Android Tablets gain popularity among App Developers

By Silicon India

Android tablets seem to top the developers' priority list, according to a recently done survey. The survey shows that the developers and businesses are likely to triple their efforts in the field of application development. The popularity of mobile applications appears to be fading away with the interest shifting to Android tablets after iPhones and iPads. Even the small businesses are getting in the race by changing their strategies on mobile application so as to deal with the current trend.

The most interesting and surprising figure out of the Appcelerator and IDC Survey came from the responses on Android tablets. The tablet showed a huge leap with 74 percent developers being 'very interested' and picking up 12 points. On the other hand, Apple iPads gained only 3 percentage points.

Though Honeycomb, was considered as the key factor leading to the attraction towards Android tablets, it came fourth in the list. The survey showed price as the main reason for the tablets' increasing popularity. Price seems to be capable of deciding market share as according to developers it might be used to gain an edge over competitors.

The success of Android smart phones has also contributed in tablets' popularity among Developers as they are of the opinion that their knowledge in generating phone apps can help then in creating tablet programs.

Apart from Android smart phones, the success of Android market as a whole also increases their interests in the tablets. Many are looking forward to the upcoming Amazon's store of Android app, 8-in 10 were interested in distributing the apps in e-market and 37 percent were even eager to try the Amazon when it launches.

This survey which was conducted two weeks ago, also shows that 92 percent of the developers surveyed were 'very interested' in creating iPhone applications. However, 87 percent of the participants responded similarly for the Android based smart phones, which is a five point jump from the last survey done 3 months ago.

The survey polled more then 2, 200 Appcelerator Titanium developers. They were surveyed on topics catering to mobile development plans, mobile Operating System priorities and feature priorities in 2011.

Apple adding mobile wallet services to iPhone and iPad

By fiercemobile
Apple will embed Near Field Communications-based mobile payment services into the next iteration of its iPhone and iPad devices, enabling consumers to make retail purchases by swiping their smartphone or tablet in front of a point-of-sale digital reader unit. Citing sources including Richard Doherty, director of consulting firm Envisioneering Group, Bloomberg reports that Apple engineers are presently at work on the m-payment initiative; Crone Consulting founder and CEO Richard Crone adds the service likely will leverage Apple customer information already on file, e.g. credit card account numbers, iTunes gift card balances and bank data.
At present, Apple pays credit card processing fees on all iTunes and App Store purchases. By introducing payment services that directly tap customer bank accounts (a la PayPal), Apple could reduce its own costs and enable its partners to trim their prices of their respective products and services. Doherty adds the mobile payment service, slated to go live in mid-2011, will also introduce a loyalty points program--moreover, Apple is considering heavily subsidizing or even giving away payment terminal hardware to small businesses in an effort to accelerate the expansion of NFC technology. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
Apple's decision to embrace NFC is not unexpected. In August 2010, the computing giant named Benjamin Vigier product manager of its mobile commerce unit--Vigier previously served as product manager for mobile wallet, payment and NFC services at mobile financial solutions provider mFoundry, overseeing m-commerce initiatives for clients including PayPal and Starbucks. Prior to mFoundry, he led m-commerce and NFC efforts at flash memory manufacturer Sandisk and French operator Bouyges Telecom. From a competitive standpoint, Apple must also keep pace with archrival Google Version 2.3 of its Android mobile operating system supports NFC, with some future Android devices slated to contain chips enabling users to "bump" their phone against participating retailers' point-of-sale system, funding purchases without cash or credit. Google adds it will leverage the bump solution to enable consumers to touch Android smartphones together to share information or data.
Some insiders speculate Apple's move into NFC technologies encompasses more than payment services--buzz indicates Apple is plotting an NFC-enabled remote computing solution allowing users to wave their iPhone at any compatible Mac, loading all their personal applications, data and settings from the smartphone to the desktop. In effect, any Mac would mirror the user's own, with the original settings restored when the individual moves out of range. Look for Apple to unveil other proximity-based innovations as well.
In November, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA announced plans to jointly launch Isis, a nationwide mobile commerce network enabling consumers to make point-of-sale purchases via mobile device. Isis CEO Michael Abbott--a financial services veteran most recently with GE Capital--said the ultimate goal is the development of a mobile wallet solution that effectively renders obsolete cash, credit and debit cards, loyalty cards, coupons, tickets and transit passes.
Isis plans to introduce NFC payment services in key geographic markets within the next 18 months, partnering with Discover Financial Services to build the necessary mobile payment structure. Discover Financial Services' payment network is accepted at over 7 million merchant locations nationwide. Isis adds that Barclaycard US is expected to be the first issuer on the network, offering multiple mobile payment products.

Apple Brings the App Store to Twitter

Apple has launched @AppStore, a new Twitter account for its popular iOS and Mac App Store.
The new @AppStore Twitter account only made its debut a few hours ago, but it has already amassed more than 35,000 Twitter followers as of this writing. For comparison, its sister account, @iTunesMusic, has more than 680,000 followers.
As the accounts first tweet explains, @AppStore will feature new apps in Apple’s iOS and Mac App Stores and provide exclusive offers for Twitter users. For example, the account’s second tweet provided a quick pitch and a link to Nike’s Training Club app.
Creating a Twitter account for the App Store seems like a simple and effective way to generate more buzz and more downloads about featured apps. It’s essentially the same thing Apple has been doing with its App Store Facebook Page, which has nearly 1 million fans. Apple also has five popular iTunes Twitter accounts tweeting about new films, music and TV shows.
Still, Apple is known for its lack of engagement in social media. The company doesn’t have official Facebook or Twitter accounts. While the @AppStore account is a refreshing addition to Apple’s social media roster, don’t expect Steve Jobs, Tim Cook or Apple, Inc. to be tweeting anytime soon.

How people tweet [infographic]

By GuyKawasaki

Why Mobile Shopping Could Be As Big As Online Shopping

Although few consumers make purchases using their phones, smartphones are playing a critical role in purchasing decisions, according to a study released by ForeSee Results on Monday.
The study, which surveyed 10,000 visitors to top e-retailer sites, found that 11% of them made a purchase using their phones this holiday season, compared to only 2% at the same time last year.
Thirty percent of visitors, however, used their phones to compare product details, look up prices, or find store locations. In 2009, only 11% of consumers surveyed said they used their phones to do this kind of research. Shoppers who were highly satisfied with a retailer’s mobile experience were 30% more likely to buy from that retailer both online and offline.
Mobile’s role in retail today has many parallels to the Internet's role in retail when online shopping was in its infancy. About three years after Amazon (1995) and eBay (1996) launched, estimated online sales totaled $6.1 billion — only 0.2% of total retail – according to a Gartner Survey quoted in a Time Magazine cover story that ran that year.
As the study suggests is the case with mobile users, many Internet users started making relationships with retailers online long before they purchased from them there. In 2000, a Pew Internet survey found that while 46% of surveyed Internet users had made a purchase online, 73% had used the Internet to research a product. Even so, forecasts in the early years of online shopping estimated as much as a 233% increase over two years.
The future looks similarly bright for mobile shopping. eBay reported that mobile shopping on its app increased 134% this holiday season, and Amazon is bringing in $1 billion annually from mobile sales. A report by ABI Research found that mobile online shopping in the United States rose from $396 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2009. The same survey predicted that mobile would bring in $119 billion by 2015.
That’s not to say that mobile commerce doesn’t face some significant obstacles in becoming mainstream. A 2009 survey put smartphone penetration at about 17% in the United States. That still leaves out a lot of potential customers. But so did Internet access before it became nearly ubiquitous.
“I question if it’ll ever be big,” one man told the Time Magazine article’s authors about online shopping in 1998.
As online retailers brought in more than $1 billion on last Cyber Monday alone, this comment sounds a bit silly today.
While smartphone penetration is still low, smartphone sales are soaring. Might mobile retailers one day have similarly smug feelings toward today’s critics of mobile commerce?

All iPhones Will Get The Mobile Hotspot Feature This March

By BusinessInsider

All iPhones will get the mobile hotspot feature hyped at yesterday's Verizon iPhone announcement, Boy Genius reports.

The feature will be part of the next iOS update, 4.3, and will most likely require carrier support to use.

Boy Genius's source says the update is due in March.

We already know Verizon plans on taking advantage of this feature.

AT&T said yesterday they are evaluating the hotspot for their subscribers.

There's still no word from Verizon about how much the hotspot feature will cost, but the carrier does charge $20 per month for 2 GB of data on other phones.

Three New Technology Stocks That Will Skyrocket This Year Thanks To Mobile Commerce

By BusinessInsider

Technology is in a sweet spot where new products are being introduced with incredible frequency. From an investment standpoint this is fantastic. There is no longer a decade between significant or disruptive new technology themes; now we are presented with new investments ideas every 12-24 months.

This is a direct consequence of fundamental advancements in the technology itself. Computer simulation and modeling software, rapid prototyping along with other advancements of product development have hyper charged product introduction timelines. 

When I started researching companies it was often easy to get excited about a technology that may not make a meaningful impact for years to come. In spite of significant prospects anticipated, the stocks would languish for extended periods, messing with my need for immediate gratification, and, worse, tying up capital in nonperforming assets. Oh opportunity costs!

Currently, new technology products appear offering tremendous investment opportunity with great regularity. The most recent theme to pique my interest is mobile commerce. I have identified three names you may not be aware of that are well positioned to benefit.

The Mobile Wallet

We are headed for a cashless society. The majority of daily bill paying transactions have already moved to the Internet and it is a major convenience. It only makes sense that the final step in the transition to a truly digital society is the point of sale (POS) transaction.

To a large extent this has already occurred with credit and debit cards but to make this entire process seamless all those functions are about to be incorporated into your mobile device. A short range communication technology called Near Field Communications (NFC) will facilitate more sophisticated transactional capabilities between mobile devices and POS terminals/receivers.

The transaction market is very lucrative for the companies that offer consumers payment services. VISA (V) and MasterCard (MA) have developed into financial behemoths facilitating credit and debit card transactions for consumers. Now everyone is vying for a piece of the new NFC wireless transaction pie.

Visa is developing applications for NFC-enabled wireless payments using enhanced memory cards. MasterCard is beginning to offer its PayPass service for NFC-enabled phones. Wireless providers AT&T (T) and Verizon(VZ) are teaming up with Discover Card to compete with Visa and MasterCard and Google (GOOG)and Apple (AAPL)are also rumored to be getting in on the competition as well. Here are small cap companies that should benefit from these developments.

The Transaction

On Track Innovations(OTI) (OTIV) is a global leader in contactless smart card solutions for homeland security, payments, electronic passports, national IDs, petroleum payments and other applications. From the company’s website:

OTI’s technology offers commercially available, field-proven, contactless solutions, based on OTI’s significant patents and intellectual property covering the entire value chain, including manufacturing techniques, product design and applications. OTI delivers cards, readers, operating systems and complete solutions that are scalable, offering high functionality, security and flexibility.

OTI supplies key components to contactless payments programs developed by the major card associations – MasterCard’s PayPass, Visa PayWave, Discover Zip and ExpressPay from American Express. OTI supplied solutions for more than 20 million cards and 130,000 readers in projects around world in support the MasterCard and Visa’s global contactless EMV applications and the US market.

The company recently released a new NFC product called COPNI(TM) (Contactless Payment and NFC Insert) for mobile phones that attaches to the existing SIM card and enables mobile wallet solutions including secure NFC transactions. OTI indicates in the associated press release that it is already in advanced discussions with several mobile operators and thatCOPNI supports existing contactless payment applications from major card associations, mass transit ticketing (with MIFARE support) as well as loyalty programs and other proprietary programs.

The company has exposure to a variety of other interesting secure wireless microprocessor based markets as well as mobile wallets. These include parking payment solutions, Secure ID and petroleum payment solutions. All of these markets offer growth opportunities for OTI. In the most recent quarter the company reported nine month GAAP profitability on 93% revenue growth to $43.6 million. The balance sheet is solid and projections for next year are for full year profitability on revenues of $60 million. With a market valuation of just over $80 million and 54% gross margins any increased revenue derived from NFC should significantly drive bottom line profitability. If NFC takes off like the big players in the space are betting OTI’s shares should take off as well.

Enhanced Digital Marketing

Once retailers have consumers using mobile wallets on their phones all efforts will be focused on exploiting new marketing capabilities. If consumers can transact instantly, companies will attempt to capitalize by tying online commerce and promotions into traditional commerce and marketing. Businesses can now embed additional complementary online information/marketing in traditional advertising and environments to expand a consumer’s purchasing options. One way to do this is with digital watermarking technologies and one of the leaders in the space is Digimarc (DMRC).

From the company’s website:

Link from Print-to-Web

Digimarc technology can transform print ads, posters, product packaging and more into an interactive media using a mobile phone. Consumers can use the handheld devices they use daily to instantly read the watermark in printed images, logos and other graphic elements and automatically connect to additional information on the product or service. The watermark includes a digital identifier that links to a database to enable any number of different actions — communicate pricing and where to buy locations, provide information on complementary products, engage the consumer in an interactive contest or game, or complete the sale by linking to the company’s web site.

This is just one aspect of my thesis on Digimarc as a strong new technology investment. Digital Watermarking has many applications in a digital economy beyond embedding additional information in print and other media. Digital watermarking is a critical technology for securing and tracking online content. As content continues to shift to the net and P2P sharing of media overwhelms conventional outlets like Apple’s (AAPL) Itunes and Netflix (NFLX), securing and tracking usage of digital properties like film and music and software becomes critical to protecting ownership and compensation. Digital Watermarking offers a compelling solution and company’s like Neilson are already using Digimarc’s technology to track online content usage.

Digimarc is a leader in the space with over 600 patents and partnerships with leading media companies like Nielson, Adobe and Thomson. Digimarc was profitable in the most recent quarter and is projected to be profitable for full year 2011. The company has over $40 million in cash and no debt. With a market cap below $300 million this new technology leader is blazing new trails in tracking and securing content usage and adding expanded content offerings to traditional media and commerce. Digimarc looks like a nice acquisition candidate for a large technology/security company and a company that can grow on its own merits into a much larger technology leader in the new digital economy.

Securing the Transaction

One obvious issue arising from the transition to mobile commerce is security. We have discussed securing content and the wireless transmission of the transaction between device and receiver but now we need to secure the consumer. This is where I am looking to biometrics; Authentec (AUTH) offers the smallest fingerprint reader with navigation capabilities for mobile devices. This is one of the last public biometric security companies left after recent acquisitions of both L1 Identity (ID) and Cogent (COGT) both at significantly higher valuations.

Authentec has lagged in the past but I believe this is about to change. The majority of commercial activity in the biometric space to this point has been large scale commercial or government deployments for securing agencies or organizations. The consumer market for these devices has been negligible. Now that is about to change as the consumer is faced with new options like mobile wallets in cell phones that require an added layer of security. This is where Authentec is well positioned.

Analysts believe revenues will grow 55% next year to about $70 million. Management has already indicated it expects momentum to build in 2011 as design wins start to come to fruition. Being one of the last independent publicly traded biometric companies, with strong projected growth, it may not stay independent for long. Either way the need to secure new NFC enabled mobile devices for consumer transactions should drive growth for Authentec and the share price significantly higher.