Mobile Groove

The so-called technology divide is a myth, and so is the belief that, when it comes to mobile, we should baby the Boomers.

I’ve written several times on this website and others about personal experiences that fly in the face of the idea that people over 40 are luddites, incapable and uninterested in using personal technology. My mother-in-law (definitely NOT a digital native) is a shining example. At age 80 she uses a Kindle. And she even mastered Windows 7 in an afternoon. And then there’s my older brother (by just a few years). He isn’t the earliest adopter in the family, but he is nipping at my heels when it comes to phones, tablets and routers.

While last week’s #doxchat Tweetchat focused on all the big-picture issues around the emerging mobile app ecosystem, the real discussion — one that Tweetreach reports reached a whopping 58,000+ people via 400+ tweets to achieve exposure of nearly 412,000 — centered on the likely impact of Amazon on the app store landscape.

The best response came from @iboy, who shared a “visualization of what Amazon will do to other Android app stores.” It’s a eye-opening image that should have alarm bells ringing in operator and OEM board rooms — everywhere.

The avalanche in apps and app stores doesn’t just mean more choice for consumers and more opportunity for developers. It also ushers in a new App Economy with new players and new rules. What is the impact of the Amazon app store? What is the role of the mobile operator? What revenue share operators realistically expect? And finally – with mobile commerce poised to be THE next big thing– are operators heading for a showdown with banks and credit card companies?

These are a few of the questions I explore in a podcast interview with Matt Anderson, an active blogger and outspoken commentator on the industry, who also heads up product marketing at Amdocs Interactive. Tomorrow (April 6, 5 pm CET/ 11 am EST ) Matt and Ajit Jaokar, author, speaker and mobile app authority, join me in a Tweetchat (#doxchat) to debate how the App Economy might play out and the impact on all the players.

The mobile app economy is growing, mobile commerce is exploding and the value chain is crowding as mobile operators, credit card companies, financial institutions, and Web giants such as Google jockey for position.

If this week’s hot news is any indication, then the industry is indeed in for a roller coaster ride as mobile payments (for everything, not just apps) becomes the next big battlefield.

Mobile Marketer tells us that American Express has taken the wraps off its Serve digital payment and commerce platform, offering person-to-person, online, mobile and traditional card capabilities in a single account. The Wall Street Journal (via MoCoNews) reports that Google is building out its plans to push contactless payments (using near-field communications or NFC technology). Google has been talking up NFC for several months now, but now it’s also got MasterCard and Citigroup on board. And the list goes on.

Apple, Google and Nokia and Blackberry are bent on embedding contactless payment technology (NFC) into their devices, thus making it possible for consumers to buy goods and services in physical shops and locations.

Each OEM is at a different stage on their experimentation with this technology. Nokia already offers several devices that support NFC; Apple is going ahead with its own NFC initiative; Google claims it will support mobile payments (via NFC) in the near future; and Blackberry has said it will support NFC in devices going forward.

Editor’s note: We continue today with part 2 of this series looking at the opportunities in mobile payments — and where mobile operators need to focus their efforts if they want to stay in the game.

Where is the real opportunity in mobile payments?

Developed markets are tough ones to crack, since consumers already buy a significant amount of goods and services (real stuff in real stores and digital content in the iTunes store) with their credit cards.