71020489
submission
smaxp writes:
With limited app development resources available in the first Apple Watch release, it seems very likely that the it will be upgraded within six to nine months to give developers better programming tools to build better apps, just like Google Glass.
Apple is in new territory – it needs more complete resources for developers to build apps. The company isn't sure what a killer watch app looks like; in fact, no one is. That's why WatchKit is limited. In the next six to nine months, Apple needs to gain an understanding of what developers need to build a killer app, and add it to WatchKit.
70859933
submission
smaxp writes:
Apple bets on its retail stores to sell the Apple Watch
Apple's 453 retail stores give it an advantage in the smartwatch market. Apple has made its watch stand out with so many options and price points, starting at $349 with different styles, sizes, straps, finishes, and materials – even an 18-karat gold version starting at $10,000. But such a diverse product line doesn't lend itself to ecommerce sales. Given the complexity of choices, Apple's stores will be the consumers' starting point.
70710743
submission
smaxp writes:
Over two years after breaking a Kickstarter funding record to get its smartwatch off the ground, Pebble returned to the crowdfunding site to fund its new watch, the Pebble Time .
With 23 days to go in its latest Kickstarter funding campaign, Pebble has raised over $15 million. Last year, Pebble shipped more smartwatches than Android Wear. This year, the company might ship more than Apple.
70683889
submission
smaxp writes:
Samsung hit its mark with its Galaxy S6 announcement at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona this week.The S6 looks like an iPhone 6 alternative that all but the most ardent Apple fanboy would have to consider when it's time for the next upgrade.
70663375
submission
smaxp writes:
Apple may have lost its lead in contactless payments yesterday when Samsung introduced its universally accepted Samsung Pay at Mobile World Congress. This may be somewhat surprising considering just last September Apple convinced the mobile industry that it had revolutionized credit and debit card payments with Apple Pay.
70566529
submission
smaxp writes:
Utility-like regulation was expected, and the vote in favor of regulation was also predicted. What was completely unexpected was Chairman Wheeler's strong conviction in favor of regulating net neutrality – so potently tied to free speech.
FCC sharply divided on party lines. Chairman Wheeler broke the tie.
70514543
submission
smaxp writes:
Apple is riding its iPhone 6 momentum, while Android dominates both market share and growth. Is there room for any other competitors in the smartphone OS market?
IDC's recent report on smartphone operating system market share points to Apple and Google squeezing out Windows Phone and BlackBerry again, making the smartphone market a two-horse race.
70382013
submission
smaxp writes:
Elon Musk won't lose any sleep over competition from Apple. except for a space in the dashboards of his cars.
The swashbuckling Elon Musk's electric vehicle and reusable SpaceX rocket depend on technological breakthroughs and big capital investments over long periods before seeing a payback. That just isn't how Apple rolls.
70053059
submission
smaxp writes:
Facebook's quick rise in mobile ad revenue has left the impression that it is crushing Google. Not quite; Google still holds the lead.
69751723
submission
smaxp writes:
Customers upgrading from earlier versions of the iPhone may have fueled Apple's strong financial performance in the previous quarter. If Apple created many new iPhone customers, the growth would be accompanied by a spike in app revenues. But there wasn't one.
69437671
submission
smaxp writes:
When people who didn't code got their hands on Glass, things started to go very wrong. Glass made this group feel specially chosen and entitled – that they were somehow Google Glass ambassadors. And this group wasn't made up of just reserved software developer types; it included a disproportionate share of extroverted, attention-seeking publicity hounds. Hence the term "Glasshole."
66801891
submission
smaxp writes:
Market researcher Canalys reports another spike in wearables, Gartner predicts health and fitness wearables will disappoint in 2015.
Last quarter, the Moto 360 topped the list of smartwatches, taking 15% of all shipments, according to Canalys. While Samsung’s offerings netted 52% of shipments, the overall category of wearable bands grew by 37% last quarter. Canalys credited the Moto 360’s success to its "appealing design," which gave it an edge over other Android Wear products.
Compelling physical design is never a disadvantage, but in this case Motorola having sidestepped having to force consumers to embrace both an entirely new concept of wrist-worn hardware and a behavioral change driven by wearable software.
66244733
submission
smaxp writes:
Barely hatched and condemned as the Anti-Apple Pay, CurrentC could improve shopping experiences in the microcosm of a retailer’s brand in ways that Apple Pay’s brand macrocosm can’t. It’s premature to burn CurrentC at the Apple heresy stake.
Indisputably, Apple Pay is at least more secure than the mag-stripe plastic credit cards. Who benefits from Apple Pay security? The credit card companies, banks, and to a limited extent the retailers that are liable. Consumers aren’t responsible for any fraud whatsoever.
65916359
submission
smaxp writes:
Almost like buying into a franchise, criminals outsource building fake ecommerce sites and buy software to beat fraud detection systems.
The black hat hackers who exploit network security flaws to steal credit card data turn around sell that data on underground electronic black markets. Criminals, often referred to as bad actors, buy the card data and monetize it with fake ecommerce transactions.
Standing in the way are the fraud detection systems, which prevent the bad actors from simply spraying large amounts of card data at the credit card gateways. These fraud detection systems are designed to look for transactions that resemble human behavior, and to block those that appear to come from automated systems created to monetize large amounts of stolen credit card data.
For cybercriminals, a new platform called Voxis works around the detection systems.
65879839
submission
smaxp writes:
Expensive for retailers, Apple Pay, like credit cards, offers little more than customer convenience. Saving the consumer the time it takes to put down his or her iPhone to pull out a credit card is Apple Pay’s only advantage.
Apple Pay, like Uber, is a good product with a great user experience, but unlike Uber, Apple Pay is not disruptive. Apple Pay won’t reduce costs or improve efficiency in the credit card payments industry, which taxes merchants 2% to 5% of top-line revenues to pay transaction fees. Merchants’ acceptance of Apple Pay is for their consumers’ convenience, no different than accepting cash, checks, and credit cards.
