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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Google tries to replace wallets with smartphones (AP) : Technet

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Google tries to replace wallets with smartphones (AP) : Technet

Google tries to replace wallets with smartphones (AP)

Posted: 26 May 2011 03:45 PM PDT

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Thu May 26, 6:45 pm ET

NEW YORK – Google Inc. is trying to nudge consumers and merchants into a world where the smartphone has replaced the wallet as the container for credit cards, coupons and receipts.

In Google's vision detailed Thursday, shoppers will touch their phone screen to select a card, then tap the phone to a credit-card reader in a store or restaurant. Google would make money by selling coupons and advertising that come along with the experience.

It's a goal shared by others. The Internet search and advertising company faces tough competition from cellphone companies, payment card issuer Visa Inc., eBay Inc.'s PayPal payment service and others. All of them want to play the central role of tying together phones, retailers and banks into a new payment system.

This isn't Google's first attempt at electronic payments. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., introduced an online payment service called "Checkout" five years ago. It hasn't posed a serious threat to PayPal.

Google views its digital wallet as a way to sell advertising at a pivotal moment: when shoppers are in stores, ready to spend money and even more receptive to coupons and other discount offers.

Nick Holland, an analyst at Yankee Group, said that although all parties stand to benefit from Google's system, Google itself has the most to gain. That's because the Google Wallet would allow the company to "own" the market for advertising that's tied to the user's location.

Google said it's launching a Google Wallet trial in San Francisco and New York in cooperation with Visa rival MasterCard and Citibank. It will open up the system to consumers later in the summer. It then plans to expand across the country.

There has been talk of smart payment systems for years, and Google faces the same hurdles that have stifled previous trials.

One is that Google Wallet will initially work on only one smartphone, the Google Nexus S 4G carried by Sprint Nextel Corp. Several smartphone makers, including Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, are ready to bring out more phones with chips for so-called Near-Field Communications, or NFC, but it's uncertain if they'll work with Google's system.

Another hurdle is getting retailers to invest in terminals that can talk to the phones. Google Wallet will connect only to MasterCard PayPass terminals. There are more than 135,000 of those in U.S. stores and restaurants, but that's only a small fraction of the total number.

Google's carrot is that retailers will be able to put loyalty cards and coupons in the Wallet, helping them track and engage with their customers. Partners in the trial include Macy's, RadioShack, Subway, Toys R Us, Duane Reade and Walgreens.

Yet another problem: Google needs to get cellphone companies on board. Its partner Sprint is the country's third-largest. AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, the rest of the four biggest national carriers, have formed their own consortium to create a wallet that will compete with Google's.

The final obstacle is persuading consumers to take the leap. Phones might one day offer slightly faster checkouts, but the benefit would be small. Google calls Wallet a "single-tap solution," but in a demonstration at Thursday at Google's New York office, a Google executive had to tap his phone twice to a terminal provided by retail partner American Eagle Outfitters Inc., then sign on the screen to get a purchase of a pair of denim shorts through.

Osama Bedier, Google's vice president of payments, said it was up to the retailer to decide if the shopper has to sign on the screen.

"Consumers and businesses don't have a compelling need for changes in payment methods," a recent study by the Federal Reserve said. It nevertheless concluded that there are substantial benefits to reap for everyone involved if mobile payments become a reality.

One of the potential benefits is increased security compared to cards with magnetic stripes, which can be copied surreptitiously.

The Wallet will initially work with a MasterCard from Citigroup Inc. and with a prepaid debit card issued by Google, but the intent is to let the wallet accept any card.

"This is about creating a compelling model and asking folks to join," Bedier said.

Banks and payment processors such as MasterCard and Visa like the idea of mobile payments, but have their own designs on the space. Visa already has announced plans for its own wallet. MasterCard is collaborating with Google but is working on its own projects.

"Today's announcement is another early salvo in what will be a long and hard-fought battle to change consumers' payment behavior and, as a potential result, the makeup of the payments landscape," said Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin.

___

Peter Svensson can be reached at http://twitter.com/petersvensson

Twitter diplomacy new face of foreign relations (AP)

Posted: 26 May 2011 11:39 AM PDT

By KARL RITTER, Associated Press Karl Ritter, Associated Press – Thu May 26, 2:39 pm ET

STOCKHOLM – When Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt couldn't reach his counterpart in Bahrain by traditional means of communication, he turned to Twitter.

"Trying to get in touch with you on an issue," Bildt tweeted to Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa early Thursday.

A shout-out on Twitter — is this the future of diplomacy?

"It shows that in the modern world you can seek contact in modern ways," Bildt told The Associated Press.

Many politicians and diplomats worldwide have already embraced social media as a tool to communicate with the public — Bildt and others tweeted prolifically Thursday about the arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic.

But they don't typically communicate among each other that way.

So was Bildt's mission to find Al Khalifa on Twitter successful?

"Yep," Bildt said. Al Khalifa saw his tweet — Bildt's 1,000th — and got in touch with the Swede, who noted that social media isn't the only way he contacts his peers: "I know which ones are on Twitter."

With nearly 32,000 followers, Al Khalifa is something of a Twitter celebrity in his Persian Gulf nation. Many of his tweets during Bahrain's pro-democracy uprisings reflected the Al Khalifa monarchy's viewpoint. But others have contained shout-outs to fellow diplomats, a mother's day greeting and even the occasional travel snapshot.

His activity has also generated spoof Twitter accounts, some of which poke fun at the minister's weight. One of those parody accounts replied to Bildt's tweet to Al Khalifa on Thursday: "(at)carlbildt He's eating right now, try again later (hashmark)bahrain."

Despite the risk of such spoofs, diplomats are likely to use social media ever more frequently, even in contacting each other, if only to show that they move with the times, analysts say.

John Einar Sandvand, who blogs about media trends in Norway, suspects Bildt's Tweet was not just aimed at Al Khalifa, but at the Swedish minister's almost 30,000 other followers.

"I don't know Carl Bildt. But I'm quite sure he knows what he's doing," Sandvand said. "He wouldn't tweet private information. He does this in a way to build his brand as a politician."

Bildt, 61, may seem like an unlikely social media pioneer. He's quite formal when you meet him in person — neatly dressed in dark suits, always eloquent and with the air of a professor.

But he's eager to promote Sweden as leader in information technology and figures he must set an example. On his blog, he proudly noted that he made "IT history" when he as Swedish prime minister in 1994 sent an email to President Bill Clinton.

"It was the first email at this level and got quite a lot of attention at the time," Bildt recalled in 2007.

When it comes to social networking, Bildt has a strong challenger in Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who has a more casual tone on his Twitter and Facebook accounts and official home page. It shows the 43-year-old Stubb posing in jeans and sneakers and on a bicycle in full racing gear.

On his Twitter page Thursday, Stubb disclosed that members of his conservative party, during a break in government formation talks, quarreled over "how to spell ice cream. I lost. Wanted a hyphen. Life is unfair..."

Stubb was fast to tweet about Mladic's arrest — within an hour of the news breaking. But not as fast as Bildt.

"Was he 20 minutes before me?" Stubb asked AP. "I'm a faster runner than Carl Bildt, but he's faster tweeter."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, seen as serious and reserved in person, is an engaging figure online. In recent weeks, he's answered impromptu questions via Twitter on the Middle East peace process and Syria — he even offered a birthday greeting to a voter in his Parliamentary district.

Like Bildt and Al Khalifa, Hague has also sparred on Twitter with his counterparts — trading jokey messages about cricket with Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.

In December, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg used Twitter to exchange views on their hopes for the U.N. climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico.

Earlier this month, Rwandan President Paul Kagame attacked a British journalist after the reporter branded him "despotic and deluded" on Twitter, and raised questions over the leader's human rights record.

Kagame sent 14 messages back to Ian Birrell — formerly deputy editor of The Independent newspaper and an ex-speechwriter for British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Hundreds of people read and commented about the unusually frank exchange between a foreign leader and reporter.

"Shame he doesn't allow such debate in Rwanda with his own people," Birrell noted in one of his own Twitter updates.

The jury's out on whether Twitter diplomacy will lead to more insight into what governments are up to. Given the embarrassment caused by WikiLeaks' releases of U.S. diplomatic cables, foreign affairs officials are likely to be cautious about discussing matters of state online.

Jimmy Leach, head of digital engagement at Britain's foreign ministry, said ministers messaging their counterparts on Twitter can help humanize international relations — but doubts a public forum is the place for sensitive discussions.

"What you are not going to get is high level diplomacy via Twitter," he said.

Al Khalifa eventually replied to Bildt on Twitter, but didn't divulge the topic of their conversation: "(at)carlbildt nice to hear from you to catch up on matters .. Your tweet caught the world's interest."

Neither Al Khalifa nor Bildt responded to tweets from AP reporters Thursday. Al Khalifa also couldn't be reached by email or through a government spokeswoman.

Bildt, who was in Istanbul, called AP in Stockholm after a message was left with his spokeswoman. But he wouldn't say what "issue" he brought up with Al Khalifa: "I don't want to get into that."

___

Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and David Stringer in London contributed to this report.

___

Karl Ritter can be reached at http://twitter.com/Karl_Ritter

Adam Schreck can be reached at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

David Stringer can be reached at http://twitter.com/david_stringer

E-Book report: Nook is up, iPad still catching up (AP)

Posted: 26 May 2011 04:24 PM PDT

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer Hillel Italie, Ap National Writer – Thu May 26, 7:24 pm ET

NEW YORK – As the publishing industry wrapped up four days of digital talk at its annual national convention, Amazon.com's Kindle was seen as the clear, if not dominant, player in the growing e-market; Barnes & Noble's Nook was considered a pleasant surprise and Apple's iPad an underachiever.

"They had a respectable launch, but we think Apple can do better," Penguin Group (USA) CEO David Shanks said this week during BookExpo America, which ended Thursday at the Jacob Javits Center. "They still haven't moved their e-books into their iTunes store, and they can have a much better search capability in their iBookstore."

"The iPad offers so many audio visual applications that reading is not given as much priority as it is in dedicated (reading only) devices like the Nook and Kindle," says literary agent Richard Curtis.

More than 20 million iPads and iPad 2s have been sold over the past year, and the iBookstore is also available on more than 160 million additional devices through the iPhone and iPod. But publishers and agents say Apple is not yet the balance to Amazon.com for which they had hoped. They estimate that Apple sales are around 10 percent of the e-market, far behind the believed 60 percent to 65 percent for Amazon. Publishers and agents say e-books are at least 15 percent to 20 percent of overall sales, more than double from just a year ago.

Apple spokesman Jason Roth declined to comment on any specific criticisms, but did say that the iBookstore had over 150,000 titles — an Amazon spokesman says the the Kindle store has more than 950,000 — and that more than 100 million books had been downloaded worldwide through the iBookstore. He would not say how many were downloads of free books. Selections at the iBookstore were greatly improved this year when Random House Inc., publisher of Stieg Larsson and John Grisham among others, agreed to sell through Apple after resolving differences over pricing.

Brian Murray, CEO of HarperCollins Publishers, said iBookstore sales were "a little smaller than expected," but he praised the iPad as a multimedia breakthrough that enabled publishers to sell e-picture books and "enhanced" e-books that include video and sound.

"There are certainly areas for improvement, as there are with every book retailer and device," he said. "But the promise of having another platform where books can be discovered is still true today. The potential is enormous."

A strong No. 2 to Amazon has emerged, but it's Barnes & Noble, which launched the Nook late in 2009 to skepticism about everything from the name "Nook" to the design. David Pogue in The New York Times had mocked the Nook's "half-baked software" and called the device "an anesthetized slug."

But Barnes & Noble has worked to improve the Nook and to offer different types, including a touch screen version announced this week. The company promoted the Nook relentlessly through its superstores and now has around 25 percent of e-sales, publishers say.

David Young, CEO of the Hachette Book Group, said the Nook's success had "frankly astounded" him. Random House CEO Markus Dohle acknowledged he was initially "worried a bit" about the Nook, but praised Barnes & Noble for its "extraordinary accomplishment."

Even the American Booksellers Association, the trade group representing independent sellers, was congratulating its longtime rival.

"They've married the physical location to the e-book device in a way that is profound," says Len Vlahos, the association's chief operating officer.

BookExpo America is a combination of trade show, seminar, soapbox and family reunion, with agents, authors, booksellers and publishers assembled under the Javits roof and in and out of the center's erratic Wi-Fi. The convention is also a testament to the endless and surprising variety of publishers, where a booth this week for the Lebanese Ministry of Culture stood across the aisle from a display of American Girl products.

Among the "buzz" books were the novels "The Art of Fielding" by Chad Harbach and Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus." Buzz words included "petting zoo," meaning an in-store selection of e-book devices that customers are allowed to handle; and "showroom," the latest pitch for the value of a physical, "bricks and mortar" store.

Membership in the booksellers association has increased for two straight years after decades of decline, and independents are encouraged by the Nook because they think it demonstrates that old-fashioned bookstores, "showrooms," remain the best way to promote books.

With Borders closing stores and Barnes & Noble committing more space to the Nook, publishers are looking to independents to ensure the tradition of spontaneous discovery, a passer-by spotting a new release in the window or a browser finding an old paperback on a shelf.

"Independents are going to be OK, I genuinely feel," says David Young of Hachette. "We care about the all physical stores, and that includes the chains, because they're our showrooms. It's a good term and one at the moment you can't replicate online."

Independents are not ignoring e-books. Around 250 have signed with Google and its e-book store, which opened last December and which Vlahos of the booksellers association praised as a valuable addition. Synonymous with Internet searching, Google has positioned itself as a bridge between different kinds of devices and retailers, a peacemaker on the e-battlefield.

Some publishers and booksellers would like more noise, though. Brian Murray of HarperCollins says he's disappointed with Google sales, which even Google acknowledges have been small so far. At an information session hosted by Google, booksellers questioned the company's aversion to advertising.

Google's director of strategic partnerships, Tom Turvey, says that spending "lots and lots" of money on ads was unlikely. But he noted that the store was relatively new and was confident that sales would increase as more readers learned about it, whether online, through an e-book device or through the bookstores promoting it. Michael Norris of Simba criticized Google for not having "thought out their e-book strategy all the way through." But Turvey said the Google store was evolving as planned.

"My entire team comes from the book business," says Turvey, a former director of online sales and marketing at HarperCollins. "We understand the issues extremely well."

Just Show Me: How to download apps to your iPad (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 26 May 2011 06:31 PM PDT

By Barb Dybwad barb Dybwad – 2 hrs 50 mins ago


Welcome to Just Show Me on Tecca TV, where we take your tech toys and gadgets and give you tips and tricks for getting the most out of them. Yesterday we looked at how to arrange tiles on your Windows Phone 7 device, and today we turn our attention to helping new iPad owners download apps to their shiny tablets.

This Apple App Store overview will be relevant to both iPad and iPad 2 owners out there. And if you already know all about how to download apps to your iPad, why not pass this video on to the new Apple tablet owner in your life?

As always, if you have any requests for something you'd like Just Show Me to cover, please be sure to let us know in the comments!

Just Show Me tech how-to videos

6 alternatives to Google Music Beta (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 26 May 2011 06:25 PM PDT

By Tecca tecca – 2 hrs 57 mins ago

Google announced the Google Music Beta service during its recent I/O conference. Essentially, Google Music Beta will allow you to upload 20,000 of your songs to a virtual "locker," which you can access anywhere via the web or your Android device. Google Music Beta is already available to early testers who managed to score a beta invite (you can request a beta invite from Google if you want to check it out).

In addition to accessing your music, the service will carry your playlists and preferences everywhere you use it. The app caches your recently played music, so you can still access it without an internet connection, providing you at least some music if you happen to be offline.

While Google Music Beta is pretty exciting news, the cloud-based storage method won't necessarily appeal to everyone. Other options and competing services already exist across the internet, and you can use them now even without an invitation.

1. Amazon Cloud Player
The Amazon Cloud Player is the most direct competitor to Google Music Beta. The Amazon offering allows you to upload any kind of document to its Cloud Drive, providing a specific Cloud Player to let you listen to your music. Using the same storage space for both music and other types of files is obviously a pretty big benefit. On the drawbacks side, though, Amazon charges if your storage locker goes over 5GB, at a rate of about $1 per GB. The Amazon Cloud Drive has received pretty good reviews so far, although there's a bit of legal uproar because Amazon didn't secure licensing ahead of time.

2. Slacker Premium Radio
Slacker Premium Radio is a different approach to letting you stream music. With Google Music Beta and Amazon Cloud Drive, you're streaming your own music to your device; you've already purchased this music by other means. With Slacker Premium Radio, you're listening to Slacker's music collection, which might not have every song or artist you're after. The paid premium service is on-demand radio, letting you pick and choose your music.

The drawback to Slacker is that while you're only paying about $10 a month to listen to music, you still don't actually own it at all. Since you don't have a local copy of the tunes anywhere, you can't enjoy it without access to the internet.

3. Pandora
Pandora has been around for quite a few years, and it's still the standard for internet streaming music. Pandora is an internet radio site that builds its music "channels" from your musical preferences. You can skip music you don't want to listen to, although you can only skip so many songs at a time. You can create your own music channels, of course, usually based off favorite artists. You can even mix up your music channels and let Pandora surprise you with its own music selections. As you come across songs that you particularly like or dislike, rate them to help Pandora further refine your preferences.

4. Last.fm
Last.fm is fundamentally the same idea as Pandora; it's an internet radio station that bases its music selection on your preferences. It uses an app called the Scrobbler, which you download to your computer. The Scrobbler looks at the music you already own to figure out your music preferences and also tracks what you like and listen to for your own reference. Then, as you listen to music on Last.fm, the station pays attention to your music choices to further refine the songs you hear. You're not required to use the Scrobbler to get started, but it certainly makes setting up your account faster.

What separates Last.fm from Google Music Beta and even Pandora is that you can use the service to find local events. This is nice feature that lets you find nearby concerts that might be of interest.

5. Grooveshark
Grooveshark lets you upload music to the service and then share it with other people. At the same time, you can search other folks' uploads and check out their music. It is, simply put, a huge on-demand music sharing service. It's almost a little surprising that it's lasted this long, since this seems like the kind of model the music industry would attack with guns blazing.  All you need to set up your Grooveshark service is an email address. It offers a premium service, which allows you to access music without any pesky advertisements.

Grooveshark shares the same drawback as Last.fm and Pandora; since it's solely a streaming music service, you can't listen to anything if you don't have an internet connection.

6. YouTube
Folks usually don't think of YouTube as a streaming music service, but the reality is that many artists keep official music videos online with the service. Much to many music labels' chagrin, fans keep even more unofficial songs on YouTube.

If you take some time plugging through searches to finding music and videos that appeal to you, it's easy to build playlists of your favorite videos that serve as a "music video station." Your listening experience will occasionally be interrupted by advertisements, but that's common on streaming services nowadays.

Google Music Beta is pretty exciting; folks are lined up to get an invitation and try out the service. But there are already many streaming music options out there, including some ways to build your own, very specialized playlists. While there's a lot of buzz about the new entry into the streaming music arena, don't forget that there are already some great services operating right now.

Post by Michael Gray

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Analysis: S.Korea's smartphone love affair lures foreign suitors (Reuters)

Posted: 26 May 2011 08:07 PM PDT

By Jonathan Hopfner Jonathan Hopfner – 1 hr 14 mins ago

SEOUL (Reuters) – The proliferation of smartphones in South Korea is transforming this former "walled garden" ruled by local players into one of Asia's most promising destinations for global Internet and social networking firms.

A solid, wireless broadband infrastructure, feature-packed new models from homegrown giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, and an explosion in mobile applications and services have all contributed to the breakneck speed of smartphone adoption.

In just 18 months the number of smartphone subscribers in South Korea has exploded more than ten-fold to top 10 million, or around a fifth of the population, according to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).

South Korea ranks first in Asia and third globally in smartphone penetration, according to eMarketer, lagging only the United States and Western Europe.

All this is music to the ears of handset makers and application developers.

"Korea is interesting because it's got a large, tech-savvy and concentrated population," said Andrew Mason, founder and CEO of group-buying site Groupon, which launched services in Korea in March. "It's the perfect market for Groupon."

Smartphones have become a "Trojan horse into the Korean market" for the likes of Google and Facebook, which had a head start on local firms in optimizing their offerings for smartphones, said Richard Min, partner at Seoul-based startup incubator, Seoul Space.

Foreign entrants have moved quickly to capitalize on the changing landscape. Twitter launched a Korean-language website in January after seeing a 3,400 percent spike in the volume of Korean tweets in 2010. It now has around 3 million local users, according to market research firm, Daumsoft.

Facebook opened a Seoul office late last year to seize on the "great momentum" in Korea, a company spokesperson said.

And Groupon Korea already ranks among the top four players in South Korea's increasingly crowded social commerce market, with a growth rate that is "accelerating every week," said local CEO, Hee Seung Hwang.

GOOGLE'S CHANGING FORTUNES

Arguably the biggest beneficiary of Korea's smartphone explosion has been Google, whose previous attempts to woo local Internet users were disappointing. As of March 2011 it held a mere 2 percent sliver of the standard Internet search market, according to Seoul-based research house, Metrix Corp.

But Metrix estimates Google now vies with Korea's Daum Communications for second place in the mobile Internet search market, with a share of more than 15 percent.

Google's Android operating system, on which Samsung and LG's latest smartphone offerings are based, powered only 3 percent of South Korea's mobile phones in March 2010. That figure jumped to 60 percent by January 2011, KCC data shows.

The onslaught of imported competition has rattled local Internet industry leaders Daum, NHN, and SK Communications, whose domestic and PC-based focus may now be coming back to haunt them.

"Without a major shift, (Korean Internet firms) are in trouble," says Min of Seoul Space. "Their biggest problem used to be their biggest asset -- they built these perfect local systems. But these days Koreans are more international and if they want to reach a global audience there is no contest."

NHN's shares have declined 17 percent so far this year, versus a 0.5 percent gain in the benchmark KOSPI, and Kosdaq-listed SK Communications is down 41 percent compared to the venture market's 7 percent fall. Daum, also listed on the Kosdaq, is a notable outperformer, up 30 percent.

NHN continues to dominate the Korean Internet, with some 75 percent of standard searches conducted via its Naver portal. Its Me2Day microblogging service boasts over 5 million users, well ahead of Twitter. But Metrix data shows the number of visitors to Twitter grew six times faster in 2010.

SK Communications' most iconic product, the Cyworld social networking service, pulled the plug in 2009 on an effort to crack the U.S. market and now appears increasingly threatened by Facebook on its home turf.

SK Communications says Cyworld has 35 million users in South Korea, around 10 times more than Facebook, but its visitor numbers barely budged last year while Facebook's shot up more than 3,000 percent.

INCUMBENTS FIGHT BACK

Korean firms acknowledge that foreign competitors are making inroads, but also say they are taking steps in response.

"(Foreign companies) are strengthening their position in the domestic mobile content market with relatively high brand awareness," says Lee Ram, director of NHN's Portal Strategy Department.

But Naver's introduction of new services such as mobile messaging and web storage has resulted in a "number of users moving from Google to Naver," Lee added.

Daum has developed new mobile applications such as the Yozm social networking service, which has already signed up more than 2 million users, according to Daum vice president of corporate communications Lee Byung-sun.

SK Comms, meanwhile, is banking on an online marketplace for new games and applications, said CFO Koo Ki-hyang.

The struggle for Korea's Internet users has spilled into the legal arena. In April Daum and NHN filed a lawsuit against Google with Korea's Fair Trade Commission, arguing the pre-installation of Google Search on Android phones was stifling competition.

Google rejected the allegations.

"Android is an open platform...we do not require carriers or manufacturers to include Google Search on Android-powered devices," a spokesperson said.

Few seem ready to count Korea's incumbents out. The healthy performance of home-grown applications like instant messaging service KakaoTalk point to a deep local pool of innovation and the market remains tricky to navigate.

"(Korea) is still very closed," said David Lee, a former director at Google and now a partner at Palo Alto-based venture capital firm XG Ventures. "If you want to publish a game, you have to go through the game ratings bureau. Payment gateways are difficult...the challenge for overseas developers is to get through those hoops."

For those that do, the Korea experience is likely to inform their strategies in other markets with rapid smartphone uptake and a strong stable of local players, such as Japan and China.

Groupon's Mason says the firm is in a "learning phase" in Asia and that South Korea is serving as a test-bed for technologies such as SMS distribution, while Google sees South Korea as demonstrating "where the rest of Asia is going as well."

But others note China is very different and not just because of censorship.

China's Baidu and Sina have "taken the best of Twitter, Facebook and so on and put them all together...adding a lot of innovations that have drawn a ton of Chinese users," said Mike Clendenin, managing director of Shanghai-based RedTech Advisors.

"I'm not convinced (foreign social networking services) would do well in China even if they were unblocked."

(Additional Reporting by Seongbin Kang, Taeyi Kim and Jungyoun Park in SEOUL: Editing by Matt Driskill)

EBay and PayPal sue Google over trade secrets (Reuters)

Posted: 26 May 2011 07:50 PM PDT

By Yinka Adegoke Yinka Adegoke – 1 hr 32 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – EBay and its online payment unit, PayPal Inc, on Thursday sued Google Inc and two executives for stealing trade secrets related to mobile payment systems.

The two executives, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, were formerly with PayPal and led the launch on Thursday of Google's own mobile payment system in partnership with MasterCard, Citigroup and phone company Sprint.

The suit highlights the growing battle by a wide range of companies from traditional finance to Silicon Valley trying to take a major stake in what has been described as a $1 trillion opportunity in mobile payments. The mobile phone is seen as the digital personal wallet of the future.

The eBay suit said Bedier worked for nine years at PayPal, most recently serving as vice president of platform, mobile and new ventures. He joined Google on January 24 this year.

Tilenius was at eBay from 2001 to October 2009 and served as a consultant to the company until March 2010. The suit says Tilenius joined Google in February 2010 as vice president of e-commerce.

Bedier is accused in the suit of having "misappropriated PayPal trade secrets by disclosing them within Google and to major retailers."

The suit accused Tilenius of recruiting Bedier, thereby breaking a contractual agreement with eBay. It also claims Bedier attempted to recruit former colleagues still at PayPal.

Ebay said PayPal and Google worked closely together for three years until this year on developing a commercial deal where PayPal would serve as a payment option for mobile application purchases on Google's Android phones.

It said Bedier was the senior PayPal executive leading and finalizing negotiations with Google on Android during this period.

It also claimed Bedier transferred up-to-date versions of documents outlining PayPal's mobile payment strategies to his non-PayPal computer just days before leaving PayPal for Google.

"By hiring Bedier, with his trade secret knowledge of PayPal's plans and understanding of Google's weaknesses as viewed by the industry leader (PayPal), Google bought the most comprehensive and sophisticated critique of its own problems available," the suit said.

Google spokesman Aaron Zamost said the company had not yet received a copy of the complaint would not be able to comment until it has had a chance to review it.

Google and PayPal have done battle in the recent past in online payments via computers with the launch of Google Checkout in 2006, but Checkout has had a minimal impact on PayPal's market dominance.

The suit was filed at Superior Court of the State of California, county of Santa Clara, Case No: CV20l863.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, additional reporting by Jennifer Saba; Editing by Gary Hill, Bernard Orr and Matt Driskill)

"Margaritaville" going 3D as Buffett launches Facebook game (Reuters)

Posted: 26 May 2011 05:28 PM PDT

By John Gaudiosi John Gaudiosi – Thu May 26, 8:28 pm ET

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Billboard) – Jimmy Buffett has partnered with THQ to bring "Margaritaville Online" to Facebook and iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) this fall, but attendees of E3 in Los Angeles will get a first look at the game. The casual online video game is targeting Buffett's devoted followers, known as Parrotheads, along with the 45 million Facebook gamers who play FarmVille.

Buffett, who is currently touring, will be at E3 at the THQ booth to promote the new game. "The Margaritaville laid back state of mind is inherently social, and THQ has captured the spirit of that lifestyle in this game," said Buffett. "With Margaritaville Online, fans across the globe can party together any time and any place."

Developed by Exploding Barrel Games, the 3D open world features tropical environments and a full catalog of Buffett's music. Players will be able to create their own island resort, play mini-games and interact with characters from Buffett's songs and literary works including Captain Tony and Joe Merchant. They'll even be able to create their own band.

Hollywood producer Frank Marshall is responsible for bringing Margaritaville to gamers, according to Danny Bilson, THQ's executive vice president of core games. While THQ was developing games based on M. Night Shyamalin's "The Last Airbender," Marshall, who is close with Buffett, explained the vision of what has become "Margaritaville Online" to the game publisher.

"Frank Marshall is essentially one of the producers on the game," said Bilson. "He and Jimmy work very closely with us on every element in the game. Everything in the game is based on ideas from the songs and books." Bilson said this Facebook game will stand out from games like Zynga's CityVille because Margaritaville Online is an immersive 3D world. At the same time, it has all the great core tenets of a Facebook social game where players can build a unique island resort, embark on adventures and socialize with friends.

This is the second social game from THQ, which released UFC Undisputed Fight Nation last year. Bilson said a third social game will be announced after E3.

"We think social games are a big part of our future," said Bilson. "In the social gaming space it's important to have an ecosystem of games to make the whole thing work, so that people can share and go from one world to the next. You're going to see THQ focusing some energies around that in the next year."

Buffett is the first musician to completely embrace the booming casual online gaming space. Artists like Lady Gaga and Dr. Dre have partnered with Zynga to connect with fans in games like CityVille and Mafia Wars, but those have focused on promoting music. Just as he has with his Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain, Margaritaville Online will allow fans to connect with Buffett in a unique way.

Android App Video Review: WatchESPN (Appolicious)

Posted: 26 May 2011 03:57 PM PDT

Facebook, Zuckerberg say ownership suit a "fraud" (Reuters)

Posted: 26 May 2011 05:43 PM PDT

By Jonathan Stempel Jonathan Stempel – Thu May 26, 8:43 pm ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Calling the case a "brazen and outrageous fraud," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg urged a federal court on Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit by a New York man claiming he owns a huge stake in the social networking website.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, Facebook and Zuckerberg said the lawsuit by Paul Ceglia is based on a "doctored contract and fabricated evidence." They also called the plaintiff "an inveterate scam artist whose misconduct extends across decades and borders."

Ceglia, a wood pellet salesman from Wellsville, New York, has contended that he contracted in 2003 for 50 percent of Zuckerberg's interest in what became Facebook.

Facebook is privately held, but analysts have said it could be worth $70 billion should it go public. Forbes magazine in March estimated Zuckerberg's net worth at $13.5 billion.

Ceglia originally sued last July, saying he had contracted with Zuckerberg for an 84 percent Facebook stake. In an amended complaint Ceglia outlined what he called emails between himself and Zuckerberg to support his case.

In their response, Facebook and Zuckerberg said they "specifically deny any liability" to Ceglia, and called the lawsuit "a brazen and outrageous fraud on the court."

They also questioned why Ceglia waited seven years to sue, saying he had long been "utterly silent" as Facebook "grew into one of the world's best-known companies."

A lawyer representing Ceglia declined immediate comment.

According to published reports, Ceglia pleaded guilty in 1997 to possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms in Texas. In 2009, he was accused of fraud and had his business shut down.

In a separate case, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court a court ruling that upheld their $65 million cash-and-stock settlement with Facebook.

The twin brothers have accused Facebook and Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for the website.

The battle between the Winklevoss twins and Zuckerberg was dramatized in the 2010 Oscar-nominated movie "The Social Network".

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Chicago; Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Phil Berlowitz)

Comcast will take on Netflix, Hulu with its IP-TV service (Digital Trends)

Posted: 26 May 2011 05:22 PM PDT

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Thu May 26, 8:22 pm ET

xcaliburComcast, which has remained the traditional alternative against the growing Internet TV trend, is now jumping on board with online entertainment. The nation's largest cable provider announced on its blog yesterday that it is involved in a new project called Xcalibur, "where the goal is to take everything we've learned from the web and tablets and bring it right back to your TV screen."

From the sounds of it, Xcalibur is Comcast's go at beating smart TVs at their own game. The platform will use the company's own technology and cloud servers to stream TV via Comcast's network using IP standards. Comcast says this will allow its subscribers' television experience to become more personalized, and that it will also allow it to provide users with apps and social integration. It won't stop there: "As a network-based entertainment experience, the rich TV navigation and services will eventually carry over to many other TV devices including connected TVs and game consoles."

Comcast is currently testing the service in Georgia, but this technology has far bigger potential that the network plans to make a reality. Comcast is developing a system to provide its channels, including live television, via IP, as well as the ability to stream Internet content to the TV. If this sounds familiar, that's because that's what services like Hulu and Netflix do – with one huge difference: Live programming. A significant caveat to these types of Comcast-replacements is that you give up the convenience and novelty of live television (as well as, often, access to major broadcasters), but given the mild abandonment of traditional box tops and even TV sets, there are many people willing to make such sacrifices. Comcast currently delivers its programming using technology that is not compatible with the Internet, but that's about to change.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Comcast will soon begin testing this service at MIT, with a long-term goal of enabling its customers to watch live television on anything that has an Internet connection – tablets, computers, gaming consoles. Comcast is undoubtedly aware of how many streaming services are currently dominating this platform, but as the largest cable provider in the country, it has a large pool of potential users to draw from. "We want to deliver video everywhere people want to watch it," Comcast's President of Converged Products, Sam Schwartz, told WSJ. "We have to do a better job getting people to realize what they are paying us for." Comcast's old school method won't be abandoned, but if all goes according to plan the provider will add the IP-programming system to its cable services. This also means the provider can start reaching out to consumers outside of its coverage, so long as they have Internet access.

So here's the good side: Comcast customers who want to cut the cord but can't justify losing the privileges that come with this coverage will now have the option to rely on their Internet connection for live programming and Comcast channels. It could also be assumed that much of the TV content that major networks have pulled would be available (eventually – Comcast's working on that), although this means Comcast's option would likely cost more than Hulu or Netflix. But if you're a Comcast customer who wanted to switch to Internet-only broadcasting, you'd have the choice and could stick with your current cable provider. Not to mention that Comcast customers who've exhausted OnDemand services would be thrilled to have the mass amount of extended content available on their television set – not only on a laptop, tablet, computer, phone – on the TV, which has been proven to be where (surprise!) most people want to watch the stuff.

And here's why it's bad: Comcast has enough power as is. Having the ability to glean formerly out-of-range customers from its competitors (who, it must be mentioned, are largely also massive companies) would give Comcast some serious advantages. It currently alludes that it has no plans to do this, but now that an Internet connection is all you need, it would be possible.

There's also something to be said for competition. Comcast still has a stranglehold on television, despite the progress Internet streaming has made. Even with its growing popularity, plenty of consumers remain committed to the cord. By offering something like this, the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube (which has its own programming aspirations) are facing an uncertain future. These services would have serious trouble competing with Comcast's resources, like distribution rights, data centers, and general infrastructure.

But conclusions can't be drawn yet. Comcast is facing a slow implementation of any IP-TV services, largely because content providers still aren't on board with licensing. Until this fully-featured connected option, we'll have its Xcalibur service to tide us over. The Georgia trial of the service should wrap up in the near future, and then we'll likely get a more thorough look at what's to come: Features like basic web functions, customization, an updated programming guide with search abilities, some online streaming options, and social media integration with sites like Twitter and Facebook. This "Internet TV-lite" service should be available starting next year.

Pizza Hut tops Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 26 May 2011 03:30 PM PDT

Google turning mobile phone into a wallet (AFP)

Posted: 26 May 2011 03:43 PM PDT

by Charlotte Raab Charlotte Raab – Thu May 26, 6:43 pm ET

NEW YORK (AFP) – Google unveiled a free mobile application on Thursday that turns a smartphone into an electronic wallet and is designed to replace plastic credit cards.

The Internet giant, at a press conference at its New York headquarters with financial partners Citibank, MasterCard and First Data and telecom ally Sprint, said "Google Wallet" is being field tested and will be available this summer.

Google Wallet will initially work with Google's Nexus S 4G smartphone from Sprint, the third-largest US wireless provider, and will eventually be expanded to other phones equipped with near field communication (NFC) technology.

An NFC chip in a phone allows a user who has entered their credit card details to "tap-and-pay" for purchases at a checkout register equipped with the PayPass system from CitiMasterCard.

Customers can also use a Google Prepaid card to pay for purchases, topping up the Google card with any payment card, and take advantage of Google Offers, the Mountain View, California-based company's online discount coupon program.

Google said Google Wallet will be accepted at more than 124,000 merchants in the United States at launch and more than 311,000 around the world.

Stephanie Tilenius, Google's vice president for commerce and payments, described Google Wallet as the "next generation of mobile commerce."

"We're building an open commerce ecosystem that for the first time will make it possible for you to pay with an NFC wallet and redeem consumer promotions all in one tap, while shopping offline," Tilenius said. "We are looking at expanding internationally, Europe first and then Asia."

Mobile payments are being tested or used in a number of countries already, notably France and Japan, but Google Wallet will be among the first to bring NFC technology to stores in the United States.

NFC technology uses short-range, high frequency wireless to enable the encrypted exchange of information between devices at a short distance.

Three of the largest US wireless carriers -- AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless -- announced in November that they were teaming up to build a national network called "Isis" to make payments by mobile phones.

They said they expect to introduce the service during the next 18 months.

Then-Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said shortly before the Nexus S smartphone hit the market in December that he expects tap-and-pay technology to eventually replace credit cards.

Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said it remains to be seen, however, whether Google can change the payment behavior of consumers and it will take time and more widespread adoption to find out.

"Relying on an installed base of phones that is today indistinguishable from zero, a single payment system, a single card issuer, and a modest network of merchants capable of accepting these phone-based payments means that the near-term impact will be negligible," Golvin said.

Andrew Eisner, director of community and content at Retrevo, agreed with Golvin that "the big question is how consumers will warm up to NFC."

"So far it looks like consumers are a bit skeptical," Eisner said. "They worry about security and privacy issues."

Google said it has built a number of security systems into Google Wallet including the need for a PIN number and credit card encryption. If lost, the payment system can be disabled with a phone call.

In addition to allowing for mobile payments, Google Wallet lets consumers pay using gift cards and redeem promotions such as discounts or coupons.

"Google Wallet will start with offers, loyalty and gift cards but some day items like receipts, boarding passes and tickets will all be seamlessly synced to your Google Wallet," Google said in a blog post.

Google said the field tests in New York and San Francisco involve a number of retailers including CVS pharmacy, fast food outlet Jack in the Box, sporting goods store Sports Authority and Sunoco gas stations.

Some Coca-Cola vending machines and taxis are also PayPass-enabled.

Other companies which will be offering the tap-and-pay service include American Eagle Outfitters, Bloomingdales, Macy's, RadioShack, Subway and Walgreens.

Scotty tops iTunes, "American Idol" ratings surge (Reuters)

Posted: 26 May 2011 12:39 PM PDT

By Jill Serjeant Jill Serjeant – Thu May 26, 3:39 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – New "American Idol" champion Scotty McCreery hit No.1 on the iTunes single charts on Thursday, as Fox television reported a 21 percent surge in viewers for the all country music finale of the long-running singing contest.

McCreery, 17, became the first country musician to win the "Idol" title and a recording contract since Carrie Underwood in 2005. The poised teen with the distinctive deep voice beat 16 year-old Lauren Alaina in the youngest Top 2 match-up in the show's 10 year history.

McCreery's newly-released single "I Love You This Big" went straight to the top of the iTunes singles charts, while Alaina's emotional ballad "Like My Mother Does" was at No.3 on on Thursday.

"This is pretty wild. It is a whole lot more than I bargained for coming into this," McCreery, a former grocery store clerk from North Carolina, told reporters on Thursday. "But I'm handling it well. This is my new life, so it's good."

Some 29.3 million Americans tuned in see McCreery crowned at the end of a star-studded finale on Wednesday that included performances from Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bono and "Idol" judges Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler.

According to preliminary estimates from Fox, the audience in the 18-49 age group most coveted by advertisers rose 12 percent compared to last year.

That was the first time in five years that "American Idol" had grown its 18-49 year old audience for the finale.

The higher numbers reflected a push by "American Idol" producers to attract younger contestants, and the introduction of judges Lopez and Tyler to stem a four years ratings slide.

Last year, just 24.2 million overall viewers watched the finale of "American Idol", which has been a lucrative source of advertising revenue for Fox for more than seven years.

Recent "Idol" champions have seen dismal record sales. But with a new record label in the Universal Music Group, and Underwood's record as the top "Idol" earner, McCreery and his brand of country music could revive those fortunes.

"I am really looking forward to getting my music out there," McCreery said on Thursday, adding that he was hoping to perform at the Country Music Association Festival in Nashville next month.

"I think it's going to be a great album. I've got to pick some good songs. That's what it's all about after the show -- good songs. The fans have got me where I am right now, but now I have to get out the music they want to hear."

"Country music is me, it's what I grew up with, it's what I do," he added. "I have done all the work on 'Idol' and now it's time for the real job to start."

Fox is a unit of News Corp; Universal Music is a unit of Vivendi; iTunes is owned by Apple Inc..

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Christine Kearney)

The Heist leads iPhone Games of the Week (Appolicious)

Posted: 26 May 2011 03:00 PM PDT

New Mac Malware Variant Doesn't Need an Admin's OK (NewsFactor)

Posted: 26 May 2011 01:51 PM PDT

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Barry Levine, newsfactor.com – Thu May 26, 4:51 pm ET

We'll give it to you straight. Santa Claus is a myth, the moon is green cheese-less, and Macs are vulnerable to malicious software. More evidence for the latter legend-buster is a new malware program that doesn't require a user to enter an administrative password to install it.

For years, Macs have enjoyed the reputation that they weren't susceptible to various kinds of malicious software as Windows machines are, because of the inherent strength of the Mac OS X platform. Many observers have also argued that, because the installed base of Macs was so small, it wasn't worth the effort for a self-respecting hacker.

'SEO Poisoning Attacks'

But now, as Macs are becoming more popular, that perception is changing. In recent weeks, a fake antispyware program called MAC Defender has been popping up on Macs, and a new variant has emerged.

According to Mac security firm Intego, MAC Defender targets users of that platform primarily through "SEO poisoning attacks," in which web sites with malicious code use search-optimization tricks to rank at the top of search results. A user who clicks on that search result is sent to a web site that shows a fake screen and a fake malware scan, after which it tells the user that the computer is infected.

JavaScript on the page automatically downloads a compressed ZIP file. If the user has been using Safari and the "open safe after downloading" option in Safari is enabled, the file is unzipped and the user is presented with an installer window for which the user's administrative password is required.

If the user proceeds with installation, MAC Defender launches. Intego describes the application as "very well designed" with a professional look, a number of different screens, attractive buttons, and correct spelling.

MAC Defender Variant

Once installed, MAC Defender indicates the computer is infected and opens web pages for pornographic sites every few minutes. To counter the "virus," the user is prompted to buy MAC Defender's "antivirus" protection service.

After a credit-card number has been entered into a license-purchasing page, the virus warnings stop. But there is no service, and the user has just given the malware authors his or her credit-card information.

Intego recommends not installing the application to begin with, of course, and to uncheck the "open safe files" option in Safari or other browsers.

One reason for the Macs-are-invincible myth is that Mac users thought they had to explicitly enter a password to install any software, thus providing a bulwark against malware. But now a variant of MAC Defender, called MacGuard, has been reported. It's placed in a user's Applications folder -- which doesn't require an administrator's password -- instead of the normal location in the systems-level folder.

If a user has set Safari to automatically launch downloaded files -- the "open safe files after downloading" option -- the malware's installer will launch on its own. If not, users will see a downloaded ZIP archive and may double-click on it to find what's in it, which leads to the installer.

After some delay, Apple has posted a tech note on its support site, entitled "How to avoid or remove MAC Defender malware." In addition to steps users can take, the note said the company will soon issue a Mac OS X update "that will automatically find and remove MAC Defender malware and its known variants."

Microsoft CEO ouster sought (Investor's Business Daily)

Posted: 26 May 2011 03:11 PM PDT

– Thu May 26, 6:11 pm ET

Hedge fund manager David Einhorn called on Steve Ballmer to quit, saying he's stuck in the past and is holding back Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - News). But the software giant's board, which includes founder and Chairman Bill Gates, backs Ballmer, a source told Reuters. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) and IBM (NYSE:IBM - News) have topped Microsoft's market cap and its search and mobile tech efforts have struggled. Shares rose 1.9%.
at 9:33 PM

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