Random Culture

The Future of Mobile is... Money

You might have heard some buzz circulating about today's announcement that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has just launched a new mobile payment system, Square. It's exciting to see this topic finally beginning to get some conversation, especially since mobile money transfer and payment has already gained some ground in developing countries. Click Here's own Jill Krumsick posted yesterday about this very topic. Here's an excerpt about what's already happening in the US, from her blog post, "Put it on my Mobile Tab."

"The developed world isn’t going to see a economic transformation in the same way emerging markets might, but major players are taking note and moving forward.  Established and start-up companies are testing the waters in mobile money transfer (ie. PayPal Mobile), but the future is looking toward point-of-purchase transactions with the mobile device.  This idea, coined contactless payment, entails scanable hardware embedded in/on the device.

At the Cartes Exposition in Paris two weeks ago, Visa showcased it’s contactless system with Nokia that will be introduced in the next year.  This system allows items under a certain price threshold go through immediately and for items over, the user will be prompted to enter a PIN number for added security.  Another similar system,  Mastercard’s PayPass mobile program partnered with Blackberry, is currently pilot testing in Canada.  And American start-up Bling Nation is working on a smaller scale to create local networks of banks and participating retailers with mobile device transaction capabilities."

Read Jill's complete blog post here.

This is definitely a trend to keep an eye on, and something that will likely show up in every list of predictions for 2010... including mine!

The Future of Mobile is... Money

You might have heard some buzz circulating about today's announcement that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has just launched a new mobile payment system, Square. It's exciting to see this topic finally beginning to get some conversation, especially since mobile money transfer and payment has already gained some ground in developing countries. Click Here's own Jill Krumsick posted yesterday about this very topic. Here's an excerpt about what's already happening in the US, from her blog post, "Put it on my Mobile Tab."

"The developed world isn’t going to see a economic transformation in
the same way emerging markets might, but major players are taking note
and moving forward.  Established and start-up companies are testing the
waters in mobile money transfer (ie. PayPal Mobile), but the future is looking toward point-of-purchase transactions with the mobile device.  This idea, coined contactless payment, entails scanable hardware embedded in/on the device.

At the Cartes Exposition in Paris two weeks ago, Visa
showcased it’s contactless system with Nokia that will be introduced in
the next year.  This system allows items under a certain price
threshold go through immediately and for items over, the user will be
prompted to enter a PIN number for added security.  Another similar
system,  Mastercard’s PayPass mobile program partnered with Blackberry, is currently pilot testing in Canada.  And American start-up Bling Nation
is working on a smaller scale to create local networks of banks and
participating retailers with mobile device transaction capabilities."

Read Jill's complete blog post here.

This is definitely a trend to keep an eye on, and something that will likely show up in every list of predictions for 2010... including mine!

The Future of Software

The truth is, your desktop is becoming more and more irrelevant. Ask yourself this question: How many of the programs you use on a daily basis are online instead of running off your desktop? Adobe has announced that they plan to release a web-based version of Photoshop in the next 6 months. This is a huge deal, not only because such a major software is making the move, but because of the business model behind it.

According to an article from CNET, "the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and marketed as an entry-level version of Adobe's more sophisticated image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Chizen envisions revenue from the Photoshop service coming from online advertising."

In the next year or so, we're likely to see others follow-suit, particularly if the business model pays off. That is wholly dependent on how the ads are integrated into the offering, and if consumers find them worth the trade-off for the price.

Read the full CNET article here.

The Future of Software

The truth is, your desktop is becoming more and more irrelevant. Ask yourself this question: How many of the programs you use on a daily basis are online instead of running off your desktop? Adobe has announced that they plan to release a web-based version of Photoshop in the next 6 months. This is a huge deal, not only because such a major software is making the move, but because of the business model behind it.

According to an article from CNET, "the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and marketed as an
entry-level version of Adobe's more sophisticated image-editing tools,
including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Chizen envisions revenue
from the Photoshop service coming from online advertising."

In the next year or so, we're likely to see others follow-suit, particularly if the business model pays off. That is wholly dependent on how the ads are integrated into the offering, and if consumers find them worth the trade-off for the price.

Read the full CNET article here.

Websites as Graphs

Websites as Graphs is a cool applet that visually maps out any URL you put in. Pictured here is what the graph for Random Culture looks like. Visit the site and make your own, or check out the huge amount of these graphs that have been uploaded to Flickr and tagged "websitesasgraphs."

Link via Zach Klein.

Websites as Graphs

Websites as Graphs is a cool applet that visually maps out any URL you put in. Pictured here is what the graph for Random Culture looks like. Visit the site and make your own, or check out the huge amount of these graphs that have been uploaded to Flickr and tagged "websitesasgraphs."

Link via Zach Klein.

Nike & Apple = Nike+

Nike and Apple have teamed up to create shoes that integrate with your iPod. You basically get audio feedback about your performance, and software that tracks it. Pretty interesting stuff. Learn more by checking out the great website they built at: Nike.com/nikeplus/.

And oh yeah, Nike USA redesigned their homepage, too.

Nike & Apple = Nike+

Nike and Apple have teamed up to create shoes that integrate with your iPod. You basically get audio feedback about your performance, and software that tracks it. Pretty interesting stuff. Learn more by checking out the great website they built at: Nike.com/nikeplus/.

And oh yeah, Nike USA redesigned their homepage, too.

Microsoft Video Podcast: 10

Microsoft has launched "10", a site that features a daily video podcast. I can't get the best idea of what it's all about based on just a few episodes, but the site says it has something to do with technology news. Based on the content that's up, I wouldn't go that far. Visit the site and check out the video podcast for yourself: www.on10.net.

One of the interesting things about this new effort from Microsoft is that *gasp... they're allowing Quicktime downloads of the podcast, not just wmv files. Kudos for that.

Microsoft Video Podcast: 10

Microsoft has launched "10", a site that features a daily video podcast. I can't get the best idea of what it's all about based on just a few episodes, but the site says it has something to do with technology news. Based on the content that's up, I wouldn't go that far. Visit the site and check out the video podcast for yourself: www.on10.net.

One of the interesting things about this new effort from Microsoft is that *gasp... they're allowing Quicktime downloads of the podcast, not just wmv files. Kudos for that.