Showing posts with label mobile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile. Show all posts

Apple iPhone 6 expected to include mobile payments, NFC

The iPhone's Passbook app was a small step by Apple into the mobile-payments world. James Martin/CNET

There's more evidence Apple is diving into the world of mobile payments with its next iPhone.

Wired, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Thursday that NFC, or near-field communication, is coming to the hotly anticipated iPhone 6 and will power a new mobile-payment platform on the device. NFC allows for touchless, short-distance interaction between a mobile device and other objects, often used to allow payments at a register or a quick way for one phone to recognize another.

Amid the bevy of iPhone rumors coming out in the run-up to the smartphone's expected launch on September 9, the NFC prediction was already hinted at last month by other publications.

If these rumors are true, the change could allow Apple to catch up to its chief rival, Samsung, in offering the technology. A few years ago, Samsung highlighted the absence of NFC in iPhones when trying to pitch its Galaxy smartphones. Many of Samsung's Galaxy phones can share content such as photos or a music playlist by simply bumping the backs of the phones together. NFC can also be used to pair smartphones to other devices, such as cameras and wireless headphones and speakers, simply by placing a phone in close proximity to compatible devices.

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Wired reports a new mobile-payment platform will be one of the "hallmark features" of the new device.

While Apple doesn't offer much so far in mobile payments, the company did take a small step in that direction with Passbook, a service launched in 2012 that brought together a person's loyalty cards, coupons, and event tickets on the iPhone. Passbook doesn't include debit or credit card payment features.

Among the other rumored upgrades, most industry watchers expect the next iPhone to have two display sizes, a 4.7-inch model and a 5.5-inch model, larger than the latest 4-inch iPhone 5C and 5S phones. That new feature, again, is seen as an attempt to match other smartphone makers such as Samsung, which have been moving into larger displays in their newer models.

Apple declined to comment.

Tags: Apple iPhone Update Phones NFC Samsung Samsung Galaxy About the author

AT&T promotes key executives as it integrates mobile, business units

AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega, pictured at Mobile World Congress 2013, will have new responsibilities at the company. Roger Cheng/CNET

AT&T is doing a little executive reshuffling of its own.

In the wake of Sprint naming a new CEO earlier this month, AT&T is making some changes at the top of its mobility unit, although they are far less dramatic. AT&T's head of mobile, Ralph de la Vega, was promoted to CEO of the company's new mobile and business unit, which is tasked with integrated the two disparate businesses. Glenn Lurie, who was the head of emerging businesses and devices, was promoted to CEO of the consumer mobility business. The changes are effective immediately.

Fierce Wireless earlier reported on the executive changes.

The changes underscore the fact the mobility is the centerpiece of a company that once depending on landline telephones and DSL for most of its revenue. It represents a consolidation of power for de la Vega, who already held a visible role at the company. De la Vega absorbs the business unit previously run by Andy Geisse, who is retiring.

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De la Vega will be tasked with bringing the two units together. AT&T's business unit is already heavily focused on mobile, with business-related customers representing more than 50 percent of its mobile revenue.

While both executives are getting a promotion, the hierarchy within the company hasn't changed. Lurie, considered a rising star because he led one of the faster growing businesses at AT&T, will continue to report to de la Vega, who reports to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.

Tags: Mobile AT&T Sprint About the author

Lookout Mobile Security nabs $150 million in funding

Lookout co-founders Kevin Mahaffey and John Hering in 2010 just as their company was beginning to take off. James Martin/CNET

Protecting mobile devices from hackers is big business, as evidenced by the latest round of funding for Lookout Mobile Security. The nine-year-old startup announced on Wednesday that it has secured $150 million in a new round of financing, the largest so far this year and one of the largest ever for a computer security firm.

It also totals more than all of Lookout's previous funding combined. Headquartered in downtown San Francisco, the firm started out making freemium mobile security apps for consumers on Android and iOS and securing carrier partnerships. Since then, they've broadened their business into the enterprise space, as well as building a security analytics platform and a small security-centered app marketplace.

Lookout reports that more than 50 million people now use its apps, and has "millions" of premium subscribers.

Lookout co-founder and executive chairman John Hering told CNET that investor confidence signaled by the new funding meant that his company had the right approach to mobile security.

"It is going to take years to accomplish what we believe we are capable of," Hering said. "

VC investors choose cloud computing, mobile tech

Overall confidence in venture capital investing by sector. Deloitte/National Venture Capital Association

Venture capital investor confidence is on the up and up, and they're setting their sights on the tech world, according to a new survey by the National Venture Capital Association and Deloitte.

The two firms released the results of their annual Global Venture Capital Confidence survey on Wednesday, which shows that investors are increasingly being drawn to top categories in the tech industry, including cloud computing, mobile tech, and robotics.

"It's very positive results on the market overall, and very positive on tech," Jim Atwell, national managing partner for Deloitte's Emerging Growth Company, told CNET. "Tech companies are the sectors that have the most confidence the most excitement around them."

For the report, NVCA and Deloitte surveyed more than 300 venture capitalists from around the world in May and June of this year about their confidence on global investments and certain markets and industries. The survey shows that investor confidence has risen for the last three years in a row; the firms attribute this to favorable capital markets, many investment opportunities, and a strong investor climate.

The category that won the highest global investor confidence was cloud computing, which earned a 4.11 ranking on a scale of 1 to 5. Atwell said cloud computing appeals to investors because it requires less capital to build.

"It's the low cost of capital to build a product and the ability to license it over and over again," Atwell said. "It's a business model that's very attractive to the industry."

Following closely behind cloud computing was mobile technology with a 4.02 ranking; and third was health IT and services with a 3.94 ranking. Other high-ranking categories included enterprise software, consumer software, new media/social networking, and robotics. In fact, six of the top seven categories were in tech.

Some categories, like robotics, saw skyrocketing confidence. "Robotics have been around for a long time and here we go with a 14 percent increase in just one year," Atwell said.

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Besides strong confidence in tech, investors also gave a thumbs up to the US. For the first time ever, a country has ranked higher than 4 on the 5-point scale. In the survey, the US rated 4.03 for the best country to invest in, second was Israel with 3.71, and third was Canada with 3.48. According to Thomson Reuters and NVCA, more funds were raised in the US in the second quarter of this year than any other quarter since 2007 -- the total was $7.4 billion in new commitments from 78 funds.

While there was high confidence in the US, VC investors' confidence in US government policymaking dropped, according to the survey. In fact, the US now rates as the lowest among countries surveyed this year for government policymaking. According to Atwell, low confidence in government policymaking centers on legal immigration reform, tax reform, and patent reform.

"The stalemate in Washington has brought the lowest confidence levels," Atwell said.

Tags: Tech Industry Internet Mobile About the author
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