This is one of the first demo videos of the Citi MasterCard + Google Wallet app. I like the accidental additional transaction in the demo. Whoops! It is kind of scary that you’re walking around with a digitized Credit Card. The hacker community is going to have a hell of a fun time with NFC (I’m sure plenty of security measures have been taken by the industry, but even then there are plenty of flaws that can be exploited on less-sophisticated phones and users). 

Nonetheless, Google Wallet will be a game changer down the road. Good news for them, people have accepted giving up a certain level of control and information in exchange for convenience as apparent from the rapid adoption of online banking and PFM tools.

The whole “store your Citi MasterCard information in Google Wallet” is semi useless if you think about, as it just adds another layer. Tech like Google Wallet will eliminate plastic all together, and will turn the Credit Card companies into just Credit companies. The winner here may ultimately just be Citi and Google, not MasterCard. It will be really interesting to see how this all plays out and how the payments (and credit and debit) industry in general evolves over the next decade. I personally find it to be fascinating. 

Read more about the integration. If your credit card company offered something like this and your phone was compatible, would you use it?

UPDATE: Google Wallet now has a commercial (embeded below). Meh. Don’t they remember the failed Seinfeld + Bill Gates commercials? Showing the actual technology would be much more badass.

Source: Engadget

The “Mother-in-Law” effect on mainstream entertainment

Check out The End of Moore’s Law: A Love Story by Bing Gordon. It’s an excellent summary of what’s happening in the gaming industry. Social experiences and active participation are intrinsic to gaming more than other forms of entertainment, so the current state of gaming makes sense. I do wish that he had come up with a better term than “Mother-in-Law”… that’s not going to stick, but I’ll use it here. Very much worth a read.

The most fascinating part for me was the quote by Gordon Moore from 2005. When discussing Moore’s Law with Bing Gordon, he said “I never actually thought of it as a law, more as an observation to bet on.”

With Apple’s iTV and Google TV, perhaps “Mother-in-Law” is going to start applying quickly to other forms of mainstream entertainment as well (within the content, not just around the content). For example, when you are watching movies or TV shows through those devices, you will be prompted to add your own assets which interact with the on-screen experience… Apple and Google are certainly are betting on this big time. Of course, the billion dollar question around this has always been - will it get massive adoption (like it has in the gaming word), or do people simply want certain activities to remain passive? We’ll find out in 2011 :-)

A MUST read if you’re in the space (or a human) - The Real Life Social Network by Paul Adams.

And pick up Paul’s upcoming book Social Circles.

To put this into $ context see Facebook Touts Selling Power of Friendship.

Source: slideshare.net

Zoho introduces Zoho Search. I’m considering switching over to them. I wonder how long until we see a Microsoft/Google acquisition here…

Source: youtube.com

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