Ten mobile phone manufacturers - Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Texas Instruments – have told the European Commission they’re committed to producing a ‘universal’ mobile phone charger using the Micro-USB standard. They’ve submitted a Memorandum of Understanding to the EC, which will help to reduce electronic waste and will also make life easier for consumers. It covers all mobile phones that can exchange data via USB, although unusual mobile formats – such as wristwatch phones – are excluded.
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James Rosewell, who runs mobile technology company 51degrees.mobi, offers his opinion on the current state of mobile and contactless payments.
The banking and mobile industries have big plans for Near Field Communication (NFC) as the mobile payment mechanism of the future. Barclaycard has been leading the way from the credit card sector forming a partnership with Orange, having previously worked with O2, and running a catchy TV advert prompting contactless cards using VISA’s paywave system.
However the reality of NFC payments appears a lot further away. The Point of Sale (POS) technology appears to be badly deployed by some of the first-phase retailers mainly made up of low-value high-volume businesses like coffee shops, fast food outlets and newsagents.
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