tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4229671720416776522024-03-13T05:41:51.686-07:00Social and Mobile Commerce Blog, brought to you by TEIAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06752421126154846907noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-19818931269171472015-09-01T10:00:00.000-07:002017-12-08T08:43:12.211-08:00Mobile Apps Increase Brand Loyalty Among ConsumersNew research by Plastic Mobile, in partnership with Luxury Institute, has shown that mobile apps can make consumers more loyal to a brand – specifically, 71% of people who have downloaded a sponsored app for their tablet or smartphone said that the app made them feel “better connected” to that app’s brand sponsor.<br />
<br />
In addition, the study also showed that 64% of the app-using population took a more favorable view of brands that have mobile apps, regardless of whether or not that brand sold its merchandise through e-commerce sites, mobile commerce sites, or exclusively offline, in brick-and-mortar stores. <br />
<br />
The majority of the app users indicated that their purpose for using the apps they downloaded was to find information – features and specifications, prices, and specials deals – on the products and services available for that specific brand. Nearly half of the users indicated that they expected their downloaded app to give product previews and present loyalty programs.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the studies also found that the app users considered their apps to be more of an enhancement, not a replacement, for the live retail experience. In fact, 45% of the respondents said they liked having salespeople assist them with their purchase. <br />
<br />
In other words, the main purpose of these apps, apparently (as far as the buyers were concerned), was not to push or close online sales but to highlight the personal service that a brand is willing to provide to its customers, whether in an online boutique or a physical store. This display of commitment towards quality customer service naturally results in buyers more willing to stand by their chosen brand.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.143019537.3410269 -122.30094799999999 37.5427399 -121.985091tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-16705021084927489472015-08-25T21:39:00.000-07:002017-12-08T08:43:31.325-08:00Emergence of Vertical Social NetworksWhen it comes to sheer social networking size, the three giant social platforms - Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn clearly dominate the social networking doman - they are the undisputed leaders when it comes to networking with friends, current or former colleagues and business associates.<br />
<br />
But do people really get truly engaged on these platforms? Does they participate in passionate discussions? (Well, do you?) Do these social networks make any positive impact on Joe’s adult life and to career? Or are they simply a means of passing time, a side entertainment?<br />
<br />
If the latter were true and remained true, it would be a shameful waste of a tool with great potential. Think about it: how many doctors, lawyers, and other professionals are already on LinkedIn? How many sports buffs, homeschoolers, alternative music enthusiasts, avant garde artists, and other niche markets are on Facebook? These people are in social networking sites for a reason: they want to network with people like themselves and potential clients and buyers.<br />
<br />
To cater to the specific needs of these groups, niche social networks keep cropping up. But the weakness of these small social networks is that they have trouble holding on to their members. Unsurprisingly, people who join social networks quite naturally drift to places where there are more people – that is, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. <br />
<br />
The irony of it all is that when people move into these three giants, they often end up getting less engagement and less significant contacts from the specific group they wished to connect with in the first place. There are just too many other distractions in horizontal sites such as the big three.<br />
<br />
There is a simple solution to this dilemma, the niche social networks now integrate with the giants - LinkedIN, Facebook and Twitter, whereby their connections/ or friends from the horizontal social networking platforms are imported and their posts on these niche networks are cross-posted (usually controlled by an easy to reset permission) to facebook, linkedin and/or twitter. This way, people can network within their niche and yet maintain access to the rest of the world who are on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. In other words, the horizontal social networks are slowly but surely going vertical.<br />
<br />
For instance, Ticlr.com uses your Facebook contacts to make it easy for you to send gifts to your friends and family. Gifts can range from personal services such as “Wash your car” to actual items such as flowers or sports equipment. And of course, there is the option to share your gift on Facebook and Twitter.<br />
<br />
Another example: Tradesparq.com uses a person’s Linked contacts to add credibility to a supplier or buyer by putting the two business parties in contact with mutual acquaintances. It is an excellent social commerce model, and a good example of how a small social network links with a big one.<br />
<br />
Through these collaborations and linkages, the lines between separate websites are slowly dimming. The Web is truly becoming interconnected. For social networks and social commerce, it seems that happier days are yet to come.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.143019537.3410269 -122.30094799999999 37.5427399 -121.985091tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-25800773990379793942015-06-24T23:18:00.000-07:002017-12-08T08:46:16.936-08:00Mobile Payments to Reach Almost $1 Trillion Value Worldwide mobile payment transactions are projected to increase in value over the next three years at a rate of 97% a year and in a few years, should reach a value of nearly a trillion US dollars – $945 billion, to be exact.<br />
<br />
According to a KPMG report released early April this year, this growth is to be fuelled by sales in near-field technology devices, that is, smartphones and tablets that, upon close contact with a store’s scanners, can be used to make immediate electronic payments. Another factor will be the market’s growing attraction for the “always on, always fast, and always accessible” shopping experience of couch commerce.<br />
<br />
More and more, we are seeing mobile commerce’s growing acceptance as an alternative to cash or credit card transactions. Two reasons for these could be (1) the expansion of the smartphone market and (2) the retailers’ recognition of their need to adapt to changing times. <br />
<br />
In 2011, smartphone shipments accounted for nearly a third of all mobile phone sales. That’s a significant growth from the mere 15% that they accounted for in 2009. KPMG’s report also reveals that by now, 21% of retailers already recognize mobile payment capability as a “key enabler” in their business. Only 2% of the surveyed organizations believed that mobile commerce will have no effect on their organization.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , "clean" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">This infographic from IMRG and eDigital Research below contains some great stats on m-commerce growth from 2009 to 2012. Even though the details are specific to UK market, the trends can be extended to entire western hemisphere at the minimum. </span><br />
<br />
<img alt="mobile commerce infographic" src="http://assets.econsultancy.com/images/resized/0001/7586/v2.02-blog-full.png" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.143019537.3410269 -122.30094799999999 37.5427399 -121.985091tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-2517082577382326802015-06-14T12:04:00.000-07:002017-12-08T08:46:42.845-08:00YouTube Users Now at 1B Per MonthAdvertisers, take heed: YouTube is now being visited by over 1 billion unique users every month.<br />
<br />
That’s ten times more viewers than a fully packed Super Bowl Game. It's nearly 50% of the total number of persons who go on the World Wide Web. In fact, if YouTube did not exist, Madonna and Psy would have to do their Madison Square Garden concert 200,000 times so that their entire (YouTube) audience could watch them.<br />
<br />
That’s a lot of viewers.<br />
<br />
Thanks to YouTube, we’ve seen concerts, discovered new talent, learned new skills, and built business, not just from our computers but even through our smartphones. We’ve uploaded videos, shared our favorites with our social networks, created channels, subscribed, and tuned in.<br />
<br />
In this day and age when networking and communication means so much, YouTube has been there to give us an efficient, enjoyable, and effective way to network and communicate. Through YouTube, we have been more able to reach out to the world, and the world has been more able to reach back to us.<br />
<br />
No wonder over a billion people are coming to YouTube per month these days – and I expect it will remain so in the days to come.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.1430194999999837.239989900000005 -122.46574299999997 37.6437769 -121.82029599999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-12010250306929147752015-06-12T22:14:00.000-07:002017-12-08T08:43:58.398-08:00Thought Leaders from multiple domains to gather at the the 2nd IITBayCon<br />
<br />
June 12, 2017, Sunnyvale, CA.<br />
<br />
The 121,000+ member strong IIT Bay Area Alumni Association is hosting the <a href="http://iit-bayarea.org/" target="_blank">2nd IIT Bay Area Leadership Conference </a>(IIT BALC) 2017, on June 17 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, USA. The leadership conference is primarily designed for IITians and their family and guests.<br />
<br />
Besides over 40 plus illustrious IITians speaking at the conference, we are excited to have Deepak Chopra, an inspirational thought leader, Arjun Malhotra, Ca co-founder of HCL Group, and advisor to many startups, Rajat Gupta, former Managing Director of McKinsey, and pioneer of IIT Brand beyond India, and Ravi Mahatre, Founder, Managing Director, Lightspeed Venture Partners for keynotes.<br />
<br />
According to the conference Chair Aman Walia, “We are finally on a road to create epicenter for IITians to network and discuss their ‘BIG’ ideas. This year attendance is expected to double, and number of startups by 500%. VC’s interest is growing in being at the IIT Bay Area Conference.”<br />
<br />
The sponsorship has more than doubled over the last edition of the IIT Bay Area Conference. Rubrik leads as the Platinum Sponsor, joined by Gold Sponsors Light Speed Venture Partners and Google, and Silver Sponsors VMWare, Cohesity, Nvidia and Upaya.<br />
<br />
Topics for the <a href="http://iit-bayarea.org/" target="_blank">Leadership Conference 2017</a> include Autonomous Vehicles, Clean Energy, FinTech, and Off Beaten Track, and Founder’s Journey. About 20 startups will also be pitching their value propositions.<br />
<br />
After a day-long intense tech talks, the 2nd IIT Bay Area Leadership Conference will present high energy entertainment to attendees for unwinding with Silicon Valley wines. As Bimal Sangari, Outreach Chair, says, “Attendees will enjoy the total experience of meeting other IITians. They will work and play, both.”<br />
<br />
To learn more about speakers at the 2nd IIT Bay Area Leadership Conference 2017, please <a href="http://iit-bayarea.org/">http://iit-bayarea.org</a>/.<br />
<br />
About IIT Bay Area Alumni Association – IIT Alumni of Bay Area is a 501(c)(7) non-profit organization of alumni from the Indian Institute of Technology in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have more than 120,000 alumni members in the San Francisco Bay Area.<br />
<br />
Contact: For media inquiries, Praveen Gupta, Ttel: (408)-429, 9782, and all others Bimal Sangari.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06752421126154846907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-27035218744489138072015-03-26T23:28:00.000-07:002018-01-09T19:44:49.818-08:00Amazon Launches Amazon Coins for In-App Commerce – Will This and Other Virtual Currencies Be Regulated by the Government?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCCnhDcTlrtZPKgmSVuD0-1sFFbrQz1lKY6WpK-kfrmhMNLlhsN1KhLRWtc-TXw7kQRVcdHjps_tgn7UzvNvSqnroDUhQTftasbiSOlABnDGN3H7l51Qp5JufDqGMVIyuHxEYVL6Z5ZM/s1600/Amazon+Coin-App-Pile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxCCnhDcTlrtZPKgmSVuD0-1sFFbrQz1lKY6WpK-kfrmhMNLlhsN1KhLRWtc-TXw7kQRVcdHjps_tgn7UzvNvSqnroDUhQTftasbiSOlABnDGN3H7l51Qp5JufDqGMVIyuHxEYVL6Z5ZM/s640/Amazon+Coin-App-Pile.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Late last week, Amazon launched its virtual cash, dubbed Amazon Coins, by posting an open "Dear Customer" letter on its website to inform US Kindle Fire owners that they have received a gift of 500 Amazon Coins in their accounts.<br />
<br />
Amazon Coins are a form of virtual currency that recipients can use to buy Amazon apps, games, and in-app items such as game upgrades or avatar personalization features. <br />
<br />
For instance, if you want to unlock a level in your game but you are unable to overcome the previous level, then you may be able to buy your way into the game level instead, using Amazon Coins. Or maybe you want to dress up your avatar with a special star-spangled cape or an Iron Man suit. You will probably need to purchase those with virtual coins.<br />
<br />
Each Amazon Coin is worth 1 US cent, so Amazon’s gift of 500 Amazon Coins is worth 5 real-world US dollars.<br />
<br />
But why is Amazon giving money away, even if it is just virtual money? Like all other free trials, Amazon is trying to orient and entice users into using its virtual currency, hoping some of them will pick up the habit and buy more. In turn, this purchase and trade of Amazon Coins should invigorate the apps sales and "social commerce" within the apps.(We view this as "Social Commerce" because after all, buying stuff from other people or gifting cash - real or virtual - is a "social" activity).<br />
<br />
But will it end with <i>just</i> buying games, apps, and in-app features within Kindle Fire? <br />
<br />
If you think about it, it doesn't have to, right? After all, since virtual money is bought with real money, why should Amazon Coins not be granted to Amazon customers as rewards, and be usable like frequent flier miles and other loyalty points, to buy real-life goods such as clothing, toys, and appliances? Amazon itself recently started allowing people to use their credit card reward points to buy products at Amazon, and we believe Amazon Coins may one day "grow up" to be equivalent to these schemes. <br />
<br />
It’s not hard to envision virtual currencies being used as real-life funds.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, we note that Facebook had also come up a similar virtual currency scheme called Facebook Credit, which was available in 14 countries, but it decided to retire this feature and migrate its apps and games to local currencies without giving any reason. Here is the announcement on its developer site:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We are moving from Facebook Credits to local currency pricing, and plan to migrate all game developers on Facebook.com in the third quarter this year. We want to provide ample time for you to review the new documentations. After launch, developers will have a minimum of 90 days to implement the updated payments infrastructure to continue accepting payments. For now, we continue to support Facebook Credits. In the coming weeks, we will provide further updates on when developers can begin integration. Learn more in our local currency FAQs and overview.</blockquote>
<strong style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></strong>
So that's a setback to people looking for these platforms to create a world without borders. After all, monetary exchange is a big part of social networking.<br />
<br />
Was Facebook's move related to the March 2013 announcement by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of new guidance relating to the regulation of virtual currencies? These regulations were widely seen as a first step by a government body towards regulating virtual currency, as opposed to electronic money representing government-issued fiat money. Are we going to see demands from national taxation authorities such as the IRS, requiring residents to report holdings of such currencies on their tax returns, in the same way that they now require reporting foreign currency holdings?<br />
<br />
Only time will tell. Unlike Facebook, Amazon is boldly charging forward with its virtual currency, Amazon Coins, without being deterred by such potential regulations. Amazon is already involved in handling tons of payments and regulations ranging from sales tax, VAT, and import duties, so they probably already have a massive regulatory compliance department.<br />
<br />
Certainly, Amazon Coins can take social commerce to a whole new level – but how high a level can social commerce really go with virtual currency? For now, at least, it’s anybody’s guess.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.1430194999999837.239989900000005 -122.46574299999997 37.6437769 -121.82029599999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-52847047576571181712015-03-13T22:00:00.000-07:002017-12-10T20:20:17.070-08:00Apple Watch leads the army of Wearable devices destined to take over the world<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Science Fiction, the world is frequently portrayed as having been taken over by computers. Interestingly, the computers that take over the world in movies or fiction appear either in humanoid form, either as physical humanoids such as in "The Terminator" or "I, Robot", or as human-like illusions such as "Agent Smith" in the Matrix trilogy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fast forward to 2015. Computers do indeed seem destined to take over the world, but these "computers" neither look like the large racks of circuits sitting in a data center, nor the humanoids portrayed in popular fiction. Computers are already a familiar part in many items we use, including appliances, automobiles, home security systems, thermostats, and smart TVs. But most people won't even associate the word ‘computers’ with the tiny, wearable devices that will soon be a part of many items we wear, such as watches, bracelets, glasses, shoes, belts and jewelry</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEwYSOGNmFvXl-eea4iPFrOuXuC_Z2e02nbnwfA7kscFtUGrfq9tNBl8ecfjrGl7H5KDlVFfp70a_Jsabw4oVo5uNHghbOiaTi3ctC_T9agtyyuAzQAc9ADntmgAsV6Lu4HdaJHpZqQ/s1600/apple_watch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEwYSOGNmFvXl-eea4iPFrOuXuC_Z2e02nbnwfA7kscFtUGrfq9tNBl8ecfjrGl7H5KDlVFfp70a_Jsabw4oVo5uNHghbOiaTi3ctC_T9agtyyuAzQAc9ADntmgAsV6Lu4HdaJHpZqQ/s1600/apple_watch.jpg" width="320" /> </a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Yes, I am referring to the Apple
Watch announcement at today’s Apple's Spring Forward event. Among a few other
things, Apple announced more details about the Apple Watch including the
release and pre-ordering dates. The Apple Watch (or rather Watches, as we
describe further below) will be available on April 24th, and pre-orders will
start on April 10 (I feel honored that
Apple picked my birthday as the pre-ordering day.)</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">As announced last year, the Apple
Watch is really three different family of watches addressing three different
markets - Apple Watch Sport, The Apple Watch, and Apple Watch Edition. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
Apple Watch Sport is the least expensive among the three with prices ranging
from $349 to $399 based on the size 38 mm and 42 mm.This version is encased in anodized
aluminum. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
The second family of watches - <i>The</i> Apple Watch - is stainless
steel, with prices starting at $549 for the 38mm, $599 for the 42mm, but going
as high as $1,099 depending on the band chosen. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
Finally, the Apple Watch Edition, the 18-karat gold version, starts at a
whopping $10,000 and can go as high as $17,000, targeting the luxury market.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
Apple has successfully blended technology with fashion and design elegance over
past few decades. I believe that the Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch will be
very successful, especially among those of us who are used to the touch screens
on our smartphones. All three versions
of the Apple Watch come with a lot of Apps. The WatchKit tool kit/ APIs were
released to developers last November, and Apple demonstrated that will make things we do on our smartphone today even
easier. Instead of having to dig your
phone out of a phone or purse, , just twist the wrist.— The apps that were
demonstrated include Uber for summoning a car, using Passbook to check- in for
a flight, opening garage doors, health and fitness apps, social networking
apps, calendar and email alerts. In fact, Apple Watch would result in a
comeback of the watch for many of us. Like many people, I had given up on
wearing a watch because I didn't need it - I could just look at the time on my
smartphone so no need to carry around a device just for that. But now that the
watch can do lot more, and has the similar touch screen-like user interface, I
am already considering buying one. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/YYrnY2ZWsKI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YYrnY2ZWsKI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />The one exception that I am not sure about is the $10,000+ Apple Watch Edition. Today's luxury watch market is driven by the perceived value — where the material cost and even design elegance are less important than the exclusivity associated with the brand and the human craftsmanship that went into its construction. People pay tens of thousands of dollars for Rolex, Omega, etc. whose time keeping accuracy does not exceed the accuracy of a $5 quartz watch. This is primarily because those companies have created a brand image over centuries that has become synonymous with luxury and prestige, but also because they require lot more human effort in construction. While I will personally never understand why someone would pay thousands of dollar for a watch that has same (or less) functionality and fashion appeal than a well-constructed $100 quartz watch; an estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 people do buy a new Rolex every year. (For the record, I do own a luxury car and have traveled first class on few occasions at my dime, but I still never saw any value into forking out more than $100 for a watch, especially if the prestige watch is no more reliable than a nice quartz watch that I can get for $100, besides, I no longer wear any of them anyway) </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /> While Apple is a reputed brand, I am not sure it will able to leap into the luxury brand club and be considered at par with an Omega, a Rolls Royce or a Louis Vuitton anytime soon. Apple's massive success makes that di</span>f<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">ficult since luxury is usually associated with scarcity, and with hundreds of millions of people carrying an iPhone or an iPod around the globe, Apple is not a scarce brand.That said, I am sure there are enough affluent people who love Apple's products that some of them will fork out $17,000 for an Apple Watch Edition just because it costs $17,000. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />But independent of how many people buy the high end Apple Watch edition, after seeing what it can do, I believe that the company will be able to hit the Analysts estimates of 20 to 40 million Apple watches sold in first 12 months after launch. However, this should not be construed as advice to buy or sell company's stock - please consult your investment adviser. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com1San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.4194155000000137.373502 -123.06486250000002 38.176356999999996 -121.77396850000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-1642310669669488232015-03-07T13:18:00.001-08:002015-03-09T10:34:34.268-07:00With ready access to 30 million merchants, Will Samsung Pay surpass Apple Pay in Global adoption?<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8veNtU2597zsgkkugBZs4zG2dFmIlGwibSppW7G8BnTvUuGAhm_ulmpviw0JZtMOj2EwHymP-SZt1Rn0-NUMnrangfXE6sNQ3Hr2ha4psxkniDjw2kpivoKHTu7obTCbeB2NTVgX4NA/s1600/samsung.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8veNtU2597zsgkkugBZs4zG2dFmIlGwibSppW7G8BnTvUuGAhm_ulmpviw0JZtMOj2EwHymP-SZt1Rn0-NUMnrangfXE6sNQ3Hr2ha4psxkniDjw2kpivoKHTu7obTCbeB2NTVgX4NA/s1600/samsung.jpg" height="164" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Samsung unveiled their new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge this
week on March 1, and the most exciting news concerning these new devices is the
fact that they will be the first to feature Samsung’s new mobile tap-to-pay
feature, appropriately called Samsung Pay, which is positioned to surpass Apple
Pay in terms of transactions conducted across the globe.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Much like its competitor Google (which launched the Google Wallet in
September 2011) and Apple (which launched Apple Pay in October 2014), Samsung is targeting to be a major player in the "in store" mobile
payments with Samsung Pay. Mobile payments aren’t a new concept, but the support from handsets in terms embedded requisite technologies such as NFC has only been realized in past 12 months. With a major company like Apple pushing in-store Mobile Payments, it appears that the time has finally come for these technologies to move to the forefront. In fact, Samsung could very well gain from the momentum that Apple and others have created to move Mobile Payments move from R&D settings to real world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Samsung’s acquisition of LoopPay in February was a significant strategic move for the company that could help launch them to the forefront of Mobile Payments. Like Apple Pay and Google Wallet, Samsung Pay can utilize NFC technology that works with compatible cash
registers, However, in addition, Samsung Pay also has LoopPay
technology with the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) feature. This feature will allow Samsung
users to hold their phone up to a traditional card swipe reader to pay for
their transaction. Because MST does not require the retailers or merchants to upgrade they Point-of-Sale terminals, it results in nearly universal access to credit card readers for MST equipped Samsung phones, unlike the other
mobile pay technologies which rely on NFC technology only.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Samsung estimates that their system has a potential to be
accepted by 30 million global merchants, or what totals to 90% of all retail
locations, in comparison to the mere 200,000 acceptance points for Apple Pay
and 300,000 MasterCard PayPass locations for Google Wallet. This will give
Samsung a major advantage over Apple Pay when they launch the system in June,
and will further push back Google Wallet and PayPal in the mobile pay market. Samsung
has gained commitments from Visa and Mastercard, American Express, Bank of
America, and JP Morgan Chase, which add to the insurance of their staying
power. In addition, the company is focused on security, and makes it clear that
Samsung will not keep any personal account numbers on the device itself. They
will adopt fingerprint technology, similar to the Apple Pay system, which
requires the device owner to hold down their finger at the time of payment tap.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While more and more retailers roll out NFC chip readers, the
playing field could still be evened out, but for the time being Samsung is
positioned to be well ahead of the game. Samsung Pay may very well be a
defining feature that draws more mobile customers over to Samsung when it rolls
out this summer in the US and Korea.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
While there is much talk about how Samsung Pay will topple
Apple Pay, but it will also push back PayPal Mobile and Google Wallet. PayPal’s
system only works with merchants who have a PayPal reader<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-8051621209825353372015-02-03T20:21:00.000-08:002018-01-09T19:42:44.515-08:00Why Small Business should NOT advertise on Twitter<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2445" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2444"> After spending several thousand dollars in advertising on twitter, I have decided to "suspend" my campaigns and focus entirely on advertising on linkedin and facebook. This is in protest to Twitter's suspension of my "fan" account U_of_California. I was told by your support that that account violated twitter's impersonation polices. However, as specified in the impersonation policies, I clearly state that </span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2447" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441"><br class="yiv1529382441" clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2448" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
(i) The said twitter account does not officially represent University of California, but is a fan account operated by an alumnus. </div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2449" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
(ii) The link that sent to me by Twitter suport (https://support.twitter.com/entries/18366-impersonation-policy) clearly states that "<span class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2450" style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Twitter users are allowed to create parody, commentary, or fan accounts" </span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2451" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441" style="line-height: 21px;"><br class="yiv1529382441" clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2452" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2453" style="line-height: 21px;">it's very obvious that your support is overwhelmed and/or undertrained and you guys just go yanking accounts whenever anybody complains, independent of whether the complaint is right or wrong. That's really scares me since it means that if I spend thousands of dollars of advertising to build a follower base for yash_Talreja account and someone files a complain, you guys will shut down that account as well. Not very trust building. </span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2454" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441" style="line-height: 21px;"><br clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2456" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2455" style="line-height: 21px;">I have attached the email thread and I am very surprised that the Twitter "Trust and Safety" person who sent me the link does not seem to have actually read it or understood Twitter's policies. </span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2457" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441" style="line-height: 21px;"><br class="yiv1529382441" clear="none" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2458" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<span class="yiv1529382441" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409016453599_2459" style="line-height: 21px;">And finally, I will like to pass on "Thanks" from Facebook and linkedin advertising who appreciate Twitter's valiant efforts convincing me to stop spending advertising money on Twitter. </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br />
Google did it first! Now Twitter is also releasing a feature that allows companies to more precisely target the recipients of their advertisements by using a technology that analyzes a person’s communications.<br />
<br />
The result, when this feature was tested, was an 11% clickthrough rate – a remarkable figure in the digital advertising world, and almost guaranteed to boost the amount of social and mobile commerce generated through the platform.<br />
<br />
How does it work?<br />
<br />
In the past, Twitter only got clues on a user’s interest by analyzing the accounts that the user followed. But this method wasted an important social commerce data resource that indicated a person’s specific interest in real time – the person’s actual tweets.<br />
<br />
With the new social commerce tool, Twitter allows marketers to set keywords that would trigger their ad when the said keywords appear in a user’s tweets.<br />
<br />
For instance, if the company is promoting an American Idol finalists’ concert in New York, they could make it so that their ads will appear on a user’s timeline when the user sends out a tweet containing the keywords “American Idol” or “New York.”<br />
<br />
Companies can also make it so that their ads are triggered by Twitter searches and would appear in a user’s search results instead of the user’s timeline.<br />
<br />
“Tweets are signals of what's top of mind for people in real time, including their intentions, needs and wants,” Twitter explained in the newsletter it sends to its subscribers. “You can reach users at the right time and in the right context based on keywords in their Tweets and the Tweets they've recently engaged with,” the newsletter says.<br />
<br />
The advanced Twitter Ads tool is an echo of Google’s contextual ad technology, which shows ads to their Gmail users based on the terms in their email messages, while people reading articles on a blog or Google news receive ads based on the keywords included in the text of the news or blog.<br />
<br />
This effort to advance its revenue-generating capability is part of Twitter’s preparation for a forthcoming IPO.Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-40187261482707772102015-01-20T21:36:00.000-08:002018-01-09T19:43:15.904-08:00Twitter's Keyword Targeting<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Twitter advertising has added a unique feature - it allows advertisers target the recipients of their advertisements by using a technology that analyzes that person’s communications.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
Necessity is the mother of invention - this particular way of advertising was necessitated by the fact that unlike Facebook or Linkedin, Twitter users don't build an extensive profile. In fact, Twitter limits user profiles to 160 characters including spaces, and a link. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
In the past, Twitter allowed advertisers to target users based on their interest which were determined by analyzing the accounts that the user followed. But this method didn't utilize an important social commerce data resource - people's tweets. The tweets indicate a person’s actual interests in a very specific manner - not what they think they are interested in (i.e. follow) but what they really are talking about. The other good thing about this is that this keyword analysis can be done in real time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
With the new social commerce tool, Twitter allows marketers to set keywords that would trigger their ad when the said keywords appear in a user’s tweets. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
For instance, if the company is promoting an American Idol finalists’ concert in New York, they could make it so that their ads will appear on a user’s timeline when the user sends out a tweet containing the keywords “American Idol” or “New York.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
Companies can also make it so that their ads are triggered by Twitter searches and would appear in a user’s search results instead of the user’s timeline.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
“Tweets are signals of what's top of mind for people in real time, including their intentions, needs and wants,” Twitter explained in the newsletter it sends to its subscribers. “You can reach users at the right time and in the right context based on keywords in their Tweets and the Tweets they've recently engaged with,” the newsletter says.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />While this Twitter Ads tool is advertised by fans of twitter as truly revolutionary, it is not very different than an echo of Google’s contextual ad technology, which shows ads to their Gmail users based on the terms in their email messages. Same contextual advertising is also used by Google adsense advertising units while people reading articles on a blog or Google news receive ads based on the keywords included in the text of the news or blog. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
<br />
Authored by Yash Talreja, Edited by Blessie Adlaon</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.1430194999999837.239992900000004 -122.46574299999997 37.6437739 -121.82029599999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-11014496248281506092014-12-16T23:52:00.000-08:002018-01-09T19:44:00.813-08:00Amazon to Acquire Web-based Math Learning Company TenMarks<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amazon
Inc. recently announced that it will be buying </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplXbw9XH-Xp9XOrGaPS37nA0sGLUgWXjMaJZtmt7-jWBTN6r9omwmsJzoIt0vhFv1U9FsrQ9kVWCliV3nDB3CGi3uQMMnkZdcv5aQtsE8UCh5Lb-yvAVj1DfaGDM6jvkX5QUOrkv9hQ/s1600/Female-Student-With-Other-Students-3917774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplXbw9XH-Xp9XOrGaPS37nA0sGLUgWXjMaJZtmt7-jWBTN6r9omwmsJzoIt0vhFv1U9FsrQ9kVWCliV3nDB3CGi3uQMMnkZdcv5aQtsE8UCh5Lb-yvAVj1DfaGDM6jvkX5QUOrkv9hQ/s320/Female-Student-With-Other-Students-3917774.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TenMarks in an agreement that will likely be wrapped </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">up in the fourth quarter of 2013. TenMarks provides
innovative math learning curriculum to students all over the United States.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vice
President of Amazon Kindle Dave Limp said that both Amazon and TenMarks hold
student learning in high regard. The two companies will together create
high-value educational content and applications in several platforms including
online, smartphones and Kindle gadgets that students, teachers and parents will
have fun with.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TenMarks
co-founder Rohit Agarwal added that both Amazon and TenMarks aim to create
practical solutions for schools and families. TenMarks allows students,
teachers and parents to use several resources, including programs for
professional development and communication tools with the students’ parents.
Agarwal also said that he believes Amazon and TenMarks will create “significant
innovations in the K-12 arena.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TenMarks
says that their company provides personalized math instruction and practice to K-12
students in a clear and manageable format. The program also comes with clues
and videos, along with real-time scores. TenMarks has geared their product
design to help students be motivated, nurtured and engaged individuals in their
learning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Accroding
to Aarti Chandna, CEO of <a href="http://www%2Cfoundze.com/">Foundze, Inc.</a>, a leading website for educational apps,
“Educational apps are becoming more main stream in K-12 education.” Chandna
added that the effectiveness of an educational app depends not only on how easy
it is to use but also in how well it holds a student’s attention and engages
them throughout the learning program. For the teacher, on the other hand, the
educational app should make assignments simplified and personalized, based on
the abilities of the students, and automate grading. Chandna also said that Amazon’s
acquisition of TenMarks is a sign that the traditional method of teaching is
being replaced as bigger companies are revealing their interest in the
development of educational apps.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
terms of the Amazon’s acquisition deal with TenMarks were not revealed, with
the deal still subject to several closing conditions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.4194155000000137.373502 -123.06486250000002 38.176356999999996 -121.77396850000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-38560222686878497832014-11-21T23:46:00.000-08:002017-10-13T07:05:58.522-07:00Report on AnDevCon, 2014, San Francisco This year again, I was able to attend AnDevCon the premier technical conference for Android developers held on November 18-21 in San Francisco.<br />
<br />
The conference was attended by more than 1,000 software developers - many entrepreneurs who had build their own apps. The attendees were able to choose from 70+ classes which ranged from Introductory to Advanced levels. As common with many such conferences, there was a day of pre-conference tutorial, Exhibits with free admission, Lightening talks, fireside chat and a conference party.<br />
<br />
Even though AnDevCon is advertised to be an (Android) developer conference, there is actually a lot of useful information even if you are not a hardcore software programmer who develops code in Android for a living, but someone involved in the Mobile App industry. The 4 conference was held from November 12th to November 15th in Burlingame near San Francisco Airport. In addition to numerous classes covering both broad topics such as Android Concurrency, Security, Cross platform development and Details of Specific sets of Android APIs such as those involving Image, Sound and Video handling, to very narrow and focused areas such as 3D modeling and Payment APIs for Paypal support; there were also several interesting keynotes by speakers from Google, Twitter, Qualcomm and Blackberry. There was also an "Android Business" track and a plethora of major companies exhibiting at the event, including Google (no surprise), Amazon, Sony, Adobe, and Intel, among others.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPSJHj0BO27k5s8rQMgkEO9QslvqFKFuZWF2P2NKQRE4Y1kcu_SceAy8azWZKKuiA6fufBYP1sA7ktZDypg3LiswUcAnSlkK6GccSsMLeHCUi6oUxJQm0i60e77A-pD-Rnk27i81NqA/s1600/andevcon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPSJHj0BO27k5s8rQMgkEO9QslvqFKFuZWF2P2NKQRE4Y1kcu_SceAy8azWZKKuiA6fufBYP1sA7ktZDypg3LiswUcAnSlkK6GccSsMLeHCUi6oUxJQm0i60e77A-pD-Rnk27i81NqA/s1600/andevcon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">Organizing Stuff of andevcon poses for the blog</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-83672033565994382322014-09-22T22:43:00.000-07:002017-11-13T21:36:47.566-08:00Will Apple succeed in Dethroning Paypal with Apple Pay? <div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMas-q73kgm74JC6gHC4wLvFYhaEaSvzNxiGm861YQcVSuE_BMnNHMJvRoabeHIKEtlkUZqGxLJEhGVKc7VLnkC-hPlF41AGfiUEvSkuAu2-DZGO4wLjH_4UE631R8Ve-XN3aeYlY0w/s1600/applewatch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMas-q73kgm74JC6gHC4wLvFYhaEaSvzNxiGm861YQcVSuE_BMnNHMJvRoabeHIKEtlkUZqGxLJEhGVKc7VLnkC-hPlF41AGfiUEvSkuAu2-DZGO4wLjH_4UE631R8Ve-XN3aeYlY0w/s1600/applewatch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apple Watch, Coming Early 2015, Announced Sept 9, 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Today was a very busy news day for Apple, with the company launching
not one or two but four new products offerings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apple released
details of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – what Apple calls “the biggest
advancements in iPhone history.” The
body of the iPhone has been redesigned to be thinner, with a body of anodized
aluminum that seamlessly converges with the glass display. Both versions will run iOS8, the latest
version of the Apple operating software which promises a “simpler, faster and
more intuitive user experience.” The A8
chip with second generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture provides faster
and more energy efficient performance.
Combined with Metal, the new graphics of iOS8, the iPhone 6 versions
will allow games that are closer to console and 3-D games than ever
before. In a departure from other
versions, the iPhone 6 will come in two sizes.
The iPhone 6 has a 4.7 inch Retina HD display – a 38% larger viewing
area than the iPhone 5S- while the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5 inch Retina HD
display – an 88% larger viewing area.
Both versions will also come with Apple Pay, another innovative
announced today by the company.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apple Pay promises to “transform mobile payments with an
easy, secure and private way to pay.” How? Apple Pay features a dedicated
chip called the Secure Element, which stores a unique and encrypted Device
Account Number. When a credit or debit card is added to Apple Pay, the
card number is never stored on the phone or Apple’s servers – each transaction
is authorized by creating a one-time number with the Device Account Number and
a dynamic security code instead of the security code from the card.
Cashiers will not be able to see the card holder’s name, card number or
security code. Apple Pay supports Mastercard, Visa and American Express
issued by the most popular banks accounting for 83% of credit card sales in the
U.S. 258 large retailers such as Staples, Walgreens and Macy’s are
already on board. Apple Pay will work with over 200,000 retailers that
support contactless payments. But that’s just the beginning. The mobile payment
business is huge. How large is it? Gartner estimates that mobile payments will
grow from $235 billion in 2013 to more than $720 billion by 2017. Even at that
size, it will be a tiny part of total retail transaction volume, which was $15
trillion in 2013. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1JB36NJ6YKlNJ3wFloVtTnfF8v3LldZHUGQ3l2NuchcZ1B6D4aqIgAxOFou5iYhAyD61yh0NNZy9qrYNC_23yw7bVj99fql-lnCzmk5SqjLIQZCpCU3L3i3V6Mz87UOxSTjtHllwNw/s1600/mobile+commerce+yt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1JB36NJ6YKlNJ3wFloVtTnfF8v3LldZHUGQ3l2NuchcZ1B6D4aqIgAxOFou5iYhAyD61yh0NNZy9qrYNC_23yw7bVj99fql-lnCzmk5SqjLIQZCpCU3L3i3V6Mz87UOxSTjtHllwNw/s1600/mobile+commerce+yt.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So far, PayPal seems to be in lead in the mobile payment
industry. The combined total of its
internet and mobile transaction was $180 billion in 2013, encompassing 26
currencies and 193 countries. PayPal earned $6.6 billion in transaction and
other fees and has, so far, withstood challenges from Google (which first
offered Google checkout and later Google wallet), Amazon and Square. However, despite
Paypal’s dominance in eCommerce – when mobile devices are used to purchase
goods remotely – and billions of dollars invested in NFC (Near Field
Communications) technology by Google and other companies, offline mobile
payment is still a very much open field.
Many people claim it’s just a matter of time before NFC catches on, but
many others doubt that NFC ever will, even making fun of it by claiming it
stands for “Not for Commerce.” Will Apple Pay, which also uses NFC, help
accelerate its adoption? If Apple succeeds where Google Wallet failed, it could
end up with a sizable share of the combined online / offline mobile payment
market. Not only will Apple make billions of dollars in transaction fees, it
will also collect massive amounts of data about consumers' interests and
purchasing behavior. Such date will open
avenues to an additional revenue streams by enabling Apple to build a location-aware,
targeted advertising platform built essentially into the palm (and with apple
watch, wrist) of hundreds of millions of people around the world. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Apple Watch features a specially designed face, the
Digital Crown, which allows users to scroll and navigate via touch – a
significant difference from most competing products. In fact, the Digital Crown is so sensitive a
user can send their heartbeat to another person. User can send and receive messages, answer
phone calls and use comprehensive health and fitness apps directly via the
Digital Crown. Other innovations are
found in the Apple Watch as well. Force
Touch allows the face to differentiate between a tap and a press, allowing
easier use of apps. A built in speaker
and Taptic Engine technology create a much larger variety of notifications that
the user can both hear and feel. The extremely
accurate timepiece comes with unique faces such as a 3-D interactive model of
the sun, earth and moon. Sparing no
detail, the Apple Watch comes in three designs.
The body is available in stainless steel alloy, anodized aluminum, or
18-karat yellow or rose gold, while the band is available in 6 versions,
ranging from an elastomer sport band to leather to stainless steel.<o:p></o:p></div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0Cupertino, CA, USA37.3229978 -122.0321822999999937.2219618 -122.19354379999999 37.424033800000004 -121.87082079999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-22794363536428756712014-08-31T15:52:00.000-07:002014-10-04T18:06:47.526-07:00Success of Companies like Uber Validates that Collaborative Consumption is the True Social Commerce<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The usage of the term Social Commerce has been changing over
last 10 years. As per Wikipedia, this term was introduced by Yahoo! in 2005 to
describe collaborative shopping where consumers aided each other by sharing
their reviews, ratings and advice, creating pick lists for the benefit of
others and answering each others’ questions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The term has evolved and has been referred in the past few
years to include applications such as Group buying (by companies such as Groupon,
which itself has evolved into a provider of “local” deals) and is now accepted
as Commerce aided by collaborative e-commerce tools that enable shoppers to get
recommendations and advice about goods and services from individuals they
trust, such as people within their social network, known product mavens or even
strangers who made verified purchase.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the sharing of product information and trust has
increased, people have become more comfortable not only getting advice from
strangers but also buying products and services, or in some cases, sharing
usage of products and services. By
shared usage of products and services, consumers can share the cost thus
allowing increase in value. This shared consumption and result commerce is
called collaborative consumption and commerce and has allowed new ground
breaking businesses which enable online and mobile sharing of products and
services. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, we claim that Collaborative Consumption and
Commerce is the true social commerce - it represents a dramatic shift from the
comm<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>only known top down factory commercial distribution
of product to a peer to peer exchange from one consumer to another. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlvNd2Oezj4gu_-5m2n1iUoOhD9m0W8wBdoAmt6g5uyGz7CGTtsZR3jqtOkbt_hLWd73VtqN3axd8kJhvD7OO9uaPO-MGqJCpoDmyMHsSDE84M4u45odHTuUL8xrh7k9Iy0WDlfSDNAg/s1600/uber+hero+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlvNd2Oezj4gu_-5m2n1iUoOhD9m0W8wBdoAmt6g5uyGz7CGTtsZR3jqtOkbt_hLWd73VtqN3axd8kJhvD7OO9uaPO-MGqJCpoDmyMHsSDE84M4u45odHTuUL8xrh7k9Iy0WDlfSDNAg/s1600/uber+hero+image.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uber's Home Page<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YlFR2O-0GnwlEfVgfGpBLcYa-WkoXtTzxedw6BpPBzEkz9U48Km6MnVTsO83mTLNork2oRxr1y_N3YR-4yu253FEOZXrPRQxwI2T4jyKqvfuSrKoIAvGulWzOgRyemNl2CRxYmFBhQ/s1600/Uber-Force.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YlFR2O-0GnwlEfVgfGpBLcYa-WkoXtTzxedw6BpPBzEkz9U48Km6MnVTsO83mTLNork2oRxr1y_N3YR-4yu253FEOZXrPRQxwI2T4jyKqvfuSrKoIAvGulWzOgRyemNl2CRxYmFBhQ/s1600/Uber-Force.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the leading examples of Collaborative Consumption and Commerce is Uber, the p</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">opular ride sharing mobile app that connects passengers
with drivers who are willing to give you a ride at a fraction of a cost of renting a taxi. Uber now enables ride sharing in more than 120 cities across 38 countries and
was recently valued at $18.2 billion in their recent round of funding. The explosive adoption of Uber's services and company value validates the Collaborative Commerce business model. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A r</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ide is not the only thing you can share with others –
the ubiquitous mobile and internet technology makes lending, swapping, renting and
bartering viable for many kinds of products and services. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, instead
of paying for a tutorial class with money, you can offer to trade your
carpentry skills to someone who offers French language lessons near to your
location. This encourages relationships to grow and create reliable ties among
the parties involved.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credibility is always a question whenever you choose to
transact online especially with strangers. Many groups made it a point to make
their processes secure and reliable to weed out the deadbeats. Sites like
Taskrabbit employs the services of Acxiom, a database giant which can perform
criminal background checks on their new and budding members. This along with
the phone or video interview during the application process assures that the employer
gets the trustworthy workers they deserve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, many consider, and we concur, peer selling sites eBay and craigslist to jumptstart Collaborative Consumption and Commerce by establishing trust in systems where you could buy goods from complete strangers using online platforms with built-in validation systems that relies on the community for establishing the trustworthiness - with goods flowing from early adopters willing to pay top dollars to mainstream adopters to value buyers, kids and others who are willing to buy last year version of a high end gizmo such as a smart phone, tablet or TV as long as they pay a fraction of the price. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a recent video on the subject by Professor Sundarajan* of New York University that I found informative: </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/M5C44Pwq0D8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we believe Social commerce have moved far beyond than simple testimonials, reviews and ratings posted by patrons to endorse a product or service, or a critique to warn others. Social Commerce is Collaborative Commerce conducted by living and growing peer communities of individuals who are relying on the power of the technology, community and social networking to get the best value in products and services by collaborating and sharing with others. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yash Talreja</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Professor Sundarajan do not endorse or oppose products or services offered by the author, or by google adword or other advertisers that might be featured on this blog. </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.4194155000000137.373502 -123.06486250000002 38.176356999999996 -121.77396850000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-85160097749390444782014-03-31T10:00:00.000-07:002017-12-08T08:47:32.686-08:00Can Your Smartwatch Read Your Mind? Highlights from WearablesTech Con <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; max-width: 650px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">I was able to drop by
the Wearables TechCon that was held earlier this month in Santa Clara - a charming suburb claimed by many as the Heart of Silicon Valley. Here is
a "trip report." </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">The conference
combined educational tracks addressing the full spectrum of wearable</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> technologies
with sessions on business opportunities, keynotes from industry
luminaries, and an expo floor where leading wearable tech companies were
exhibiting their devices and technologies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">There were more than 60 combined classes and
tutorials split among three tracks - the hardware track, including classes on product design and
embedded technologies such as sensors, and other components; the software and
App development track, focusing on
platforms, APIs, Software development kits (SDK), and best programming
practices; and finally a business opportunities track. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333;"><br />
I was pleasantly surprised to see not one or two but multiple sessions on a
topic near and dear to my heart. As those of you who have read my autobiography
already know, I had proposed a project in "Artificial Imagination"
during my graduate studies. The project envisaged computer systems that could
understand and simulate human emotions and imagination. The proposal was
quickly shot down by my adviser, with a look on his face that seemed to suggest
that I ought to seek medical attention. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #333333;"><br />
Twenty eight years later, the technology I briefly imagined is coming
closer to being reality. The sessions on the army of wearable devices turning sentimental included one on</span><span style="color: #222222;"> embedding
ultra-lightweight vision software that can read facial micro-expressions in
real-time into wearable devices. Yes, camera sensors that feed into image
and pattern recognition software to recognize joy, surprise, anger, fear, and
30 other emotional states in less than 1/30 of a second that gives us enough time to possibly react in real time as well. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In addition, it recognizes mood indicators and other facial behavioral metrics. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If wearable
technology can recognize emotions, we are just a small step away from
simulating them! We can all imagine applications that can benefit by
sensing moods and emotions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">
<br />
Similarly, there was one session about sensors directly communicating via the
brain. Yes, now we are talking the next gen Wearables - a device that can
understand me without talking to it! The presenter explained methods like
Electroencephalography (EEG), which measures electrical activity along
the scalp, and nano-sensors fit into a contact lens which can analyze the
chemical composition of our tears to know what we are REALLY feeling. Brain-computer interaction is not the only way.
The presenter also talked about "Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation
(tDCS)" whereas constant, low current is delivered via electrodes to increase
cognitive performance and attention span, and enhance language & math
abilities.<br />
<br />
These may sound futuristic but remember, just a few years ago, the idea that
computers would understand voice commands and help us look up information, do
computations or remind us seemed far- fetched. Not only have such advances been
achieved, but computers have also shrunk in size to fit into our phone or watch
and are affordable enough for masses to own them.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />There was also a session on "affective" computing (not a typo, that's what we're calling computing involving processing of emotions) by Scott Amyx, who goes by the title of Wearable and IoT thought leader. Watch highlights of his session by </span><span style="color: #888888; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.wearablestechcon.com/news/scott-amyx-on-affective-computing" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">clicking here</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #888888;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222;">
But these ideas about monitoring and influencing human mind are all is still in the "innovation" stage. Let's talk
about wearable technologies that have moved from Alpha / Beta testing to early
adoption.</span><br />
<br /><span style="color: #222222;">
One of the keynote presentations at Wearables TechCon – the only one that I was able
to attend - was by Qaizar Hassonjee, vice president of innovation at Adidas.
His startup - Textronics - was purchased by Adidas in 2008. After the merger with
Adidas, the Textronics group worked on a project that became Adidas' miCoach
Elite software and hardware which has been rolled out to the entire league by
major league association. Each miCoach Elite sensor pack includes a GPS,
compass, heart rate sensors, accelerometer, and wireless transmission equipment.
The acquired data is analyzed by the
miCoach Elite system which produces insights that helps the coaches improve
their teams' performance. These insights have been extended to the consumer
market through an array of other devices produced by Adidas such as a smart
sports bra and a smart ball - a soccer ball with sensors inside that allows
players to see how hard they're kicking and how far the ball has gone, thanks
to GPS.</span><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, no one can
talk about wearable technology innovations without talking about smart watches.
There was also a series of classes specifically on the Apple Watch, including
an overview session, several deep dive sessions into the Software
Development Kit for the Apple Watch (dubbed WatchKit), a session specifically
on what will the Apple Watch mean for fitness apps, and one comparing Android
Wear with Apple Watch for Developers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All that discussion
about the Apple Watch fascinated me enough that I decided to buy a smart watch.
- No, Apple is not selling the Apple Watch yet (pre-orders begin next month)
but Pebble was at the expo offering a discount on the Pebble watch, so I ended
up buying one. Please standby for an article describing my experiences with
Pebble watch, but you can watch Verge's video on it below: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; max-width: 650px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; max-width: 650px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/IU5zFGkP2Uw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IU5zFGkP2Uw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's a good segue onto the Expo floor, where leading wearable tech companies were exhibiting their devices and technologies.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;">In addition to the Pebble watch, the two other exhibiting companies that are worthy of mention in this blog are:</span><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 13.85pt; margin: 0in 0in 3pt; text-indent: 0in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt; text-indent: 0in;">D</span><a href="http://www.uico.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt; text-indent: 0in;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">uratouch</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt; text-indent: 0in;">, which demonstrated its PCap touch technology that works in the pouring rain, with winter gloves, and in extreme temperatures. They had an innovative demonstration booth with streaming water fountains where they'd immerse the device in water stream and the touch screen would continue to work. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt; text-indent: 0in;">Infostretch,. </span><a href="http://www.infostretch.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt; text-indent: 0in;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">Santa Clara based </span></a><a href="http://www.infostretch.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt; text-indent: 0in;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">Infostretch </span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 13.85pt; text-indent: 0in;">provides mobile testing, certification, verification, development and sustenance engineering services to enterprise customers in different verticals. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Wearables TechCon is produced by BZ Media LLC, which publishes SD Times, the leading magazine for the software development industry. I do <b>not </b>have any business or investment relationship with BZMedia, or with Adidas, Pebble, Infostretch, or Duratouch. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<ul>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; max-width: 650px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"></span></span><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; max-width: 650px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; max-width: 650px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<br /></div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-76289673233951144762014-02-28T14:00:00.000-08:002014-08-25T18:04:29.022-07:00Safety Labs Launches SafetyLINK, a Personal S.O.S. Device<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3I-q7-fH-QbBJgCYkEY8lIoeyW_wmOqrVz1CkpMZYZm1NllB-BlEMspeyabFVuelsxh7kqiH0Z0tI1uiJVaZPc94sKKw7BXZIJ7cM6eCHbCRAnYlGYD2PfI3xImzDKD0taRO2g5FjQ/s1600/Pretty-School-Girl-FB-profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3I-q7-fH-QbBJgCYkEY8lIoeyW_wmOqrVz1CkpMZYZm1NllB-BlEMspeyabFVuelsxh7kqiH0Z0tI1uiJVaZPc94sKKw7BXZIJ7cM6eCHbCRAnYlGYD2PfI3xImzDKD0taRO2g5FjQ/s320/Pretty-School-Girl-FB-profile.jpg" height="318" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">In <a href="http://safetyispersonal.blogspot.com/2013/10/safety-labs-launches-wearable-safety.html" target="_blank">a press release</a> released earlier today, New York based Safety Labs, Inc. today announced
SafetyLINK<b>,</b> a small, wearable personal safety device the size of a US quarter that can be used to send personal S.O.S. (distress) messages when the wearer feels she is in
danger. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-CA">SafetyLINK combines the advances in hardware, communication technologies such as Bluetooth and cloud computing to create a safety network for everyone,
everywhere.</span><span lang="EN-CA"> </span>The goal of the SafetyLINK device is to provide personal safety and security
to families, children and women across US and Canada by giving everyone access to a personal S.O.S. device which can be used to alert your family, community and police in case of personal and medical emergencies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to providing a quick way of notifying relatives and law enforcement authorities, SafetyLINK is also very useful for anyone needing help in
an accident. <span lang="EN-CA"> SafetyLINK's fall detector technology can be configured to detect falls and automatically alert remote care givers which is very useful for seniors living on their own. The automotive version of the SafetyLINK personal safety
equipment can detect crash situations informs 911 and the SafetyLINK network.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-CA"> Sanjay Chadha, co-founder and CEO of
Safety Labs, Inc. describes </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SafetyLINK as bringing communities, public assistance and law enforcement authorities together to provide a safety shield to people. </span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif;">SafetyLINK is following the kick starter/ crowd funding model whereby contributors can pre-order SafetyLINK devices. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif;">Discounted pricing for pre-ordered devices starts at $22,
and includes complementary accessories. Read the full press release <a href="http://safetyispersonal.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, or learn more about SafetyLINK <a href="http://www.safetylink.org/" target="_blank">here.</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.4194155000000137.373502 -123.06486250000002 38.176356999999996 -121.77396850000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-12874972721343894272013-12-31T23:30:00.000-08:002014-03-04T20:32:00.712-08:00Wishing Everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Start 2014 by getting first dibs on a new gadget, making your family safe and contributing to a cause! <a href="http://igg.me/at/safetylink/x/5117266" target="_blank"><b>Click here for more information </b></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvbLLOuf337NZY6wji9J7FOIlHNWAUG15NOVlsGiQ2SJBsCnWzp8gL0oCVrxJugZM1IeaGscXmUqKLwypZq7EHfM6TMgvjipumgV7sLiCOFUGY71f04uuPGDK4zYRMqFoNIMAGVxHGaQ/s1600/HappyNewYear2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvbLLOuf337NZY6wji9J7FOIlHNWAUG15NOVlsGiQ2SJBsCnWzp8gL0oCVrxJugZM1IeaGscXmUqKLwypZq7EHfM6TMgvjipumgV7sLiCOFUGY71f04uuPGDK4zYRMqFoNIMAGVxHGaQ/s640/HappyNewYear2014.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-6749997084128444292013-12-09T08:43:00.000-08:002015-07-13T00:42:04.886-07:00From Micro-jobs to Micro-consulting, Social Commerce Fuels Growth of Online Work Marketplaces<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While many people associate the term “Social Commerce” with deals and discounts offered through social networks, Social Commerce is actually a lot broader than that. By definition, any commerce activity where online social influences play a dominant role is “Social Commerce”. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One form of Social Commerce which has been rapidly growing over past few years is the virtual work contracted through online platforms – this is where people contract out work ("gigs") to freelancers through sites such as eLance, oDesk, Fiverr, Guru, Maven or others. We believe social influence in the form of feedback and ratings from previous purchasers is a major factor in growth of this form of social commerce, as it is essentially establishing trust between the buyers and sellers of services. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The jobs which are being contracted out on these online work platforms vary all the way from $5 for a logo design or cross posting links contracted out via Fiverr to technical, programming or marketing projects costing thousands of dollars on eLance, oDesk or Guru. During a time where the decrease in the number of full time jobs is increasing (which is often being reported on the front page of daily newspapers), online platforms such as eLance are reporting over 40% year on year growth in terms of both the total dollar amounts and the number of projects and services being performed or offered on their platform. Fiverr, an Israel-based global online marketplace offering tasks and services for $5, has reportedly seen a 6X growth factor for business conducted in the last six months alone (Fiverr raised $15 million in Series B funding in venture capital earlier this year). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the other end of the spectrum to the micro-job world of Fiverr are the micro-consulting platforms such as Maven. Maven focuses on connecting Decision Makers with highly skilled professionals who offer their in-depth knowledge, perspective, and insight via short telephone consultations or surveys, and allow professionals to set their own hourly rates, which can be as high as they want them to be. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, in many industries where physical goods are not involved, one can run his or her entire business using professionals hired on these online platforms – from market research, product design, software development and testing, and even marketing, all entirely with freelancers. In fact, some of these platforms such as eLance already recognize that their projects may involve multiple team members from both the buying and the service provider entities and have thus made allowances for such cases in their systems. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sheer popularity and incredible growth of these virtual job sites is very impressive. They demonstrate that the modernization of technology and communication infrastructure is finally leading to freeing individuals from being tied to a 9 to 5 corporate job, while allowing both small and large businesses to be able use specialists for each function. In fact, finding a specialized worker no longer involves a process which may last several months of head hunting, interviewing and making a long term commitment to an employee. An expert can usually be found after just a few minutes of searching online. Even the bidding and negotiation process for complex projects hardly ever exceeds a week. In fact, most customers who use such online systems are able hire people who can quite literally have their business up and running in no time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, when you need an expert’s advice on an important matter but can’t afford to go through a high end consulting firm, a social commerce driven micro-consulting platform such as Maven can help you find an expert with deep knowledge of the subject matter in no time. There is no need to fly someone from across the continent, nor do you need to pay for research done by someone who does not quite have the exact knowledge you seek; or have one of your staff members spend time sifting through hundreds of documents, research journals or expensive analyst reports. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, credibility is lot more important when you are paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege of having a short conversation with an expert, so platforms such as Maven go through a stringent verification process when they enroll their experts, whereas micro-job platforms such as Fiverr primarily rely on user feedback. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One can see why this particular brand of Social Commerce is growing by leaps and bounds, and experts predict that in next 5 to 10 years, 40% of all work will be performed by freelance workers primarily found via online work markets. </span><br />
<br />
<div>
Yash Talreja, COO, S5 Mobile Systems & a "<a href="http://www.maven.co/profile/uV2Hgt9j" target="_blank">maven" with 4.7 rating.</a> </div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com1Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.143019537.3410269 -122.30094799999999 37.5427399 -121.985091tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-63909694584654681782013-11-19T22:00:00.000-08:002014-03-04T22:11:56.944-08:00AnDevCon and GMIC Lead the 2013 Silicon Valley Tech Conference Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The fact that Mobile technology has become the dominant sector in technology innovation was very clear this year in the Tech Conference scene as well - with San Francisco/ Silicon Valley hosting more than 10 large conferences related to Mobile Technology which were full of the same level of energy, enthusiasm and innovation as the Java One Conference used to be a few years ago (now folded into Oracle Open World). </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">I was fortunate enough to attend a few of these as a VIP Invitee, including MobileCon by CTIA in San Jose, GMIC in San Francisco, AnDevCon at Burlingame and WIMA NFC & Proximity Solutions Conference at South San Francisco. Because of time constraints, I am going to cover two of these - AnDevCon and GMIC here. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Even though AnDevCon is advertised to be an (Android) developer conference, there is <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADHKvRJXbP-ZEeJBk3ZnmMr8vdOptgkT7kywTWjb4w0cmIhuaNCaI4_XmHZ6cu5znGRmA5lfICAf0lCW-VsBe4VvjzvkbO0Vki4oz9JJv49dw-eBBNOTq2312iJ55QwXz1TPQgRrRRA/s1600/andevcon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADHKvRJXbP-ZEeJBk3ZnmMr8vdOptgkT7kywTWjb4w0cmIhuaNCaI4_XmHZ6cu5znGRmA5lfICAf0lCW-VsBe4VvjzvkbO0Vki4oz9JJv49dw-eBBNOTq2312iJ55QwXz1TPQgRrRRA/s1600/andevcon.jpg" height="320" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An exhibitor hands out "Freddy", the phone stand <br />
with four fingers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
actually a lot of useful information even if you are not a hardcore software programmer who develops code in Android for a living, but someone involved in the Mobile App industry. The 4 conference was held from November 12th to November 15th in Burlingame near San Francisco Airport. In addition to numerous classes covering both broad topics such as Android Concurrency, Security, Cross platform development and Details of Specific sets of Android APIs such as those involving Image, Sound and Video handling, to very narrow and focused areas such as 3D modeling and Payment APIs for Paypal support; there were also several interesting keynotes by speakers from Google, Twitter, Qualcomm and Blackberry. There was also an "Android Business" track and</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> a plethora of major companies exhibiting at the event, including Google (no surprise), Amazon, Sony, Adobe, and Intel, among others.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oBSCyVaY6YI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%;">A YouTube Hosted Video for one of the courses at AnDevCon</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b>MobileCon</b></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">MobileCon at San Jose was a bit disappointing - the scheduling and who can attend was ver confusing - for example, I got the conference pass for MobileCon for Free because I was invited by Good Technology, but I couldn't attend the Good Technology's one day leader ship summit because it was invitation only! The sessions I did attend were not too informative or revealing in terms of strategy, vision of direction. Despite the name "MobileCon" there barely any discussion of Apps or App Development. I I will most likely skipping this conference next week. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySqMQdZB04DdOvudACxODfNHwy1KbydzZl4kj-sYdz46wzOwbDUK-T_4CIv_lUnhMdVKqXTaxt3RePPvlVNbWJ4NFO1tXq2XtFsVjYj5-KhgM4unkou9XBK9tJTnQ7hLVagEANCp0EA/s1600/mobile+con2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySqMQdZB04DdOvudACxODfNHwy1KbydzZl4kj-sYdz46wzOwbDUK-T_4CIv_lUnhMdVKqXTaxt3RePPvlVNbWJ4NFO1tXq2XtFsVjYj5-KhgM4unkou9XBK9tJTnQ7hLVagEANCp0EA/s1600/mobile+con2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spreading Cheer and Joy at he Uber Booth at MobileCon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">Global Mobile Internet
Conference</b><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"> moved to a larger venue this year, to Moscone Center at San Francisco; it was held at San Jose Convention Center last year. It brought together more than 10,000 attendees from 60
countries representing innovative mobile start-ups, service providers, device
makers, wireless carrier, individual developers, Venture Capitalists, Angel
& Private Equity investors, and officials and speakers from large corporations
such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Box, UCWeb, Kabam, Tapjoy, Electronic
Arts, Intuit and more</span>. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqnUdqIfmqx1xuI0g5hZ5jfe-vR2bXQLfeB1LOvYHz2j-6Emf5bHKducD2sintII-ClC5jFLuTSMXUEHCLWGnDYlH7jo73ikO2aHVsmvO3AsT2R2CdvhvYY-b4F0FMhQQuOVJheYRYQ/s1600/GMIC+SV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqnUdqIfmqx1xuI0g5hZ5jfe-vR2bXQLfeB1LOvYHz2j-6Emf5bHKducD2sintII-ClC5jFLuTSMXUEHCLWGnDYlH7jo73ikO2aHVsmvO3AsT2R2CdvhvYY-b4F0FMhQQuOVJheYRYQ/s640/GMIC+SV.jpg" height="262" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Sally A., a recruiter from HTC manages a Table at the hiring section at GMIC<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition, two competitions were held. The first was an “appAttack”
competition open to novel and innovative Mobile Apps which were introduced less
than 12 months ago and were primed to be a global sensation. Among all the entrants,
100 were chosen and were given a demo booth at the conference. The other
competition was the G-Startup competition, where 12 app developers were given
the opportunity to present the business plan of their start-up to a judging
panel. Members of the judging panel consisted of mobile industry leaders and
investors including venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley
and around the world.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the conference portion of the event, <span style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">Attendees discussed opportunities and trends in mobile applications and
mobile web domain focusing on three areas: Innovation in mobile technologies
and start-ups, global markets, and app monetization. </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Detailed comparisons were made
between what percentage of money is made by selling apps v. the percentage made
by in-app purchases and in-app advertising display.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">T</span></span>here was also a "Global Stage" where 11 country or region specific panels and App show cases were held.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">However, my favorite part of the conference was appAttack where 100 app
builders showcased innovate apps hot out of the oven. Some of the more
impressive apps I saw include (in no particular order):<br />
<br />
1. Blippar™ . This app uses image processing technology for recognition and
mapping. It works by having the user point the camera at photos from print
media such as magazines and newspapers, or even actual products (like a beer
bottle), and bringing them to life. In a product demo, the demonstrator pointed
the camera at a still image of a synchronized swimmer from the
Summer Olympics and the software “brought it to life” by looking up the
image in its database on the mobile cloud and downloading the video. In
addition, it could also help you purchase items--think about the mCommerce
possibilities. You see a pair of shoes someone else is wearing and want to buy
them too. You point your camera at a can of soup to see the ingredients or get
a recipe. </span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7i-VrB6SP1K-y1xiR9iMjY69eVNr56adCgFGC3fGP3yhhDa1hnxfd04UUVaM_abdA3zvTSsR-iYg0L90Lu8Dq08a7S6sf9QIXBiJlC-ayfqZ4d7fs1jy-S5k7fBjVn1QAjPWibatLw/s1600/GMIV+SV2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7i-VrB6SP1K-y1xiR9iMjY69eVNr56adCgFGC3fGP3yhhDa1hnxfd04UUVaM_abdA3zvTSsR-iYg0L90Lu8Dq08a7S6sf9QIXBiJlC-ayfqZ4d7fs1jy-S5k7fBjVn1QAjPWibatLw/s320/GMIV+SV2.jpg" height="265" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Developer from NewzSocial Demonstrates the App on iPad</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2. newzsocial not only gives you access to the news, but also allows you
to curate, classify and organize news based on your preferences and
keyword choices. You can personalize a dynamic news magazine and share news
with your friends.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">3. Vylinx allows users to organize their cloud video collection, which
can consist of videos stored at various cloud locations. It automatically
generates four 2-5 second long snippets from each video, which act like video
indices. These are stored locally on the device. These help users to quickly
browse through long list of videos and choose the interesting ones</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">These snippets are automatically created by using sophisticated
image processing algorithms which detect change in scene and soundtrack, the
speed of these changes, and the motion objects, people, and even change in people's facial expressions (like a smile).</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLu0L7H2WxNsQo0vHkHllPKvppeKlaw69xPANLGOMrh-6VHbd6gPNyqNQBkI8fWxd4JWCyxscDztsjs3yOQc3hjUuDX2jRciFLuw4p-7FIr1BRRQqgmMmCwxhdFKUpZ_8Z79vI3fLYw/s1600/appkey_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLu0L7H2WxNsQo0vHkHllPKvppeKlaw69xPANLGOMrh-6VHbd6gPNyqNQBkI8fWxd4JWCyxscDztsjs3yOQc3hjUuDX2jRciFLuw4p-7FIr1BRRQqgmMmCwxhdFKUpZ_8Z79vI3fLYw/s200/appkey_logo.png" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">4. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">AppKey is a new way of more effective mobile advertising by pooling in App developers and advertisers into the AppKey network and showing ads on users home screen. Users can keep using any App from the AppKey network for free as long as they install the AppKey widget. They see ads on their home screen instead of "in apps" advertising, and the revenue is shared with the app developers based on use of their apps. </span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXPynMEzXn-Uy4Psd_u10FcW5O84wLqSjcphyphenhyphen1MRWGWHjmNSaBc6B0k2zTnu4_5zRN0Wh_3tlI_rbM6udhkZa_r8pOlG2l2N1wcBKf_sxjU85F8zz8sqzgIgG_zgvDzs1Ubej5vvpYg/s1600/IMAG0211-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXPynMEzXn-Uy4Psd_u10FcW5O84wLqSjcphyphenhyphen1MRWGWHjmNSaBc6B0k2zTnu4_5zRN0Wh_3tlI_rbM6udhkZa_r8pOlG2l2N1wcBKf_sxjU85F8zz8sqzgIgG_zgvDzs1Ubej5vvpYg/s320/IMAG0211-2.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yash at the 2013 GMIC Conference</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">5. The "Ultimate Food Fight" App - The name is a bit of misnomer; the app does not involve any food-throwing. What is involved is head-to-head competition among restaurants in a region where a dish can be pitted against the same dish at other restaurants in the same region. For example, users can locate the best burger in town, gourmet dishes at upscale French restaurants, preferred fro-yo shops, local breweries, or even food trucks. The highest ranking is determined by verified purchases. Participants enjoy reviewing the gastronomical delight up for debate and sharing photos. Sponsoring restaurants can chose to get the feed of user comments and photos and post them on their websites and social media pages.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Though the Global Mobile Internet Conference had been held in Beijing, China since 2009, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">this was the second year for the conference to be held in US. </span><br />
<br />Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com2San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.4194155000000137.373502 -123.06486250000002 38.176356999999996 -121.77396850000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-24126874771503001502013-10-31T04:00:00.000-07:002013-10-31T01:48:48.891-07:00eBay, PayPal Helping Shape the Future of Mobile Commerce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghPhTK1G1v2qq6GJMmtHMnsHrMwRjZJqh7xyH4nKiQ4NnViF9RDJyRNPVyOG9YwUJQzN08TsEsbL8BAz_yXr2s9CVBeMhkK9uvdSeaS9JHKGy_0vTMcpJQiGHXPnfZaxuQjx0PCse14Q/s1600/ebay+visitor+badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghPhTK1G1v2qq6GJMmtHMnsHrMwRjZJqh7xyH4nKiQ4NnViF9RDJyRNPVyOG9YwUJQzN08TsEsbL8BAz_yXr2s9CVBeMhkK9uvdSeaS9JHKGy_0vTMcpJQiGHXPnfZaxuQjx0PCse14Q/s320/ebay+visitor+badge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9417" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was at eBay earlier this week for a paid engagement related to design of their future offerings. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though I am not supposed to reveal any details of what I learned about their future directions, here is an article I wrote about how eBay/ Paypal are helping shape the future of Mobile Commerce </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>before</i></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my visit. </span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9417" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9417" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mobile commerce holds so much potential - even though it's still relatively a fledgling industry; like many, I don't see it just subsuming the so called eCommerce, but also augment or replace some components of the "wired" payment networks. By "wired" network, I mean the card networks operated by Visa/ Mastercard for</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Credit/ debit card transactions and ACH system in US and similar systems in other countries for bank transfers. </span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9417" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9419" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">eBay, through it's payment subsdiary PayPal, remains front runner in mobile commerce and is poised to help shape the future of mobile commerce around the globe. </span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9419" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9420" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month, eBay acquired mobile payment technology company BrainTree in a US$800 million deal that is viewed as a “significant step forward” in eBay’s mobile payments strategy for PayPal, according to a prominent mobile commerce blog<sup>*1</sup>. The growth of mobile payments has so far come mostly from mobile app and mobile online payments, as opposed to proximity payments which happen inside a retail store. BrainTree provides support to PayPal in terms of mobile app and offline payments, extending PayPal’s reach in mobile payments with apps such as the Venmo person-to-person payments app.</span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9421" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9422" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, the promise of proximity payments, where people replace their credit and debit cards with their mobile phone is too lucrative to be given up, even if the adoption has been slow. Paypal announced a new service called Payment Code this week at the Money 2020 industry conference in Las Vegas <sup>*2</sup>. This service, to be launched in the first quarter of next year, will allow consumers to use app-generated QR payment codes or four-digit pin payment codes amounting to individual signatures to pay in participating retail stores.</span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9422" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9423" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the first day of the aforementioned Money 2020 industry conference, the overall message was that the United States is the toughest country for mobile payments to be adopted. Mobile Commerce Press<sup>*3</sup> reported that the reason is that each state has different regulations and licensing issues, which is akin to jump starting mobile payments in 50 different countries, according to John Muller, the PayPal general counsel and vice president, legal.</span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9423" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9424" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Muller believes that mobile payments and wallets are the future of digital space though, predicting non-card based payments, a greater influence from small merchants, and features such as loyalty programs that provide companies with important data even while consumers are becoming more hesitant to share information.</span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9424" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9440" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These recent moves are preparing eBay and PayPal to dominate in an industry that has been slowed by the vast number of options for mobile payments, making it difficult for consumers and merchants alike to choose one. eBay and PayPal are putting themselves in a position to grab hold and control the future of mobile commerce.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9437" style="background-color: white; border-color: windowtext; border-style: none none solid; border-width: medium medium 1.5pt; color: #454545; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;">
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9436" style="border: medium none; padding: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9434" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>*1 </sup>Mobile Commerce Daily, <i id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9435">eBay significantly boosts mobile app, offline payments with Braintree </i></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9431" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>*2 </sup>Mobile Commerce Insider, <i id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9432">Use PayPal in Stores with QR Codes</i></span></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9429" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><sup>*3 </sup>Mobile Commerce Press, <i id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9428">Mobile payments PayPal experts at Money 2020 call US the toughest market</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>*4 Black Friday Tablet Deals, </i></span><a href="http://www.blackfridaytabletdeals.org/">http://www.blackfridaytabletdeals.org/</a></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9427" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv3795714480" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381565902912_9426" style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com1San Jose, CA, USA37.3393857 -121.8949554999999836.9351767 -122.54040249999998 37.7435947 -121.24950849999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-55040125672112331332013-04-12T00:18:00.002-07:002013-04-15T03:50:38.820-07:00Mobile Commerce Predicted to Dwarf eCommerce in VolumeBigCommerce, an e‑commerce software company, has recently published an infographic stating that, in the near future, people are very likely to turn to mobile commerce, or m‑commerce, rather than to e‑commerce or even brick‑and‑mortar stores for their shopping needs. <br />
<br />
Among the reasons for this projected shift are the increasing accessibility of mobile commerce, as near‑field communication (NFC) technology becomes more widespread and more NFC‑enabled phones are projected to be shipped in 2015; the increasing prevalence of smartphones; the increasing amount of credibility that people give to companies with good m‑commerce sites; and the growing practice of showrooming among retail shoppers, where they look at items in brick‑and‑mortar stores but turn to m‑commerce or e‑commerce to find better prices or deals and to make actual purchases.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyB5LfN3o2INAw9sSXcdvnsgn3rHlMZNB42m1TyJHAMydRKpnye6EeVJ6JU5kooK3hblDc_HpL-kKBceK9DpkruKOWF5H6j6zCsRbn04-3yeZfzekZIPql2ffYAHitkj-mnEp4BBdbMg/s1600/mobile-commerce-infographic-part+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyB5LfN3o2INAw9sSXcdvnsgn3rHlMZNB42m1TyJHAMydRKpnye6EeVJ6JU5kooK3hblDc_HpL-kKBceK9DpkruKOWF5H6j6zCsRbn04-3yeZfzekZIPql2ffYAHitkj-mnEp4BBdbMg/s1600/mobile-commerce-infographic-part+1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz72G3vgLKX_t9roOY_qPk0k2YnH2b1tQMDcx61pyCFSG-rtOE9gHur7pz1HfOhlf2_kNE_-z0TuNiSKsVlRM7X_xNJL0Jc0lLb9NiDNNOIOjdF7C02ylncRxPAc9n2b58rjWlJilToA/s1600/mobile-commerce-infographic-part2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz72G3vgLKX_t9roOY_qPk0k2YnH2b1tQMDcx61pyCFSG-rtOE9gHur7pz1HfOhlf2_kNE_-z0TuNiSKsVlRM7X_xNJL0Jc0lLb9NiDNNOIOjdF7C02ylncRxPAc9n2b58rjWlJilToA/s1600/mobile-commerce-infographic-part2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.1430194999999837.239989900000005 -122.46574299999997 37.6437769 -121.82029599999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-16044324381205829922013-01-16T20:19:00.000-08:002017-12-08T08:44:27.534-08:00Move Over Google, Facebook's Search is Here!On January 15, 2013, Facebook announced a new service that is undeniably the social networking company’s brave attempt to take some of Google’s market share in the search engine arena. And – we never thought we’d say this – it looks like it just might work!<br />
<br />
The service we speak of is Facebook Graph Search. In a nutshell, it’s a search engine that lets you search through your Facebook friends’ <i>private</i> information in addition to all of the world's public information. In other words, it gets you results that are practically inaccessible to all other search engines, even the mighty Google.<br />
<br />
Okay, time to be more specific. Here are some examples of questions you can answer by using Facebook Graph Search:<br />
<ul>
<li>Which of my friends live nearby and play a musical instrument? (You want to form a band.)</li>
<li>Which of my friends have a background in tax law? (You want free legal advice – no, we don’t recommend that you get your legal advice this way, but you know you will still do it if given half the chance.)</li>
<li>Photos of my friends last Christmas (You’re compiling a collage?)</li>
</ul>
<br />
It even has excellent social and mobile commerce possibilities:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Which of my friends have been to Asia? (You’re taking a trip and want hotel recommendations from people you trust.)</li>
<li>Which of my friends have online stores? (If given a choice, you would prefer to buy stuff from people you know.)</li>
</ul>
<br />
If this works – and we think it will – Google will have something to worry about. After all, when Google tried to venture into the social networking platform through Google+, it bombed big time.<br />
<br />
Heck, with its social and mobile commerce potential, Facebook Graph Search may even take some of Amazon.com’s sales away. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if one day, Facebook releases online store features such as shopping carts and “Buy This” buttons as well. Why not? Multiply did it.<br />
<br />
There’s only one question in our mind right now: Although every IT guy worth their salt knows that a social graph is “all the people you are connected with on a social network,” it is never used in that context by the majority of Facebook users. So why use it to name an essentially non-IT product?<br />
<br />
Facebook Graph Search: we give Facebook’s IT guys a thumbs up on this one – but what were their marketing guys thinking? Well, they were probably thinking, “Who cares about the name? This is gonna make Google quake.” And it will.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.1430194999999837.239987400000004 -122.46436949999998 37.6437794 -121.82166949999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-24499466752254627102012-12-31T23:51:00.003-08:002015-07-06T17:46:55.147-07:00Happy New Year! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrSerq8bEnFNJUTT8rsrja3YKqSic9yD80kzRFJPZeA_S17Ciac2U8XslL9SmCKPt_rTHqSvR9CRIkxxhPTFTjJV04x16Eyt8N6pWFxj7YzwLGkjdaT43PGrmpqmOPf2820GCiobwwwg/s1600/0+HNY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrSerq8bEnFNJUTT8rsrja3YKqSic9yD80kzRFJPZeA_S17Ciac2U8XslL9SmCKPt_rTHqSvR9CRIkxxhPTFTjJV04x16Eyt8N6pWFxj7YzwLGkjdaT43PGrmpqmOPf2820GCiobwwwg/s640/0+HNY.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-48225032289658247902012-11-16T07:14:00.000-08:002012-11-16T10:14:36.293-08:00Last Day to Save $300 for Attending AnDevCon IV - The Android Developer's Conference. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.andevcon.com/AnDevCon_IV/images/ADC4header.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="http://www.andevcon.com/AnDevCon_IV/images/ADC4header.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.andevcon.com/AndevCon_IV/images/index_3keynotes.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.andevcon.com/AndevCon_IV/images/index_3keynotes.png" width="130" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just registered for AnDevCon IV - The Android Developer Conference. Today is <a href="http://www.andevcon.com/AndevCon_IV/index.html" target="_blank">the last day for saving $300 </a>for attending this premier Android conference focused on latest trends, tools and techniques in Android Development. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The conference is going to be held on Dec. 4 - 7 at Hyatt in Burlingame in the San Francisco Bay Area. This four day conference includes 76 sessions and several workshops taught by the top Android experts — including several speakers from Google, and keynote speakers from Amazon, facebook and more. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.andevcon.com/AndevCon_IV/index.html" target="_blank">Click here </a>to register. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="adc_bodycopy" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">
Based on previous experience with the conference, I can vouch to the fact that this conference is 100% focused on developers, so you won't find the sales or marketing people slowing down the sessions because of lack of basic understanding of technical issues. The "celebrity" keynote speakers are technical folks, and all sessions are technical classes focused on Android technology </div>
Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422967172041677652.post-87283844998035208082012-11-08T19:00:00.000-08:002014-04-12T17:05:56.675-07:00Windows 8's "Mobile First" Design: A Brilliant Move or a Desperate Attempt by Microsoft to Stay Relevant in a Changing World?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm8U7bGwj0hPzF_gP5vhXVRTvPwnCRce5V8l5btf7aI8LwjO6sglHolWsB01RbSom3PEU0OLD_gK3wbfbV3fzm6nFR9hvY9L6vSSv24x-JqyfKAMBO-kDvJSa9E77om6nyXaWGhy3Dg/s1600/windows8banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">They say third try’s a
charm. Will that be the case for Microsoft's third attempt to penetrate the
mobile operating system market? After failing to make a dent in the mobile
device and O/S market with Pocket PC and Windows Phone, Microsoft is betting
the house on Windows 8. Described by Microsoft as a "re-imagined and
reinvented" version of its flagship operating system, Windows 8 comes with
an all-new "tiles" based touch interface, also called
"metro". </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm8U7bGwj0hPzF_gP5vhXVRTvPwnCRce5V8l5btf7aI8LwjO6sglHolWsB01RbSom3PEU0OLD_gK3wbfbV3fzm6nFR9hvY9L6vSSv24x-JqyfKAMBO-kDvJSa9E77om6nyXaWGhy3Dg/s1600/windows8banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm8U7bGwj0hPzF_gP5vhXVRTvPwnCRce5V8l5btf7aI8LwjO6sglHolWsB01RbSom3PEU0OLD_gK3wbfbV3fzm6nFR9hvY9L6vSSv24x-JqyfKAMBO-kDvJSa9E77om6nyXaWGhy3Dg/s640/windows8banner.jpg" height="281" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white;">Arguably Microsoft's most ambitious release of its operating system, the Windows
8 user interface has been re-designed to work well with both the mouse on PCs/
laptops and touch screen on tablets and smart phones. Not surprisingly, it
introduces radical changes to the graphical user interface and platform which
is optimized for touch screen input--a new Start screen which replaces the
decade old round "Start" menu button, an integrated online store (modeled
after Apple's Appstore and Android's "Google Play"), and security
features including an antivirus program bundled with the O/S and an optional secure
boot feature.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
Microsoft’s strategy seems to be to force its captive customer base of several hundred
million Windows users to get familiar with the new, “tiles”
version of Windows and then hope that they will prefer the same interface on computer
tablets One can see the brilliance of Microsoft's strategy - once the windows user
base gets accustomed to the "tiles" interface, it may be natural for them to pick a tablet which
offers a similar look and feel. In fact, the Tablets running Windows 8 (or
rather, Windows RT which is the name Microsoft is using for the branch of Windows
operating system it will supply to ARM CPU based tablets which is virtually
indistinguishable in “look and feel” to Windows 8) will have similar but better experience because it will support
"Touch" on top of the same paradigm. While the smart phone market has
penetrated the masses, the current
tablet market is relatively small compared to both smart phones and the PC/
laptop. </span><br />
<span style="background: white;"><br />
Obviously, this strategy can backfire by confusing PC / laptop users; they may
struggle to find their way on the screen and may resist upgrading. However,
given that Microsoft can eventually force an upgrade by supporting newer,
faster hardware only with Windows 8, the question then becomes will a
disgruntled user base choose to just trade their Windows 7 laptops and PCs for
an Apple iPad, Google Nexus or similar device? The question relies on how fast
Apple, Google and others can offer replacements of Microsoft Office and
Outlook, the de facto standards for common business applications on their
tablets.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">advertisement: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #f3f3f3; font-size: xx-small;">Looking for a copywriter in Denver Area? Look no more!Michelle Lopez can serve all your copywriting needs! <a href="http://www.michellelopez.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> http://www.michellelopez.org/</span></a></span>Kalpanik Shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00214791918240937751noreply@blogger.com0Palo Alto, CA, USA37.4418834 -122.143019537.3410269 -122.30094799999999 37.5427399 -121.985091