This is a very cool presentation summarising 5 mega trends of technology, with supporting statistics. The 5 megatrends are stuff you already know, but the power lies in the collection of supporting stats. Mobile Social Cloud Big Data Apps Continue reading 5 Technology Megatrends and 50 supporting statistics
Blackberry has a single unfinanced offer on the table from Fairfax. Prem Watsa is contributing only the stock he owns, worth about $500M with the remainder of the offer i.e. $4.2Bn with no backer. Then today this from the FT speaks about the trend of the last couple of years of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). The article cites Credit Suisse and the massive shift away from Blackberry already which even surprised me. BlackBerry suffers as banks switch handsets The number of BlackBerry phones used by Credit Suisse employees, for example, has more than halved from a high of more … Continue reading This Parrot is dead, gone to meet his maker …
Sudan just lost all internet. What is fascinating about this, aside from the poor Sudanese people and what is happening to them, is the ease with which internet can be cut off. We saw this in Egypt in 2011 and now Sudan. This picture and the post from Renesys shows that Sudan has 3 gateways from the outside that control all internet into Sudan. I wonder how many even US or US has and how easily they could be shut down. I’d love to see this picture for other countries. Continue reading Just how easy is it to shut down a country’s internet?
I have been backing off on comments about the banking system, because that’s not really what my blog is about. But once in a while I just can’t resist. There just has to be more going on with regard to the disconnect between the markets and the Central Bankers. Basically it goes like this: Central Bankers: The economy of our country and of the world has not returned to normal employment, growth and inflation therefore QE must continue. Markets: There is no way “printing money” can continue because there is no ‘soft landing” to be had. Therefore QE must stop … Continue reading Reading the mixed messages of the week from the US Fed and markets
ok this is a little weird. I just posted then deleted (which I know I should not do … ) a post on icloud and the update to Apple Maps. On closer look the maps in icloud for ‘find my iphone’ are google maps. No wonder it looked better and up to date. Now I am first off impressed that Apple is using Google maps meaning they recognise their maps are crap. But what is iOS 7 bringing tomorrow? Below is my deleted post that was just plain wrong. Finally! Apple Maps is getting up to date–iOS 7 update preview by Colin … Continue reading What will we see with Apple maps tomorrow?
NFC has been out there and few are adopting it. Now we learn that iOS 7 has BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) which is a low battery usage Bluetooth. Next Apple and Paypal are planning to use this new protocol for payments. PayPal and Apple drop mobile payments bombshells Apple has included what is coming to be known as “beacon” technology in its new iOS 7 mobile operating system, which rolls out Sept. 18. Called iBeacon, it uses Bluetooth Low Energy wireless technology, like PayPal Beacon, and can be incorporated into apps. Stores plug in sensors that constantly look for iBeacon-enabled … Continue reading The beginning of the end for interchange and bank payment systems
There is a certain irony in Larry Summers letter today in that the date is the beginning of the 3 day period 5 years ago when the world went into economic DEFCON 1 readiness. There was an electronic run within the banking system that you and I did not learn about until later. Lehman Brothers were bankrupt and the money system was in panic. No bank could trust any other bank. Money movement froze. It was literally the banks’ equivalent of you waking up in the morning and learning that your house, your investments and your savings were worth zero, … Continue reading The irony of the date on Lawrence Summers Fed withdrawal
I think it is exactly 10 years since the term multi channel customer centric strategy became de rigeur. It was really a compromise that did not want to admit the eventual demise of the branch. The compromise was to provide ‘equal’ experience and service level in the branch to that of online. This was horrendously expensive and that reality is now hit home. Multi-channel banking strategies are failing to convince – TowerGroup | Finextra Says TowerGroup: "The branch isn’t dead, but the profitability of the network, as well as individual branch footprints, need to be reevaluated." Continue reading Is this the end of multi channel experience?
This from The Economist paints a very visual picture of immense change in the banking industry in 5 short years. Some things that leap out indicating global shifts in financial power: US banks have significantly re-capitalised and assets are flat suggesting significant write offs Europe banks have shrunk in assets indicating massive write offs and have re-capitalised Asian banks have grown both assets and capital Continue reading The world of banking has changed dramatically in 5 years
This is a staggering number. Its hard to remember that pre 2007 an advanced phone required you you to flip it open and its main function was to … well … make phone calls. In the last 2 years as I watch what people carry, regular phones disappeared and smart phones dominate. Today at its iPhone event in Cupertino, Apple announced that it will ship its 700 millionth iOS device next month Continue reading Apple Will Ship Its 700 Millionth iOS Device Next Month | Techcrunch
