Mobile payments in 2015Image by ShutterstockApple, Starbucks and Disney are all strong brands with loyal followings, but they also have something else in common: They're early leaders in the ever-evolving mobile payments market.Some analysts predict 2015 will be the first year all the pieces — including a larger base of NFC-enabled devices and terminals, and growing consumer acceptance — come together to take mobile currency mainstream. A number of additional companies are also entering the world of mobile payments, such as American Express, which you might expect to see, and Jawbone, which might seem surprising.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple Watch Apps for BusinessImage by Apple/Shutterstock On March 9, Apple at last revealed more specifics about the much-anticipated Apple Watch. CEO Tim Cook said that following the release of the company's WatchKit SDK in November, developers created "thousands of new apps," a few of which were showed off by Apple vice president of technology Kevin Lynch. (You can jump to the 68-minute mark of the presentation video to see Lynch demo Watch apps.) Apple also revealed the new Apple Watch software, which is part of iOS 8.2 (now available) and lets you browse, buy and download apps for the watch.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Editor's note: Traction Watch is a new column focused obsessively on growth, and is a companion to the DEMO Traction conference series, which brings together high-growth startups with high-potential customers. Companies can apply here to showcase, or those similarly obsessed can register here to attend.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A lot of people right now are selling their old iPhones and iPad minis to trade up to the supersized iPhone 6 models. Unfortunately, I suspect some of them are being scammed out of their devices — I nearly was.I’m itching for a 64GB iPhone 6 Plus (Space Gray, please). To partly finance Apple’s turkey-platter-sized phablet, I decided to sell my first-generation iPad mini on Amazon. That’s where my scamming saga begins.Within one day of listing the tablet, I received an Amazon email from "Kimberly." She expressed interested in my mini and asked me to send pictures to her personal Yahoo email address.It seemed like a reasonable request, so I emailed a few pictures to her. She soon replied via her Yahoo email and asked for my Amazon seller name. I was a tad suspicious because she was communicating with me directly instead of going through Amazon’s messaging system, but I replied.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
James A. Martin