неделя, 1 януари 2012 г.
U.S. GP confirmed for 2012
Organizers of the the U.S. Grand Prix said Wednesday that it will take its place in the 2012 Formula One calendar despite fears that the new circuit in Texas being built for the race will not be finished in time.
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Title: Starbucks Unveils Mobile Payment System (from Jan 20, 2011)
Description: No cash? No problem. It?s a trend that?s likely to grow, as more than half a million consumers are expected to make mobile phone payments by 2014.
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Please note: This is one of the top five most read articles in the technology news category for NACS News in 2011. View the original story here.
SEATTLE ? Starbucks announced yesterday a mobile payment system available in all U.S. stores for BlackBerry and Apple iOS users, Bloomberg reports.
After downloading the Starbucks Card Mobile App from the Starbucks website, users load money onto the app (or link an existing Starbucks card) to enable the payment function. Once in a Starbucks store, users then hold their smartphone in front of a countertop scanner, which reads the on-screen barcode to record the purchase. Within seconds (this writer reports the process worked seamlessly earlier this morning), the app is updated to reflect the remaining balance.
While the Starbucks Card Mobile App launched last year, it initially allowed users to just review their card balance, reload the card, and view transactions. The company began a payment test in Seattle, Northern California, New York, and Target stores before expanding it nationwide yesterday.
"Today, one in five Starbucks transactions is made using a Starbucks Card and mobile payment will extend the way our customers experience and use their Starbucks Card," said. Brady Brewer, vice president of Starbucks Card and Brand Loyalty.
Last year, Starbucks customers loaded $1.5 billion onto their cards, a 21 percent increase from 2008.
In a related story, CNN Money reports on the growing popularity of ?mobile currency,? whereby customers use their mobile phones in place of cash or credit cards.
?There?s a lot of money at stake if it?s done right,? said Omar Green, director of strategic mobile initiatives at Intuit.
According to research firm Generator Research, mobile payments are expected to reach $633 billion annually by 2014, with nearly half a billion customers using their phones to make payments.
Last November, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile launched a joint mobile commerce network called Isis that is expected to be operational within 18 months. The service will use Discovery Financial Services, not Visa or MasterCard, as its financial services partner.
Not to be outdone, Visa, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are also working on smartphone payment technologies.
An emerging ?game-changer? in mobile payments is ?Near Field Communication? (NFC), which enables the exchange of data over short distances. With an NFC chip in a smartphone, an NFC reader records a purchase without having to scan a bar code. Google has already committed to the technology, with its CEO saying its next version of Google Android would include the tap-and-pay functionality.
Content Subject: Technology
Formatted Article Date: December 30, 2011
Space Station Astronaut Will Answer Video Questions From Public
NASA has announced a unique opportunity to ask the commander of the International Space Station a question about his role on the orbiting outpost. Commander Dan Burbank will answer videotaped questions from the public during a live event tentatively set for Friday, Jan. 20 on NASA Television.
Djokovic too strong for Federer
Novak Djokovic continues his 2012 preparations with victory over Roger Federer at the World Tennis Championship exhibition in Abu Dhabi.
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Title: Will Credit Cards Become Obsolete? (from Jan 26, 2011)
Description: Some are predicting that paying with plastic might go the way of vinyl records soon.
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Please note: This is one of the top five most read articles in the technology news category for NACS News in 2011. View the original story here.
NEW YORK ? Mobile devices will soon take the place of credit cards, CNNMoney reports. Some experts predict that this year is the beginning of the end for paying with plastic.
?Your plastic card hasn't changed since the age of the vinyl records,? said Michael Abbott, CEO of Isis, which processes payments via mobile devices. ?This is the chance to bring payments forward from the plastic age and the vinyl records age to the digital age.?
This year will be the year that contactless mobile payments will soar because millions of phones equipped with ability to make such payments will ship in 2011. The pay-by-phone market is expected to generate $22 billion in transactions by 2015, up from ?practically none,? in 2009, according to the Aite Group.
?Mobile payment is going to get really interesting and is going to see a lot of activity in 2011,? said George Peabody, director of emerging technologies at Mercator Advisory Group. ?We?re going to start seeing more and more people leaving their homes without their wallets.?
However, most predict the change will not occur too quickly. ?I definitely believe that the mobile wallet will eventually replace the plastic card -- but it's going to take some time because consumer habits take a long time to change,? said Jane Cloninger, director at Edgar Dunn & Co. ?But where before it's been a lot of discussion, we're at the point now where you're going to start seeing momentum toward it and going to see it move beyond the trials and into reality.?
With Bank of America, Citi, Google, MasterCard, U.S. Bank and Visa all testing contactlass mobile payments, it won?t be too long before more consumers want to pay for everything with their mobile devices. ?2011 is going to be a very exciting, very dynamic year when it comes to mobile payments because it's the Wild West again, with all these players positioning in various different ways to redefine the digital payments landscape,? said Michael Upton, senior vice president of online and mobile banking at Bank of America.
Content Subject: Technology
Formatted Article Date: December 30, 2011
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Title: Gasoline Myths Debunked (from Mar 7, 2011)
Description: Next time a friend sends you an e-mail telling you how to reduce gas prices, think about sending them the facts.
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Please note: This is one of the top five most read articles in the petroleum retailing news category for NACS News in 2011. View the original story here.
ALEXANDRIA, VA - Any time consumers face higher gasoline prices, conspiracy theories and urban legends are sure to follow and proliferate, especially via e-mail.
By now you?ve probably gotten e-mails with copy like this:
"GAS WAR! Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to (fill in the blank) a gallon by the summer. Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action?"
Or maybe it?s this:
?It has been calculated that if everyone in the United States did not purchase a drop of gasoline for one day and all at the same time, the oil companies would choke on their stockpiles??
Or this:
?It turns out that some oil companies import a lot of middle eastern (sic) oil and others do not import any. I thought it might be interesting for Americans to know which oil companies are the best to buy their gas from."
NACS has developed a fact sheet that debunks these and other gas-related myths. So, the next time a friend tries to be helpful in sharing ideas about gas prices, you may want to share this link.
And, if you receive e-mails with other myths, please forward them to NACS Vice President of Communications Jeff Lenard at jlenard@nacsonline.com and we?ll debunk them, too.
Content Subject: Petroleum Retailing
Formatted Article Date: December 27, 2011
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