It's Hard to Figure Out What People Want

Helping people find new experiences they wouldn't otherwise know about is a value location-based apps often try to provide. But do people often want to do so? As it turns out, one app, Roamz, actually wasn't being used that way.

What Roamz creators found, instead, was that users knew what they wanted and were just looking for some guidance and some idea of what other people like. So  Roamz is "pivoting" its approach. Instead of emphasizing discovery of "new" experiences, Roamz tries to provide guidance about experiences or products about which a given user already has a use case.

In other words, it turns out that when people leave the house in the morning, they aren't terribly interested in exploring the world around them. They have to get to work.  As it turns out, "serendipity" apps and features aren't terribly useful at times when people are engaged in purposeful activities.

It reminds us of how bold Steve Jobs really was, designing products we didn't know we needed. It's very risky to do so.

IEEE Can Foresee 100X More Bandwidth Demand by 2020

According to a study by a working group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), it is possible that bandwidth demand could grow by two orders of magnitude by 2020, from 2010 levels. 

Singapore Mobile Operators Launch Mobile Payments

SingTel, Singapore’s largest mobile operator, along with telco M1, today announced availability of mobile payment service using new subscriber information modules (SIMs) for NFC-enabled Android phone models including the Sony Xperia S and Samsung Galaxy S Advance. M1 is also offering NFC service on the Samsung Galaxy S III.

SingTel and Mi are enabling subscribers to pay for retail purchases payment service provider EZ-Link Pte. M1 subscribers also will be able to use M1’s new co-branded prepaid card application, which supports MasterCard PayPass.

The launches follow StarHub’s  launch of its mobile payment system SmartWallet in early August 2012.

The SmartWallet will offer three payment applications that mirror the M1 choices.

StarHub plans to make three Android NFC phones available, as well, including the Samsung Galaxy S III.

All three telcos are part of a consortium chosen by Singapore telecoms and information services regulator Infocomm Development Authority to build an interoperable NFC infrastructure.

Mobile Commerce is E-Commerce

Some of us would argue that, over time, "mobile commerce" will subsume e-commerce. Others, of course, will argue that e-commerce will become mobile commerce. It works, either way. 

Apple: Biggest Equity Value, Ever

IaaS is Amazon, 19 Companies Earning $20 Million Annually, Lots of Firms Making Only $10 Million

Once you eliminate Amazon from the list of infrastructure as a service suppliers, you have a list of 19 vendors that earn $20 million annually. There are many earning $10 million in annual revenue, according to Lydia Leong, Gartner analyst. 

The data suggests that to succeed in this market, you have two possible routes, Leong argues. A company needs a giant sales channel with a ton of feet on the street and existing relationships, or a company needs excellent online marketing and instant online sign-ups. 

A third possible route is that you make it easy for people to white-label and resell your service, says Leong. 

As with most other new businesses, there will be a ton of consolidation as surviving providers amass enough scale to survive. 

Are Millennials Really Different?

Millennials, people between the ages 18 to 29 or so (some would include people up into the mid-30s), are "different," many would argue.