relevant trendsto consider in 2011 a look backprepared by

SUNG H. CHANG

MAGNUS BLAIR

CAMPBELL CANNON

Originally Prepared: February 16, 2011

Updated: January 10, 2012

1/10/12

1. Social Commerce

2. Social Design

3. Social Gaming

4. Social Networking Hubs

5. Launching a Product via Social Media

6. Personal Cloud

7. Personalized OOH

8. Location Based Marketing

9. TV is Still Alive

10.Entertainment Hubs

11.Apple Overreach

12.Consumerism of IT

13.Scan Everything

14.Apps Beyond Mobile

15.Mobile Payments

16.Near Field Communications

top trends for 2011

1/10/12

social commerce

1/10/12

While consumers have always looked out for special offers and discounts, new

technologies, such as location-based applications, means that 2011 will see heavy

emphasis by marketers on pricing. More consumers are constantly connected, and

when they hear about new deals online, can quickly and easily spread them

through their social networks. Increasingly, consumers will be part of exclusive

networks or groups to either receive special deals or demand them.

 There is also a shift in the status of being frugal. Old fashioned coupon clipping

required planning and dedication, hence it wasn't that popular with consumers

more interested in the here and now. Cue sites like Groupon, Living Social and

Facebook. Now deals are a near-effortless online activity. Whipping out one’s

smartphone at the counter, getting the latest deal via GPS, or barcode scanning is

seen as smart and therefore a source of status rather than shame.

SUMMARY:

social commercepricing pandemonium

2011 provided an onslaught of daily deals sites with more than 300 daily-deal

sites. In addition to Groupon, we saw Gilt get into daily deals along with big

brands such as Amazon, eBay, American Express, Microsoft and Google. And

then the clones hit for niche audiences such as food (Savored), pets

(PetSimply), gluten-intolerant (Gluten-Free Deals), gay (Daily Pride) and small-

business (GroupPrice).

But because there are so many options doesn’t mean people believe in them

nor that they work well. Facebook bowed out of their deals offering and Yelp

cut its sales staff in half. Groupon had many misadventures with retailers but

none worse then with their investors. They went public at $20/share, quickly

rose to $31 and then sank to $15 (currently at $17.81). And they’ve managed to

label themselves as a remnant of the Dot-Com days.

But what about our consumers? The deals are only good depending on the

retail partner and a Rice University study showed that 32% of businesses lost

money on Groupon promotions.

One of the more successful tie-ins has been with American Express and

Foursquare. Rather than dealing with the typical printed offer, all it takes is a

Foursquare check-in, connecting your account with your Amex account and

the savings are automatically deducted. Not so much social upfront, but more

people share/tweet/like this post-event versus being social about the upfront

purchasing which is a better model for social commerce.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

social design

1/10/12

social design

The web has already disintermediated and unleashed collective creativity online;

but largely within media that naturally exist on the web, such as video, flash and

audio.The next stage is to enable the creation of real world objects, products. Even

businesses.

Kickstarter has individual projects that have received over $1mm in funding. Quirky

is making strong progress in the realm of social product design, having closed

partnership deals with Bed, Bath, and Beyond and HSN.

As the technology gets more affordable, 3D printers are coming into mainstream

use, allowing users to create everything from jewelry to lamps to homes (a Los

Angeles company is developing a printer capable of making a house). Simply send

a file to a 3D printer, choose from a range of materials (resin, glass, silver, etc.) and

receive the product shortly thereafter. Pioneering Dutch startup Shapeways has

moved its headquarters to NewYork; HP is selling a 3D printer; Google’s SketchUp

software helps users turn designs into printable objects (as well as crowd-sourcing

building modeling for GoogleEarth).

A critical part of Shapeways, as well as equivalents like Ponoko and Spoonflower

(for fabric design only) is to allow members not only to make things for themselves,

but also to sell their designs to others.

SUMMARY:2011 was the year that crowdfunding came of age. We made our prediction

based upon more people having the opportunity to create versus the

revolution that precedes this, which is to support the people who create.

Kickstarter, as well as IndieGoGo led the charge. By Q2 2011, Kickstarter users

had pledged more than $53mm for 20,371 projects. And that number is on

schedule to triple by Q2 2012. That will mean more products designed for the

community, funded by the community and used and shared by all.

Even though our write-up was solely on physical product designs, we’re now

experiencing more socially designed films, music and other non-tangible

creations.

For 2012, keep an eye on Lucky Ant, a Kickstarter for small businesses.

Customers would help support building improvements and business needs in

return for rewards. Not only will the business get what it needs, but will also

gain a ton of loyalty from their supporters.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

social gaming

1/10/12

“Culture arises in the form of play... it is played from the very beginning... Social

life is endued with supra-biological forms, in the shape of play, which enhances

its value”

- Huizenga, Homo Ludens (1938)

It’s not news, but gaming is pretty popular in social and mobile

The biggest mobile success of 2010 is unquestionably “Angry Birds”. With

repeated new levels, spin offs (“Angry Birds Seasons”) and alternative monetized

gameplays (The Mighty Eagle) it’s increasingly resembling an entertainment franchise as much as a game.

Which is why it’s interesting to see it being used for marketing: Rio’s Superbowl

tie-in to the game was blink-and-you’ll-miss it superficlal, but the upcoming

special Rio edition of the game may not be.

Worth mention as well is Bing’s tie in with Farmville that allowed it to overtake

arch-nemesis Google in Facebook fans

social gaming

SUMMARY:Android and iOS users downloaded 1.2 billion apps during the last week of

December 2011. That’s just one week alone. Angry Birds saw 6.5mm

downloads on Christmas Day alone.

And the most popular Facebook app (1/2/12) is Words with Friends, which has

7.3mm Daily Active Users and 15.7mm Monthly Active Users. Not to mention,

got Alec Baldwin kicked off a plane. And Zynga is starting 2012 with a new

game, Scramble with Friends enabling more social into their already sociable

games.

And outside of Zynga, King.com’s games on Facebook now account for 2/3 of

the 1billion game plays it records each month. Their 2012 focus is to bring

more of their games into Facebook and Google+

Also, expect more social gaming in 2012 as there will be an even tighter

integration with mobile. Not only through third party apps, but because of

changes to Facebook’s app backend, which makes playing games/apps in

Facebooks Mobile App actually, good.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

social networking hubs

1/10/12

social networking hubsdeath of the website

The rise of Facebook and YouTube as campaign destinations, brands now offer

richer engagements with million of their fans while their site traffic declines.

Furthermore, their email database and communications plans are all migrating to

social media.

Currently, only a few brands sell directly through Facebook (Victoria’s Secret,

1800Flowers.com, Delta Airlines and, most recently, JCPenney), but look for “f-

commerce” to take off in the next year. By allowing Facebook visitors to shop

without leaving the site, brands add a social influence to the transaction. Not to

mention post-sales buzz.

SUMMARY:We’ve all seen Facebook and Twitter icons in product ads and they’ve made

their way onto some product packaging. And because they’re icons, they’re

more prevalent than a url to a brand’s own website. Whether it’s working or

not isn’t so clear. 2011 saw most brands dabbling in both.

However, what made this attractive was the migration of email databases and

communications to these social hubs; albeit at a price, since the brand no

longer ‘owned’ that data and didn’t have the opportunity to directly contact

the customer. All that’s going to change in 2012.

Facebook is already testing consumer-to-brand messaging and looks like

building up their CRM tools for businesses. They’ve also incorporated e-

commerce so that anyone can now run a storefront through Facebook. But the

opportunity for a brand to engage in a one-to-one exchange with customers is

a big step forward.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

launching a productvia social media

1/10/12

launching a product via social media

Social media is changing the traditional product launch model with mass media

being used to amplify a groundswell that started in social media.

Through a continuous program of daily engagement before, during and after the

reveal, Ford achieved the following results for its new Explorer launched on

Facebook:

• 10,000 Explorer orders in the system over a month before full production

• 3x greater share of shopping lift than the average auto advertisers achieved

through Super Bowl advertising

Other brands like VitaminWater took it one step further and had their fans pick the

flavor and name of new water. Over 1mm participants.

SUMMARY:We started looking at this idea in very big terms. The Ford Explorer launch was

a massive product launch. But there haven’t been too many of these. Sure

there have been product enhancements such as new flavors, new tv spots

(who isn’t launching their tv spots on YouTube nowadays), but in regards to

launching new products, it seems it’s about smaller items. (And we’re not

talking about product leaks).

However, Books, Albums and Films take the top prize. If you think about the

digital revolution, these are the industries that have been reinvented, not by

choice but usually for the better. So it makes sense that the same culprits who

changed them should utilize social media to instigate the next level of change.

Excerpts from a new book on Twitter. Exclusive movie trailers online (The Dark

Knight trailer on iTunes broke records with 12.5mm downloads in 24 hrs). And

let’s not forget Louis C.K.’s record-setting windfall for a DRM free video.

So there’s still viral videos and online stunts that gain attention. But what

we’re looking for is making social media the primary hub for a product launch.

The opportunity social media has given to consumers is a direct connection to

the product manufacturers. But it’s important that the manufacturers actually

engage in this conversation with very worthwhile information rather than PR

dribble. Only then can you harness your community to make a big splach with

a new product.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

personal cloud

1/10/12

“Cloud” is a huge buzzword in professional IT right now

At a consumer level, we see more and more uptake of cloudish services, but also

confusion about just what the cloud actually is. Microsoft’s “To the Cloud”

advertising, where cloud pretty much means internet, is a case in point

Whether or not consumers get the language right, though, there is a huge migration

of personal content online to be accessible from all access points. Witness the

rumored launch of Google Music, Apple’s MobileMe strategy, Dropbox, ZumoCast or

players such as Pogoplug allowing you to cloudify your home data storage

All of which means that mobile devices increasingly will be used to access cloud-

stored data, and that consumer expectation will increasingly be towards a unified and seamless experience with equal access across all touchpoints. My data isn’t on

one machine; it’s on every machine.

This brings some new rules for content-handling. Engadget proposed the

“Continuous Client” last year - effectively a constant session window that follows

the user from device to device. Ironically one of the best illustrations of this is in an

ad about something completely different: the NFL.

This is where Google is going with Chrome to Phone. And it’s what users

increasingly are going to expect across their networked devices

personal cloud

SUMMARY:The notion of the Cloud was everywhere in 2011. And not because of the much

hyped iCloud service, albeit, that helped mainstream consumers understand

what a cloud is. But services such as Dropbox went mainstream and even

Enterprise, offering business solutions for teams.

Then there are services people don’t realize are from the cloud but are

ubiquitous. Netflix had one of the biggest flubs of they year, but there

business did make a dramatic shift to the cloud with about half of their

subscribers streaming movies now. Microsoft launched Office 365 where all of

your documents are stored online, but the same was a Google Docs. And

Adobe announced that their next Creative Suite of apps will all be

subscription based with strong ties into online storage.

Plus, Spotify and Rdio made big advances where it isn’t about the music that

you have but the music that you want at any given moment that you stream.

All of this helps make cloud based computing the norm. We’re back to almost

35 years ago when computers were dummy terminals to what was stored on

servers.

2012 will continue to make the cloud seamless. Acer has already announced

AcerCloud which will launch in Q2, backing up users data. And Lenovo just

announced Personal Cloud Vision. Except more proprietary cloud services to

follow.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

personalized ooh

1/10/12

personalized ooh

Most of the traditional OOH has already migrated to networked digital

technology. But more and more are being outfitted with cameras acting as

recognition engines that help alter your messaging.

Physical attributes such as age, sex even the color of clothing or hair can directly

influence the message. But it doesn’t just stop there. Since these devices are

networked, we can tie-into social networks and even sales to help make

transactions easier but also to help broadcast the OOH message online.

There’s also a movement around location based personalized OOH where

displays can create micro-communities, pitting one device’s viewer against

another. Yahoo! launched a community game in SF, where micro-communities

competed against one another all to win a block party with OK GO.

SUMMARY:Not much happened with this technology in 2011. There were a couple of PR

announcements such as the Jello for adults (utilizing a camera that

determined age) plus some amazing AR billboards, but nothing in the

mainstream that would change consumers nor media plans.

We know the technology is there, whether it’s about specific executions or

unique placements, this idea will continue to slowly evolve.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

location based marketing

1/10/12

location based marketing

Location-based marketing is fast becoming mainstream. Check-in operators such

as Foursquare, Yelp and Facebook Places aren’t new, but they have certainly

kicked-off a momentum shift towards location based apps and promotions. These

tools will fast become more appealing to everyday consumers as manual check-

ins become a thing of the past with new geo-location apps taking care of this

automatically. An example of this is Shopkick’s “signal” hardware which triggers

check-ins when users enter participating retail spaces; the app then awards points

(“kickbucks”) and offers tailored deals/rewards. A more user-directed application

of this technology is launching with Geoloqi, a hyper-customizable app that

allows users to set automatic reminders and notifications — sent to themselves

or friends — for specific locations (e.g. a grocery list pops up as the user enters a

supermarket).

 Additionally geo-targeted deals are ever-increasing as apps like Groupon, Gilt

City etc gain mass awareness and help businesses of all sizes gain customer

footfall.

SUMMARY:2011 was a big year for location based marketing. Not only were there

acquisitions (Groupon bought Whrrl, eBay bought WHERE and Facebook

bought Gowalla) and there were some notable partnerships (Foursquare and

Amex, as mentioned in the Social Commerce section).

Almost every device and app that consumers use now have the ability to

document location and by default, most of them are on, so people are

broadcasting whether they read the agreement they clicked on. One of the

easiest areas to see this is in photography. Instagram is the top publisher on

Facebook and most people geotag their locations. The opportunities for

marketers is massive.

And it’s not just outdoor locations, we’ve seen indoor location platforms such

as Shopkick, PointInside and BeeMedia do some amazing things. Not only

geotagging locations but even the products in your cart. And who wouldn’t

want that data?

It’s not just about checking-in anymore. Services to watch are Foodspotting

and Sonar. There’s a huge movement on documenting what people eat not to

mention missed connections. Both of these platforms take advantage of this.

And then there’s the aggregates. Path is definitely the next big thing to it and

could be how most of these social and location based experiences go.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

tv is still alive

1/10/12

Wasn’t TV advertising going to be killed by DVR and the internet?

Yet even teens and 20 year olds, who were expected to have abandoned TV by

now, still get most of their viewing live. Not on DVR. And very little via handset,

just yet.

So - in the right environment - they’re still reachable

But the way they watch TV is different: TV is the input to an ecosystem of content

and a source of social currency. It is consumed alongside other media and

recirculated therein

The most successful advertising campaigns will leverage this to their advantage,

with TV being part of the conversation (or the conversation starter)

tv is still alive

SUMMARY:

SOURCE: TRU Research

The big buzz for 2012 is Apple’s ‘we’re going to revolutionize the tv industry’

rumor. And it looks like the TV is back in a big way. But a very different model

than traditionally.

Since there’s a glut of inventory, TV manufacturer’s no longer view the product

the same way and any new product will have similar types of technology. The

only new innovation will be OLEDs in TVs. So, everyone will be trying to solve

the content area.

Whether it’s voice control as Xbox has launched, integrated iTV functions such

as Roku, Boxee or GoogleTV, there will continue to be a mix of digital content

versus broadcast content.

We’ll be getting a peak of that soon with Netflix’s original series Lilyhammer

which will launch soon. Not only will they be creating content, but are making

the entire series available at once versus as a weekly series. This in itself will

change our already changed viewing habits.

There’s already been articles that Super Bowl will see the return of storytelling

in more :60 buys. So it’s safe to say, TV will continue to survive.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

entertainment hubs

1/10/12

entertainment hubs

There’s a battle royale brewing in the living room, with the stakes the $70bil spent

on TV advertising (and $70bil on subscription fees) in the US each year.

Multiple entrants coming from different directions:

The cable companies - own the legacy distribution, and own the internet pipe the

others are trying to subvert

The networks / channels - own the content the consumers actually want to watch,

and want more of the revenue for it

Online content distributors (Hulu, Netflix) - want to usurp cable as IP driven

providers of content. They’re getting there - Netflix is estimated to consumer 20%

of Prime Time Net bandwidth

Equipment manufacturers - CES was full of gadgetised TV’s, TV manufacturers

sensing an opportunity to revive post-HD, post-3D TV value propositions

Apple - already there with AppleTV, albeit a ‘hobby’. Has content distribution

through iTunes already. Rumor mill suggests a serious screen to follow this year.

Google - Google TV is a platform; the business model remains a work in progress.

We’re already seeing skirmishes; the full war is soon to begin

SUMMARY:We covered a lot of this in the TV is Still Alive update. Not only will the content

battle keep brewing, the competitors will be changing. HBO has already pulled

giving discounted DVDs to Netflix as they’re now rivals: Netflix has gotten into

original content and HBO Go is a serious competitor for enjoying content.

Amazon Prime, RedBox and Netflix are now the three big kings of video. But

YouTube, Xbox and Facebook are on their tails with their own video rental

offerings, albeit limited. Xbox is even streaming live sports content. And 2012

has already begun with Warner Bros. pushing movie delays from 28 to 56

days for Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster.

So does this mean cable companies might start losing their pull? We’ll see, but

we imagine 2013 will look a lot different.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

apple overreach

1/10/12

Just because people have been erroneously predicting it for 6 years doesn’t

mean it won’t happen eventually. In certain segments Apple is now effectively

ubiquitous. These tend to be the segments - in times past - that valued

individuality. Which is probably why ColorWare has a business

Beyond ubiquity, and for all its business strength, Apple has other areas of

discord: the proprietary nature of the App Store (and the decision to delist apps

with alternative payment models), the reception issue saga on the AT&T iPhone,

the inbuilt bias of iPhone cloud functionality to MobileMe, its secretive and

oppositional relationship with the media, even its replacement of product

fasteners with unopenable bolts etc. exacerbated by the concerns about Steve

Jobs’ health

In truth, most of these are nice problems to have in the context of 25% US

smartphone share from nowhere in 4 years

Nonetheless, nobody is invulnerable to strong competition. And amongst leading

edge early adopters, there is now appetite for Apple alternatives

apple overreach

SUMMARY:For a couple of years there’s been talk of Apple’s demise due to the ‘kill of the

hill’ mentality. However, 2011 wasn’t the year for it due to the untimely death

of Steve Jobs. What happened were record sales and more importantly for

them, their PC business getting noticeable traction.

What’s interesting for 2012 is this reverse perception of the upstart Windows

Phone vs. the 5-year old behemoth iPhone.

There’s still a lot of fanboys vs. haterz discussions online and it seems that’s

where a lot of the resistance talk will continue to build. However, it wasn’t due

to brand perception that made stalwarts like Microsoft, Sony, Dell, RIM and

now even Nintendo begin their downward demise from a position of

overreach, it was mediocrity in their success or ignorance of the consumer

market.

So if Apple continues to evolve, there will always be detractors but don’t

expect a full collapse unless someone else begins filling that void.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

consumerization of it

1/10/12

consumerization of it

Another big buzzword in corporate IT - reflects the fact that in many companies,

employees have access to better, more usable technology in their personal lives

than they are provided with by their employer

Exacerbated by the entry of hyper-connected millennials into the workforce

Professional IT managers increasingly having to establish policies on new device

integration led by pressure from forces outside the IT department. Concern about

security risks, compatibility etc.

This trend will only increase within the enterprise - with tablets the next

battleground

SUMMARY:This was huge in 2011. Just look at the failure of RIM/Blackberry as the primary

example. The prosumer has been victorious in demanding corporate IT to

relinquish all control and to make changes. Whether it’s about the devices

they carry or even how certain terms are in the vernacular, it’s happened.

Is there really a business PC vs. a consumer PC if the specs are so close and

the prices are really cheap? The battleground continues to be around security

and management and it seems that every OEM has done their job, or found

solutions that will satisfy most IT workers.

Also, the consumerization of IT means that there’s no longer a rivalry between

consumers and IT but they’re finally playing for the same team, having the

same interests in mind. Even the latest Best Buy ads ask IT managers to come

into a Best Buy and allow this consumer-centric merchant be their consultants.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

scan everything

1/10/12

scan everything

Stemming on from the “Social Commerce” trend and the emergence of

promotion/communal deals, scanning codes/symbols with smartphones will

become ubiquitous. 

From simply scanning barcodes for price comparisons in real-time, to capturing

QR (quick response) codes which are two-dimensional codes that link to more

information. Scanning codes/objects is being adopted for everything from in-

store communications and loyalty offers to information points. Services like

Stickybits enable users to attach digital content (videos, links, audio, text) to

physical objects, and they’ll see virtual communities form around

these real-world items.

Apps like Google Goggles allow marketers to prompt consumers to additional

information or even purchase e.g. HTC print ads in Q4 2010 had a Google Goggles

activation where you would be directed to in-depth product feature information

or opportunity to purchase by simply photographing the full ad.

 AR (augmented reality, similar looking to QR codes) codes create an animated or

three dimensional interaction when viewed through a smart phone screen. This

will open up opportunities for brands to connect with their customers in a far

more meaningful way, however they will also have to be prepared for

consumers’ experiences around social objects to overshadow the objects

themselves.

SUMMARY:QR codes are virtually everywhere now. Whether it’s OOH or print ads, the

ability to scan for more info definitely hit it’s stride in 2011. But are people

actually scanning? Well as Forrester reports, compared to 2010, QR code usage

jumped 500%. But we’re still talking about a jump from 1% to 5%. And only

15% of all smartphone owners use a scanning app.

So it could be their ubiquity helps grow usage, but assume 2012 will see even

more prevalence of the code. But depending on how marketers pay it off will

really determine their usage.

As for Google Goggles, the limitations on control and customization of the

target are what’s hindering their implementation. As of now, an advertiser

needs to rely on Google to customize the end-landing experience versus

customizing it themselves. That’s a huge burden for many and will definitely

hurt it’s overall penetration.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

apps beyond mobile

1/10/12

apps beyond mobile

With more of our desktop activities migrating to the web, the mobile app construct

is spreading to desktop computers and browsers.

Recent developments:

• Apple launched an App Store for Macs• There are strong rumors that Apple may discontinue retail boxes for software

altogether• Google launched the Chrome Web store and Web-based Android App Store

• Amazon is developing its own app store

As consumers use more apps across multiple devices we can expect portability of

their favorite apps across all screens and consistency of experience (while making

the most of each device’s key use cases) to become increasingly important.

SUMMARY:This definitely occurred. Whether it was the Mac App Store celebrating 500m

downloads or Microsoft’s announcement that Windows 8 will have an App

Store or even Google Chrome’s web store for browser apps that helped drive

the notion of apps, or app widgets (when compared to behemoths like Adobe

or Office) as a standard.

It’s funny how the way we talk about apps have changed. No longer is it about

shareware and freeware, but about apps. All of this is leading to a bigger trend

– the importance of mobile as a primary segment versus secondary. How

language we use in the everyday for mobile devices now determine PC usage.

How more and more websites are being visited from smartphones than from

desktop browsers. And even how we interact with social networks. That’s it’s

mobile first and everything else second.

Watch in 2012 as this continues to grow. Remember when we used to talk

about websites that supported certain browsers? Now it’ll be about supporting

different devices and chances are, we won’t be talking about a stripped down

version, but one who’s features will be even more rich than their desktop

counterparts.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

mobile payments

1/10/12

mobile payments(square, facebook credits)

There’s already a trend in the financial space utilizing mobile devices to

perform some of the most mundane tasks such as depositing checks, texting

to transfer between accounts and even paying for coffee. 2011 will continue

to usher in mass digital transactions for physical goods.

With products such as the Square Reader, more retailers and services will rely less

on cash and begin adopting more mobile payment systems, empowering

salespeople to control more of sales stream, even pulling up stored data for a

more personalized service.

Furthermore, Facebook Credits and Apple’s rumored iCoin will create a new

currency for how consumers purchase beyond the browser, although they could

face the same problems that Paypal has in breaking out of the browser.

SUMMARY:As Gartner pointed out, 141 million people used a mobile device to pay for

something in 2011. That figure was a 38.2% increase from 2010. And Forrester

had predicted mobile commerce to hit $6bil in 2011.

This is more understandable if you walk into a small business in a

metropolitan area. More of these merchants are using tablets as their main

POS device. Square saw more than $1mm a day in transactions. And as

they’re getting more prevalent, this past holiday season saw the Salvation

Army rolling out Square Readers to their bell ringers in SF and NYC. And even

the Girl Scouts have utilized them, with one troop selling 400 boxes in less

than an hour thanks to the device.

Also, with the formation and eventual launch of Isis (Verizon, AT&T and T-

Mobile’s mobile payment system) as well as Google Wallet’s rollout, expect

2012 to be a momentous year for m-commerce.

UPDATE:

1/10/12

near field communications

1/10/12

near field communications

Near Field Communication (NFC) is the ideal tie-in for Mobile Payments. Android’s

Gingerbread has built-in NFC capabilities and most competitors are offering it in

their new devices along with speculation that Apple will be doing something

bigger with NFC.

But mobile payments are just one aspect of what NFC will allow. Imagine your

telephone acting as your security badge, ATM card, computer login credentials,

keys to your car. There’s a lot of potential here.

NFC enables the exchange of data within four inches from a contact point. The

chips allow phones to act as digital wallets and tickets, wirelessly send photos and

documents to printers, and pick up information from tags on ads.

SUMMARY:As mentioned on the prior trend, NFC is set to explode in 2012. 2011, however,

was more of the beta testing period as OEMs and carriers tried to determine

who should lead and what each wanted to get out of it.

Google attempted to make a big push with their Wallet system but it only

launched on a handful of devices. And while market trials and even some

retailers signed on, it’s definitely not ready to mainstream audiences. Isis will

attempt to change that. But depending on which devices will support it will be

the big licensing challenge. As with anything, rival technologies and backers

might make it difficult for consumers to determine which the eventual winner

will be. And with Visa and MasterCard on opposite teams, this might drag out.

That’s not to say that 2012 will eventually see probably half of the devices

being NFC enabled. But unless a partner takes an advantage, most OEMs and

consumers might be playing the waiting game. A lot of European banks and

telcos have already pushed NFC back to 2013.

UPDATE: