Visa intros digital wallet for mobile purchases

Visa just announced a “digital wallet” initiative that will launch later this year and it is aimed at making mobile and Internet purchases much easier.

This isn’t the first Visa has dabbled in the mobile space but this could be its most ambitious. Essentially, the company wants to create a digital wallet which will let you buy things by just entering an e-mail (likely with a password) instead of having to fill out forms with your credit card number and your expiration date.

This will have a strong impact on the mobile, as the company will be leveraging its Visa PayWave apps to enable tap-to-buy functionalities with NFC. The company said it would open this up to other payment providers as well. This move could have a big impact around the world too, as the company said:

· In countries like India and Russia, where card issuance and mobile subscriptions are high, but card usage is relatively low, Visa will help drive account activation and usage by working with financial institutions and mobile operators to link existing card portfolios with mobile devices to give handsets payments functionality.

· In countries within Africa and the Middle East where mobile device usage is high and traditional electronic payments infrastructure is less developed, Visa will work with mobile network operators to link new virtual mobile prepaid Visa accounts to mobile phone numbers to enable cash-in, cash-out, personal payments and mobile payments —including bill payments and wireless airtime top-up. Visa also intends to connect existing “closed loop” mobile money services that today provide basic mobile banking and payments services to unbanked and under-banked consumers to its global, open loop network—VisaNet. The integration will open closed loop systems, and provide consumers and merchants with unprecedented scale, functionality and acceptance beyond their existing local geographic footprints.

It’s important that this is Visa’s initiative because it has massive weight in this space. The carriers and Discover tried to launch a separate mobile payment platform but quickly relented to include Visa and MasterCard.

T-Mobile Brings Back Free Wi-Fi Calls

T-Mobile will be adding free Wi-Fi calling features for certain customers, depending on their plans and devices, in a move to help reverse a drop in subscribers and prepare for a possible AT&T merger.

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The feature will allow "Even More," "Even More Plus" and "4G Do More" plan users to make phone calls for free on a Wi-Fi network for users with Wi-Fi enabled devices. T-Mobile subscribers can currently make Wi-Fi calls but the minutes are taken from their phone plans, nullifying the effect.

Along with free Wi-Fi calling, T-Mobile plans to introduce a host of other new features and phones, including the Sidekick 4G Matte, which runs on Android, and "Name ID" and voicemail-to-text. The Sidekick Matte is a high-performance smartphone running on T-Mobile's 4G network, but only has a price-tag of $100, much less than other high-end devices like the iPhone.

Name ID is an enhanced version of caller ID that shows the caller's name, number, city and state. The new voicemail feature allows users to receive voicemails in text form. These new features are set to roll out starting May 22.

The new phones and features are an attempt to lure customers in as T-Mobile struggles with a shrinking customer base. The company reported a 100,000 subscriber loss in the first quarter, amid a $200 million profit drop, even as its 4G service expands to cover over 200 million people in the U.S.

The Bellevue, Wash.-based carrier already has some of the lowest rates on the market compared to AT&T and Verizon wireless, the two big U.S. providers, including an unlimited talk, text and data service for $80 a month. AT&T said it would honor T-Mobile contracts and pricing structure, but that could change after the merger is finalized.

A possible $39 billion merger between AT&T and T-Mobile could be hurting T-Mobile's bottom line as well. T-Mobile said it will continue to compete with AT&T until a decision is reached.

T-Mobile will begin notifying customers with Wi-Fi enabled devices of the service via text message beginning May 11.

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Want a hooker app? The iPhone has you covered

Android may be for porn but if you want a hooker, you’re going to have to go to the iPhone and the upcoming SugarSugar app.

This was first spotted over at ZDNet and it has a pitch for the company’s upcoming iPhone app which will help individuals with “locating singles interested in the ‘sugar’ lifestyle.” What is that lifestyle? Well, the SugarSugar website says it’s the place where finance meets romance, or you could all it, “The world’s most effective and discreet place for finding Sugar Daddy and Sugar Baby relationships.”

Basically the iPhone app will help you find ladies who are interested in dating and having sex with you in exchange for paying their bills or giving them money. It’s easy to call these ladies hookers but this is completely legal and happens all the time in the rela world. This is just another example of the Internet and mobile apps bringing these closer to you in a discrete way.

It’s easy for me to cast stones and talk about the moral indignities this creates but if a nice lady was offering to make me the Sugar Baby, I’d definitely think about it. Besides, consenting adults can do whatever they want.

Before we go down a long, dark, disgusting path, I’ll just let you know this iPhone “hooker” app should be available June 1 unless Apple reconsiders its approval.

Research firm claims Windows Phone 7 will overtake Android before 2013

Pyramid Research senior analyst Stela Bokun expects Windows Phone 7 to take off this year with its popularity even exceeding that of Android since Google's open source OS was introduced in 2008. The reason for this explosion? Microsoft's deal with Nokia should help bring prices of Windows Phone 7 devices down. Besides Nokia, other manufacturers will also support Windows Phone 7 allowing for a wide range of styles and price points.

Writing on Pyramid's blog, the analyst says, "With the change in the price of WP devices, and the multivendor strategic approach of Microsoft, the main advantage of Android – scale – may be removed." 

Sounds like an ambitious forecast by Bokun, especially when considering the momentum that Android still has in the marketplace, and the lack of it on Windows' part. And remember, it was a particular piece of hardware-the Motorola DROID-mixed with Android 2.0 that set off Androidmania. For Windows Phone 7 to copy this, it will require a major upgrade to the OS, which is indeed coming in the form of the Mango upgrade, and a particular piece of hardware that captures the attention of cell phone fanatics the way the DROID did in late 2009 on the way to being named Time Magazine gadget of the year. The hardware is the missing piece to the Windows Phone 7 puzzle that remains a wild card for now.

Microsoft to buy RIM?

An analyst claims that due to RIM's not so good showing in the past months (or a year), Microsoft may look into the possibility of acquiring the Canadian company to boost its own presence in the smartphone market.

It's hard to argue that RIM is losing its smartphone momentum - not only this notion is now treated as a common sense thing, but also there is some very persuasive evidence pointing in that direction - its profits and revenue are plunging, people in the mobile industry seem to agree that Windows Phone is sure to overcome BlackBerry OS in the coming years, not to mention that Mike Lazaridis, RIM's co-CEO, doesn't act like a man who is able to turn around the Canadian company's failing fortunes.

Its BlackBerry World announcements - the new BlackBerry OS 7.0 (previously known as BB OS 6.1) and itstwo new handsets - did little to dispel the fears that RIM is lagging behind the smartphone curve. That's only iterated by the fact that Steve Ballmer's appearance during BB World fueled previous speculations that theRedmond-based company may purchase RIM at some point in the future.

Here's what Harry Wang, director of mobile research at Parks Associates, says on the subject:

"Will Microsoft buy RIM? That is a possibility and a fast track for Microsoft to gain a foothold in the mobile hardware business." 

He goes on:

"RIM's market capitalization is only $25 billion and Microsoft has $48 billion in cash. If RIM's value drops to $15 billion, it will become an attractive target for Microsoft. Maybe Steve Ballmer was planting that seed during his keynote appearance at Blackberry World." 

The analyst says we shouldn't expect such a deal to be announced in the next year or so. Of course, it goes without saying that this move may never materialize - especially if RIM's transition period goes well. However, if things don't work out for the Canadian manufacturer, there is some chance that Microsoft may buy it for its enterprise appeal:

"There's a 50 percent probability that, in about two years, Microsoft will make a big and bold more to acquire large hardware vendors. RIM will be the best target because it has a user base that Microsoft is looking for: enterprise customers. And they are in the key, fast-growing area that Microsoft isn't very successful at yet, the mobile world. The need for Microsoft is so urgent in mobile, yet RIM is a perfect entry." 

As you can see, there is nothing certain in this analysis - there are plenty of "ifs" and "buts" in it. What's your opinion on it, though - would you be happy if Microsoft purchases RIM or you feel it would be a shame if the Canadian company is no longer in the mobile game?

Leak: HTC Puccini: 10 inch Android Honeycomb tablet for AT&T’s new LTE network

An image of what’s purportedly the HTC Puccini has been leaked to Pocket Now, along with some juicy details. They say the Puccini, obviously a codename since no company in their right mind would name a product after the Italian composer who wrote Madama Butterfly, will have a 10 inch screen, run Android Honeycomb, and most mysterious of all it’ll be able to use AT&T’s as yet to be launched LTE network. The device is supposed to come out in June and the price has yet to be determined, but what we’re interested in is the LTE aspect. If the Puccini really does hit the market in June, does that mean we’ll also see AT&T finally launch a real 4G network during the same month, or will we get some ridiculous “4G ready” excuse similar to how the Motorola Xoom was supposed to use Verizon’s 4G LTE network, but required that you send it in and wait a weekwhile it’s torn apart and put back together?

Now we sure hope the Puccini isn’t just a 10 inch version of the Flyer, because making a tablet with a single core processor in this day and age would be like building a steam boat to haul cargo across the Atlantic ocean. The June launch timeframe suggests that it’s likely to pack NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor inside, because just about every other tablet that will launch during this summer will use the same chip. The only thing differentiating these black slabs from each other is the price tag and build quality.

Google I/O is going to start in less than 12 hours and if there’s anything new and interesting happening around tablets, we’ll be there to cover the news. If you’ve been holding off on buying a tablet, what exactly are you waiting to see before you make the leap?

Samsung Galaxy S II hits new peaks

Samsung has been going all out in promoting its flagship handset, the Galaxy S II. And while the handset got off to a great start in South Korea as we reported, the Korean based manufacturer continues to promote the device hard, perhaps in preparation for an eventual Stateside launch. Although Samsung has yet to announce its plans for the device in the U.S., it has sent the phone on a difficult mission-climbing Mt. Everest.

Samsung managed to get mountaineer Kenton Cool to bring a Samsung Galaxy S II with him on a journey up the slippery slope of Mt. Everest. Once at the peak, Cool took out the handset and started tweeting. We presume that Samsung's plan was to show us that if a device like this can make it up Mt. Everest, it can surely last through your daily commute.