Sep
02
2014
September 2nd, 2014 by Elma Jane

While Apple doesn’t talk about future products,latest report that the next iPhone would include mobile-payment capabilities powered by a short-distance wireless technology called near-field communication or NFC. Apple is hosting an event on September 9th, that’s widely expected to be the debut of the next iPhone or iPhones. Mobile payments, or the notion that you can pay for goods and services at the checkout with your smartphone, may finally break into the mainstream if Apple and the iPhone 6 get involved.

Apple’s embrace of mobile payments would represent a watershed moment for how people pay at drugstores, supermarkets or for cabs. The technology and capability to pay with a tap of your mobile device has been around for years, you can tap an NFC-enabled Samsung Galaxy S5 or NFC-enabled credit card at point-of-sale terminals found at many Walgreen drugstores, but awareness and usage remain low.  Apple has again the opportunity to transform, disrupt and reshape an entire business sector. It is hard to overestimate what impact Apple could have if it really wants to play in the payments market.

Apple won’t be the first to enter the mobile-payments arena. Google introduced its Google Wallet service in May 2011. The wireless carriers formed their joint venture with the intent to create a platform for mobile payments. Apple tends to stay away from new technologies until it has had a chance to smooth out the kinks. It was two years behind some smartphones in offering an iPhone that could tap into the faster LTE wireless network. NFC was rumored to be included in at least the last two iPhones and could finally make its appearance in the iPhone 6. The technology will be the linchpin to enabling transactions at the checkout.

Struggles

The notion of turning smartphones into true digital wallets including the ability to pay at the register, has been hyped up for years. But so far, it’s been more promise than results. There have been many technical hurdles to making mobile devices an alternative to cash, checks, and credit cards. NFC technology has to be included in both the smartphone and the point-of-sale terminal to work, and it’s been a slow process getting NFC chips into more equipment. NFC has largely been relegated to a feature found on higher-end smartphones such as the Galaxy S5 or the Nexus 5. There’s also confusion on both sides, the merchant and the customer, on how the tech works and why tapping your smartphone on a checkout machine is any faster, better or easier than swiping a card. There’s a chicken-and-egg problem between lack of user adoption and lack of retailer adoption. It’s one reason why even powerhouses such as Google have struggled. Despite a splashy launch of its digital wallet and payment service more than three years ago, Google hasn’t won mainstream acceptance or even awareness  for its mobile wallet. Google hasn’t said how many people are using Google Wallet, but a look at its page on the Google Play store lists more than 47,000 reviews giving it an average of a four-star rating.

The Puzzle

Apple has quietly built the foundation to its mobile-payment service in Passbook, an app introduced two years ago in its iOS software and released as a feature with the iPhone 4S. Passbook has so far served as a repository for airline tickets, membership cards, and credit card statements. While it started out with just a handful of compatible apps, Passbook works with apps from Delta, Starbucks, Fandango, The Home Depot, and more. But it could potentially be more powerful. Apple’s already made great inroads with Passbook, it could totally crack open the mobile payments space in the US. Apple could make up a fifth of the share of the mobile-payment transactions in a short few months after the launch. The company also has the credit or debit card information for virtually all of its customers thanks to its iTunes service, so it doesn’t have to go the extra step of asking people to sign up for a new service. That takes away one of the biggest hurdles to adoption. The last piece of the mobile-payments puzzle with the iPhone is the fingerprint recognition sensor Apple added into last year’s iPhone 5S. That sensor will almost certainly make its way to the upcoming iPhone 6. The fingerprint sensor, which Apple obtained through its acquisition of Authentic in 2012, could serve as a quick and secure way of verifying purchases, not just through online purchases, but large transactions made at big-box retailers such as Best Buy. Today, you can use the fingerprint sensor to quickly buy content from Apple’s iTunes, App and iBooks stores.

The bigger win for Apple is the services and features it could add on to a simple transaction, if it’s successful in raising the awareness of a form of payment that has been quietly lingering for years. Google had previously seen mobile payments as the optimal location for targeted advertisements and offers. It’s those services and features that ultimately matter in the end, replacing a simple credit card swipe isn’t that big of a deal.

 

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May
15
2014
May 15th, 2014 by Elma Jane

Looking to buy a new business phone? Wait!!! A slew of hot new smartphones are set to launch in the coming months, 2014 has already seen its share of major releases. This spring, HTC unveiled the new HTC One M8, which packs a slick all-metal body and Samsung debuted the featured-packed Galaxy S5. Nokia also released the Lumia Icon, its new flagship Windows Phone. But some of the year’s biggest releases are still to come, including a new version of Apple’s iPhone and a follow-up to Samsung’s stylus-equipped Galaxy Note 3. Meanwhile, a new Android phone from startup OnePlus could make a splash. 

Galaxy Note 4

Samsung is expected to launch a follow-up to the Galaxy Note 3 this fall, one of the best business phones ever made, thanks  in part to the included S Pen stylus, which slides out from a slot on the phone’s chassis and turns the device into a note-taking machine. The phablet also boasts a stunning 5.7-inch display that’s big enough for real productivity tasks. Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed any details about the Note 3’s successor, but there are a few safe bets. For starters, fans can expect the line’s trademark stylus to return for the Galaxy Note 4. Its display meanwhile, should rival the Samsung’s newer Galaxy S5 in terms of brightness and picture quality. Finally, considering Samsung packed a fingerprint reader into the S5’s home button, it’s likely the company will do the same for the Note 4. A fingerprint reader can make your business phone more secure, since only you can unlock the device with a quick swipe of your finger.

iPhone 6

Apple’s iPhone 5s is a great phone, but its compact 4-inch display could be too small for some people. Reports indicate that Apple might deliver a much bigger device in the iPhone 6, which is expected to debut this fall in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variants. That’s a big deal for business users who depend on their smartphone to stay productive but prefer a larger display. Both models are also rumored to include a blazing-fast A8 processor, an upgrade over the speedy 64-bit A7 chip found in the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 6 is also expected to include the same fingerprint reader that debuted with the iPhone 5s. The reader is embedded in the phone’s home button, and lets you unlock the device simply by placing your finger on the button. And of course, the iPhone is the only smartphone that gives you access to Apple’s App Store, which features the biggest and arguably the best, library of business and productivity apps on any platform.

LG G3

LG is preparing to unveil a successor to its flagship phone, the LG G2 this spring. The so-called LG G3 could be one of the year’s most noteworthy business phones if it retains the G2’s superlong battery life. The phone ran for up to 11 hours in tests that involved continuous Web browsing, making it one of the longest-lasting smartphones ever made. In addition to longevity, the G2 boasts a snappy quad-core processor, a roomy 5.2-inch display and a handy multitasking feature called QSlide, which lets you run a second app in a floating window over your main app. That’s a plus for business users who need to juggle tasks such as responding to email while conducting research in a Web browser. LG hasn’t yet announced which features will get an upgrade for the LG G3, but fans won’t have to wait long to find out. The company is expected to show the device off at a special press event on May 27, though it’s not yet known when the phone will hit store shelves.

Lumia 635

Windows Phone fans saw the release of a new flagship device in the Nokia Lumia Icon this spring. Now, Nokia is following that up with the Lumia 635. A new midrange Windows Phone with a lower price point, that could make it worth a look for budget-minded business users, especially since the device runs on Windows Phone 8.1, a new version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system. One of the phone’s standout features is Cortana, a voice-activated personal digital assistant that can notify you of upcoming appointments, flight information, weather alerts and more. Also, new in Windows Phone 8.1 is the Action Center, which is similar to the notification hub found on both the Android and iOS operating systems. Just swipe down from the top of your phone’s display to view all of your alerts at a glance, and like every Windows Phone device. The Lumia 635 is fully integrated with the desktop version of Microsoft Office.

OnePlus One

The OnePlusOne set to launch this June, is a powerful new business phone with a unique set of features. The 5.5-inch Android device packs a huge display, a top-tier processor and a high-capacity battery. The phone also adds features you won’t find in many flagship phones, such as always-on voice commands. So instead of fiddling with menus and touch-screen controls, you can set an alarm, place an appointment in your calendar or access turn-by-turn directions by uttering a few words – even when the display is off. The OnePlus One also offers a few notable security features you won’t find in most other smartphones. For instance, the phone’s Privacy Guard setting lets you block individual apps from accessing personal information stored on your device. The OnePlus One also ships with built-in encryption for SMS text messages to ensure your private business communications remain private.

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