Group items tagged

For those of us who have grown accustomed to purchasing things from our laptops, tablets and smartphones, the experience of walking into a physical store and standing in line can get tiresome. It's hard to top the immediacy and convenience of online and mobile shopping. Yet, there are still plenty of items that are best purchased in person.

Apple hopes to bridge the gap between these digital and physical worlds. The company just released an update to its Apple Store app for iOS. Using the application, customers can not only purchase Apple products like they can on the Apple website, but they can now opt to pick them up in person at one of the company's many retail locations.

The app can also be used as a sort of self check-out scanner for certain accessories in Apple stores. Need a new case for your iPhone or a power adaptor for your MacBook? Now you can scan the item with your phone's camera, pay for it in the app and be on your way.

Come November, the world's second largest mass transit company will let its riders pay for trips by waving their cell phones at the terminal. The Deutsche Bahn, Germany's main railway operator, began implementing its Touch&Travel mobile payments system in 2008 and expects it to be ready within two months.

The system will rely on near field communications (NFC) chips contained in customers' mobile phones to handle the payment transactions for each trip. Alternatively, riders can pay with their phones by scanning a QR code at the beginning and end point of their ride.

Touch&Travel mobile apps are available for iPhone and Android-based smart phones. "In addition to using NFC or barcodes to provide location information, smartphone apps can use GPS or the user can type in a location ID number," writes NFC World. Riders will be billed for their transit usage at the end of each month.

The series of events will be launching in Paris, Brussels, Madrid, London, Milan and Berlin on the 18th of May, the aim of this high-tech outdoor treasure hunt is to encourage people to rediscover the environmental treasures hidden in these great cities by harnessing every day technology in their search for geocaches, rewards and fun. For all those taking part the rewards are multiple: besides the satisfaction of discovering beautiful outdoor locations, the geocaches, the give-aways and the joy of adventure, Timberland is offering a hiking trip to Iceland

As the electronic age puts physical bookstores and libraries under increasing threat, Local Books is a great example of how, by encouraging a resurgence of consumer interest at a local level, new technologies can be used to provide a shot in the arm for traditional outlets. Launched in January, it’s a free iPhone app that allows users to search an area for bookstores, libraries and literary events such as readings, book discussions and signings. Local Books is powered by LibraryThing Local—a crowdsourced database of 51,000 bookstores and libraries around the world. Users can search for these “venues” by name or by location. The details provided for venues include maps plus (when available) descriptions, photographs, links, and information about upcoming events at those establishments. Venues and events can be sorted by distance, name, type and date. At present Local Books does not show inventories from bookstores and libraries. We wouldn’t be surprised to see this feature available from them or from someone else in the near future. Could that be you? (Related: Online platform connecting booklovers.) Website: www.librarything.com/blog/2010/01/local-books-iphone-application.php

Of course, oftentimes you don’t really want to tell all of your friends where you are, and even then you may only want them to be able to see your whereabouts for a short while. That’s where Glympse comes in. The service, which is based entirely around ‘sharing your where’ with select friends a few hours at a time, has just raised a $7.5 million Series B funding round led by Menlo Ventures and Ignition Partners.

Say, for example, you were running late for a meeting and wanted your coworkers to have a sense for when you’d be arriving at the office. Instead of having to send a series of text messages (“15 minutes..”, “traffic bad, make that 30 min”, and so on), you could just send a Glympse that let them track your progress on a map. Then, when you arrived, you could turn the Glympse off and the map would stop updating.

So where is Glympse going next? The company isn’t sharing much about its future plans, other than to say that they’re working with partners to integrate the product into “the everyday life experience”. In other words, expect them to move well beyond their own iPhone and Android apps in the near future.

Attention smartphone users: the recent launch of the first two satellites for Europe’s Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS) could make things a lot more interesting in about four years.

Galileo will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to one meter range, compared to 10 meters for GPS, the European Space Agency (ESA) states, and it plans to give non-European users access.

Meanwhile, Apple’s new iPhone 4S has a chip that will be able to access Glonass (the Russian version of GPS), Engadget reports. Other manufacturers, including Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics and Texas Instruments, will also support Glonass — and Galileo as soon as it is operational — with new chipsets and software able to receive and integrate all three main GNSS systems.

Vantiv, a provider of mobile payment solutions, announced a new point-of-sale product on Friday that it will be rolling out in partnership with Verizon Wireless. The product, which is currently in field testing, includes custom tailored applications and an Android-based point-of-sale solution for accepting payments. The applications will be available in Verizon’s Private Application Store for Business. “Merchants and consumers are seeking greater mobility, control and timely access to data,” said Bill Weingart, Chief Product Officer of Vantiv. “We’ve teamed with Verizon to combine our payment and security expertise with Verizon’s ability to tailor development of mobile technologies to address those needs.” Verizon Wireless is also a member of ISIS, an initiative in which it has partnered with AT&T and T-Mobile to provide customers with NFC-based mobile payment options. Vantiv’s full press release follows after the break.

Vantiv Introduces Next Generation Mobile Payment Solution Teams with Verizon to Develop and Deliver More Flexibility and Opportunity for Merchants to Grow Their Businesses CINCINNATI, Jan. 31, 2012  — Vantiv, LLC (formerly Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC), a leading integrated payment processor, today announced that its customers will be the first to use an innovative point-of-sale device and system that will help merchants more effectively conduct business.

Vantiv is conducting a field trial of a new mobile payment solution developed in collaboration with Verizon. The new solution is architected on the Android operating system and features end-to-end, secure point-of-sale payment capabilities and business applications using Verizon’s Private Application Store for Business. As a result, Vantiv customers can tailor point-of-sale applications to meet their needs while taking advantage of remote device management.

Late last month, I ordered the beverage at Sightglass Coffee in SoMa, grabbed it from the counter and walked out without cracking my wallet.

Nobody chased me down because, when I first approached the cafe, the Card Case app on my iPhone detected the store's perimeter and automatically switched on. It broadcast my picture to the barista, who could then tap my pre-entered credit card number to cover the bill. The phone never had to leave my pocket.

It felt a lot like buying in the one-click environments of iTunes or Amazon, which is to say it didn't feel like buying at all. Square, the San Francisco startup behind the app, has come close to replicating the frictionless online buying experience in the brick-and-mortar world.

It’s no secret that credit card companies are shelling out big bucks and aggressively forming partnerships and deals to start cashing in on the mobile and digital payments innovations currently taking place. American Express, which recently debuted its own digital payments product Serve, has been particularly aggressive on the partnerships front, striking recent deals with both Foursquare and Facebook. Mastercard has bet on NFC with a partnership with Google for Google Wallet and bought online payments gateway DataCash for $520 million last fall. And Visa has made a number of major moves in the mobile and digital payments space of late; including making an investment (and taking on an advisory role) in disruptive startup Square, buying virtual goods payments platform PlaySpan for $190 million, and acquiring mobile payments company Fundamo for $110 million. We sat down with Visa’s Global Head of Mobile Product Bill Gajda and the company’s Head of Global Product Strategy, Innovation and eCommerce Jennifer Schulz to discuss how the financial company is planning to compete in both mobile and digital payments.

In May, Visa announced its plans for the digital wallet. We’ll explain this initiative later in the post, but part of this platform would allow you to access your loyalty points, credit cards and more from your mobile phone at the point of sale. And the third pillar of Visa’s mobile strategy is incorporating value-added services like real-time alerts, contextual services, and offers at point of shopping based on where you are.

Gajda explains that Visa is licensing mobile payments applications PayWave for integration with the ISIS wallet and the company is actively looking for other ways to integrate with NFC into the company’s mobile payments structure.

The trend in online games, already popular in the entertainment industry, is set to extend to the travel industry according to research released this week. 

The WTM Global Trends Report 2011 reveals the ‘gamification of travel’ is already taking hold with companies and tourism organisations including Lufthansa and Tourism Ireland using gaming techniques to create brand awareness and build loyalty.

Last year Tourism Ireland unveiled its Ireland Town game on Facebook giving it the potential to engage with more than 62 million people.

Des Moines is the home of mobile payments platform Dwolla. It is an interesting case study - local startup creating buzz within the community and getting retailers and consumers to actually use the platform. Dwolla has created a mobile payments ecosystem from the bottom up.

Within a 5-mile radius of Des Moines there are 500 to 700 business that are using mobile payments through Dwolla. The company works kind of like a payments version of Foursquare. You check at the register in the store using your phone and a pre-loaded Dwolla account.

it is likely that the company will be able to partner with banks and financial institutions in the near future to go straight from a bank account to the retailer.

Starting today, on the retail shopping holiday known as Black Friday here in the U.S., Walgreens will begin rolling out its new scannable mobile coupons which work at its over 7,700 stores nationwide. The coupons are being made available in the Walgreens mobile applications and to use them, you simply show your phone at checkout where it will be scanned by the cashier.

You’ll find the coupons in a special section within the mobile application where you’re also able to sign up for SMS-based alerts.

Coupons will only be offered one at a time every two to three days, and will range in value from $0.50 to $5.00. The discounts will be targeted towards a wide variety of products, including beauty items, gifts, consumables and everyday essentials, like diapers.

Alcatel-Lucent Geo-Location Mobile Game "Acquisition" On top of our platform and supported by our community members, Alcatel-Lucent ran an innovation & development challenge to bring new mobile applications and games to life. A TopCoder member came up with the idea for Acquisition, which leverages network-based API's for automated geo-checkin, SMS, subscriber identity, call control and player presence. It pairs it with game mechanics similar to a traditional game of Monopoly. In a game of Acquisition you are competing against a set of friends to amass the most wealth and you do so by physically checking into a variety of localities, trading properties, developing on top of owned properties, earning dividends and expanding your empire.

With 2012 fast approaching along with it comes new mobile marketing opportunities that your business should follow as you consider efforts to spread the word about your brand and products and services through mobile. 

Mobile Visitation Grew 200% 

2011 has been a breakout year for growth in mobile visitation.  It featured a steep rise in text messaging, smartphone purchases and mobile advertising. Corporate use of mobile websites grew 210 percent in the last 12 months!

Dunkin’ Donuts is rewarding loyal customers with prizes in a new campaign that uses Foursquare and Facebook Places. “Get GifteD’D” runs through to December 23rd at Dunkin’ Donuts locations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Users can check-in up to three times each day (at least an hour apart) for the chance to win prizes.

If they win, they are sent an email with instructions about how to redeem their prize. Each time someone checks-in, they are also entered into a sweepstake to win the grand prize of a $1,000 gift card and a Travelpro luggage package.

Through the campaign, Dunkin’ Donuts is giving away more than 1,780 instant prizes including gift cards from 1800Flowers, Mountain Creek and Pinstripe Bowl, coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts merchandise. Cathy Chavenet, New York-based field marketing manager at Dunkin’ Donuts, said: Mobile check-in programs like Facebook and Foursquare present an opportunity to reward Dunkin’ Donuts’ loyal fans by doing something they are already doing – visiting Dunkin’ Donuts. The goal of the check-in, Get GifteDD program in particular, is to give our loyal guests a chance to win great prizes every day, just by checking into Facebook or Foursquare while at our restaurants in New York.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) filed a patent at the tail end of 2009 dubbed "Local Device Awareness," which describes automated connections between a number of close-range devices. Some potential applications could be device position targeting (think locating your keys) or proximity-based gaming.

If Apple's patent seems overly broad, patent hoarder InterDigital (Nasdaq: IDCC  ) has gone for specificity. It holds some 33 known patents covering machine-to-machine communication.

Motorola and Google seem to be behind in patents, with only one highly technical machine-to-machine patent showing up for Motorola Mobility, and none for Google. But as you'll soon see, the two companies might be hoping for a more open environment.

DUBAI — Digital contactless payment has become more popular among UAE travellers as they prefer to make payments and seek information in a visual format on a device, according to a latest global industry study.

Around 32 per cent of UAE respondents find using their phone rather than cash or credit cards to pay for things “extremely appealing” as against 24 per cent globally, revealed a major global industry study “From chaos to collaboration: How transformative technologies will herald a new era in travel”.

Commissioned by Amadeus, a travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, the new report outlines the way new technologies and social change will transform travel by 2020. The study challenges the industry to overcome the uncertainty and stress of modern-day travel through the application of new innovations.

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology evolved from a combination of contactless identification and interconnection technologies. It combines the functions of a contactless reader, a contactless card and peer-to-peer functionality on a single chip. It operates in the 13.56MHz frequency range, typically over a distance of a few centimeters.

Consumers will first see NFC technology appear in their most commonly utilized personal device – the mobile phone. With NFC, the mobile phone transitions from running primarily voice applications to becoming a more personalized device that can let you conduct secure payment transactions, gain access to public transportation, building access and store digital rights. In essence, the mobile phone becomes a point-of-sale terminal, a ticket counter, keys to your building, a transport card, a debit/credit card and an electronic business card all in one easy to use device

Users of Samsung’s mobile phones and other devices that include Philips NFC chips will be able to access content and services in an intuitive way. For example, a Samsung mobile phone equipped with NFC technology could automatically connect with an NFC-enabled PC or TV, simply by holding them next to each other, in order to transfer digital pictures or other data, according to the statement of two companies.

Exclusive: In a push to boost its payments platform for the gaming industry, American Express, has acquired virtual currency platform and in-game payments provider Sometrics. The total deal value is $30 million, but both parties declined to reveal further details about the split between cash and stock. Sometrics will become part of the Enterprise Growth Group, and will be used within American Express’ Serve digital payments platform to incorporate virtual currencies and loyalty programs.

Sometrics helps gaming publishers market free-to-play online games and monetize virtual currency with a consumer destination site and in-game payment solutions. Sometrics’ in-game payments platform basically powers virtual currency transactions and payments for game publishers. Sometrics also serves users with targeted offers based on their location, demographic, conversion history and social affiliation.

The company currently supports dozens of payment options (including mobile carrier infrastructure and credit card support) and hundreds of brand engagement ads, reaching a total global audience of more than 225 million consumers in more than 200 countries. And through Sometrics’ analytics capabilities, developers are able to view and analyze which audience demographics are responding to which payment options, respond by pushing traffic to the options that convert best, and optimize those conversions to help maximize revenue. Current gaming partners that use Sometrics include Nexon, NHN USA, IMVU, PopCap, BigPoint, Habbo, and many others.

When it comes to local commerce, the ultimate prize everyone is going after right now is how to close the redemption loop. The redemption loop starts when a consumer sees an ad or an offer for a local merchant, and is completed when the consumer makes a purchase and that purchase can be tracked back to the offer. If you know who is actually redeeming offers and how much they are spending, you can be much smarter about tweaking and targeting those offers

Groupon, LivingSocial, and other daily deal sites have created enormous value by pushing the redemption loop the furthest. When someone buys a daily deal, for instance, that translates into cash for the merchant. But for the vast majority of their deals Groupon and LivingSocial do not track whether or not they are ever redeemed, much less the amount each consumer actually spends at the store or restaurant once they show up.

And that is why mobile is so appealing. If you can send deal notifications to people’s phones based on their exact location and nearby deals, you have the beginnings of narrowcasting. Later on, companies will figure out how to layer on ways to target by income, gender, and other factors as well.