Walt Mossberg’s GPhone positives & ngatives

Walt Mossberg on businessinsider.com look at the pros and cons on the Gphone.

“I have been testing the G1 extensively, in multiple cities and in multiple scenarios. In general, I like it and consider it a worthy competitor to the iPhone… But the two devices have different strengths and weaknesses, and are likely to attract different types of users.”

Mossberg’s GPhone positives:

    * Keyboard.  Keys too flat and weird bulge in body, but at least there’s a keyboard.
    * Removable battery.
    * Expandable memory.
    * Cheaper. Phone $179 vs. Apple $199, Data plan $25 vs $30.
    * Equally slick software.
    * Better “desktop.”
    * Higher-res camera.
    * Much easier to make telephone calls.  Imagine that.
    * Key features that Apple bizarrely still omits: cut-and-paste, MMS,
    * Ability to legally unlock and go to another carrier (with fat fee)
    * Longer-lasting battery.  A whole day. Imagine that.
    * Slightly longer talk time. (5 hours, 19 minutes more)
    * Wicked cool compass that orients you on map.

Mossberg’s G1 downsides:

    * Chunky brick.  20% heavier, 30% thicker.
    * Puny memory. 1 gig, one eighth of iPhone.
    * Only 128 mg memory for third-party apps.
    * Too much lock-in with Google services (contacts, calendar)
    * No Microsoft Exchange support
    * Can’t sync with PC or Mac
    * Overall, interface inferior (no two-finger zoom magic)
    * No onscreen keyboard, so have to use bulky external keyboard.
    * Weak music player, no video player
    * T-Mobile network coverage sucks.

http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/10/google-android-g1-gphone-as-good-as-apple-iphone-says-gadget-king-mossberg

Posted via email from Gphone and Android Reviews

Why Debit Cards? Debit is the fastest growing payment method globally ((tags: Mozcom, PayEasy, credit cards, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club, BancNet, MegaLink, ATM cards, PayPal, China UnionPay, Globe G-Cash, Smart Money, W

70% of the world does not have a credit card (PayPal research 2009), which suggests there is a compelling case for alternative forms of online payment, such as debit and pre-paid cards.

 

For example, only 4% of the Philippine population has credit cards.

 

To partly address this, a new entrant into the epayments world PayEasy, an Asian online payment provider, has partnered with

UseMyBank, a Canadian online payment solutions provider, to accept real-time bank debit payments across Europe, China, and the UK.

 

“UseMyBank complements our drive to provide the most comprehensive online payment solution for local merchants,” said Dick Chiang, Mozcom CTO.

 

UseMyBank offers an alternative to credit cards. UseMyBank’s Anti-Fraud System (AFS) prevents and claims to ‘detect fraudulent use of bank cards quickly, reducing losses due to fraud, and assuring a good funds model of 99.999999%.’

 

“Debit is the fastest growing payment method globally in the ‘brick and mortar’ retail world, with growth rates that have surpassed the rate of credit card growth the past few years,” said Joseph Luso, CEO, UseMyBank, “Any Merchant that offers customers debit online is simply allowing their customers to extend their offline shopping habits to their online purchases.

It follows the basic tenants of Web 2.0 by allowing the Buyer more options for payment – and to finally use the payment method most used offline.”

 

So, how does it work?

UseMyBank offers a real-time debit payment option to the existing payment processing market place.

 

Its technology allows clients to pay for goods and services directly over the Internet using their existing financial services provider.

 

Mozcom PayEasy supports most all credit cards – Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club, BancNet – and MegaLink ATM cards, PayPal, China UnionPay, Globe G-Cash, Smart Money, Western Union, over-the-counter bank deposits, and direct account debit with major banks in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Canada and several European countries.

 

How to take debit cards online: visit www.payeasy.ph

Indian e-payment market worth $150 Billion

Swati Prasad reports in BusinessWeek that India’s retail e-payment market is likely to grow by nearly 70% in the next two years.

The value of retail e-payments should reach between US$150 billion and US$180 billion by 2010, according to a report by Celent.

Nilaya Varma, PricewaterhouseCoopers, says, “Indians were circumspect about using e-payment as they were comfortable paying in cash and through checks. Today, the proliferation of telecommunications networks and mobile phones has filled this gap.”

According to Celent, the Indian debit and credit card market grew at a compounded annual rate of 128.7 percent between 2004 and 2008 and is expected to reach 210 million cards by 2010.

The report expects:

1. Debit card circulation to increase to 169 million by 2010, up from 102.4 million

2. Credit cards should increase from 27.5 million to 40 million

PayPal popularity in India

PayPal is gaining popularity in India for cross-border trade for the sale of gemstones, jewelry, electronics and household items and for services such as Web design, travel and digital content.

“Young consumers who grew up with technology are coming of age and have their own bank accounts and mobile devices,” Shiliashki said. These young consumers expect services to be mobile, 24-by-7 and at their fingertips. “It is this expectation that is driving businesses to enter the online space.”

PayPal’s Shiliashki believes that if the Indian government achieves its goal of having 20 million broadband users by 2010, a greater usage of the Internet and increased familiarity with the opportunities it brings along will result in wider local adoption of e-commerce in India.

More: http://www.ivanwalsh.com/category/digital-downloads/

PayPal – UK Online spending to hit $40 Billion by 2011

PayPal’s UK Online Retail Report expects that online shopping with double to almost $40 (£22 STG) billion by the end of 2011.

Experian, who performed that research, believe that online shopping will be a key driver in getting UK retail out of the recession.

Looking at the numbers:

1. 137% growth in online spending

2. UK web shoppers in 2011 will spend £430 each, double the current figure.

3. 24% of UK consumers believe online shopping will overtake the high street

The research highlights that the rise in internet shopping is partly due to shoppers’ sense of empowerment, for example, reading up on items before making a purchase and interacting with others online before buying big ticket items.

Carl Scheible, managing director of PayPal UK, said: “As we all try to make our budgets work harder during the recession it is hardly surprising many of us have headed online to seek a better deal. In fact almost nine million of us now shop online at least once a week.

Other stats show that:

40% of online shoppers find it easier to budget by purchasing items online rather offline

47% believe their money goes further online.

By 2012m one in every 14 pounds spent shopping will be online.

Ivan Walsh

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What is a User Guide?

Technical communication is the process of conveying information about technology to an intended audience.

A user guide, also commonly known as a manual, is a technical communication document intended to give assistance to people using a particular system. They are written by a technical writer.

User guides are most commonly associated with electronic goods, computer hardware and software.

User Guide Contents

Most user guides contain both a written guide and the associated images. In the case of computer applications it is usual to include screenshots of how the program should look, and hardware manuals often include clear, simplified diagrams.

The language is written to match up with the intended audience with jargon kept to a minimum or explained thoroughly.

Contents

The usual sections of a user manual often include:

• A preface, containing details of related documents and information on how to best use the user guide

• A contents page

• A guide on how to use at least the main functions of the system

• A troubleshooting section detailing possible errors or problems that may occur along with how to fix them

• A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

• Where to find further help and contact details

• A glossary and, for larger documents, an index

Definitions of Technical Documentation?

“Technical writing is the presentation of information that helps the reader solve a particular problem. Technical communicators write, design, and/or edit proposals, manuals, web pages, lab reports, newsletters, and many other kinds of professional documents.“

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Technical Writing.

Posted via web from Technical Writing Software

Free Online Credit Card Calculator to Help Web Merchants Lower Processing Costs

Most web businesses are looking for ways to reduce operating costs in order to improve their bottom lines. One area overlooked due to its complexity is the cost of credit card processing.

To help address this, Optimized Payments Consulting has launched a free online calculator.

“It is a simple tool that will clear up misconceptions about processing costs and show businesses their true effective cost of processing credit and debit cards. This realization will cause merchants to take action and in the process add significant savings to their bottom line,” notes Anand Goel, founder of Optimized Payments.

Pricing in the credit card processing industry is very complex and most merchant statements do not make it any easier to understand.

There are so many technical and industry laden terms (Interchange, qualification tiers, downgrades, batch fee, ACH fee, authorization fee, settlement fee, AVS fee, PCI compliance fee, etc.) that even a sophisticated financial manager can get cross-eyed.

This free online credit card calculator tool simplifies some of the complex pricing schemes used by processors and calculates the ‘real’ percentage rate of processing credit and debit card sales.

For many web merchants this should help clears up misconceptions about processing costs.

Most web merchants just want to know that the overall cost of processing card payments – it is really 2.5% or some artifically low “Qualified Rate.”

This tool helps calculate your effective cost of card processing. If you wish the company can also send you a personalized analysis that compares your effective rate with other merchants of your size and in your industry.

Online credit card calculator: http://www.optimizedpmts.com/calculator/calculator.php

China’s Aigo launches MP6 online streaming players & digital products in India

Aigo, one of the leading IT brands in mainland China, has launched a range of digital products for the Indian marketplace including a range of MP6 players.

Its product portfolio is staggering.

In addition to digital audio players, MP3 players, omnispheres, digital video players digital mobile TVs, TV mates, digital frames, it also develops MP6 online streaming players.

Screenshots here: http://en.aigo.com/en/NewsInformation-46.aspx

Aigo has 1,900 employees with offices in the US, Asia and Europe.

It was the official sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and has raised its marketing profile by partnering Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team and Manchester United. Look for the Aigo logo on Lewis Hamilton.

More stories at: http://www.twitter.com/ivanwalsh

New York Times put new content on Web Before Print & Only on Web

paidContent reports that newspapers owned by The New York Times News Service will start to put New York Times content online first — as well as online only.

Members will also be able to access NYTimes.com content that doesn’t show up in the print edition of the paper.

paidContent quotes a spokesperson who clarified that the “new digital product is designed to offer clients more value as their businesses evolve.”

Cristian Edwards, president of The New York Times News Service, added, “As the news cycle speeds up, we are working to provide our clients with faster news and increased publishing rights.”

Want to read more?
 
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Is GameStop in denial? Digital Downloads Not Relevant Until 2014?

Matt Peckham reports on PCWorld that GameStop is playing with numbers as it tries to play down the relevance of downloadable games.
It cites the IndustryGamers reports which says that ‘GameStop doesn’t expect digital distribution to be a threat to stucco-and-rebar-retail until 2014.’

GameStop “has been monitoring and studying the capabilities of digital downloading and its potential adoption over the last several years” and that the company recently “conducted the most thorough study to-date on its capability.”
Matt takes a pretty hard look at the figures.
GameStop believe that an “addressable market” for digital downloads won’t exist for another five years; only 25% of the population will have access to the technology necessary to download full games.
As I write, I have Second Life on my 4 year-old laptop and have streaming music coming down the wires.
Why the 5 years?
Costs are another issue.
It reckons ‘service costs ($100/month), storage limitations, and consumer price intolerance will offset digital’s chances of supplanting retail anytime soon.’
According to the study, consumers will pay up to $39 per downloadable game, an expectation GameStop thinks will act as a ‘disincentive for publishers facing escalating production costs’.
This is rubbish.
I have high speed broadband for less than 10 USD per month, almost unlimited storage with Gmail and my web hosting ($5 per month) give me GBs of space/traffic.
Math points out that ‘download portals don’t charge a usage or monthly/annual membership fee, and as the broadband market grows, competitive pressure should keep even the fastest consumer services from moving up much past $50 a month, while legal obstacles should prevent companies from enforcing usage caps or engaging in traffic shaping or bandwidth throttling.’
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, who wrote the report, notes that GameStop’s “Management…. feels that digital growth and brick and mortar growth can co-exist,” said Bhatia. “Through their brick and mortar locations, the company can help facilitate and capitalize off digital. Overall, management did not seem at all concerned about the near-term threat but instead is looking at ways to potentially profit from digital.”
Read that line again – management did not seem at all concerned about the near-term threat.
James Brightman, over on IndustryGamers, thinks that GameStop will be hurt by the digital revolution in the games industry, as video games move away from the boxed product model and towards the games as a service model.
He warns that ‘If GameStop doesn’t want to see its stock tank, the company will have to start thinking about how to transform its business for the near future.’
Here’s the bottom line.
Matt again – ‘In a thriving digital distribution market, GameStop loses. They’re late to the game, and not doing much to distinguish themselves from their more evolved and intrepid competition.’
Their revenue model depends on dominating the high street. On the web, they’ve missed the boat and are flapping around trying to avoid the inevitable.
Update: a post on IndustryGamers make the point that ‘a download-only game (XBLA Magic the Gathering) was in the top 5 most played X360 games this week… points to the fact that the Age of Download is coming faster than many may expect or desire.

5 limitations of Clickbank & where it needs to improve – Part 1 Delivery Problems

I’ve used Clickbank to sell digital products for 10 years. In that time I have seen other competitors, such as eJunkie.com and PayLaodz.com arrive and give Clickbank a run for its (digital) money. What disappoints me about Clickbank is that its failure to address its weakness and improve product designs that would make it a truly remarkable product.

With a little tweaking, Clickbank could be in the industry standard for selling digital products.

So, if anyone from Clickbank is listening here are five areas you could improve.

1. Digital Delivery

When you buy a product on Clickbank, it sends you to a download page on the customer’s site where you save the file. This has a few problems.

1. This web-page can be bookmarked and sent to others, who can then download the product.

2. This webpage must be created by the seller for every product. Time is money and this takes a lot of time.

3. This download page must be available 24*7. So, if your hosting company goes down, your customers cannot download their product.

As far as I know, Clickbank is the only leading e-tailer that uses this (old-fashioned) system.

What’s the alternative?

When you buy with Payloadz.com, the customer is sent an email with a link to the download. This removes the need/time to create unique web-pages for each product ala Clickbank.

Ghacks.net also takes up this point, “take a look at their requirements for pages, or better thank you pages that sell Clickbank products.”

It points out that the “requirement is that a thank you page has to be created on the website that is selling the product which will be displayed after the purchase has been made. Many Clickbank webmasters put download information of their products on this page to make it as easy as possible for their customers to download the product once the purchase has been made.”

Ghacks.net adds some tips on securing the pages. Most Clickbank Thank You pages contain the following or a similar sentence:

‘Please Note: Your credit card will be billed by “CLKBANK*COM”. The name “CLKBANK*COM”will appear on your credit card statement.’

Searching for ‘clkbank right click’ reveals hundreds of product pages that offer the product as a download after making the purchase.

Read more here http://www.ghacks.net/2007/12/22/clickbank-we-have-a-problem/

Going back to Payloadz.com, it also means that the delivery is quicker.

The customer is not sent from

1) your site to

2) Clickbank and then

3) back to your site.

Also, the customer gets 5 attempts to download the product with Payloadz e.g. http://store.payloadz.com/detail_html.asp?Id=196478 and then the link expires.

Does Payloadz.com work?

I have used Payloadz.com since April. Not one complaint. Read that again. Not one complaint.

Why use Clickbank?

I still use Clickbank as I have designed the whole site around it and to change the code would take weeks.

Sadly, every morning I get emails from customers saying they didn’t get the product, the link doesn’t work, where is the link…

Over the course of a week, this takes several hours of customer support to address, which is proving to be very time-consuming and expensive.

Next week, I’ll discuss another area where Clickbank can improve – hoplinks!

Let me know what you think.

PS: my shop on Payloadz.com is here: http://store.payloadz.com/results/results.asp?m=33579

Ivan

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