“It’s just the right thing to do. Austin is arguably the cradle of mobile technology and expertise and our association with the Austin Technology Wireless Incubator made it the clear and logical choice to not only house our technology development there, but the company at large.” said Gary Mendel, Chief Marketing Officer at eZee, inc. The move was announced via press release today.

eZee, inc. launches a new Website detailing the exciting Mobile Marketing Platform.

The prevailing sentiment is that anything Google is gold…so, their joining the mobile fray is good for everyone. Personally I’d rather pay for an operating system and applications than be bombed by ads…but apparently I am in the minority. They have been planning this since ‘05 which doesn’t surprise me…I would have thought it would debut sooner considering the much larger mobile market relative to the computer based Internet…check it out.

VIVOtech is a multi-trick pony in the payment systems world.  They don’t just provide card readers (wireless, wired etc) but they are truly a technology company.  This is evidenced by one of their software platforms dubbed “ViVOnfc Suite 2.0“.

Supporting banks, cards, handsets, carriers and mobile application solution providers (eZee, inc.), they’re blazing the way toward NFC ubiquity by making sure the infrastructure is in place when the market inevitably embraces the coolest thing mobile phones will do to date - NFC - (fill in the blank).

How long does this have to go on before people put the peyote down and join the real world?

Where to start…where to start. My list:

1. Sending in one of my 3 iPods yearly for $100 to have the battery ’serviced’. I have lots of handheld electronics with batteries (laptop, cell phone, tv remote, calculator, games, etc). Their manufacturers trust me with the technical proposition that is removing the cover plate and extracting the little wonder(s). Maybe apple’s batteries are special. Maybe their long life is due to some dangerous plutonium like substance that gives them such long life…wait, see the next point.

2. Battery life stinks. See above point. There are two types of battery life in this context - how long it holds a charge and how long it has the ability to hold a charge (its lifetime). My iPods hold a charge for an acceptable amount of time. However their respective lifetimes have been ridiculous - especially when you compare them to laptops, phones, car batteries…
My iPhone…errr…the iPhone iHad before iSent it back had a charge hold time that was so utterly ridiculous i thought i had a defective unit. As for the lifetime, see previous sentence.

3. Locked phones. It’s not locked phones, per se, with which i have a problem. It’s non-subsidized locked phones. That is, a phone that you pay full price for and STILL have to sign a 2 year contract. Hey apple, you are a schoolyard bully. Take your pick…full priced phones OR long term contract. For any other company, that sparks the ire of states’ attorneys as it smacks…err…it IS unfair trade practice. And all you hippies that wanna talk about entrepreneurial spirit and free markets and the like (you’re arguing with the wrong republican), AT&T pays them an additional 10% per contract (kick back from the mighty carrier…now that’s some swing)…by my count that ’s triple dipping. Ask yourself what other vendor you accept that kind of behavior from.

4. I’m getting a little worked up here so I will publish this with one more point then continue to add to the list as the juggernaut of larceny and accepted malpractice charges on.
Feature enhanced…err…hacked iPhones are rendered useless with os upgrade. So let me get this straight…I paid full price for your product but you still own it? Splain Lucy, splain. Imagine if Ford sold you a car and you put new tires on it and then the car no longer went forward. Pass the bong.

Have a look here for a deeper discussion.

-> As the NFC tide swells, journalists galore look to claim the next thing it will ‘replace’…pretty funny on the outside…but delve deeper.  That is, read the lit.  However…a $2 chip that replaces my $400 Varvatos slacks?  No thanks.  I’ll take the chip AND the pants! 

 …NFC to replace food…NFC to replace water…eZee guys.

85% or 253 billion coupons totaling over $300 billion dollars were delivered by FSIs (freestanding inserts) in Sunday newspapers in 2006.

Continue Reading »

-> Chip giant NXP isn’t simply ‘betting’ on a new tech horse. They are methodically designing and developing a business out of discoveries while being careful to understand the R&D, marketing and personnel requirements therein. Sign us up.

The former Philips Semiconductors goes for broke in wireless and multimedia chips that could change the way we live, work — and shop

-> The most interesting thing about the trials that keep popping up is…

Continue Reading »

-> Early mobile SN consists of:
- text messaging
- photo messaging
- ringtone purchasing
- IM
- email
- gaming
- wallpaper/screensaver

Mobile SN still doesn’t look like MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Bebo, YouTube etc…they’re working on their respective mobile versions….but stats don’t lie - its growing. I’ll say it again - social networking IS mobile.

How a Data-Security Debate Is Holding Back NFC Payments

-> UK leads the way with Touch-esque service to help people navigate the Tube

-> It’s not a secret that the biggest thing on the terrestrial network is looming to be the biggest thing on the mobile one. If it’s early in the current SN lifecycle, mobile SN is pre-natal. The reason being SN’ing is, by nature, a ‘mobile’ application. Social networking is on the go. It’s what you do when you are outside among people, friends, situations and life.

The first form of socializing over a network was the telephone…the second is the Internet (MySpace, Facebook et al), the third is the mobile phone…and it will prove to be the biggest yet. There are 2.7 billion mobile phones in people’s hands but only 850 million personal computers.

Continue Reading »

Adaptive Planet, RFCyber and MICHAEL LETTERER-PM&C collaborate

Take a look at Nokia’s view of real world, real life NFC mobile phone applications.

-> Get through this…you’ll be better for it!

Supporting the idea that the youth market is prime for mobile (see Going to Market: The Mobile Youth Market), see the results from a survey at Ball State University as reported at MobiAdNetwork:

Technically oriented college students are increasingly receptive to receiving advertising via text messages on their cell phones and other mobile devices, says a new study from Ball State.

The study found that, during 2005-07:

Continue Reading »

-> Still don’t believe the next platform has been coronated? Still think the next killer app is elusive? The next killer app is the same killer app on the next PLATFORM.

Read this…

eZee Hiring and Moving into the ATI

Partnership hopes to expedite deployment of NF - Gemalto and NXP Join Forces to Boost Mobile NFC Solutions Deployment Around the Globe

-> NXP leading the way…

The digital wallet is here.

-> 48 million reasons why there’s no way Obopay is stopping with the ability to pay kids’ allowances…

UT was named to the list of “The 25 Hottest Schools in America”

-> Hot schools require Hot applications…enter eZeePay, Reach, Coup and Touch…

-> Last week’s announcements by Google followed its very public lobbying of the Congress to ensure that the upcoming auction of public bandwidth be conducted so as not to exclude new entrants to the carrier market. Continue Reading »

…Payment Technology in Vending Machines - MasterCard International has teamed with The Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Company and USA Technologies (OTCBB: USAT) today to announce Continue Reading »

-> Nice summary of deals, transactions, stories and briefs.

FTC Stops Prepaid Stored-Value Card Sellers From Improper Debiting

-> Do people really give their bank account numbers over the Internet?

Survey Shows Strong Growth Potential for Reloadable Prepaid Cards

Capital One Acquires NetSpend for $700 MM

Investments Validate Growing Market For Contactless and NFC Mobile Phone Payments

Myspace and the like are juicy targets for computer hackers…

…has prototype ready?

Continue Reading »

-> wait, we’re laughing now.

Did you know that your wallet has now gone wireless?

Enterprise turns a profit, market share increases and over 100 million units shipped!

-> Interesting, bullish numbers reflective of a growth fueled industry…Read on!

Check out the CTIA site. They’ve posted a short Flash animation that continues their attack on Google.

Continue Reading »

Here, on one page, you’ll find all of the articles on Payments News for Near Field Communication (NFC)

Juniper Research predicts that P2P fund transfers and mobile payments in the developing world, together with the commercialisation in 2009 of NFC (Near Field Communications) based mPayments will generate transactions worth approximately $22bn.

Highlights from the report include:

• The value of mobile transactions will grow to nearly $22bn by 2011.
• SMS based Person2Person (P2P) fund transfers and payments will drive the developing world mPayment market.
• Adequate supply of contactless chip enabled devices, NFC and FeliCa, to enable over 52m mobile phone users to make physical payments 2011.
• Retailers benefit with potentially lower transaction fees and increased basket size
• Forecasts for NFC enabled devices.

Source: Mobile Payments to Generate Almost $22bn of Transactions By 2011 and Be Adopted By 204M Users

ceo

With more than 400 million subscribers in 2006, the mainland is the worlds No. 1 cell-phone market by size

Note at 6:04 when Remy DeFrog rips off Gary’s SAK model…

Eeeeull!!

cool stuff…

Set to rule the mobile payments

to its mobile payment platform

View Here…

Appropriate for office viewing…

Cashless solution including credit cards to be offered by Blackboard via USA Technologies

is installing a new version of card readers really exciting? The answer is YES if
Continue Reading »

Leveraging Social Networking Sites to Generate Business

-> Alternative viewpoints are always interesting…

->  NOTE-story is 2.5 years old Continue Reading »

All the talk about mobile phone payment has created another way to pay with your phone. Continue Reading »

Wow - read ASAP

Contribute to Upwardly Mobile by suggesting pertinent/useful BLOGS here.

Contribute to Upwardly Mobile by suggesting new posting Categories here.

Sites mean business

-> Social networking crosses the divide between young and old (but doesn’t leave young behind).  This is the real gateway for us wrt sn.

Yesterday, Enrique, Gary and Jim attended a Web conference on Contactless Payments. A .pdf of the slides presentation here. All should look this over and listen to it. Good stuff.

Let’s put together the list of all of the players, spokes, members, cogs, partners et al that make up the ‘ecosystem’. There are around 12+ general categories as follows, please add:

1. Handsets (NFC Mobile Phone) – Nokia, Motorola, RIM, Samsung, Kyocera, Helio, Apple, Ericsson,
2. Carrier (networks) – AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Alltel, regionals Continue Reading »

Near Field Communications – the Next Wave in Connectivity and Commerce

Continue Reading »

Assessing the premier technology for enabling contactless mobile transactions and applications10-12 September 2007, Crowne Plaza London, The City, London, UK

…Market with Announcement Of Rollout Plans

-> Related to eZeeTouch: Continue Reading »

Basics of mobile transactions

-> NOTE –story is 5 months old

A technology waiting for the industry to get it together

-> NOTE –story is 11 months old

The short-range technology, once confined to headsets and phones, is looking for wider adoptions by enhancing its technology through partnerships and mergers

…mobile payment pilot project in The Netherlands with seven major players - First contactless credit payment scheme in Europe using an NFC enabled mobile phone

-> clear sign they will be eager to up the handset feature ante (our sw)

- Enables merchant and transit payments via cell phones
-> NOTE –story is 8 months old
-> does anyone have any info on the outcome/success/failure of this trial?

http://www.wirelessweek.com/WeekInReview_July20_2007.aspx

• The Tangled 700 MHz Web
• Sprint, Clearwire Combine Resources
• AT&T Supports Martin Proposal
• Motorola Execs Not Making Predictions Continue Reading »

Proximity Payment Systems
-> NOTE – story is 15 months old
-> good source of educational material

…equip KTF mobile payment projects

Continue Reading »

C. Enrique Ortiz

Set to announce a mobile payment service

PS3’s Home virtual world gets mobile and social networking features

One of the keys to exploiting the social networking phenomenon is Continue Reading »

The carriers are securing relationships with the sn sites and the sn’s want to bring their applications mobile.

…and the ‘Developer’ Application - The Developer application lets you manage the applications you build using Facebook Platform. Continue Reading »

“Harness the power of the social graph. With millions of users and billions of connections, Continue Reading »

…is taking major strides in encouraging application development via the Facebook Platform

…should be able to answer the following…6 good key areas that will arm you for a discussion with anyone…test yourself:

Q. What is the current and future market size for mobile payments?
A. $22,000,000,000 by 2011

Q. What is the strategic approach for operators, vendors, retailers, credit card companies and new entrants?
Continue Reading »

“The technology is available now to enable secure and fast payments to be initiated on the mobile phone. The business model stills needs some work but there are positive signals emanating from the industry that will create considerable revenue for all parts of the ecosystem. I am cautiously optimistic for the future success of mPayments.” - Alan Goode, author Mobile Payments - Strategies & Markets 2007 - 2011

Download the growing list of eZee competitors, add to it and upload it back.

http://dmnnewswire.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=159340

Near field communications (NFC) is starting to mature to the point that carriers are running trials and firming up business models

Contactless Payments Study:
13% of consumers have used contactless payments
90% reported very positive experiences with contactless payments
75% of consumers yet to try contactless payments are somewhat likely or very likely to adopt Continue Reading »

http://www.wirelessweek.com/newsletter.aspx?id=148922

- More Trouble in MVNO Land
- Qualcomm to Seek Veto
- Amp’d Gets Squeezed
- Mobile Marketing Comes of Age Continue Reading »

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