| |
|
The most interesting latest news on the topic: NFC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Barnes & Noble is revolutionizing e-readers by adding mobile payment technology to its Nook, through a partnership with Microsoft to challenge rivals Apple and Amazon.
Big Plans For Mobile Payments and Microsoft The bookseller is adding NFC technology to the Nook, and plans to integrate mobile payments with its in-store browsing experience. "You can walk up to any of our pictures, any of our aisles, any of our bestseller lists, and just touch the book, and get information on that physical book on your Nook and have some frictionless purchase experience. That's coming, and we could lead in that area," CEO William Lynch told Fortune, highlighting how the company plans to wield NFC to give it a leg up on competitors without in-store components. Barnes & Noble's foray into NFC will help the Nook stand out from other e-readers, and its partnership with Microsoft is fostering deep integration, which will further boost the Nook's credentials. Lynch discussed the potential for running the Nook on Windows 8 instead of Android, which would be a huge boon for Microsoft and give the e-reader a distinguishing characteristic. Windows 8 is set to connect mobile devices with laptops and computers, and connecting an e-reader to the wider Microsoft ecosystem opens up possibilities for the Nook to take advantage of. Lynch, for example, envisioned integration with Microsoft's Office suite and other publishing tools, so authors could put materials composed through Microsoft directly to the Nook. Apple already does this with iBook Author, but Office is the most-used word processor, so the Nook will have a big advantage in luring authors. Moreover, the controversy surrounding Apple's publishing deals may further push writers into Barnes & Noble's arms. ... But Rivals Won't Take This Lying Down The Nook will have formidable competition no matter how well it innovates. Apple may lose authors if Barnes & Noble incorporates Microsoft's publishing tools, but the iPad is still the premiere tablet, and other companies are also striving to make revolutionary changes to e-publishing, like LG with its upcoming flexible, paper-like e-reader. Amazon's Kindle sales are still brisk, and the company is testing an app purchasing system, looking to recruit the best app developers. Also, one of Microsoft's problems with its OS is its lack of apps, so Barnes & Noble may need to figure out a way to compensate or risk losing business. The Bottom Line Barnes & Noble's embrace of NFC shows the company is looking for ways to stand out, but it may run into problems convincing customers to adopt the technology, as research shows buyers are less enthusiastic about mobile purchasing than the retailers implementing it. No matter how cutting-edge the NFC debut looks, unless customers are open to using it -- and unless there is enough content and apps to take advantage of it -- the benefits will be negligible. Barnes & Noble's recent ventures with Microsoft and NFC may give the company a boost, but it has to convince customers to use NFC technology and prove Windows' worth as a mobile OS to sway consumers. The publishing advantages Barnes & Noble's integration with Office are likely to attract authors, but it may take time to reap the benefits from other customers. |
|
|
|
|
Apple has patented a payment system based on near-field communications technology, hinting at mobile payments on iPhones in the future and giving NFC a boost in the burgeoning digital wallet market. The Cupertino, Calif-based company's new patent covers a system designed to help parents control what their children spend by allowing credit card companies to send statements to iTunes. Patenting does not always mean Apple immediately implements the technology, as the company sometimes speculatively collects patents without using them. The company has explored a number of NFC-related patents in the past, gettings its first NFC-related patent last November, but the detailed plans for this particular patent show how Apple wants to use the technology. Apple's interest gives emerging NFC technology a boost by putting it directly on its top-selling iPhone, underscoring NFC's increasing viability for digital wallet initiatives as other mobile payment systems jockey for space among the competition. NFC enjoys support from a number of banks, credit card companies and carriers involved with the forthcoming Isis mobile payments initiative, but critics maintain only a limited number of handsets come equipped with NFC, and say merchants are hesitant to add the technology. Simplified app-based mobile registers that don't rely on NFC, like Square Register, are gaining traction with small businesses, and NFC-centered efforts faces stiff competition from Square and PayPal, as these rival systems insist they are easier to use. Apple's patent filing shows NFC, which has strong financial industry backing, is catching on with smartphone makers. And as iPhones stay at the forefront of innovation, other handsets are likely to follow and install the technology if Apple uses it. NFC technology already made important strides before this development. Moneto, a service bringing NFC technology to any smartphone, made it easier to access the technology. Despite signs of progress, NFC payment systems aren't without problems. For example, NFC-based Google Wallet has serious glitches, casting doubt on the system's security. Isis and other NFC-based systems are taking extra security measures, but customers prioritizing security may lean towards other payment systems after that snafu. NFC is gaining steam, but the mobile payment race is far from decided. Apple plans to support NFC, but it already works with Square and PayPal. Apple is likely hedging its bets and getting involved with all the potential mobile payment frontrunners so its users will be covered, regardless of which system gains widespread adoption. |
|
|
|
|
Isis, the mobile payment venture backed by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, has teamed up with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, in a move that help pushes the adoption of e-wallets in an increasingly-crowded field of titans. The New York-based initiative said the four payment networks will support mobile payments from Isis-powered devices, which is expected to launch in Salt Lake City and Austin in the first half of 2012. Isis plans to release software that turns smartphones into that "e-wallets," so consumers can purchase goods at special terminals with the swipe of their device. "This is a major milestone," said Michael Abbott, Isis CEO. "We're bringing together incredibly fierce competitors for the common good of helping consumers make mobile payments." But while mobile payment services look inevitably to arrive, Isis' success largely hangs on its ability to compete with Google, which plan to launch their own service this summer, Apple, reportedly developing a similar service tied to iTunes, and a host of specialized players like Amazon, PayPal Mobile and Square. In addition, some companies, like Visa, MasterCard and even Verizon, are also developing their own service. For the players, the stakes are high. All are hoping to replace credit cards with cell phones and check-out terminal, using technology known as near-field communication, or NFC. And for the victor, the spoils are lucrative. The worldwide market for mobile payments is expected to surge sevenfold to $1.13 trillion a year by 2014, according to Gartner. It's too early to determine whether Isis will be a major contender. The group has distribution with carriers, and access, from credit card companies and banks. But lacks it the hardware presence that Apple and Google possess. Regardless, the addition of Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover greatly improves its odds in an escalating battle among formidable contenders. |
|
|
|
|
PayPal unveiled a new payment system that lets Android owners pay each other by tapping their phones together, signaling the growing prominence of NFC-enabled devices in online commerce. The payment system currently only works on one phone model, the Samsung Nexus S, offered by Sprint and T-Mobile. But it will expand to other Android phones with NFC functionality in the future, according to PayPal. The new phone-tapping app is much like the technology PayPal used in its "Bump" app, which allowed users to send money back and forth by bumping their phones together. This system is different, and may be indicative of how PayPal plans to expand NFC use in its growing mobile commerce business. PayPal plans to unveil its real-world payment system later this year. Many people already use the service as an online banking system, even using PayPal-issued debit cards to make payments from their accounts. Adding NFC technology to their shopping habits may shift PayPal users to more frequently choose the online payment service for their purchases, especially as mobile payments gain traction with consumers. The San Jose, Calif.-based company said it originally estimated a reach of $1.3 billion in mobile payments this year, but recently doubled that projection, as more smartphone owners begin to use mobile platforms for their purchases. PayPal faces an incredible amount of competition in the mobile commerce field, however. Google's E-Wallet service already partnered with MasterCard and Citigroup to make credit card-free payments possible, and the Internet giant is testing the service at retailers in New York and Los Angeles. PayPal has an advantage over Google's E-Wallet since it lets people to make direct cash payments to each other -- a convenience its customers may well applaud. With a sizable customer base already using the service, PayPal may be able to leverage its existing infrastructure to become the service of choice as the field of competitors grows. |
|
|
|
|
Canadians are embracing smartphone banking with gusto, as the emerging mobile payment market continues its upward rise among mobile users. According to estimates by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group, over 2.5 million Canadians now make purchases with their smartphones. That's one out of every three people whose data plans can handle mobile payment services with near-field communication, or NFC, technology. The group's findings also note that while it took four years for Canadians to get comfortable with online banking, they now eagerly partake in the mobile payment market. More people now download banking apps on their smartphones than music, news or entertainment apps; over half of those surveyed say they wouldn't mind never carrying cash again. Ledger Marketing conducted a similar survey for PayPal Canada, whose managing director Darrell MacMullin formulated some ideas on why Canadians love their mobile payments. "From avoiding the search for ATMs, to finding easier ways to split restaurant bills with friends or making payments anytime, anywhere and from virtually any device, Canadians want easier, faster and safer ways to shop, share expenses, send money or get paid back," MacMullin said. Canadians are at the forefront of a market-wide trend, as more companies rush to invest in mobile payment solutions for the U.S. and around the world. The market is set to reach a whopping $670 billion by the end of this year, with NFC transactions alone accounting for $240 billion. Hoping to take advantage and claim a favorable portion of the market, Google is investing heavily in its NFC-enabled Google Wallet service, while companies like Square hold up their end of the competition with different methods. Square is a payment device and service that lets small business owners use their iPhones as credit card readers for a nominal fee. PayPal, the dominant web-based transaction system, handles $3 billion per day but new services like Square may quickly catch up. In addition, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile teamed up to create the Isis mobile payment network, set to debut in 2012. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and J.P. Morgan Chase also have their own fledgling payment service, dubbed ClearXchange. Not to be left out, phone makers like Sony Ericsson and Microsoft are getting in the game too, with plans to put NFC chips in their newest line of smartphones. With the rise in momentum among an array of phone makers, banks, carriers and financial companies in mobile payments, paying by smartphone in the U.S. may achieve ubiquity as it did in Canada. However, the patchwork of services and products may create fragmentation in an emerging industry, which may keep it from scaling without further cooperative efforts. Despite this, NFC and other smartphone-based e-wallet solutions are poised to steal the show from cash and even plastic. And Canadians lead the way in adopting these new methods, making it a prime target for all of these companies vying for dominance in the emerging mobile payment market. |
|
|
|
|
Google's new Google+ app for Android includes a mobile payment component, suggesting intriguing possibilities for its new social media service. Nexus S and 4G owners can now scan near-field communications, or NFC, tags and post the information as a status update on their Google+ accounts. Even though the capability is in its fledgling stages, NFC integration with the new social service may make it possible, for example, to check in at a restaurant or share one's location information with friends. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company's new social network is still in beta testing, so only those with invitations and NFC-enabled phones can try the limited service. Google's new app may hint at the possibilitieas for NFC as it gains traction with phone makers and users. NFC, which enables wireless data transfer over short distances, is becoming the key technology for rapidly growing markets like mobile payments. For now, only Samsung's Nexus S and 4G handsets, as well as a few others, can take advantage of NFC. But as NFC finds its way onto more devices and more companies experiment with its capabilities, it may transform the industry. For example, the Google+ app already includes a "Google Check-ins" feature, the Internet giant's answer to Facebook's "Places." If this feature were NFC-enabled, it would give Google an advantage over Facebook by making it even easier to check in to restaurants, bars and stores. Though Facebook recently hit the 750 million active users mark, it may need to contend with rival Google+'s NFC push in order to remain on top. Google+ may also soon include an equivalent to Facebook Pages, the business side of social networking. If Google were able to integrate mobile payments into such a service, it may attract companies wishing to grab more customers through NFC-enabled billboards, location-aware ads and mobile promotions. With Google's revenue coming mainly from advertising, this would be an especially savvy move, especially since many forward-looking mobile ad promotions are more common. McDonalds, for instance, already has a billboard in Sweden that lets iPhone users play "Pong" for various prizes by wirelessly connecting to the advertisement with their phones. Using NFC could also help Google in the mobile gaming field, if it decides to integrate the technology with social games. Some mobile games are already experimenting with NFC-enabled capabilities. "Angry Birds" recently took this lead by creating a game for Nokia's C7 smartphone, giving players a chance to unlock different levels by tapping their phones together and exchanging information via NFC. More such games might crop up on Google+ if the company can figure out how to harness the power of NFC. Since the mobile gaming field is burgeoning, thanks to cheap, easily downloadable apps and games, Google could glean itself a piece of this year's projected $75 million gaming pie. NFC is already at the core of Google's mobile payments effort. Google's E-Wallet, which the company introduced in May, promises to boost the company in the mobile payment field. Smartphone users in San Francisco, New York and several other select cities can now pay for items by tapping their phones against a specialized reader at certain retailers. As the market widens to accept this new form of payment, Google may reach beyond search and even social networking to claim a significant of the mobile payment market. If it focuses on developing NFC for Google+, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company stands to profit enormously from this venture. Whether by challenging Facebook at the social network game, boosting mobile ad revenue and promotions from businesses, or getting a chunk of the mobile gaming market, NFC might turn out to be Google's ace in the hole. |
|
|
|
|
PayPal estimates it could process as much as $3 billion in mobile device payments this year, as e-wallet options continue to expand in an increasingly competitive field. The San Jose, Calif.-based company, which originally expected to reach $1.5 billion in mobile payments, doubled its estimate as more smartphone users begin to use mobile platforms to purchase goods. PayPal's projected increase is a sign that mobile payments are taking off with consumers, a promising portent for a growing field already jostling with competitors. "Every week when I look at the numbers, I get a sense of surprise," said Laura Chambers, PayPal's head of mobile. PayPal said its $3 billion mobile payment prediction can be broken into two groups. The first is person-to-person payment transfers, which the company doesn't profit from unless the payment crosses national borders. The other is person-to-company money transfers for goods purchased from online retailers, transactions the company does profit from. The Internet payment service, which accounts for eight million mobile users, said it sees up to $10 million transfer a day through its network, up from $6 million in March. PayPal, which is owned by eBay, is the dominant payment service on the Web, but faces stiff competition from several new services in the mobile field. Last month, Google announced its Google Wallet service, which allows people to purchase items by tapping or swiping their Android smartphones in front of a merchant's payment reader. The payment service uses near-field communication, or NFC, technology. MasterCard, Citigroup, First Data and Sprint plans to support Google Wallet. For payment security, the service will use a phone lock, Google PIN and credit card encryption, and never fully display a users' credit card number. The service will debut in New York, San Francisco and Portland this summer. Arguably one of the biggest competitors in the mobile payments field is Isis, a joint venture from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Isis is similar to Google Wallet in that it uses NFC to turn smartphones into e-wallets, allowing users to pay for items both online and off. Users simply swipe their device in front of a NFC machine and the charge appears on their monthly phone bill. Startup company Square is another major player in the mobile payments field. Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, with the backing of Visa, Square uses a small dongle that attaches to an iPhone or iPad, letting merchants swipe credit cards, as well as process credit card transactions, turning phones into credit card readers. Companies are trying to stay a leg up on the competition, and fighting fiercely to rise to the top. PayPal sued Google for allegedly stealing trade secrets a day after the search giant unveiled its Wallet service. The suit claims Google poached two PayPal employees, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, in order to learn rival secrets. PayPal claims Bedier interviewed with Google while negotiating on behalf of PayPal to handle sales end for Google's e-wallet. Tilenius, meanwhile, allegedly broke a non-disclosure agreement with PayPal while recruiting Bedier, according to PayPal's lawsuit. The mobile-payment industry is still in its infancy and will continue to grow as people become more comfortable with purchasing items on their smartphones. Companies like PayPal, Google and the joint venture of Iris are early front runners of this technology, but more companies will join the fray as time goes by. |
|
|
|
|
Isis, a joint venture among Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, named Austin, Texas as the second launch city to get its mobile payment service. The mobile payment platform is set to roll out in early 2012 in Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Once retailers in both cities receive new near-field communication, or NFC, payment processing machines, users with Isis-enabled phones will be able to make credit card purchases simply by waving their phone in front of the machine. "You swipe once to pay, you swipe a second time with your loyalty card and then maybe you swipe a third time for a coupon," said Isis Jaymee Johnson, head of marketing for Isis, to the Los Angeles Times. "So, we're basically putting all of those transactions on the phone, so all you have to do is wave or tap your phone to the reader and then it recognizes you're a loyalty-program member and it recognizes what coupons you've downloaded and want to use." The mobile payment field has seen a lot of heated competition lately. As manufacturers like Sony begin to ramp up production on NFC-enabled phones, software giants, credit card companies, banks and cell carriers are all scrambling to launch services that support them. Google announced its "Google Wallet" feature back in May, a new app that uses NFC technology to let consumers make purchases with a few swipes on their Android phone. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company partnered with MasterCard, Citigroup, First Data and Sprint to offer the app to customers in New York, San Francisco and Portland at retailers like Macy's, American Eagle and Subway. In March, Microsoft announced its plans to enter the mobile payment market as well. The Redmond, Wash.-based company plans to offer its own service for making credit card-free purchases in a software update to its Windows Phone later this year. Major banks are also getting in on the mobile payment action. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase last month announced their partnership called "ClearXchange." The service will allow customers to access their checking accounts and move money between accounts, all from their mobile phones. NFC is likely the door to the future of fast and easy in-store payments. The technology has certainly sparked a healthy competition that spreads across several industries. But with different companies launching in different cities, the mobile payment market has the potential to become fragmented before it truly soars. Insiders in the mobile phone industry have long referred to NFC as a technology with great potential. With Google Wallet set to launch this summer and Isis' plans for Austin and Salt Lake City in 2010, the competition the technology has birthed is growing rapidly. |
|
|
|
|
Zoosh is a new technology that could give mobile payment capabilities to almost any phone, without the need of extra hardware, but its success is dependent on achieving a critical mass of users and supporting retailers. Developed by wireless company Naratte, Zoosh uses a phone's speaker and microphone to enable ultrasonic communications with other devices. The technology could allow fast and convenient contactless payments similar to e-wallet services that use near-field communications, or NFC, technology. "When we look at the current technologies out there, they have fallen short in trying to provide this device-to-device technology," said Brett Paulson, Naratte's chief executive. NFC, which lets devices communicate wirelessly over short distances, is the emerging standard in the turbulent mobile payment space, but only a handful of phones currently support it. Zoosh is positioning itself as an inexpensive stopgap, though if it establishes itself in the market, it could hang on as an option in low-cost handsets even after NFC becomes widespread. Zoosh, like NFC, could also simplify direct phone-to-phone communications like sharing contact data. It could even set up pairings with compatible Bluetooth devices. The company isn't the only e-wallet alternative, though. Mobile payment startup Square has a wireless payment system that works with iPhones using an inexpensive dongle that plugs into the headphone jack. And Starbucks has serviced millions of customers with its Starbucks Card Mobile app, which interacts with point-of-sale terminals via barcodes flashed onto the phone's screen. However, NFC remains the go-to technology. It will be used in Isis, a joint project of AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Visa and MasterCard. Google is also using the technology in its phones as it conducts trials with MasterCard and Citigroup. In addition, Samsung and Visa will test NFC payments at London's Olympic Games next year. Whatever technology emerges as the standard, it will see mobile platform owners, carriers and traditional payment companies trying to monetize both the actual transactions and the valuable marketing data that will be harvested, as people helpfully build their consumer profiles by paying with their handsets. |
|
|
|
|
Sony Ericsson is building near-field communication, or NFC, radio chips into its newest Android smartphones, heightening the mobile payment service battle that has emerged among the software companies, credit card companies, cell carriers and banks. NXP Semiconductors, a company that makes e-wallet technology, is supplying NFC chips for Sony's newest Android-based phones. The move into mobile payment phones may help Sony in its goal to become a top seller of Android devices. "This latest move from Sony Ericsson is another proof point of the strong momentum and potential of NFC," said Rick Clemmer, president and CEO of NXP Semiconductors. The addition of NFC also dovetails with Sony Ericsson's strategy to reassert itself in a competitive smartphone market by developing more innovative features and handsets. Last fall, Sony Ericsson refocused its efforts by leaving the Symbian platform in the dust and committing to the Android OS to compete with HTC, Samsung and LG. The company has used phones like the Xperia Play, which supports the same games as the company's popular PlayStation Portable gaming system, to grab nine percent of the Android handset market. Now, Sony hopes the addition of NFC technology will help increase that number. NFC is a much buzzed-about technology in the mobile phone business because it can pave the way to a wealth of new features in smartphones, and one of the biggest potential benefits of NFC comes from the user's ability to make mobile payments. Since NFC technology allows users to connect their smartphones to a point-of-sale system by holding their device in front of the payment screen, customers can then complete purchases with a swipe of their finger across the phone. However, only the NFC-enabled Nexus phone is offered in the U.S. Sony's announcement to include the technology in a line of its Android-based smartphones may more than double that market instantly. The increase in options will likely put a lot more NFC-enabled devices in consumers' hands. Phones with NFC technology haven't yet seen wide release, but that hasn't stopped Google from rolling out a service that supports them and several other companies from preparing for their arrival. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced its NFC-enabled Google Wallet service last month. The software giant also partnered with MasterCard and Citigroup to make the credit card free payments possible. Customers in New York and San Francisco with NFC-enabled phones can already use the service at major retailers such as Macy's, Subway, and American Eagle. Google may be a very early front runner, but the competition in the mobile payment field is furious. Microsoft is also announcing plans to add payment capabilities to its Windows Phone software as early as the end of the year. The update will also allow users with NFC-enabled phones to take advantage of credit card free payments. But major cell carriers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are not content to let the software giants corner the market. The companies are part of a coalition called Isis, along with nearly 800 other carriers, which is working on a standardized mobile payment system. Major banks are also part of the mobile payment fold. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and J.P. Morgan Chase have partnered to buy their own payment service called ClearXchange. The service will let customers access their checking accounts and move money to other banks using just their cell phones. Sony's partnership with NXP aims to help put more NFC-enabled phones in the hands of consumers, but carriers, software companies and credit card giants are still battling over which NFC service phone owners will use. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tags: