January-12--2012-Mobile-Marketing-and-Technology-Newsletter

This weeks Newsletter is Sponsored By Arent Fox

In This Issue

Mobile App Consumption Mirrors Video Consumption, in Terms of Screen Preferences
Who Are the Top 10 Power Influencers in Mobile?
Free Conferencing Calling From Mobile Marketing and Technology

Also in This Issue

The next Mobile Payments Conference is going to be in San Jose, CA in the spring of 2012 at the Fairmont Hotel.

You can now register online at
Register Here

PayPal to be Added to POS Terminals

January 11th, 2012 | Author: Gary Kim

PayPal is partnering with AJB Software, a company that provides point-of-sale software to large brick and mortar retailers, to integrate the online payments giant’s technology into their offerings. PayPal POS effort

AJB basically provides a communications gateway that connects a retailer’s point-of-sale system with financial institutions. Over 140 large-scale retailers including Kohl’s and BestBuy use AJB’s software to manage payments. In a nutshell, the partnership allows an easy way for big box retailers to offer consumers a way to pay via PayPal in their stores.

AJB will build a native PayPal interface within its integrated payment solutions platform. The integration with AJB’s offerings will roll out in the first quarter of this year, says the companies.

Simple Mobile Payments, Wallet Solutions Might be Better

January 7th 2012 | Author: Gary Kim

Selling new technology to small businesses really is not as simple as it might appear. For starters, smart people come up with solutions that might be clever, but the sales process and value might simply not work in many small business markets. One example might be “analytics.”

Most small businesses simply do not have time to worry about how to use analytics, many would argue.

“I spend a lot of time talking with small businesses and entrepreneurs who are trying to sell into small businesses,” says Rocky Agrawal, principal analyst at reDesign Mobile. “That’s not how they run their business.” how to sell to a restaurant

“I’ve met with business owners who run daily deals that don’t use computers on a regular basis,” says Agrawal. “In some cases, they can’t even tell if a voucher was redeemed because tracking is done with pencil and paper.”

Jonas Luster knows the restaurant business, and points out that restaurant owners are bombarded by companies selling “solutions” that do not seem to have been developed with any deep understanding of how a restaurant works. Not enough value, too little time

It almost certainly will not be the case always, but right now, some of the best success stories are about mobile payment or mobile wallet solutions that lean less on creating a huge new ecosystem and more on using available, simple technology. The Starbucks mobile payment app is among the best examples.

Square is the other excellent example, using a simple dongle and a user’s iPhone or iPad to create a payment terminal anywhere the device can get mobile signal.

Square “just works” with widely-used credit cards, iPhones and iPads. You plug the Square dongle into the iPhone or iPad and it works.

The technology is not the innovation. Square offers an easy-to-use and simple solution to a clear payment problem.

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Dear Readers,

I would like to send a personal congratulations to our Editor in Chief Gary Kim. He is the recipient of the Forbes #2 most powerful influencers in the mobile space. He is a key player in getting the show as successful as it is. Don't forget to mark your calendars for the next show in San Jose!! www.mobilepaymentsshow.com

Show Name: Mobile Payment Conference Spring 2012
Date: March 8-9
Location: San Jose, CA
Hotel: Fairmont Hotel - 170 South Market Street San Jose, California 95113

Marla Ellerman
www.mobilepaymentsshow.com

Mobile Payment Conference Spring 2012 - Speaker Request

We are searching for the best and most knowledgeable people to speak at the Mobile Payment Conference 2012 Spring Edition. If you or anybody you know is interested in getting involved, please let us know immediately. Each year our educational content gets better and better. We would like to hear from you if you are an expert in this field.

Please contact

Nannette Jordan, MP Associates Inc. 303-530-4562 ext. 116

Marla Ellerman, MMTmagonoilne.com 602-315-8808 - marla@mmtmagonline.com

www.mobilepaymentsshow.com

Mobile App Consumption Mirrors Video Consumption, in Terms of Screen Preferences

January 11st, 2012 | Author: Gary Kim

Most people, when watching video, will use the biggest screen they have available. One suspects that is the developing behavior with mobile apps, mobile web and mobile commerce as well. Though there are useful things a person can do on a smart phone, application consumption is generally easier on a tablet. I still find content creation an undesirable experience on a tablet, though. Touch interfaces are great for simple “do this” operations, but are too much work for content creation.

That means the experiences will, over time, become tailored: different user operations favored on phones; separate operations for tablets. Operations requiring data entry are going to gravitate to tablets, especially those dealing with payment and money transfer operations, because of the danger of “fat finger” mistakes on small screens.