Updated: In-App Purchases To Overtake Sales From Paid Apps By 2013
The consumer draw of free apps over paid apps has been well-documented, and so has the rise of in-app payments as a route to making money fr… Read more at paidContent »
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The future of mobile: a segment analysis by GigaOM Pro
As our demand for data increases, so too do the number of mobile devices and services. Add to that the infrastructure needed to support such connectivity, and a wide, complex picture of the mobile industry emerges. This report examines the various sectors of the mobile landscape and what the future holds for each. Hardware, cloud services, mobile search, advertising, location-based services and the growing ubiquity of the Internet of Things will all play an important role in the concept of mobility as it shifts and evolves over the next several years. With the help of more than a dozen contributors, GigaOM Pro presents a comprehensive analysis of the companies and trends that will lead us into the next era of mobile. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
PayPal pitches its wider vision for mobile payments
PayPal, which has been a powerhouse in online payments but hasn’t really cracked the market for real-world payments of goods, is starting to show off how it can put all of its components and recent acquisitions together to form a broad tool for mobile payments. Read more »
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Mobile payments: forecasts, technologies and opportunities
Mobile payments — payments initiated by a phone for a transaction at a physical point of sale or online — will total over $750 billion worldwide by 2015, and many predict they will soon begin to replace a typical credit card transaction. This report analyzes and forecasts the mobile payments industry, from its current technologies to the companies implementing them and the trends we can expect in the coming months. Much of the near-term growth of mobile payments will be driven by near-field communication (NFC) technology, but QR and 2D bar codes, mobile POS systems and SMS transactions are also important platforms for companies to consider when creating business models and strategies. Meanwhile, services from the likes of MasterCard, Nokia, Amazon and Google offer examples for others to follow and clues into the future of the industry. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Research in Motion, T-Mobile, Zong and Groupon. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
EBay buys Zong to bolster PayPal mobile payments
EBay is getting more serious with its mobile payments ambitions with PayPal, announcing today that it is buying Zong for $240 million. The move bolsters PayPal’s existing payment system and allows it to offer users an additional way to pay via carrier billing. Read more »
Zong Brings Payments to Flash, Gaming Consoles and TV Apps
Zong has been a major player in mobile payments, best known for allowing people to bill Facebook Credits purchases to their phone. But the provider sees a bigger audience in payments and is expanding support to Flash, Unity, the mobile web and to interactive TV platforms. Read more »
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How to Ride the Freemium App Wave to Success
Offering freemium versions of mobile apps is a now a full-fledged trend, so shouldn’t all app developers employ the model? Not so fast. The strategy has worked, but it requires understanding of both the market and your product, along with careful thought, planning and a willingness ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
AT&T Tries to Jump-Start Mobile Carrier Billing
AT&T is rolling out a trial of direct carrier billing with Zong, BilltoMobile and Boku. The trial represents the biggest push to date for direct mobile billing, which allows a consumer to buy a product and bill it directly to their wireless bill. Read more »
Zong Offers Android Devs In-App Purchasing Tool
Developers looking to make a buck on Android in-app purchases will be heartened to hear that Papaya Mobile is the first to deploy Zong’s in-app payment system for its social gaming platform. The deal opens a new era for Android developers waiting for in-app purchase solutions. Read more »
Mobilize 2010: To NFC or Not to NFC
On a panel of mobile payments providers at GigaOM’s Mobilize 2010, everyone was happy to agree that mobile payments are finally getting their day in the sun due to the growth of smartphones, mobile application platforms, and the sheer market size of 5 billion phones. Read more »
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Report: U.S. Mobile Venture Capital Investment, Q2 2010
Tremendous changes in the global economy, the mobile and wireless industry and the VC market over the past four quarters have been significant and apparent. The U.S. stock market is recovering after touching 12-year lows. Smartphone use is exploding, while the VC industry is struggling with lackluster returns. These trends are reflected in venture capital firms’ funding activity in the mobile and wireless space. In this report, we examine venture capital investment over the second quarter of 2010 with an eye on which sectors have attracted the most attention, and which areas are likely to continue to see growth in the coming months. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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A Mobile Payments Glossary
Set to be worth $633.4 billion by 2014, mobile payments are finally finding their stride — but it’s not just one stride. Here’s your guide to the most promising emerging options in the space — carrier billing, mobile wallets, point of sale, mobile banking, in-app purchases ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Boku and Zong Launch In-App Android Payments
Zong and Boku, the mobile payments competitors, have found a new place to go head-to-head: the Android platform. Both companies are today announcing trials of support for in-app transactions on the iPhone, billed to users’ mobile carriers securely. Read more »
Zong Collects $15M for Mobile Payments
Here’s a company you should be paying attention to, if you’re not already: Zong, the mobile payments startup, said today it’s raised $15 million in a round led by Matrix Partners and is now fully spun off from Switzerland-based Echovox. Read more »
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Report: Monetizing Digital Content
The worldwide online market for digital goods will grow amid a state of continuous disruption across all forms of content markets. Fueled by an ever-growing user base, migration from physical formats to digital distribution, and a proliferation of new connected devices, the overall market for digital goods will grow to $36 billion by 2014, up from $16.7 billion in 2009. This report examines the state of paid content and the various monetization and payment models across each of the various digital goods markets. The report examines key players and market dynamics in the film and video, newspaper, online game, music and social networks space relative to their paid content strategies, and includes a revenue forecast of each of these segments relative to the overall paid content market. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
