Google And Apple Finally Working To Solve Differences

It seems that Apple has been attacking Google indirectly by suing companies which are using the Android OS. The most recent case was the Apple v Samsung in which the verdict last week sided with Apple. It looks as if the Android OS is the intended target for Apple, but they have not gone after Google yet. And that may be the reason for reports (or rumors) of the 2 companies actually talking right now.

Much of the information is speculation and rumors with a little facts thrown it. But with all the lawsuits going on, these two need to figure out a way to resolve their differences and come to some sort of an agreement. The reports have Tim Cook and Larry Page talking about the patent disputes which relate to Apple and Google. This is based on an unnamed source about a phone conversation that the two had. While Apple has not directly sued Google, Google has gone after Apple based on patents they now own from the Motorola Mobility purchase. Apple is appealing a recent loss to Motorola Mobility in Washington.

All of this seems a little strange since Steve Jobs issued his willingness to have a thermonuclear war against Google. It seems that things are a little different at Apple now. The continuing lawsuits have to be costing the company a lot of money. And with Google now owning Motorola Mobility, they have a lot more leverage to protect themselves against Apple. And their recent suit against Apple is posing issues for Apple to defend. Though you never know where those things will end up. Just ask Samsung.

On the Motorola Mobility suit, it seems that Google was forced to file because of Apple's unwillingness to discuss licensing agreements. And that is more than likely an accurate statement. In the Apple v Samsung case, it came out that Samsung was trying to negotiate a licensing agreement and it never got very far. Seems that Apple may not be willing to sign licensing agreements. But that may now be changing and would help the entire industry if things could get resolved between Apple and Google.

While a possible settlement or agreement may be a long ways off, it does seem like a long shot. The current attitudes at Apple seem to indicate they are happy with the pot of money that they currently have and do not care about licensing agreements right now. That has been the trend there for a number of years. The only thing that will change that is a string of losses by Apple in various court cases here in the US and around the world. That might soften their attitudes and willingness to settle cases and obtain license agreements.

Given the growing smart phone markets, there is a lot of money involved. And there is a lot at stake with all the patents that each company has. In some respects this seems to look a little like a game of chicken to see who will be the first one to blink. Thus far, Apple has blinked the least. But, a threat by Samsung to sue Apple when the next iPhone comes out over LTE patents may start to change that. Thus far Apple's team of lawyers have been fairly successful. But if Samsung prevails in an LTE suit against Apple and possibly gets the iPhone 5 banned from sale, that could be huge. And it will force Apple to start taking licensing deals.

It seems that only mounting losses from lawsuits may be the only way to get these large companies to sit down and talk. What do you think?

Mobile Wallet Field Getting Very Crowded

More players being added as the year progresses.

We have seen how things were expected to be in full swing in the 4th quarter last year for the Mobile Wallet, but that never ended up happening. Some of that is more than likely due to a decision by Apple to not include the Near Field Communications (NFC) chip in the iPhone 4S. Apple moves markets and without that, things slowed down. And in reality. there is not enough smart phones here in the US equipped with NFC chips. You add to that the competition in the 4th quarter between Google’s Mobile Wallet and that of Isis. We all remember the basic refusal of Verizon to allow for Google Wallet to be installed on the Galaxy Nexus.

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Intuit GoPayment Generates Big Competition For Square

Mobile credit card processing competition is getting interesting.

Square has pretty much had the market to themselves in providing credit card handling and processing with their tiny devices which can be plugged into Apple iOS products or Android smart phones. And they have seen some big growth this year. But it appears that things are going to change now that Intuit has introduced their GoPayment unit along with credit card handling and processing. While this is not completely new, the fact that they are integrating it with QuickBooks is news. These two are much different than the expected NFC smart phone chips which use Point of Sale (POS) devices to process payments. Not of too much value if you are mobile in your business. The value Square and GoPayment provide is the ability for your business to be mobile and not be tied down by phone lines or large credit card readers. And this is the future for accepting credit card transactions for small business.

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Mobile Wallet Field Getting Very Crowded

More players being added as the year progresses.

We have seen how things were expected to be in full swing in the 4th quarter last year for the Mobile Wallet, but that never ended up happening. Some of that is more than likely due to a decision by Apple to not include the Near Field Communications (NFC) chip in the iPhone 4S. Apple moves markets and without that, things slowed down. And in reality. there is not enough smart phones here in the US equipped with NFC chips. You add to that the competition in the 4th quarter between Google's Mobile Wallet and that of Isis. We all remember the basic refusal of Verizon to allow for Google Wallet to be installed on the Galaxy Nexus.

I had talked about how the Mobile Wallet space was being fragmented and in the past few months, it appears to have gotten worse. We heard last week about retailers here in the US in what they are calling the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX). This is a series of retailers, including WalMart and Target, who are joining forces to create their own system for accepting payments and clearing them. Another new player in a growing market, long before the idea of the Mobile Wallet has taken hold.

I had thought that things would take longer to be adopted here in the US, but it looks like it is going to take even longer than expected. Much if this is because there is still a struggle for the dominate players in the market. There are rumors floating around that Apple is getting into the Mobile Wallet business through their Passbook app which just came out. That would create an even more crowded field.

Another recent addition is PayPal and Discover who are teaming up to provide Mobile Wallet services to retailers. Visa has been testing their POS devices for close to a year and is another player in this field which is getting more crowded. And there are others involved in trying to get their Mobile Wallet to be the one that leads the field, such as Isis. There are a lot of big names here and a lot of money being put behind all these various methods.

If the Mobile Wallet is going to take hold for this coming holiday season, there is going to have to be some standards established and agreements for what can be run on all the various smart phones. Each POS device can be handled by a different company to potentially handle the payments. The big issue is what is being run on the smart phones with the enabled NFC chips. If all these players cannot figure out a way to cooperate or a way to run multiple pieces of software to allow for having multiple Mobile Wallets so to speak, it is not going to happen this year.

Many are interested in seeing the Mobile Wallet come to be this year. Do you think it is going to happen in 2012?

Google Simplicity Gets Lost In Need To Sell Nexus 7

Google search page was clean and blank attracting millions until today.

Years back, the simplicity of the Google search screen is what moved so many from other search engines to Google. That is an obvious over simplification, but the openness of the screen was one of the great things about Google search. That is until today. You can clearly see that Google is now into sales promotion for their Galaxy Nexus 7 tablet and if you click on the tablet, it will take you to Google Play where you can purchase one for $199. Gone are the days of a clean interface promoting absolutely nothing. I moved from Yahoo search a long time ago because of the constant advertising and cluttered screens.

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Intuit GoPayment Generates Big Competition For Square

Mobile credit card processing competition is getting interesting.

Square has pretty much had the market to themselves in providing credit card handling and processing with their tiny devices which can be plugged into Apple iOS products or Android smart phones. And they have seen some big growth this year. But it appears that things are going to change now that Intuit has introduced their GoPayment unit along with credit card handling and processing. While this is not completely new, the fact that they are integrating it with QuickBooks is news. These two are much different than the expected NFC smart phone chips which use Point of Sale (POS) devices to process payments. Not of too much value if you are mobile in your business. The value Square and GoPayment provide is the ability for your business to be mobile and not be tied down by phone lines or large credit card readers. And this is the future for accepting credit card transactions for small business.

It was only a few months back, where we talked about the growth of Square. Square devices are something every small business should consider. And now there is Intuit's GoPayment device with Quickbooks integration which gives small business owners more choices on how to handle credit card payments. Especially if your business is mobile.

Reviews comparing Square and GoPayment are showing up and the decisions between the 2 services is not that simple. Obviously, your specific business needs will help you make a decision as to which one to go with. Pricing varies between the two competitors, but the big differences is all the other services you may already be using with Intuit. And with the integration with QuickBooks, it may make it more enticing for you to consider.

For a small business, it is all about choices and with these two solutions, you have just that. Whether it is Square's card reader or GoPayment's card reader, you have the ability to process credit card transactions in a very easy way. These devices are small and compact, unlike some other solutions which are much larger. And it is so easy to sign up and get started. You get the card reader free based on what the sites are showing today and there is no reason to believe that is going to be changing in the future. These two are competing against each. And competition like this is good for your small business.

If you have not taken advantage of these small credit card readers and payment processing for your small business, you should take some time and see how it could be a benefit to you.

Living In McAfee Hell – Continuing Auto Reinstall

Trials and tribulation of dealing with McAfee software problems.

One would have thought that the issues I was experiencing with McAfee’s Internet Security software would have been resolved after all the problems I found on Saturday. I ended up wasting an entire day trying to figure out why I was not able to access the Internet. That experience was one which I would have preferred to have avoided. And I would have, if McAfee had taken the time to inform their customers about the problems with their software. It seems that I continue to remain in McAfee hell. Must have been for something I did to wrong McAfee. Not sure what it is, but my problems continue.

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