Mobile-related technologies for the past week, in 3 (or almost) words: Medical, Android Wear, Virtual Mobile Wallet

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THE WEEK IN 3 WORDS

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WEEK #20

3. MEDICAL
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4. 4
When an application objectives become learning or
curing, we know that the technology is mature
enough to provide a real service to users. This
bascule is happening for mobile applications.
Mimi, an example amongst many others, is
developing an iOS application that helps evaluating
earing loss. It does not seem much as is, but it
means mobile devices and applications are now
considered reliable medical
assets.
The mobile paradigm is definitely shifting to
improving users’ daily life.

5. ANDROID WEAR
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6. 6
Android Wear is the version of the Android Operating
System aiming wearable devices. It basically defines
how an Android application will pull information on a
wearable device.
Still in a preview state because no wearable
device implements this OS for now, the
promise is big, as Android leads the
smartphones market. So big that both
Motorola and LG have announced the
release of a smart watch powered by
Android Wear for 2014.
Let’s bet those watches are the first of a long series
of wearable devices implementing Android Wear.

7. VIRTUAL MOBILE WALLET
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“We all are Paypal!”
That’s what seems to the motto of banks and credit companies. Being the
intermediate between the consumer and the merchants is key in terms of
visibility, improvement of the end-users trust (and subscriptions) and available
cash flow (the money probably travels some hidden routes between the payer
and the seller…)
Besides Mastercard and Visa, many big banks are trying to provide users with
a virtual wallet, with mitigated results… Fivory is the latest French initiative
(Crédit Mutuel) and aims to differentiate itself from its competitors by
introducing pre-sales features (coupons, on-line catalogs, etc.)
Unfortunately, paying with the smartphone requires a compatible technology.
Merchants have NFC payment devices, but the iPhone is not (yet, see week
#16) equipped with NFC chip. QR code is compatible with all smartphones, but
with very few payment devices... It will still take some time until both consumers
and merchants are ready for a virtual mobile wallet.