Google+ Email Address Changes an Issue?

Some will note that the email address used to set up a service, such as Google+, is a "forever" issue, in the sense that Google+ apparently does not support changing an email address later. The obvious example is signing up using a work address, instead of a web mail account.

"Another issue I ran into is that I got my initial invitation to Google , and built my Google network around a Gmail address (s3kur3@gmail.com). Whenever an update posts from one of my circles, or someone sends me a message, or some new person adds me to one of their Circles, Google sends me an update. The problem is that I don't use Gmail, and I don't want to use Gmail, so I never see those updates."

Of course, some of us decided to use Gmail, as the permanent address of record, precisely for that reason. When I use any other work-related email, I always have the mail automatically resent to my Gmail account. I do have some work addresses that are active, but unused simply because I don't even want to bother setting up the forwarding.

Address permanence is an issue for lots of people, though. So be careful, if you haven't already joined.

Proceed With Caution: Google Is Forever

Opposition to Telco-Lead Mobile Payments in Nigeria

Government permission always plays an important role in just about any fundamental role a telecom service provider wishes to play, everywhere in the world. Against the backdrop of plans by some telecommunications companies (telcos) to go into mobile payment services, some analysts say the move is against Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulations.

The analysts cited regulatory framework for mobile payment services in Nigeria issued by the CBN in 2009 which identifies three acceptable models for the implementation of mobile payment services: bank-focused, bank-led, and third party-led. Mobile service providers would seem to fall into the third category. Predictably, though, some think the mobile service providers cannot be allowed to lead the mobile money business, as it will mean putting two major segments of Nigeria’s economy in the hands of a few companies.

Telcos cannot lead Mobile payment schemes, say analysts

Is Innovation a Process or a Skill?

"Not long ago, creativity guru Todd Henry recommended to one of his consulting clients, a high-ranking manager, that he set aside one hour a week to generate new ideas -- 'one hour, predictably scheduled, no exceptions and no violations,' Henry says in his book, The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice. 'This is not time to do work. This is time to think about work."

That executive's reaction, Henry recalls: 'He fired back at me, 'What?! You just want me to sit around and think?!'

In today's wired, 24/7 business climate, most people can relate. Who has time to sit and ponder? Yet, Henry writes, companies pay employees, particularly leaders, for the value they create, and 'you can create infinitely greater value for the company in an hour of skilled, focused thought about critical problems than by responding to your email slightly faster.

It would be helpful indeed if innovation were a process, not an innate ability. Still, there's a difference between Steve Jobs and most people, one would have to argue.

How great business innovators are made (not born)

Is Google+ Similar to Facebook, or Something Else?

Is Google+ an improved or different version of Facebook, or is it something else? And if it is something else, what sort of "something else" might lead to financial success or failure? One view, probably the most popular, is that Google+ will succeed or fail as an alternative to Facebook. Read more.

Another view might be that Google+ is something different, but might be the "wrong" something different. See Read more..

It's likely too early to tell, either way.

Apple Offers App Volume Purchasing To Businesses

Apple has launched an App Store "Volume Purchase Program" for businesses.

The business VPP represents an expansion of the Volume Purchasing Program introduced last August for schools.

That program allows educational institutions to acquire apps by purchasing "Volume Vouchers," fixed value cards offered in denominations of $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000 that be redeemed only by an authorized program manager or program facilitator. Purchases of 20 or more apps by educational institutions are eligible for volume discounts, offered at the discretion of the developer selling the app in question.

Apple Offers App Volume Purchasing To Businesses

Ericsson to Launch Mobile Money Service in Phillippines

Ericsson is launching a money transfer business in the Philippines, connecting Filipinos to networks in seven European nations.

Ericsson Money Services began in February 2011, and the new extension will allow mobile phone users in the Philippines to send and receive money to and from their families and friends in some countries in Europe.

The service also can also be accessed online through a dedicated website and through Facebook and Twitter, but in the Phillippines, virtually everybody seems to use a mobile.

Ericsson to launch mobile remittance service in Phillippines

Indian Mobile Money $350 Billion in Activity in 2015

Mobile phones are now poised to usher in mobile money as an everyday form of currency in India, with $350 billion of payments and banking transactions flowing through them by 2015.

However, mobile money will not be a large generator of fees for telecom operators, as the total fee pool of $4.5 billion will be split across several entities, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Just over $235 billion of annual credit and debit card transactions occur in India today, a figure dominated by around $215 billion of cash withdrawals at ATMs.

Mobile payment, transactions to touch $350 billion by 2015