respondents expect they will be sourcing from a cloud services provider.
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/presskits/commsector/docs/SMBStudy_032011.pdf
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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