- BootMetro (github) — website templates with a Metro (Windows 8) look. (via Hacker News)
- Kenya’s Treasury to tax M-Pesa — 10% tax on mobile money-transfer systems. M-Pesa is the largest mobile money transfer service provider in Kenya, with more than 14 million subscribers. [...] It is estimated that M-Pesa reports some 2 million transactions per day. [...] the value of money transferred through mobile platforms jumped by 41 per cent in the first six months of 2012. Neer mind fighting you, you know you’re winning when they tax you! (via Evgeny Mozorov)
- Digital Divide and Fibre Rollout — As the group of non-users gets smaller, they are likely to become more seriously disadvantaged. The NBN – and high-speed broadband more generally – will drive a wave of new applications across most areas of life, transforming Australia’s service economy in fundamental ways. Those who are not connected in 2015 may be fewer, but they will be missing out on far more – in education, health, government, commerce, communication and entertainment. The costs will also fall on service providers forced to keep supplying expensive physical and face-to-face services to this declining number of people. This will be particularly significant in remote communities, where health consultations and evacuations by flying doctors, nurses and allied health professionals could potentially be reduced through e-health diagnostics, and where Centrelink still regularly sends teams out to communities. As gov2 expands and services move online, connectivity disadvantages are compounded. (via Ellen Strickland)
- Smart Body Smart World (Forrester) — take note of these two consequences of Internet of Things and Quantified Self: Verticals fuse: “Health and wellness” is not its own silo, but is connected to our finances, our shopping habits, our relationships. As bodies get connected, everyone is in the body business. Retail disperses: All retailers become computing retailers, and computing-specific retailers like Best Buy go the way of Blockbuster. You wouldn’t buy a smart toothbrush at a specialty CE store; you’d be more likely to buy it in the channel that solves the rest of your hygiene needs. (via Internet of Things)
ENTRIES TAGGED "mobile payment"
Commerce Weekly: The lucrative art of tracking shopper behavior
Revealing shopper behavior, retail battles web with experience and service, and Starbucks' struggles with Square.
Snooping on shoppers pays off
Liz Gannes took a look this week at how online retailers’ desires to track consumers’ shopping habits are resulting in emerging startups offering services to track various behaviors on behalf of retailers. In a post at All Things Digital, she highlights newly launched startup Sift Science, which tracks online shopper behaviors…
Commerce Weekly: You can now buy stuff with tweets
AmEx now lets you buy with hashtags, 3D printing threats to retail, and PayPal comes to the gas pump.
American Express turns Twitter into an ecommerce platform
American Express announced an enhancement this week to its Sync with Twitter feature — users can now buy things with a tweet. Tricia Duryee reports at All Things Digital that all users will need to register to participate, even previous users of the sync feature, in order to provide…
Four short links: 26 October 2012
Windows 8 Web Theme, Taxing Mobile Payments, Digital Divide and Digital Service Delivery, and Consequences of Internet of Things
Commerce Weekly: Targeting Amazon
Strategic brick-and-mortar retail campaigns to battle Amazon, Square ends NYC taxi pilot, and Isis prepares for launch.
Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the commerce space this week.
Strategic maneuvers aimed at Amazon
Retail competition against Amazon is starting to heat up coming into the holiday shopping season. On the heels of Wal-Mart’s recent moves to square off against…
Commerce Weekly: Big data in retail
Big data and mobile are changing retail. NFC? Not so much.
Here are a few stories from the commerce space that caught my attention this week:
Mom and pops sidelined by big data?
Gary Hawkins at the Harvard Business Review took a look this week at marketing and research in the commerce space and argued that the costs associated with big data advantages may be wiping out the little guy….
Commerce Weekly: Starbucks gives Square’s mobile payment a big push
Square and Starbucks unite, same-day delivery from eBay and checking in on the mobile wallet wars.
Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the commerce space this week.
Square gets Starbucks, cash and Howard Schultz
Square announced a new partnership with Starbucks this week. Peter Ha at TechCrunch reports:
“Beginning this fall, Square will begin processing all U.S. credit and debit…
Commerce Weekly: Square disrupts, PayPal shrugs
Square's frictionless payment doesn't worry PayPal, NFC gets hacked, and mobile payments head to the Olympics.
A look at Square’s new payment app and why PayPal isn’t concerned, an NFC security hack is demoed at Black Hat, and Visa takes mobile payments to the 2012 Summer Olympics. (Commerce Weekly is produced as part of a partnership between O’Reilly and PayPal.)
Commerce Weekly: NFC delays give Bluetooth an opening
Why Apple and others could choose Bluetooth over NFC, NFC is too slow for the Tube, and PayPal expands its point of sale.
An analyst says Bluetooth may be a better option than NFC for Apple, NFC isn't quite working for the London Tube, and PayPal gets more partners and a new payment app. (Commerce Weekly is produced as part of a partnership between O'Reilly and PayPal.)
Top stories: January 30-February 3, 2012
Hadoop deconstructed, the value of unstructured data, and a Moneyball approach to software teams.
This week on O'Reilly: Edd Dumbill examined the components and functions of the Hadoop ecosystem, Pete Warden gave a big thumbs-up to unstructured data, and Jonathan Alexander looked at how a Moneyball approach could help software teams.
Commerce Weekly: The return of iPhone NFC rumors
Can Apple mainstream NFC? Also, PayPal studies the POS and Square gets into politics.
When will Apple bring mobile commerce to the iOS masses? Also, PayPal studies consumer behavior at the cash register and Square collects for candidates. (Commerce Weekly is produced as part of a partnership between O'Reilly and PayPal.)
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