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iPhone App Enables Paying with Plastic (CNN Money)
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Posted: 03/18/2010
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Operating businesses remotely just got even better. While credit card transactions were standardized in traditional business settings long ago, paying with plastic was only a pipe dream for those conducting business on the road. Now, a host of software is on the market allowing mobile businesses to process credit card payments on their cell phones. From Apple's iPhone applications to Inner Fence, which developed the first iPhone app for processing credit cards, there are a slew of applications out there that allow proprietors to issue refunds, review sales, and email electronic receipts for transactions.
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Industry:
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Where New Technologies Emerge: The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (New Media Knowledge)
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Posted: 03/18/2010
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Driven by innovation, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas again brought hot products to the forefront. A traditional showcase for new and emerging technologies and gadgets, the show provides an interactive forum for companies to reveal their latest and greatest products and services. This year, Yahoo announced a host of new partners for its Connected TV project, which aims to provide Internet service to televisions. In addition, Panasonic TV’s new built-in video camera allows customers to make Skype video calls. Andrew Lim, editor of mobile reviews site Recombu, told NMK, “It's about giving consumers better access to existing services….” Car manufacturer Ford is integrating social media into their services with its Sync MyTouch in-car Internet system, which allows on-the-go drivers to access the Web via WiFi or 3G mobile connection. CES 2010 demonstrated that once-complex technology continues to become more user-friendly.
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Industry:
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Programming With Screen Shots, Not Just Code (Dr. Dobbs)
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Posted: 03/04/2010
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a new system that allows one to program with screenshots. For more than three decades, the graphical user interface (GUI) has dominated computer programing, but its underlying reliance on code manipulation means it’s still relatively labor intensive for computer programmers to customize or build programs. The new system, Sikuli, enables programmers to develop programs using GUI screen shots. While it requires some knowledge of Python, the system enables even casual users to create new programs without mastering complex programming language. The user simply draws a box around the desired content, captures the screen shot and then places it appropriately into the Python code. The research team plans to present a paper entitled GUI Testing Using Computer Vision at CHI, the premier conference on human-computer interactions, where they will describe new applications of Sikuli aimed at large software development projects, both for programmers and non-programmers.
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Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Market Intelligence the Smartphone Way (CRM Daily)
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Posted: 02/04/2010
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Context-aware software tries to connect the real world with the vast stores of information about places in a virtual world: the Internet. The technology channels the knowledge amassed to provide useful tools to the smartphone user. Consumers gain more control over their buying experiences and save time when they purchase from vendors who have critical insight into their shopping habits. The software’s diverse industry applications include retail, business management, hospitality, and food and beverage. Research firm Gartner projects the market for this technology will grow to $12 billion by 2012, with Google standing in prime position to address and profit from the new wave of demand. Other companies that stand to benefit are Nokia, Cisco Systems, Avaya, large telcos like China Telecom or potentially even social networks such as Facebook, Gartner says.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Apple and Facebook Key Influencers in New Tech Cycle (eWeek)
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Posted: 02/04/2010
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Apple and Facebook have literally changed the face of mobile internet. With mobile internet users projected to double by 2013, it’s easy to see a "mobile Internet cycle" emerging, a new cycle detailed in Morgan Stanley's "The Mobile Internet Report." Cited as the fifth computing cycle in five decades, the report claims this one is faster and bigger with a wider global net than previous cycles. While Apple, Google and Amazon.com lead the pack, the report suggests that the key influencers from previous cycles won’t necessarily be given the keys to this new kingdom. The analyst team, headed by Mary Meeker, attributes the high level of anticipation for mobile users to five of the most promising IP-based products and services: social networking, 3G network adoption, video, Voice over IP and "impressive mobile devices."
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Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global,
North America,
Asia Pacific
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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New Runa Software Helps Convert Customers Into Sales (Electronic Commerce Guide)
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Posted: 02/04/2010
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A huge challenge for e-commerce retailers is getting visitors to actually click through to purchase items. Runa, a company specializing in conversion marketing, is helping companies capture and convert Website vistors into paying customers before they abandon the process entirely. After tracking a variety of “actionable analytics” including key words, transaction history, profile information, products viewed and search patterns, Runa drums up a new dynamic sale price that evolves from the merchant’s criteria and shopper’s preferences. Price is typically the deciding factor for whether consumers follow through with transactions, so the new deal is only revealed once the shopping cart has been abandoned. Retailers can then expect to turn up to 15% of “recapture” offers into sales. Since the dynamic special offers are only revealed to visitors that abandon their carts, those paying full price from the get-go never even get wind of the deals.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
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Opening the Line of Communication with Feedback-Form Analytics (Electronic Commerce Guide)
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Posted: 02/04/2010
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We’ve all heard of shopping cart abandonment. Until now, companies have had no way of knowing if this so-called digital window shopper’s syndrome was due to Web glitches or other, more personal, reasons. Kampyle is changing that by offering on-demand feedback-form analytics so companies can improve their turnover rates by learning more about their customers. The customizable forms promote open communication between customer and company by directly asking customers relevant questions to reveal why they chose not follow through with their purchases. The software also features “smart pop-ups” that can be personalized to appear when the visitor clicks off the site. Easy to implement, companies can have the service converting clicks into sales in as little as five minutes.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
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Google’s Real-Time, User-Driven Display Ads (Ecommerce Times)
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Posted: 01/21/2010
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Google is paving the way toward revolutionizing online display advertising. The search engine leader’s acquisition of startup Teracent promises to significantly boost Google’s display ad prowess by tapping into machine-learning algorithms able to produce and personalize the ads in real-time. The user-driven ads can be optimized based on influencers like location, time, language, Web-specific content and past performance of similar ads. Proving that what’s good for Google is good for online display advertising in general, the new technology combats the somewhat antiquated, inflexible packaging of display ads and makes them more dynamic and customizable. Giovanni Calabro, vice president of user experience at Siteworx, told the E-Commerce Times, "Instead of merely selling a package, Google can offer a product based on an understanding of who is coming onto a site.”
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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On-Demand Software Adds Flexibility to Direct Digital Marketers (Ecommerce Times)
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Posted: 01/21/2010
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The robustness of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products positions them to effectively tackle emerging trends in direct digital marketing. The secret to their success? They share the same “it” factor ideals that often boost the best new businesses to the top of the rung: they are cost-effective, easy to implement and inherently scalable. On-demand products must seamlessly integrate between the three primary channels of direct digital marketing–email, mobile and Web–meaning developers must create software that is simultaneously heightened in usability and simple to implement. The bottom line is that the functionality and flexibility of SaaS and universal profile management systems enhance direct digital marketers’ own flexibility and success in their drive to leverage customer information and boost sales.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Silk Drinks Up New Media for YouTube Campaign (Strategy Magazine)
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Posted: 01/06/2010
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Silk Soy Milk is milking a new interactive-rich media campaign to boost public perception about its products. The natural strength of the campaign centers around a newly branded YouTube channel which houses “deep link annotation,” a first for YouTube worldwide. Users stay tuned to the Silk-branded and skinned channel while they play the game, “Bust it or Believe it”. The campaign also takes advantage of a QR code-enabled print buy with Metro commuter newspaper, which gives users the opportunity to believe or bust the facts presented when they activate the embedded codes on their phones. "The whole goal here was to use new and innovative technology to engage the consumer," Robin Hassan, digital director, Starcom Mediavest Group, told MiC.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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