Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future: Smartsoft

Showing posts with label Smartsoft. Show all posts

Mobile Retailing News Weekly - Week of May 16, 2011

The Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

SAP is expected to launch the latest version of what it calls the Sybase Unwired Platform at its annual customer and partner event in Orlando, Florida this week. This includes 19 mobile apps for businesses covering areas such as sales, finance, procurement and human resources. Read More

Pyramid Research estimates that the number of mobile banking users in Latin America will grow 65 percent between 2010 and 2015, from around 18 million users to over 140 million users. Read More

PayPal expects to process more than $2 billion in mobile payments this year, which is nearly three times the amount it processed in 2010. Read More

According to TNS research, the use of mobile wallet technology amongst U.K. consumers has more than doubled in the last 12 months with more than one in ten people now making payments via a mobile device. Read More

Visa is building a digital wallet that people can use to purchase items online or with their phones instead of with traditional cards. Read More

According to a GfK NOP report, debit and credit card holders seem to be attracted to the idea of mobile payment services. Read More

Pyxis Mobile provides an agile, powerful, and secure mobile enterprise application platform. It enables rapid cross-platform application development, unlimited data integration, enterprise-grade security, and the unique ability to change and update applications in real time. This newsletter is sponsored in part by Pyxis Mobile, http://pyxismobile.com/.

According to Berg Insight, by 2015 there will be 900 million people using mobile banking on their phones. Read More

Google is gearing up for a launch of its Mobile Wallet project, which enables smartphone based NFC payments. Google plans to release the product first in Europe, where the competition is heating up, according to a Marketing Week report. Read More

In countries like the U.S., China and Brazil mobile banking users have increased over 100 percent in the past year. Read More

Asians are more likely than people elsewhere in the world to use their mobile phones to do their banking and to shop online. Read More

Recent Articles by Kevin Benedict

Today is Mobility Tuesday at SAP's SAPPHIRENOW 2011!!!
Kevin Benedict's Mobility Photos from SAPPHIRE Now 2011
Mobile Expert Video Series: Vivido Labs' Steve Cameron
Mobile Expert Video Series: K2 Partnering's Paul Andrew
Mobile Business App Store? Clicksoftware Says Yes!
Mobile Expert Video Series: Bord GAIS' Michael Cahill
Mobile Expert Video Series: ClickSoftware's Shamayun Miah
Mobile Expert Video Series: Sourcevolution's Pierre-Paul Samson
Mobile Expert Video Series: Syclo's Raj Singh
Mobile Expert Video Series: Philips' Divya Mahajan
Mobile Expert Video Series: IDC Research's Nic McQuire

Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Networked Field Services

Webinars of Note

3 Critical Considerations for Embracing Mobile CRM
Exclusive SAP Mentor and Blogger Briefing: Syclo and SAP Deliver Mobile Apps on Sybase Unwired Platform
The Future of Enterprise Mobility
The Latest m-Business Trends and How the Onslaught of Mobile Devices Affects Development Strategies
The Real-Time Mobile Enterprise: The Benefits of Rapid, Easy Access
Redstone Arsenal's (DOD/Chugach) 3 Maintenance Challenges Solved by Mobile

You can follow me on Twitter @krbenedict and read my blog, Enterprise Mobility Strategies.

I have added a feature to my blog site that supports email subscriptions. You can now receive all blog articles directly via email. If you are interested, click here.

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Retailing News Weekly - Week of May 9, 2011

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

Berg Insight estimates that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market was €1.72 billion in 2009. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent, the mobile ad market is forecasted to be worth €13.5 billion in 2015.

http://www.pr.com/press-release/302541

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The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and c|net amongst others, have reported that the number of searches coming from mobile devices and apps now accounts for nearly 20 percent of the total number of shopping searches.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/238262

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Amazon sold $1 billion worth of goods last year via mobile devices, while eBay did $2 billion on mobile devices, seeing a sale every second during the fourth quarter of last year.

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2275026/google-mobile-search-ecommerce

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comScore researchers found that 36 percent of U.S. consumers browsed the mobile web in 2010 while 34 percent accessed the mobile web through an application.

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Money News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read M2M News Monthly

Forrester forecasts that marketing spending on mobile display ads and search will surpass $1 billion in 2011. That means marketers are set to find quantifiable ROI (return on investment) on mobile for generating real leads, driving foot traffic, and selling products and services.

http://memeburn.com/2011/02/mobile-marketing-and-m-commerce-is-where-the-money-is-moving/

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More and more brands are directing resources to mobile advertising, according to a new survey from DM2 Media and Jumptap. According to the study, nearly 85 percent of marketers are doing some form of mobile marketing or advertising.

http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/raw/?p=5770

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More and more companies are using mobile marketing to reach consumers, but the latest research suggests they may need to change their tactics. According to a study by Frost and Sullivan, tablets are a threat to both smartphones and netbooks.

http://www.dma.org.uk/news/nws-dmitem.asp?id=6438&t=Mobile+marketing%3A+Tablets+are+threat+to+smartphones

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VeriFone Systems, Inc. the leading payment solutions provider in the U.S., has urged aspiring mobile payment service companies to engage with retailers in determining market requirements to enable mobile phone-initiated payments and services at the retail point of sale.

Santa Goes Mobile this Holiday Season

Holiday shopping reports show that sales are going mobile like never before. When comparing the number of mobile transactions between 2009 and 2010, we find there is a rapid increase in shopping from mobile devices. Retail is just one of many markets being revolutionized by mobile applications.

PayPal reported a 300 percent increase in online sales this holiday season compared to 2009, and a 27 percent increase in mobile transactions on Black Friday alone. Total mobile sales are expected to double to $3.4 billion from $1.4 billion in 2009. There is still time for more mobile shopping before Christmas that will make these numbers even more impressive.

The continued popularity and record sales of iPhones and iPads, plus the explosive growth of Android powered devices this year has added fuel to the growth in mobile shopping.

Mobile Retailing and NFC - Near Field Communications

The host of our CIO Council, Chris Albinson of Panorama Capital, today predicted that within one year mobile money will be on everyone's radar. I asked for more details from several experts over dinner this evening and they predicted that iPhone 5 will have embedded NFC (near field communication) chips. Google will announce mobile payment strategies, and so will other big players in the mobile money space like PayPal. NFC are chips that can communicate personal data when they touch POS (point of sale) sensors.

What does this mean for enterprises in the retail space? Who knows! All I know is that everything from POS systems, to banking systems, EDI transactions and credit and debit card systems will be impacted. Your smartphone will likely become your wallet. The chip in the smartphone will uniquely identify you and provide you with the ability to pay for all kinds of things by just touching your smartphone to a counter top sensor.

Mobile Retailing Apps

Most significant mobile applications are integrated with a powerful database application. At the SAP TechEd conference last week SAP demonstrated an iPad business solution that considered the weather forecast in various regions as indicators of sales. At TecEd I also met with Ed Krufka, EVP of Solution Services at Smartsoft Mobile Solutions. He shared some of the complexity of applications he has been working on in the mobile retailing space.

These mobile applications are powered by sophisticated business intelligence solutions that are used to help sell more products to retail customers. They use knowledge of the customer's history, buying patterns, the weather, locations etc., to change and customize the content on mobile applications.

The New York Times, Starbucks and Other Retail Locations that Need Mobile Applications

I was in Starbucks with my family this evening. The only thing unusual about this was that it was the evening. As I stood in line waiting to order I noticed nine New York Times that remained in the rack. No one is going to buy a Sunday edition on Monday, so these were retail products that were also perishable. This reminded me of a project that I was involved in a few years ago with a newspaper company.

Kevin’s Mobile Retailing News Weekly – September 21, 2010

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retail applications, mobile payments and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Archived editions of Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly are available at here.

You can follow me on Twitter @krbenedict and read my blog, Enterprise Mobility Strategies for SAP and Others.

Also available are Kevin’s M2M News Weekly and Kevin’s Mobility News Weekly.

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I have added a feature to my blog site that supports email subscriptions. You can now receive all blog articles directly via email. If you are interested, click here.

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Restaurants, retailers and other small businesses with storefronts are embracing location based social networks – think Foursquare or Facebook Inc.'s Places – to woo customers and keep them coming back.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597204575483832278936028.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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Smartsoft Mobile empowers some of the world’s largest multi-national organizations to extend and improve business processes by providing mobile solutions to their employees and customers. Smartsoft has more than 700 experienced ERP/mobile consultants with over 5,000 man years of experience helping 400,000 plus mobile users achieve their business goals with powerful mobile B2B and B2C applications, designed and developed specifically for today’s popular consumer and industrial grade mobile devices. For more information please visit, http://www.smartsoftmobile.com/. This newsletter is sponsored in part by Smartsoft Mobile Solutions.

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Macy’s has taken steps to improve customers’ shopping experience in store and on the go via enhanced mobile offerings. The company and its upscale sister store Bloomingdale’s have optimized their e-commerce sites, so when consumers enter it via their mobile device, they can view larger and clearer images.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/macy’s-aims-for-customer-satisfaction-via-new-mobile-technology-adoption/

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Shopkick has made quite a name for itself in recent months. The location based iPhone app recognizes when users are near a retail store, and then offers rewards for coming closer to it and bigger rewards for stepping inside.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/09/09/mobile-app-rewards-shoppers-entering-store

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The business model seems simple enough: Convince merchants to offer steep discounts in exchange for a guaranteed stampede of customers. That is the premise of the wildly successful social couponing Web site Groupon, which in less than two years has 18 million subscribers and spawned a host of imitators; but some businesses that advertise through the site are learning that there can be too much of a good thing.

http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/rss.jsp?rssid=601&item=+http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fwp-syndication%2farticle%2f2010%2f09%2f17%2fAR2010091707048_mobile.xml+&cid=573&spf=1

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According to a new report from ABI Research, location based marketing will increase from only about $43 million this year to $1.8 billion by 2015 as part of overall mobile marketing budgets.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=135110

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For all the hype and attention location based services are getting these days, only 1 in 25 Americans have ever tried one, and only 1 out of 100 use them weekly, according to a recent survey by Forrester Research.

http://venturebeat.com/2010/08/30/location-based-services-survey/

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Consumers are flocking to smartphones and the apps that run on them as fervently as mobile technology investors had hoped; but so far, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android users have shown a preference for applications that extend well known Web properties, rather than apps that have appeared for mobile devices only.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/09/15/which-mobile-apps-are-poised-for-success/

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The decision by the largest regional mall owner in the country to embrace a smartphone application marked a new stage in the rapidly unfolding evolution of mall marketing.

http://retailtrafficmag.com/management/marketing/owners_keep_pace_marketing_09072010/

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By now consumers have become very accustomed to using their Smartphone as a personal global positioning system. It was not long ago that companies like TomTom and Garmin thrived selling GPS devices as a stand-alone tool. It is funny how fast technology caught up with these companies. Along came the huge growth in consumer grade Smartphones, such as the iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, and Windows devices. Consumers now had a GPS in their pocket that can give directions for driving, walking or even using public transit systems.

http://smartsoftmobile.com/wordpress/2010/09/21/mobile-geo-location-tools-for-applications-and-their-usage-in-retailing/

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From sticking to a budget to finding the best price on literally billions of items, these 20 mobile shopping apps for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry will save you both time and money. Whether you prefer to shop online or at a brick-and-mortar retail store, these apps maximize quality while minimizing cost.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2010/09/20/20-best-mobile-apps-for-saving-money

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Bharti Airtel has become the first telecom player to be issued a semi closed wallet licence by the Reserve Bank of India.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/business/rbi-allows-airtel-offer-limited-mobile-banking-147

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Technological advances have made it easier for consumers to stay on top of their finances by enabling them to easily check how much money is in their bank accounts and manage their funds.

http://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Finance/Article/Keep_eye_on_current_account_with_mobile_phone_banking-105321.html

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Mobile technologies can evolve customer experiences with in store navigation, product searches, digital shopping lists, in store coupons, reviews and more.

http://mobile-barcode.tmcnet.com/topics/mobile-barcode-innovations/articles/102091-delivering-rewarding-retail-experiences.htm

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Zappli Inc. announced the launch of myShopanion, a mobile social shopping solution, available as a free download at the iPhone App Store. myShopanion is a mobile shopping advisor that lets consumers access extensive information on millions of products, share shopping insights with friends, and buy at the best price.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-mobile-solution-turns-all-shopping-social-102831909.html

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PlacePop, a company that allows any company to create and maintain virtual loyalty cards, launched its iPhone app today. It also announced fresh funding of $1.4 million from a number of angel investors.

http://venturebeat.com/2010/07/30/placepop-launches-mobile-loyalty-programs/

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CardStar’s loyalty card smartphone app — also available on iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices — has made that a scene from the past, though certainly not a simpler time. Consumers can manage their collection of retailer and brand discount cards through the app, which boasts 19 retail categories and 700 merchants.

http://www.adotas.com/2010/08/cardstar-brings-loyalty-programs-to-ipad/

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Best Buy Co., Inc., a leading retailer of consumer electronics, has announced it plans to bring a location based retail experiment, using the "shopkick" mobile application rewards system, to 257 U.S. stores by October 1. Best Buy will examine the ways in store shoppers value and redeem offers and rewards through their smartphones.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/best-buy-to-launch-location-based-retail-experiment-in-257-us-stores-2010-08-16?reflink=MW_news_stmp

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Another company has launched a location based mobile phone application that aims to encourage consumers to make repeat visits to bricks-and-mortar merchants.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/09/16/placepop-launches-geolocation-app-consumers

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Recent articles from Kevin Benedict’s blog Enterprise Mobility Strategies for SAP and Others

Mobile Retailing - Macy's and Bloomingdale's Mobile Applications Strategies

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

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27 Questions to Ask a Company Preparing an Enterprise Mobility Strategy

There are enterprise mobile application vendors like Clicksoftware that focus on supporting the needs of SAP customers that have mobile workers in rugged outdoor environments, and there are companies like Smartsoft Mobile Solutions that focus on supporting the needs of large and global retailers that use SAP and want customer facing mobile solutions to sell more products. These environments can be very different from each other. How do you know where to start when developing an enterprise mobility strategy?

If you are an enterprise mobile applications vendor, a member of an IT organization or a systems integrator that is working with a client to help them develop an enterprise mobility strategy, then it would be useful to have a few questions to get the discussions started. The following list of 27 questions is a good start, but I believe it is still an incomplete list. I am sure I have missed important questions, so please click on the "comments" icon below and add to the list.

What business processes are you considering mobilizing?
What ERPs or business applications are involved?
What are your preferred integration strategies?
What business units or departments are involved? Is this a corporate project or departmental?
What are your priorities for mobilizing business processes? Which ones first, second, third?
How many people will be using these mobile applications?
What are the roles and responsibilities of the mobile users?
What are their working environments? Hot, cold, wet, dusty, underground, on a power pole?
Will they always have internet connectivity or do they need offline support as well?
What are the expected ROIs?
What is the desired timeline?
Do you have business process diagrams developed for these solutions? If so, can we review prior to our meeting?
What is your one to three year roadmap for enterprise mobility?
Do you have existing mobile enterprise solutions? If so, please describe.
What are your mobile device or smartphone preferences?
Do you need an SDK (software development kit) to customize and/or edit your own mobile applications?
Do you want to develop your own mobile application in-house, buy off-the-shelf or contract with a third party for a custom mobile application?
If you want to develop in-house, are your stakeholders patient enough to wait for the final product? What are the costs to the business of not delivering on time?
If you develop in-house, who will support new versions of the mobile operating systems and new mobile devices?
Which business unit will budget to pay for upgrades to mobile operating systems and mobile devices? They change every few months? Do you really have developers that will be available for all of these updates and upgrades?
How will you support it? What is the plan for supporting mobile applications and mobile devices?
What countries will be using it?
What data plans does the company want to use in each country?
How will you manage the data plans?
What is the policy for replacing missing or damaged mobile devices?
Which business unit will pay for lost devices and data plans?
What is the process for approving mobile access to ERPs and business processes?

There are many more questions that will be asked and answered once there is a formal strategy and project, but this high level list is intended to get an IT organization thinking about some of the bigger issues and priorities before drilling down into specific mobile application project requirements.

Let me know if you would like me to help your organization think through these issues. I have a bit of experience in this area.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Kevin’s Mobile Retailing Weekly – September 14, 2010

Kevin's Mobile Retailing News Weekly is an online newsletter that is made up of the most interesting news, articles and links related to mobile retailing applications, mobile payments and mobile marketing applications that I run across each week. I am specifically targeting market size and market trend information.

Additional weekly newsletters on the subjects of enterprise mobility and M2M from Kevin Benedict can be found here http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/.

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ABN AMRO, ING, KPN, Rabobank, T-Mobile and Vodafone have signed a letter of intent to jointly introduce point of sale mobile payments in the Netherlands.

http://www.nfcnews.com/2010/09/10/banks-telecoms-unite-to-bring-contactless-m-payment-to-the-netherlands

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Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and the iPhone’s iOS may be the lead operating systems battling it out for smartphone supremacy, but when it comes to getting users around the world to click on ads, good old flip phones and Nokia’s Symbian OS powered phones beat them hands down.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/mobile-ads/

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PayPal has been partnering up with companies like Google for mobile payments, and it is expecting to see some huge business before the year’s end. More specifically, PayPal expects to see approximately $500 million in mobile payments before 2011.

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/09/09/paypal-expects-to-close-2010-with-500-million-in-mobile-payments/

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Smartsoft Mobile empowers some of the world’s largest multi-national organizations to extend and improve business processes by providing mobile solutions to their employees and customers. Smartsoft has more than 700 experienced ERP/mobile consultants with over 5,000 man years of experience helping 400,000 plus mobile users achieve their business goals with powerful mobile B2B and B2C applications, designed and developed specifically for today’s popular consumer and industrial grade mobile devices. For more information please visit, http://www.smartsoftmobile.com/. This newsletter is sponsored in part by Smartsoft Mobile Solutions.

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Consumers in the Netherlands will be using smartphones as mobile wallets within two years as result of a joint venture between top banks and mobile operators.

http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=458487

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MasterCard Worldwide today announced an agreement with Borderlinx, the international industry leader in global cross border e-commerce shopping, in order to offer MasterCard customer financial institutions and their cardholders around the world improved access to the global e-commerce marketplace and facilitate the flow of electronic commerce.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mastercard-and-borderlinx-collaborate-to-enhance-e-commerce-experience-around-the-world-2010-08-30?reflink=MW_news_stmp

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About 29 percent of consumers said they planned to use their phones to power through their back to school shopping lists, according to a survey this summer by consulting firm Deloitte.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/28/AR2010082800191.html

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Google and Apple are both making moves to ensure smooth financial transactions on their mobile platforms.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-Apple-Joust-for-Mobile-Payments-Via-Android-iPhone-507837/

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Mobile Commerce is just beginning to demonstrate how tricky it can get. Barnes & Noble announced new versions of its free e-reader app for the iPhone and iPad. The app has most of the features of Barnes & Noble’s Nook tablet e-reader. One feature is notably absent: the Nook’s ability to let users read anything in Barnes & Noble’s electronic inventory when the device is inside one of the book chain’s 723 stores.

http://www.storefrontbacktalk.com/e-commerce/is-barnes-nobles-fear-of-ipad-competition-stunting-its-m-commerce-effort/

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Mobile commerce can mean many things to many different people, thus creating confusion within an organization. In the first installment of a series on m-commerce, we provide a definition, and discuss must have functionality within m-commerce.

http://smartsoftmobile.com/wordpress/2010/09/10/m-commerce-a-definition/

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Intuit and mophie have teamed on a credit card swiping iPhone accessory called Complete Credit Card Solution that will allow any approved iPhone owner to walk out of an Apple store in as little as 15 minutes with the ability to accept credit card payments.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/08/intuit-squares-off-in-mobile-credit-with-a-little-help-from-apple/

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Online grocer Peapod LLC has introduced PeapodMobile, a mobile app that enables shoppers to shop for groceries and complete purchases wherever they may be.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/09/13/mobile-grocery-cart

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Starting in September, Bank of America customers will be eligible for a test program allowing them to pay for store purchases using their smartphones. The country's largest consumer bank is partnering with Visa to run the pilot in the New York area, marking the biggest step the two companies have taken so far to create a "digital wallet" with a range of financial capabilities.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226900097

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VeriFone Systems Inc. said Wednesday it has acquired Way Systems Inc., expanding the company's presence on cell phones and other mobile gadgets.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HV5JPG0.htm

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According to Juniper Research, the value of digital and physical goods that people buy through their mobile phones will more than double to $200 billion globally by 2012. Separately, Gartner has projected the number of mobile payment users worldwide will reach 108.6 million this year -- a 54.5 percent increase from the 70 million in 2009.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=134484

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Starbucks was an early player in mobile payments, and has repeatedly made counterintuitive moves. By developing an app for Research In Motion Ltd.'s devices at a time when most banks are focused on Apple Inc.'s iPhone or phones that use Google Inc.'s Android operating system, Starbucks appears to be acknowledging that people who might want to use their phones for purchases often carry company issued BlackBerrys.

http://www.americanbanker.com/bulletins/-1025192-1.html

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Everyone needs an iPhone app it seems, even e-commerce sites, but most shopping sites don’t want to bother with creating their own custom mobile app. Now we are starting to see white-label mobile e-commerce apps. Magento Commerce , which raised $22 million in March for its open-source e-commerce platform, is getting into the mobile game with white-label apps for existing customers who use its e-commerce backend.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/08/magento-mobile/

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MasterCard plans to buy European payment provider DataCash for $520 million. The move is just the latest indication of how hot the e-commerce space has become.

http://web-self-service.tmcnet.com/topics/mobile-answers/articles/95903-mastercard-opens-its-digital-wallet-with-520m-datacash.htm

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For most retailers, the fourth quarter is relied upon to generate a substantial portion of the company’s yearly revenue. The mobile commerce market is currently $2.5B with a projected four times annual growth rate for 2013. Businesses have made mobility a top priority for growth and view m-commerce as a new retail channel.

http://smartsoftmobile.com/wordpress/2010/09/10/fourth-quarter-2010-trends-in-mobile-retailing/

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MarketsandMarkets has released a new report predicting that the value of mobile payment transactions in the US will reach $56 billion in 2015.

http://www.nfcnews.com/2010/08/30/report-us-mobile-payments-market-to-reach-56-billion-in-2015

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In a survey of 1,000 professionals around the world released by Netsize (a subsidiary of smart card maker Gemalto), 94 percent said they were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to purchase goods totaling up to $31.50 using their mobile phones.

http://www.banktech.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227200033&cid=RSSfeed_BankTech_News

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New technologies will pit payment giants Visa and MasterCard against wireless carriers and start-ups in a race to create a platform that allows consumers to purchase goods, distribute money and manage accounts using only their smartphones. The stakes transcend the technology and strike at the heart of who will retain market dominance over $6.70 trillion in payment transactions.

http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=4704

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WorldMate released its mobile personal travel service app on the Android platform. The free WorldMate for Android app offers itinerary management, hotel bookings, alerts for flights and meetings, Google Maps, currency conversion and 5-day weather forecasts.

http://www.tnooz.com/2010/09/14/mobile/worldmate-puts-its-mobile-travel-assistant-app-on-android/

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Leading online travel company Yatra.com and Sony Ericsson came together to launch a new mobile phone application - 'Travel Buddy' - which will allow Sony Ericsson Xperia users to book tickets anytime, anywhere.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Yatra-com--Sony-Ericsson-launch---Travel-Buddy--/679044

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You can read more about enterprise mobility at the blog site,
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/.

Mobile Expert Interview – Dan Homrich, Part 1
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2010/09/mobile-expert-interview-series.html

Mobile Expert Interview – Dan Homrich, Part 2
http://mobileenterprisestrategies.blogspot.com/2010/09/mobile-expert-interview-series_10.html

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join SAP Enterprise Mobility on Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2823585&trk=anet_ug_grppro
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

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Mobile Expert Interview Series: Smartsoft Mobile Solutions' CEO Dan Homrich, Part 2

This is part 2 of an interview that I did with Smartsoft Mobile Solutions' CEO Dan Homrich. You can read part 1 here.

Kevin: What are some of the most interesting mobile applications that you have seen recently?

Dan: I have seen some very interesting mobile business intelligence applications that give the user very specific information based upon their GPS coordinates. Where are my customers relative to my location? I love mobile applications that provide just the information I need, when I need it, Mobile Business Intelligence applications with dashboards that show exactly what the user needs. I have also seen iPhone applications that utilize barcodes to do things that only industrial grade handheld computers could do in the past. I am a big fan of mobile applications that take the mobile user's perspective, rather than an office out perspective.

Kevin: What are some of the most unusual mobile applications you have seen?

Dan: A construction level and measuring stick mobile application. In the mobile applications I love category, I would add the Pandora music application and the CNBC real time application.

Kevin: When is a consumer grade mobile application sufficient for a mobile worker, and when is a ruggedized or industrial grade mobile device needed?

Dan: It is the working environment that determines it. How much money does the company have available to invest in devices? How much water and dust are in the working environment? What is the working environment temperature? What is the drop rating requirement? What are the expectations of the users? What does the user believe they need? Do you need a high volume scanning device that has large batteries that can last all day? All of these issues must be considered.

Kevin: What is the most complex enterprise mobility application that you have seen?

Dan: I have seen a DSD (direct store delivery) mobile application with 350 different screens. It was used in an offline mode by 4,835 delivery people. Since there was not a real time connection to SAP, it required a complete mobile version of the SAP pricing module. Yikes!

Kevin: What are some of the biggest challenges you see in enterprise mobility today?

Dan: The need to make internet connectivity truely ubiquitous. Educating the market and demystifying mobility. Helping customers develop a mobile strategy.

Kevin: What strategies do you see the big ERP vendors taking toward mobility?

Dan: They are taking a self-serving view of mobility. They are not taking into consideration that many companies have multiple ERPs and business applications. ERP vendors are concerned only with mobilizing themselves, not their customers' enterprise.

Kevin: What is missing from most MEAPs (mobile enterprise application platforms) today?

Dan: Missing today is a good understanding of the differences between the world of smartphones and the world of industrial mobile handheld computers. (SLAP MY FOREHEAD - I should have asked a follow-up question. Obviously, I am no Larry King.)

Kevin: Where does Smartsoft Mobile Solutions fit into the enterprise mobility ecosystem?

Dan: Smartsoft Mobile Solutions has a very strong focus on supporting business to consumer (B2C) mobile applications. We look for opportunities to provide very fast ROIs. Often mobile micro-applications (light weight mobile applications) can provide big value quickly and be used by large numbers of people. Companies are wanting to stay in close touch with their partners and with their customer base with mobile applications.

Kevin: What can we expect to see from Smartsoft Mobile Solutions over the next few Quarters?

Dan: A big focus on helping our customers communicate better with their customer bases.

I want to thank Dan for sharing his thoughts and insights with all of us!

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
Phone +1 208-991-4410
twitter @krbenedict
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Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

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