Early signals in US that Apple Pay with its simple NFC interface is ready to make a big impact. This could also be the kickstart NFC has been lacking. US banks race to gain Apple Pay card advantage But while all the major banks have allocated large budgets to the battle, they do not have a free hand in what they can do. Marketing staff from the banks are due to meet at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter, to receive strict guidelines on how they can advertise Apple Pay to customers. …. … Continue reading Banks ready for battle for supremacy in Apple Pay Passbook

Wells Fargo hold a gun to the Governments head on poor quality mortgages. Somehow this article out of the blue took me straight back to 2007. There still remains a fundamental gap in what Banks believe their role is, compared to what is expected from Government. The concept of government guaranteed mortgages helps many new homeowners but it is also a mis-used function that skews risk management. By definition it eliminates risk for banks. That seems perverse when compared to the concept of banking. The wording of the Wells Chief struck me as something we ought to be concerned about. … Continue reading Wells chief comments on mortgages sounds like a preview of another 2007

While football (soccer to North America) fans may not, as a group apparently represent the intellectual elite,they do reflect the practical & political reality. On June 26th, 2014 when USA and Germany played each other in the World Cup, the brilliantly social reflective fans got straight to the true core of international relations. World Cup chants reveal true state of U.S.-German relations As Germany basks in its World Cup victory, it’s easy to forget that one of the most telling geopolitical moments of the tournament came during the Germany-U.S. game. As American fans chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” the Germans countered … Continue reading As American fans chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” the Germans countered with, “N-S-A! N-S-A! N-S-A!”

This seems like a seminal moment for Enterprise devices that to date were officially owned by Blackberry. Apple and IBM Forge Global Partnership to Transform Enterprise Mobility Continue reading Apple and IBM enter enterprise market together

I found this a thoughtful and provocative article. Even the comments are worthwhile if you ignore the Apple vs Google troll comments. There is a distinction being drawn between Apple/iOS and Google/ Android, and its one that both reflects history of computing, and their respective business models which are very different. The next phase of smartphones Hence, WWDC was all about cloud as an enabler of rich native apps, while the most interesting parts of IO were about eroding the difference between apps and websites. … … The interaction models become different. I’ve said before that Apple’s approach is about … Continue reading iOS and Android | Google and Apple strategies are clear, for now

Here is the blog post from from Richard Domingues Boscovich, Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit. We can expect more: Microsoft takes on global cybercrime epidemic in tenth malware disruption http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2014/06/30/microsoft-takes-on-global-cybercrime-epidemic-in-tenth-malware-disruption.aspx This is the third malware disruption by Microsoft since the November unveiling of the Microsoft Cybercrime Center—a center of excellence for advancing the global fight against cybercrime. Continue reading Update from Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit on no-ip action today

Totally of banking topic. The consternation about NSA and government surveillance displays an enormous lack of historic perspective on the topic. What Americans Need to Know About the History of Spying | The Big Picture 5,000 Years of History Shows that Mass Spying Is Always Aimed at Crushing Dissent For thousands of years, tyrants have spied on their own people in order to crush dissent. Keith Laidler – a PhD anthropologist, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a past member of the Scientific Exploration Society – explains: The rise of city states and empires … meant that each needed … Continue reading If we think about it what is the problem with security service surveillance?