Apple Keeps Lead, but Android to Grab 39% of Tablet Sales in 2015

Gartner said it expects 70 million media tablets to be sold this year and 108 million in 2012, compared with 17.6 million in 2010. Apple's share of the market will gradually decline to 47 percent in 2015 from 69 percent this year, while Google's share will rise to 39 percent from 20 percent now. 

Apple to stay ahead in tablet boom: Gartner | Reuters

Startups Use Free WiFi to Limit Expenses

Small business owners are notably parsimonious when investing in information technology, so you might not be surprised that many startups take advantage of free Internet access in public locations as much as they can.

In some cases, very-small business owners even use the public spaces when they could otherwise simply use the connections at their home offices.

Small businesses tap into free WiFi - The Washington Post

Tablet Role in "PC" Market?

People disagree about the role tablets play today, and might play in the future, in the consumer computing device market. Some think the tablet can, and will, displace other PC devices as a "primary" device. Others think the tablet is an ancillary device primarily to be used for media consumption. Some think "consumption" will remain the primary usage mode, while some think "content creation" capabilities will grow, over time.

Up to this point, the center of gravity likely remains "consumption," however. Recent surveys suggest users play games, check and respond to email and surf the web and watch videos on their tablets. But that doesn't mean they can't be used, and are not used, in a "business" or "work" context. As in the past, where some business people when traveling relied solely on a smart phone, rather than carrying a notebook PC with them, so tablets seem to be used in settings, where the actual work activities mostly consist of checking email and surfing the web.

For sales personnel, the tablet likely represents a more-convenient way to make presentations, as well.

"Easier to use" seems the key, in that regard. As it turns out, for many users, most "PC" activities take the form of consuming content, with the exception of responding to email. The tablet then represents a more convenient way to use the apps that actually are important in many settings.

PCs still remain necessary for "content creation" and other work tasks. In that sense, tablets represent a new element in computing ubiquity and pervasiveness, rather than a direct replacement for "primary" PCs, much as smart phones do not generally replace PCs, but extend web and Internet access to a wider range of settings.

Why "post PC" doesn't mean "sans PC" | Computers | MacUser | Macworld

UK Merchant Test Loyalty First, Payment Might Follow

In launching a trial of a loyalty program, "Eat," an Ireland-based sandwich chain, is following the Starbucks model of focusing on loyalty as the driver of it mobile payment application, rather than "payments." In fact, the program will launch with a focus on loyalty rewards first, and later might be expanded to include purchasing functions.

New point-of-sale terminals capable of supporting RFID and the stickers, as well as Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass payment systems, are being added as part of the trial. Eat is said to be the first merchant in the United Kingdom to introduce an integrated contactless POS system. The trial will start in May 2011.

Eat would issue stickers affixed to mobile devices that enable them to tap to receive points and redeem rewards. They could also view coupons and rewards, along with account details via a smartphone app on their phones.

The test uses RFID stickers rather than near field communications, likely for a couple very-practical reasons. The number of NFC-capable phones in current use is too small to support a viable test, much less a full-production commercial system. Also, by using the stickers, Eat does not have to worry about all the details of phone type, make and model. In principle, the phone becomes a vehicle for attaching the sticker, which could in principle, be affixed to a credit, debit or loyalty card as well.

The trade-off is between speed to market and ubiquity versus application features. The advantage is that anybody will be able to use the stickers. The disadvantage is that the system is relatively "dumb," providing only as much information as any other numerical identification number would, at the the time of transaction. The sticker approach cannot take advantage of a smart phone camera, location information, processing power, memory or other apps that might increase the range of features a payment or loyalty program might offer.

But stickers have one key advantage: they are easy to use, and anybody can use them, without regard for the type of phone in use. In fact, a sticker approach is not much different from using a plastic fob or card of some type to enter loyalty information for any other existing retail program. Again, it's a trade off: a simple approach available to every customer, right now, versus a more-complicated technology approach that is more powerful in terms of new features.

UK Merchant Plans to Launch Loyalty Trial with Stickers

Mobile Payments: Not Really About the Payments

The thing about mobile payments is that application providers are going to have to figure out what the value for consumers and retailers is, and what the revenue models are. Managing spending could be one of those ways to add value. It isn't so much "electronic receipts" as it is the ability to post all transactions to a ledger or account, rather than adding up amounts manually, after the fact.

Automated check-ins and information sharing are another angle, possibly the ability to create a blog or social app post with some details (name, location, menu item) pulled directly from the transaction data and purchase location.

Purchases might also include automated tip calculation when restaurant bills are paid, using rules the user has set up in advance.

Many think retailers, banks and other loyalty programs will want to provide instant alerts for users to use specified accounts at specified retailer locations, possibly because the payment accounts are linked to loyalty programs at that specific location or a specific offer can be triggered.

Also, users might be able to link their loyalty program information with payment information so the loyalty information does not have to be separately entered every time.

The value might be the value add that is wrapped around "payment," rather than transactions themselves.

Why does NFC matter? Does tap beat swipe for mobile payments? | VentureBeat

47% of Mobile Users Get "News" on Their Mobiles

For that reason, some hope tablets will reinvigorate "print" media. source

Tablets Change Way People Consume Content

A new survey by Google suggests that tablets are changing the way that people consume content. That will be important for all existing or planned media channels and formats, as some people will soon start to argue that the tablet is becoming a new media hub. And where attention goes, so goes advertising revenue, for starters.

Tablets are changing the way consumers engage with content - Google Mobile Ads Blog