Mobile Wallets

http://www.dazeinfo.com/2014/01/30/mobile-wallets-can-increase-security-risks-71-million-users-2017/

Smart phones have made life easier for  many by providing the user all information in the world at their finger tips. Now smartphones are making a play at being the only item an individuals needs to carry when they leave their house. By 2017, mobile wallets are expected to be used by over 71 million users. One device that holds all your credit cards, IDs and contacts brings a level of convince that has never before been experienced. However, the flip side to convince is the real threat of information theft from hacked or stolen devices. With a mobile wallet all it would take is for a thief to get their hands on a persons unlocked device and they would have everything they need to take their identity and run up fraudulent charges.

The recent troubles with Target over the holiday season has opened up some eyes among consumers. Consumers are starting to realize that convenience comes with a trade off called risk. That being said I don’t believe that anyone is ready to give up on credit cards and I think the same goes for the adaption of mobile wallets. To combat future theft, devices and users need to be better prepared for theft by putting barriers in place in-case the device is stolen. A simple password protection on your phone may buy you enough time to have the device remotely wiped prior to any information being stolen. I believe that someday soon all we will need is our mobile phone when we leave the house.

Facebook earnings, revenue beat; stock jumps

At first glance this article appears to praise Facebook and its strong performance last quarter. However, an interesting point is made by the author that users in 13-17age range, the age in which the company hopes to get kids hooked, is dropping and the above 55 population is growing. The article references a Princeton study (http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/01/23/facebook-could-lose-80-percent-users-by-2017-report-claims/), which predicts the number of Facebook users will plummet in the next few years. Whether the study is accurate remains to be seen, but it points to a large issue in the technology/social media sector: change is occurring at a rapid pace. Less than two years ago, Facebook held its IPO and was at the forefront of social media. Today, people want their information faster, thus the growing popularity of Instagram and Twitter. As we have been discussing the S-curves, Facebook may be nearing the end of its curve and will likely need to change gears, and quickly, in order to keep pace with its competitors.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101367284

Facebook to deliver Paper news App

Today Facebook announced the release of a new app called Paper. This app will allow them to see stories from multiple news sources to share with their friends. This seems to be direct competition towards Google News and Flipboard, two similar apps currently used for viewing news.

This is part of Facebook’s new strategy of having multiple apps for users and is their first attempt to release an app outside of their current platform. Their goal is to continue to change the way people interact with each other through technology and obviously to generate additional revenue outside of Facebook.

Facebook seems to want to increase their market share in the app world and are currently offering this app free of advertisements. Given the recent readings on Michael Porter’s views on the internet and market forces it is interesting to see Facebook entering the news reading app market without any advertisements which is how apps become profitable.

LINK TO ARTICLE BELOW:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/30/facebook-paper-app/5051641/

Google sells Motorola unit to Lenovo for $2.9B

Google is unloading Motorola Mobility onto Chinese PC maker Lenovo.

Google confirmed on its site that it has sold Motorola for $2.91 billion, consisting of $660 million in cash and $750 million in Lenovo shares, with the remaining $1.5 billion paid in the form of a three-year promissory note. Reuters earlier reported on the deal.

Lenovo gets the Motorola brand, as well as its portfolio of devices, including the Moto X and Moto G. In addition, it will also receive more than 2,000 patent assets, while Google will retain control of a majority of the patents it originally obtained when it acquired Motorola several years ago.

A deal instantly gives Lenovo, which has a thriving smartphone business in China but few other places, an established global brand. Google, meanwhile, will shed a business that has continually dragged down its profits.

READ MORE BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57618023-93/google-sells-motorola-unit-to-lenovo-for-$2.9b/

Bitcoin dealers charged with money laundering

I thought this was an interesting follow up to our Bitcoin discussion from last week.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/01/27/bitcoin-dealers-charged-with-money-laundering/4941313/

Does this seem like a show of strength from the US government to deter Bitcoin from advancing? Or just a blip targeting two legitimate criminals that will not prevent Bitcoin’s current progress? Obviously I do not know what the circumstances of the purported crime, but the government is clearly approaching Bitcoin apprehensively as it is a threat to the national currency and can be used for illegal transactions.

http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg60ztgSzm1g10zm2g25zv

Surprisingly the value of Bitcoin stayed relatively stable after the news. I would have guessed a large drop occurred. I am still with those who are skeptical of the currency being accepted into the mainstream. However I did read a few online merchants in the US, along with two casinos in Vegas began accepting Bitcoin.

Flat Sales of Wii U Put Nintendo in the Hot Seat

Flat Sales of Wii U Put Nintendo in the Hot Seat

When the first Nintendo Wi came out, it was priced significantly lower than PS3 and Xbox 360.  It did not wow hardcore gamers with graphics and power.  Instead it appealed to the casual and younger gamers who liked simple and easy to learn games.  It also was the first to really utilize motion controllers and that novelty really paid off.  Nintendo outsold all other gaming machines.  Yet this time around in the latest generation of machines a fundamental shift has occurred in the marketplace.  The hardcore gamers are still there and Xbox One and PS4 are successfully capturing their dollars, but the casual gamer has moved on.  The tablet has increasingly gained processing power and battery life to the point that the graphics can rival the latest Nintendo WI U.  Additionally, the games offered on tablets are typically cheaper.  This has put Nintendo in a corner.  It’s hardware is outdated, under powered, and it’s target demographic has switched to tablets.  It’s only major asset left is it’s intellectual property of the games themselves which they have stated they will not sell on tablets.  

What do you think Nintendo’s next move should be?  

Google Sells Motorola Handset Business to Lenovo

Google Sells Motorola Handset Business to Lenovo

This sale kind of surprised me when I read the headlines as I would think that Google would want to stay in the mobile or tablet device business, but this sale really just looks like Google sold the Motorola name. Google was smart enough to keep all the Motorola patents which they can either license or incorporate into future products and could still stay in the mobile business if they wanted to. Since Google is just selling the name, this seems to explain a little bit more about the real price tag of $660 million cash. The terms of the remaining $2.25 billion likely depends on the future success of Lenovo which may be uncertain. It will be interesting to see how Lenovo markets the Motorola business, as this will compliment their other PC based products well as they could be positioned to take Samsung head on with their product offerings. 

AT&T is veering away from subsidized phones, and it’s paying off

The wireless industry in the United States is in the midst of some rather significant changes. Ever since T-Mobile implemented its Jump program early last year, the carrier has turned subscriber loss into massive gains. The company’s success is rubbing off, too. AT&T’s Next program is very similar to Jump, which lets customers pay off their phones in monthly installments and become eligible for upgrades earlier, and is just one example of a major transformation taking place throughout the industry.

Click on link to read the rest of the article.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/28/att-next-growing/

 

Green Mountain’s Defense Plan: A Bigger Brewer

Here is something different.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) built its coffee empire one little pod-brewed cup at a time. This morning the company announced a departure: Its new push-button machine is able to brew up to 30 ounces — about three cups — at a time. The device, dubbed Keurig 2.0, is expected to go on sale in the fall.

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-29/green-mountains-defense-plan-a-bigger-brewer#r=lr-sr

 

 

 

Confide, a Snapchat for the Corner Office

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-08/confide-a-snapchat-for-the-corner-office

This article discusses the release of a new app, Confide.  Confide is geared towards corporate audiences who want to speak candidly about sensitive personnel or legal matters without leaving a trail. This app is very similar to Snapchat in both appearance and functionality.  When a user opens a message, the text is initially covered with colored boxes.  In order to read the message, the user must run his finger over the boxes to reveal the text.  As the user continues to read the message, earlier words are once again covered so as to make the message more difficult to screenshot.  In order to better secure this information, founders Jon Brod and Howard Lerman have used end-to-end encryption in the creation of their app, which is one of the key differences between Snapchat and Confide.  The article explains that with end-to-end encryption, the key needed to decrypt the message resides on the recipient’s mobile device alone and is never transmitted over a company’s servers.

This app was released on January 8th and is available to download for free in the iTunes App store.  Brod and Lerman have decided against a formal marketing strategy and are relying on word of mouth to spread the app.

A few questions to consider: Will this app take off the way its founders expect it to?  Essentially, is there a real business need for such an app?  If this app does become popular among professionals, how will their companies respond given the heavy regulatory pressure they are under to preserve the sort of information these messages could contain?