I saw this article below on TechCrunch and had to comment about this as it relates to a mobile strategy.  Since WAP arrived in the early part of the last decade across mobile devices, 10′s of companies have offered the ability to create mobile websites.  Companies like Netbiscuits, Mofuse, Mippin and a variety of others.  Nokia was a leader in the full-HTML browser, but Apple did a great job in the execution of delivering a full website to mobile devices.  The Flash problem has not gone away with mobile access on iPhones, as well as the horizontal form of content that requires users to squeeze and reform it to read, but with the advances of browsers accessing the same website makes the experience across social links and search very friendly for immediate access and sharing of that content for users.  Vertical form of the exact same website is the most optimum solution for mobile in my mind, but the same site to mobile is critical.

The loophole of accessing content from subscription services on devices will only be extenuated via the ubiquitous ability to share links from platform to platform with a consistent user experience.  That is why the new generation mobile websites need to be link-compatible ( a process called Deep-link matching ) so that no matter what the device is, the access to content is achievable.

For any mobile website that I recommend it is important that all the links match up between the website content and the mobile view of the mobile experience.  Mobile versions of websites that have this compatibility will be better in sharing and accessing content.

For most of my clients, I have found that from 5% to 20% of the hits on the mobile web properties is from just basic Google search and not from traditional mobile marketing of using SMS to spread links or even mobile banner ads.  Making sure your site is mobile friendly with links so that you are visible to end-users from PC based click-throughs or mobile click-throughs is very important for your mobile strategy.

NYtimes has done a great job with deep link matching, but it seems like it was done manually.  I am curious if NYTimes moving forward will keep these links available for mobile on these subscription services to enable users on mobile to actually access the content.

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Via Techcrunch

The Google Loophole Has Become The Facebook/Twitter Loophole

There are a lot of interesting angles to the news this morning about The New York Times’ new paywall. Top news will remain free, a set number of articles for all users will remain free, there will be different pricing tiers for different devices, NYT is fine with giving Apple a 30 percent cut, etc, etc. But to me, the most interesting aspect is only mentioned brieflyabout halfway down the NYT announcement article: all those who come to the New York Times via Facebook or Twitter will be allowed to read for free. There will be no limit to this.

Up until now, we’ve seen paywall enthusiasts like The Wall Street Journal offer such loopholes. But they’ve done so via Google. It’s a trick that most web-savvy news consumers know. Is a WSJ article behind a paywall? Just Google the title of it. Click on the resulting link and boom, free access to the entire thing. No questions asked. This new NYT model is taking that idea and flipping it.

The Google loophole will still be in play — but only for five articles a day. It’s not clear how they’re going to monitor this (cookies? logins?), but let’s assume for now that somehow they’ll be able to in an effective way. For most readers, the five article limit will likely be more than enough. But that’s not the important thing. What’s interesting is that the NYT appears to be saying two things. First, this action says that spreading virally on social networks like Twitter and Facebook is more important to them than the resulting traffic from Google. And second, this is a strategic bet that they likely believe will result in the most vocal people on the web being less pissed off.

Paywalls are not easy. For proof, look at well, just about every site that has ever tried to implement one. The barrier is always met with huge backlash. But much of that backlash often comes from the savvy readers who had been used to getting at the content for free on the web. NYT seems to be betting here that these users are the same ones that now rely on Twitter and Facebook for their news discovery. And they will be unaffected.

Is that the right bet? Maybe, or maybe not. Facebook has around 600 million users now. Twitter has another 150 million plus. These are mainstream services that extend far beyond the early adopters. But even if this move goes beyond the vocal users and into the mainstream population that might otherwise be willing to pay, at the very least, it will still mean less overall backlash.

And it’s yet another sign of a changing of the guard on the web from Google to Facebook and Twitter. It will arguably be easier to find all the NYT content for free via Twitter search than it was via Google search. At the very least, it will be more obvious. And the social filters of Twitter and Facebook will have people sharing only the best articles that you’re likely going to want to read anyway.

Meanwhile, the other side of the bet is that those coming in from Google are probably more likely to pay if asked nicely every once in a while. You know, the more mainstream and perhaps slightly older and less tech-savvy audience. The people who may actually pay.

The main point? If you’re reading this post, you’re unlikely to be affected by the NYT paywall because you probably came here from Facebook or Twitter — the two key players in the new social loophole.

ipad 2 is coming March 11! $499~!

*33%thinner and up to 15 percent lighter

*two cameras

*10-hour battery life

*one A5 chip mean iPad can do twice the work at once

*up to nine times the graphics performance

*LED backlighting makes everything you see remarkably crisp, vivid, and bright

Can not resist to buy.

Yesterday I got spammed by Shoppybag. Becareful everybody, they access your Gmail account and before you know it they start to invite all of your contacts.  We like to think of our friends as valuable relationships, so Shoppybag may expand rather quickly and virally with this spam technique, they really missed the point.

2010 set the stage for the daily offers. Many local clones have emerged and as Groupon fights to get into China, I have become a very active user of Groupon deals  at a local level; hyper local and hyper personal in my cities of Vancouver, BC and Brooklyn, NY.  My wife purchased 2 different Groupons for one of our favorite restaurants, and what I found interesting is that I found myself looking for Groupon’s of places I actually already go to and spend money at.  So what is the value to that restaurant if I would be going there anyway?  As we left the restaurant, we felt bit bad to get such a discount that we left a very large tip for the waitress.   What I did realize was that in both cases of using the Groupon, we actually brought a friend to the restaurant.  The value of making a new introduction and getting the word out clearly has over and beyond marketing value even though the restaurant lost 50% 2x for our visits.

So in my mind the real social element of not dealing with strangers that seems to be a strong point in the overall Groupon process, but to somehow bring friends into the equation is the best means of growing these social coupons in the future.  How can you not only get a discount, but influence others that normally would not have been introduced to that product or service find a way to bring it to their attention.

I started to advise for a company called WANTLET. What I like about their solution is that they are more focused on the Want Lists and the social graph of getting more and more involvement from your community rather then just focusing on the deals only.  They have been partnering with many of the coupon companies and aggregators, but they bring a unique value proposition of enlarging the marketing scope via social and viral introductions.

They are not at all competitive to Groupon, but they offer an alternative to social marketing platform that is something I find extremely powerful in the overall sales funnel process.

I think making the friend process more controlled and part of a users desire to spread the word is something that needs to be treated with the utmost of care.

Wantlet brings a unique new way to market; Social Want-Advertising.   Targeting users when they WANT to be marketed to rather then bringing automatic techniques to try to hit them in the face.  I think this  also speaks to the article I cited below.

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Come and See Matthew Snyder, Founder/CEO ADObjects at CMW March 12, Toronto

I wanted to share my thoughts on the importance of mobile for the fledging music industry. YoY, CD sales are going down and down, and digital is growing, but not at the rate of what the CD business created for the industry. With digital piracy just existing as stronger then every and p2p networks offering the convenience, availability and breadth of content, this new industry form is something of constant debate.

The Mobile App

However,  I bet my money on mobile!  It has been discussed that the App is the next frontier and form of media format that gives a variety of options in addition to the music and video content that can be charged to the end-user as simply as one-click.  This has been constrained a bit as Apple is keeping these reins so strongly close to their chest that  true App innovation of delivering Mp3′s and other content as a convenient distribution channel over the quick and easy p2p networks is just at its infancy.  This was proven true with iTunes and the delivery of  ”ala carte” content as a viable option over the p2p networks where users were in fact willing to pay for content if the delivery was right. More and players are entering the game with the music download businesses to compete again the almighty Apple, and now that the playing field is evening out between Apple, Nokia-Microsoft, Google, RIM for the next gen Smart Phone devices, this new model will clearly present itself as in the next year as the most efficient way to categorically sell content via applications and not just store-fronts.

The proposition was validated with users going and buying content via an iTunes app, but for an artist to have their own App to sell music directly is part of this overall formula.   This type App merchandising and marketing will evolve and potentially drive Apple to explore more options then just the delivery via the iTunes store.  Instead of going to a store to searching for it,  the vast array of better user interfaces and offers will multiple this App experience.  The package of all the peripheral offerings ( video footage and music video’s, interviews, freebies, t-shirts, collectors items, etc…) associated with the Application as well as the ability for users to to be part of mobile dedicated fan list.     The App can breath life to the true culture and personality of the artist as the content can link to the real-time social networks and create opportunities for direct conversations back-n-forth. Fans have the opportunities to explore more then just the music, but the entire life-style and “taste-maker” trends of the Artist for just about any context ( places, fellow artists, and philosophy).  Even the charitable movements can be explored with “Gifting” as we saw with Pearl Jam and Oceans which is just the beginning of the entire business dimensions.   The App can live not only by a limits of distribution like for a physical CD, but can be delivered virally via those Fans.

Flattened by the Long-Tail ( both content and other business areas)

So in some ways with this total fragmentation it is hard to see where that $8~10 Billion completely migrated to? Direct sales of CD’s was one of the only options besides performances to have a connection with the music and the artist, and the actual CD Jacket was the starting point where Artists shared their culture to communicate with Fans in the 80′s and early 90′s.

Besides the overall business of the Music Industry being hard to grab onto for the labels, management and publishers of the past, what we are seeing is a new revolution of more and more music with more and more talented artists making their debut with hopes of that  chance to make it into the spot-light with their fans.   This opportunity is greater then ever, but much more verticalized and more focused on micro-communities around each artist that support the life-line of that artist through performances and merchandise.

Recently, I saw an Artist called Jerry Cherry, at Rockwood in NYC.  He is a mix of an Iggy Pop and quintessentially New York artist sound. What amazed me was the loyal following that he had at the performance and his dialog and show with the fans- truly entertaining.   It was that tight moment between him and the audience that was an emotional connection that just cemented in my mind that this was the “Soul” of this new music business.  More shows, more engagement with fans  is what an Artist needs to be positive  about as an entertainer  if they are to make a living  in this new era.   He was selling his CD’s at this venue and in fact sold a couple of them.    This is an angle that I see as the growth of this business;   much more long-tail  and concentrated in nitch verticals.  Performances are the fertile ground for artists to create that emotional attachment that can lead to a business strategy that is inexplicably linked back to mobile. Why mobile?  Because we all have it in our pocket, with intelligence to give us more and more.  Today, we can shoot images like a professional photographer, take video like a film maker, create mix-mashes of memories, and access web content when the moment is right during that music experience.

Selling those CD's at the Venue

The Mobile Moment…

I  like the analogy of a digital dessert. Even after a large meal, when the waitress brings around that dessert tray, that  sugary, creamy delight is hard to resist and make that impulsive buy of  several $$$ in that moment.   Like the dessert business is a long-tail, location specific business that bridges that final emotional connection between the chief and the consumer,  The Artist needs to think this way as well with the mobile channel being that waitresses serving tray…  So Jerry Cherry ( no pun intended as it is a dessert sounding name) instead of selling those CD’s can sell that mobile digital dessert.

[ AD] Canadian Music Week- Register Today  March 9~12th Toronto Canadian Music Week 2008- Rebirth of the Music Industry [ Video]

Of course that Mobile Moment is tied to location based services and social media. We all check-in with Foursquare, Facebook places and bring our entire social network into that moment for that instance.   It is the moment when a Butterfly flaps its wings and can create start to a Hurricane in the Gulf.  Artists that give birth to that experience for fans to share that moment is the new paradigm of distribution that can has become of the internet that we live with today.

ButterflyCream

About a year ago I had the epiphany around this concept and have been building a “war chest” of features, concepts, prototypes with my partners over at DiscoverRock , BloomEffect and others.  The goal is about how to make this a reality for artists to make money in this business.  Nothing is formally launched yet, but the seeds of this idea to bring new-revenue streams for artists has been something I have been working on as a hobby in my spare time.  We have started this with several artists and working on this platform ( No launch date to announce yet) but rather a strategy and concept we feel could lead to the next-gen business model for the long-tail of this industry.  The goal would not be to re-invent the wheel or create another mobile app platform, but to bridge all those developers and streams for this kind of  mobile tidal wave this is amongst us.    Please email us at info@butterflycream.com or @BFlyCRM

It was just announced that Nokia will solidify its go-to-market strategy with its product line-up to include a deep partnership with Microsoft. What happened Nokia? With this new focus on Windows7 together with Microsoft change the game against iOS and Android? How will they now focus on Symbian, MeeGo and now Windows7? Why not make MeeGo the platform to really compete in this game?

In any event, this was a bit shocking news but not unexpected.

*******************************************************************************************

Nokia jumps from ‘burning platform’ and forges alliance with Microsoft
By Ed Owen, marketingmagazine.co.uk, 11 February 2011, 09:20AM

Nokia is turning to a strategic alliance with Microsoft to compete against rival smartphone manufacturers and is splitting its operations into two divisions.

Nokia N8 series: ‘it’s not technology, it’s what you do with it’ campaign

The tie-up with Microsoft covers mass market mobile phones and partly sidelines Nokia’s ailing Symbian platform.

Nokia was widely expected to abandon its operating system following a leaked internal memo from its new chief executive Stephen Elop earlier this week.

Elop was scathing about his company – which remains the world’s largest handset manufacturer – and said it needed to change.

In Elop’s memo, the man jumps. Elop, a former Microsoft employee, said: “We too, are standing on a ‘burning platform’, and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.”

The mobile giant’s new strategy will be to:

Use Microsoft to develop its primary platform.
Focus on connecting a billion people in developing markets to the internet through their phones.
Generate new “disruptive” technologies to take the creative initiative back.
Elop, today, said: “Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward.

“Today, we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership, reinforcing our mobile device platform and realizing our investments in the future.”

Two business units will be formed:

Smart Devices, to be led by career marketer Jo Harlow, former head of marketing for Nokia’s North American division, developing high-end smartphones to use Microsoft, Symbian and MeeGo platforms and develop business services.
Mobile Phones, to be led by Mary McDowell to push mass-market devices powered by Microsoft’s platform, pushing another billion customers in new markets.
The link with Microsoft will be symbiotic, with Nokia providing mapping for Microsoft’s Bing search engine and AdCenter ad platform. Nokia’s Ovi app store will be rolled into Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace offering.

Microsoft will now provide the developer tools needed for apps. Nokia had been subsidising app development to try and keep pace with Apple and Android.

Recently appointed marketing chief Jerri DeVard remains in position, and holds a place on Nokia’s executive board.

The Symbian mobile platform will not be dropped completely, but will be used as a “franchise platform” to retain existing users, and the company expects to sell an additional 150 million Symbian devices in the years to come.

Nokia’s other mobile platform, MeeGo, developed for tablets and other mobile computers in a deal with Intel, remains under development and Elop says a MeeGo product will be shipped later this year.

Nevertheless, board member Alberto Torres, who had responsibility for MeeGo development, leaves the company.

Nokia reported an increase in profits in full-year results last month, with growth coming in new territories, particularly Latin America and China.

Nokia remains in various court battles with Apple over who developed interactive browsing features typically used in smartphones.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk

These latest stats from Canalys shows that Apple’s Market position stayed fairly constant at 16% with  RIM showing some decline as well as Microsoft and others.  The interesting fact is that Nokia was the one that  just got the crushing blow by  Google down 14% from 44% to 30%.

The Best from the view from the Valley

Best Internet Application
Chartbeat
Greplin
Pandora (winner)
Rdio (runnerup)
Ujam

“There is no issue that Radio is strong and in a new form, evolved from the basics of Terrestrial broadcast.  Too bad Spotify was not here in the US to add to the competition, but surprised not to see some of the video apps like Netflix or Hulu make the stage.  2011 will probably be the year of video.  CBSradio has a killer cross-media platform for internet radio, but its Play.it service has been underground now for all too long. What happened Last.FM?

Best Social App
Cityville
Dailybooth (winner)
Foursquare
GroupMe
Twitter (runnerup)

“Wowed by this winner and I did think that Cityville would win hands down.  I guess it started too late in 2010, and Farmville a bit too early. What happened to mytown or scvngr.  We can say that location and gaming is getting hot.  Look at the latest acquisition by Zynga of Area/Code, and we can all predict the exciting things to come in 2011.  AR will make headway in 2011, but not yet ripe enough to take center stage I guess.”

Best Social Commerce App
Blippy
Groupon (winner)
Jetsetter
LivingSocial
One Kings Lane
ShopKick (runnerup)

“Obvious choice, Good news for the mobile guys over at ShopKick!  Congrats Cyriac, Jeff. I knew they were on to something when I saw how local it has become. It is really the talk around the retailers these days, and lets see how this integration goes for 2011:

Best Mobile App
Bump
Chomp
Google Mobile Maps for Android (winner)
Hashable
Instagram (runnerup)

” Can believe this won, but would have to say that Facebook cross-platform would have been my guess.  I guess there is strength in the Map, and until Facebook launches its own unique Maps, it is going to be hard to grab the wind out of  the air in Google’s map platform for mobile.  Shazam was not in there, that was a surprize…. I guess they need more with their Android strategy…”

Best Location Based Service
Facebook Places (runnerup)
Foursquare (winner)
Gowalla
SimpleGeo
Uber

“Curious what the user base of Facebook Places is these days. 4Sqr has 6M users, but it is beginning to lack its shine with nothing new. If there is a time for it to win it will be in 2010.  2011 will be a tough year for these guys, so looking forward to the new innovation.  I guess SXSW will be another showdown for the latest and greatest of this battleground.”

Best New Device
Boxee Box
Google Chrome Notebook
iPad (winner)
iPhone 4
Kno
Xbox Kinect (runnerup)

” Who can argue with 15M sold in the first year?  Many debate it is 4 iPhones pasted together with no camera, but this product transcended the screen revolution to grow the new category of 5~15inch screens.  I expect some real exciting things from V2 of the iPad in 2011, but if there was a year for them to win it over at Apple, 2010 was it.  This product truly hit the nerve center of the consumer in 2010….. a long time coming after the category was originally created by Apple with the Newton”

Best Technology Achievement
Blekko
Google Self-driving Cars (winner)
Hunch
Palantir
Qwiki (runnerup)
Word Lens

” Found this interesting, but expected as this is TechCrunch, would have liked to see BetterPlace in there, but I guess it is a bit too early. Surprising that battery innovation has not hit the stage yet or even robotics, but this is something for 2020. “

Best Design
1000memories
about.me (runnerup)
Airbnb
Flipboard
Gogobot (winner)
Qwiki

“Have not been following design as much as i like these days- Love to see what the Webby’s bring, but found GIST, and some of the innovation at Time Inc, Sports Illustrated, Wired with their iPad apps quite innovative in design with the inclusion of advertising.

Best Touch Interface
Flipboard (winner)
Fotopedia Heritage iPad app (runnerup)
Osmos
Pulse News Reader
Sencha Touch
Swype

“Yes- again the obvious choice.  They made some much media over the last year that it is hard why not to say they were not the number 1 choice.  Looking forward to 3D space becoming part of the touch and interface experience”

Best Bootstrapped Startup
Addmired (iMob) (winner)
Beluga
Easel
Fast Society
Instapaper (runnerup)
Techmeme

“Would have liked to see Intapaper win on this front if their was a choice, but you have to Admire the guys at Addmired. Maybe it really is all in a name?”

Best Enterprise
37 Signals
Buddy Media (winner)
CloudApp
inDinero
Millennial Media (runnerup)
Salesforce

” Can stop seeing the posters for Buddy Media in every Airport I fly into….. They did get the big bang for 2010 and with good reason. They have done an excellent job of bringing brands to Facebook in many unique ways. Happy for Paul and the team over tat Millennial for this runner-up! They certainly deserved it for some exciting things in 2010 to carve the mobile ad ecosystem in the face of iAds and Admob.  Where is Evernote these days?

Best International
Crivo
PCH International
Soluto (runnerup)
ViKi (winner)
VNL
Wonga

‘” Can not say more about this one, but ViKi was clearly exciting in 2010″

Best Clean Tech
Coolerado
Kopernik (runnerup)
MicroGreen
Puralytics
Smith Electric Vehicles
SolarCity (winner)

“Yes- here comes the Sun! we all need that power…”

Best Time Sink Application
Angry Birds (runnerup)
Cityville (winner)
Netflix streaming
Quora
StumbleUpon

“Ah…come on! We could see Cityville winning as the most viral, and but I would have expected to see Angry Birds on this one…… What did it for me and Angry Birds is that they really did grow organically from scratch.  I am addicted to Angry Birds, but I do have a problem with my social graph and time-sinks intertwined…”

Angel of the Year
Jeff Clavier, SoftTech VC
Ron Conway, SV Angel (runnerup)
Michael Dearing, Harrison Metal Capital
Chris Dixon, Founder Collective
Mike Maples, FLOODGATE
Paul Graham, Y Combinator (winner)

“Congrats Paul! What a great ride”

VC of the Year (individual)
Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz
Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital
Jim Breyer, Accel Partners
John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins
Yuri Milner, DST (winner)
Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures (runnerup)

” Yuri has been part of an amazing influential ride that is for sure.”

Founder of the Year
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks
Dennis Crowley, Foursquare
Jack Dorsey, Square (runnerup)
Kevin and Julia Hartz, Eventbrite
David Karp, Tumblr
Mark Pincus, Zynga (winner)

” Yes- Mark clearly took us to new places with the meaning of social community and viral entertainment.  I beleive we will see more of Jack in 2011″

CEO of the Year
Dick Costolo, Twitter
Reed Hastings, Netflix
Drew Houston, Dropbox
Andrew Mason, Groupon (winner)
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook (runnerup)

” I think the way Andrew handled Japan was the icing on the cake for this one. Turning down 6B, and I am sure we will see a bit of that Chicago spirit come further into the location based advertising stage in 2010.  Steve Jobs was not there this time…was it the iPhone 4 Antenna issue?

Best New Startup or Product of 2010
Flipboard
GroupMe
Instagram
Quora (winner)
Square (runnerup)
Uber

” Found this hard to sink my teeth into, but it is the right trend for the next wave.”

Best Overall Startup or Product of 2010
Facebook
Groupon (runnerup)
Quora
Twitter (winner)
Zynga

” Still problems with downtime and again an obvious choice.  If they did not win this, what would they win.  Twitter has been a bit stagnant these days, and looking for the next big innovative twist by them”

Now that we have Digital Notebooks, there is the increasing discussion and debate over how to combine this or integrate this with paper. What are the different needs and when will this convergence really occur.  This is an active discussion over in Japan as technologies collide with the latest cool tablets in the market.  We have seen a bit of convergence with books, but when will writing on paper become part of that digital experience.

There are many devices that have surfaced over the years that can take in writing and convert it to a digital image on a screen. In places like Asia with handwriting so important, it is going to be exciting to see the types of devices to come to market.  We at ADO had a unique concept that was in the works for a patent several years ago.  This in fact was one of the concepts that led to the naming of the company- Analog.Digital.Objects.   It is exciting to see this debate coming back into the main stream.

*************

「デジタル手帳とアナログ手帳は両方使う」人が多い？――300万人編集会議の議論より

2011年1月21日
日経トレンディネットでは、「300万人編集会議」というコミュニティサイトをオープンした。これはその時々の旬なテーマについて話し合うネット上の「編集会議」。オープンと同時に開設した特集班のテーマが「手帳術」だ。ここでは、今まさにその会議室で行われている議論の様子を紹介する。
日経トレンディネットの「300万人編集会議」では現在、「アナログvsデジタル 最強の手帳術」と題し、手帳や手帳アプリの使い方について議論する会議を開催中です。そんななか、活発な意見が交わされているのが「アナログとデジタル、どう使い分ける？」というテーマのトピックです。
（注）この記事は、300万人編集会議に参加者が登録した発言の一部を抜粋したものです。ページの都合上、発言の一部だけを抜粋したり、意味を変えない範囲で若干の編集を行った部分があります。納富廉邦氏によるこの呼びかけから議論が始まりました。

納富廉邦さん

紙の「アナログ手帳」も、スマートフォンのスケジュールアプリを中心にした「デジタル手帳」も、最近はどちらの市場も盛り上がっています。では、皆さんはどちらを使っていますか？それとも、併用していますか？

あなたがデジタルorアナログを選ぶ理由や、両者の使い分け方について意見を聞かせてください。私は2011年に入ってからは、何故かデジタル一辺倒ですが、バックアップとしての紙の重要性も感じています。皆様はいかがでしょう。

As predicted, the “mobile app” will become the next generation “Credit Card”. It is like what the CD did to LP’s ( completely change the game), the mobile app gives not only the opportunities of what we lived with plastic, but loyality, offers, alerts, location-based-marketing and a whole lot more.  Starbucks is a major early adapter of this service and their approach to drive mCommerse with this application will be a leading first of the “game-changers” of the industry.

Even though they are using their own proprietary technology to do this, it shows the power of mobile in our daily lives and convenience.   We can expect fragmentation as the alliance with the mobile operators has been late to the game.  Google is driving their own NFC initiatives along with Apple and a variety of others.  2011 will be a showdown in this area of applications as the replacement to plastic.

Fiercemobile Stats

At this rate they are doing  180K/day of products shipped and activated.  This is a bit over half of what Google has claimed to be 300K/day of Androids activated.  Nokia is still doing north of 1M/day….. In order for Apple to reach that 1M/day based on this growth timeline we are looking at the end of 2014.  Now with the expansion of Verizon and other carriers, the growth curb will “hockey stick a bit” and we could even see them hit the 1M/day even by the end of 2012 0r beginning of 2013.