Thursday 26 January 2012 at 10:38
The China Internet Network Information Center or CNNIC, established the number of Internet users in China rose last year by nearly 56 million to 513 million, close to half of the population. Interestingly, 48.7% of them, or about 250 million people are using weibos, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter, compared to just 63.1 million at the end of 2010.
Thursday 19 January 2012 at 10:56
Visa just announced it has certified the Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 handsets, a few months after MasterCard also certified handsets (cf. Smart Insights Weekly #11-44). At the same time, the Samsung Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 have received a FIPS 140-2 Security Certification, allowing it to be used as a means for government and enterprise security in the US.
Thursday 12 January 2012 at 10:44
According to several predictions, 2012 will be the end of the world. If this is true, we should all stop any ongoing technology developments and do something else. So let’s assume the end of the world is not going to happen in the next few months …
Thursday 15 December 2011 at 10:52
For many analysts, 2011 will remain as the year the whole planet stopped believing we could be safe with nuclear energy, or as the year we realized internet and social networks could overthrow dictatorships. In the Secure Transactions industry, it will remain as the 1st year NFC became a reality.
Thursday 8 December 2011 at 10:51
Already in 1965, Charles de Gaulle said “Of course one can jump up and down yelling Europe! Europe! Europe! But it amounts to nothing and it means nothing.” Seemingly, the European Commission (EC) is starting to realize the same about mobile payments. In a document leaked to Bloomberg News, the EC says the region lacks a “concrete European framework” for systems enabling customers to make purchases using their mobile phones.
Thursday 1 December 2011 at 10:16
Ericsson just published its Networked Society City Index ranking 25 of the world's largest cities according to their ability to transform ICT to social, economic and environmental benefits. The top three cities in the index - Seoul, Singapore and Stockholm - have successfully met many social, economic and environmental targets by making extensive investments in ICT. London, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing complete the top 10.
Thursday 24 November 2011 at 10:32
At a time when the whole world is experiencing one of the worst recession periods, the secure transactions industry seems almost unaffected. Last week, Cartes & IDentification trade show went on in a positive mood, most exhibitors and visitors being excited about market prospects, and anticipating technology and market developments.
Thursday 17 November 2011 at 10:28
During the World Card Summit, at Cartes & IDentification trade show, in Paris, Eurosmart presented the very positive results of the industry for the almost finished 2011 and forecasts for 2012. Both sets of figures are highly encouraging, demonstrating our solutions keep on spreading and the secure transactions industry keep on growing, even in global crisis times. Eurosmart forecasting horizon is set to December 2012, or just 13 months from now, leaving us under the impression the industry body is a bit shortsighted.
Thursday 10 November 2011 at 10:12
A few years ago the Secure Transactions industry was mainly French and German, and trying desperately to turn its solution into a global movement. We all celebrated every time a smart card was sold to the US or to Japan.
Thursday 3 November 2011 at 11:51
Already in existence since 2009, Bitcoin is an experimental new digital currency, based on advanced cryptography, and peer-to-peer technology allowing it to operate without a central issuing authority. Bitcoin software is a community-driven open source project, released under the MIT license. Building upon the notion that money is any object, or any sort of record, accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context, Bitcoin is designed around the idea of using cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money, rather than relying on central authorities.
Thursday 27 October 2011 at 10:31
Gartner just presented its set of top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2012. Gartner defines a strategic technology as one with the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years. Factors that denote significant impact include a high potential for disruption to IT or the business, the need for a major dollar investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.
Thursday 20 October 2011 at 11:21
PayPal announced its intention to propose a single sign-on digital identity service for online shopping, PayPal Access. PayPal’s objective, in proposition Access is to simplify the checkout process by enabling the company's 100 million account holders to sign in at participating retailers' sites with just their PayPal user name and password. PayPal Access can be seen as just another attempt to establish on-line identities, and to link them with payment means.
Thursday 13 October 2011 at 10:27
Steve Jobs has left us, and is gone to explore the iCloud.
Thursday 6 October 2011 at 10:35
We all know, since MasterCard has been repeating it already for a few years, that there are some things money can’t buy.
Thursday 29 September 2011 at 11:31
After only a few months of development and field test, Google has organized last week a grand launch event in New York City. The major announcement is that new partners are coming and joining MasterCard for mobile payment transactions. Now, users will have the choice between MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express.
