Ditch "Sense" on an HTC?

The big advantage of Android's open approach is innovation. The big danger is operating system fragmentation. You can see the tension in recent developments related to HTC implementations of the "Gingerbread" version of Android.

HTC initially said its new "Desire" device wouldn't be getting an official Gingerbread update due to memory constraints, saying there wasn't enough space on the phone for Gingerbread and HTC Sense.

Then, 24 hours later the manufacturer responded to feedback from Desire owners and changed its mind, committing to delivering Gingerbread alongside a trimmed-down Sense UI.

Now Australian carrier Telstra has indicated it's willing to go even further to get Gingerbread onto its Desire handsets. "Sense" makes the Android user interface "different." But if you have used Sense, you know why users say they want it.

I happen to think HTC does really nice hardware, and I really enjoy "Sense." What I'd do if an HTC device did not have Sense, and I was shopping for a new device, isn't clear. It would be an issue, but it's hard to say if it is a deal breaker. It would be a major negative, though.

Australian carrier says it'll ditch Sense to get Gingerbread on the HTC Desire

Software Will Win Over Hardware Approaches to Mobile Payments, card.io Says

"Pay with a credit card by taking a picture of it" is at the heart of card.io's mobile commerce platform. When it's time to make a payment in your app, card.io activates your phone's camera and pulls up a green frame on the screen. Put your credit card within the green frame, snap a photo, and card.io's proprietary technology will scan the card for whatever information is necessary to make a transaction.

The actual transactions are processed by third-party payment processors used by the merchant. Finally, your credit card information is immediately deleted from your phone.

Co-founder Mike Mettler, a former developer at AdMob, said the company was betting that in the long-run, software approaches will win over hardware approaches.

Former Admob Execs Tackle Mobile Payments, Photograph Credit Cards | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Danish Operators Join Forces on Mobile Wallet

TDC, Telenor, TeliaSonera and Three are cooperating on the launch of a digital wallet service based on near field communications in Denmark. Note the emphasis on "wallet," or credentials management, rather than "payment."

The roll-out will start in the fall of 2011, but it will take a few years before the technology reaches widespread adoption, the companies say.

Consumers will be able to use their mobiles to pay for goods, services and travel, at a discount if digital coupons are available, and also open doors at hotels or borrow a book at the library.

Danish Operators Join Forces on Mobile Wallet | PCWorld

How Mobile Is Changing Social Media | Social Media Examiner

With all the change going on the social software and mobility spaces, it's easy to mistake what the potential importance might be. Consider the matter of "location," which some associate with the "check in" feature. That is important to some users, but lots of people would say it doesn't provide much value at the moment, and that is a reasonable assessment.

But location-based services at some point will more clearly be seen as changing the way businesses use social media and software, some would say. "Where I am right now" is a bit of information that changes the context of social networking when correlated with "where are my friends, associates and relatives, right now?" The difference is that location awareness potentially leads to different kinds of sharing and messaging. And many of the changes relate to potential commerce activities.

"Location" also is changing the way brands are going to do "advertising" and "promotion."

One often hears it said that social networking (different than social software in a larger sense) is becoming a substantially "mobile-focused" experience. There are location implications there as well.

sme_bw2010_jason_falls_v2 from Michael A. Stelzner on Vimeo.

How Mobile Is Changing Social Media | Social Media Examiner

HTC Evo 3D, View 4G Launched at Sprint

The HTC EVO™ 3D and HTC EVO View 4G™ launch today, June 24, 2011, exclusively on the Sprint network.

HTC EVO 3D, America’s first glasses-free 3D phone will cost $199.99 and HTC EVO View 4G, the first 4G-enabled tablet in the United States, will cost $399.99. Both prices exclude applicable taxes, and the devices require a new two-year service agreement or eligible upgrade.

Incidentally, Sprint has added some funny videos and polls on the pages touting the new devices. http://now.sprint.com/alltogethernow/index.php?pid=2&ECID=SEM:Google:C:Sprint:HTC

Exclusively from Sprint and Available Today: HTC EVO 3D, America's First 3D-Enabled Smartphone in the United States, and HTC EVO View 4G, with New Digital Pen Technology

What’s needed to do payments right

Ubiquity is a primary requirement for a successful payments system, executives at PayPal believe. "A payments service needs to be everywhere to be effective," says Sam Shrauger, VP Global Product and Experience, PayPal. 


That puts PayPal in the camp of would-be and developing mobile payments providers that really must look for ways to create a universally-available service, without the limitations of mobile device operating systems, communications capabilities or input-output methods on the consumer side of the business.

PayPal also would like to avoid forcing the essential merchant partners to invest in upgrades to their point of sale terminals, especially at a time when there are many ways to handle the communications part of the process.

"Very narrow payment offerings," then, are not the approach PayPal will take when it does reveal what it plans to do in the mobile payments space. PayPal does believe that whatever it does, it will have to be compelling enough "to make people change their current behavior."

Others will take the other approach, which is to create "niche" offerings. Starbucks and Square probably are the best examples of that at the moment. Starbucks only cares about what its own consumers do, at Starbucks locations. Square really is optimized to enable non-traditional retail payments in scenarios where the retailer doesn't own, doesn't use, or cannot use a traditional POS terminal.

To really “do payments” right, you’ve got to have more than just technology," says Shrauger. "Above all, any new solution has to deliver something better than what exists today. Not just new and different–better."

PayPal already has introduced retail payments on a limited scale in the United Kingdom, so it already is moving down the track of retail payments at physical locations.

What’s needed to do payments right

PayPal Doubles Mobile Payments Predictions to $3 billion in 2011

PayPal has raised its forecast for 2011 "Mobile Total Payments Volume" to $3 billion, up from $2 billion just a couple of months ago. It's the third upward revision to the numbers since the first estimate of $1.5 billion at the beginning of the year.

"Mobile payments are growing at a rate we never could have imagined when we started processing them back in 2006," says Laura Chambers, Senior Director, PayPal Mobile.

"We’re now seeing up to $10 million in mobile TPV a day, a big increase from the $6 million we reported in March," says Chambers. "And we currently have eight million customers who are regularly making purchases on their mobile phones, up from a previously reported six million users."

PayPal Doubles Mobile Payments Predictions to $3 billion in 2011