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Around the globe, various initiatives use the mobile phone to provide financial services to those without access to traditional banks. Yet relatively little scholarly research explores the use of these m-banking/m-payments systems. This paper calls attention to this gap in the research literature, emphasizing the need for research focusing on the context(s) of m-banking/mpayments use. Presenting illustrative data from exploratory work with small enterprises in urban India, it argues that contextual research is a critical input to effective "adoption" or "impact" research. Further, it suggests that the challenges of linking studies of use to those of adoption and impact reflect established dynamics within the Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) research community. The paper identifies three crosscutting themes from the broader literature-amplification vs. change, simultaneous causality, and a multidimensional definition of trust-each of which can offer increased theoretical clarity to future research on m-banking/m-payments systems.

Welcome to the weekend Web, where people are spending a bigger slice of time online via wireless devices - and using a different set of sites than during the workweek. "At Google, we see the majority of our desktop traffic [in the US] during weekdays," says Matt Waddell, chief of staff for Google Mobile. "On mobile, the situation is completely reversed." Mobile browsing surged 89% in the past year, with mobile page views increasing by 127%, according to researcher M:Metrics. The increase reflects growing availability of all-you-can eat data plans and increasingly sophisticated handheld devices such as the Apple iPhone.

Research in Motion (RIM) has released a phone with a luxury car manufacturer Porsche. BlackBerry Smartphone named Porsche Design P'9981 is on sale in Indonesia.

The past couple of years have seen numerous new web-capable mobile devices arise, including Apple's iPhone and its Safari browser, the creation of Google's Android platform and Webkit-based browser, the rise of so called "full web" browsers (Nokia's S60, Opera Mobile and Opera Mini, among others), the early development of Firefox's mobile version, and more. These mobile browsers improve users' experiences, giving them access to websites formerly off-limits to most mobile devices. Indeed, as a 2008 Nielsen Media Research report highlighted, mobile devices have increased traffic by an average of 13% across several popular websites.

Research In Motion's BlackBerry Curve 8900, also known as the BlackBerry Javelin, is expected to hit United States markets in February, according to TmoNews.

I've been watching, with interest, developers create new applications for the iPhone. Owning one myself - and being knowledgeable in JavaScript - I've been wondering what options there were for creating downloadable JavaScript applications or the iPhone. In doing some research I found a number of solutions, some simpler than others, some requiring more knowledge of Objective-C than others. Before looking at the options I should note that given the requirements of the platform if you're really serious about getting in to iPhone development you should learn Objective-C. None of the options appear to provide the full range of functionality that a normally-written application would.

If you're a manager, you should set goals according to how simple, important (to the company and the employee), and measurable they are. Fifty years of behavioral research suggests that's all that's needed. Since feedback can be challenging both to give and to receive, "feed forward" instead. This approach (popularized by author and HBR blogger Marshall Goldsmith) suggests that instead of telling someone what they've done wrong, you should tell them what they should do differently. Consider the difference between these two pieces of feedback: "You talk too much in our team meetings," versus "In our next team meeting, try to be the last one who offers their opinions." Which would you rather hear?

The Apple iPhone is easily the most publicized new mobile device in recent memory. But despite all the discussion about the product, there's relatively little hard information available to the public on its impact. How is it being used? What effect is it having on customers and on the technology industry?

This article explores the practice of "beeping" or "missed calling" between mobile phone users, or calling a number and hanging up before the mobile's owner can pick up the call. Most beeps are requests to call back immediately, but they can also send a pre-negotiated instrumental message such as "pick me up now" or a relational sign, such as "I'm thinking of you."

RPI's Tetherless World Constellation will address this emerging area of "Web Science," focusing on the World Wide Web and it's future use. Faculty in the constellation will explore the research and engineering principles that underlie the Web, will enhance the Web's reach beyond the desktop and laptop computer, and will develop new technologies and languages that expand the capabilities of the Web.

Uh oh, trouble ahead for Blackberry whose unique selling point could be made available via direct rivals.