Simple Banking

Much of banking is just moving around data. And that should be kept out of sight.

First Look: Simple Reimagines Banking

one fundamental axiom of modern life: banking sucks..... Banking sucks a lot. What’s worse, when it sucks, not only does it drive you insane, it costs you money. Lots of money. ..... they would use the large charges to make the balance fall to zero as quickly as possible, then hammer the account with the small charges to rack up overdraft fees ...... the bank’s abusive fees and seeming inability to block fraudulent charges from hitting my account — even after being notified multiple times — he was apologetic but unable to offer much help. ..... Simple, and the company’s stated goal of removing abusive fees ..... The bank’s phone support was a nightmare ..... “Simple replaces your bank, but we are not a bank.” ..... The company’s drive for simplicity permeates everything from the packaging that the card is shipped in, to the massive “Call Customer Service” button in the app, all the way to its promise to never punish its customers with hidden fees; yes, the overdraft fees that decimated my PNC account a few years back are gone. Kaput. ..... “Our stated mission is that we don’t profit from fees

There's moving around money. That's data. Then there are abusive fees. That is behavioral. And then there is customer service. Three different things, all related.

The no abusive fees part should fall in the public policy domain, one would think.

And great technology should free up resources to provide amazing customer service.

Related articles

• Get the Facts on Checking Account Fees & Charges
• The Impact of Checking Account Fees
• How do I Avoid Checking Account Fees?
• Shady Overdraft Fees Could Cost Banks Over $1 Billion
• Chase to Abolish Overdraft Fees*
• PNC to pay $90M to settle excess overdraft fees case
• How bank overdraft fees compare: Slideshow
• Bank sued over debit card transactions
• Inaccurate mobile banking balances are a costly problem
• Banks' Overdraft Policies Are Getting More Confusing

Tech Leadership On Patent Reform

The official online color is: #A4C639 . 한국어: 공식 온라인 색은: #A4C639 . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is for the biggest tech companies to take the lead on patent reform. Perhaps there are allies on Capitol Hill. But this Microsoft gesture seems to seek patent defeat not patent peace. For now the big dogs are in mood to duke it out, not hug it out. That is the impression I get.

Microsoft to Google: Enough With the Diversionary Tactics, Let’s Hug It Out

called on Google and Motorola to join it in hammering out a comprehensive settlement of intellectual property disputes between them ..... Motorola’s public proposal to take a license for only a small sub-set of the large number of Microsoft patents used in its products will not result in durable patent peace ..... “Microsoft wants to undercut Motorola’s industry-leading patent portfolio, licensed by more than 50 other companies on fair and reasonable terms, while seeking inflated royalties tied to standards that Microsoft alone controls. Motorola is always open to negotiations that avoid wasteful and abusive patent claims.”

A Solid Foundation for Patent Peace

we are seeking solely the same level of reasonable compensation for our patented intellectual property that numerous other Android distributors – both large and small – have already agreed to recognize in our negotiations with them.

Microsoft to Motorola: The way to 'patent peace'

The patent wrangles have a complicated history: earlier this year more than a dozen Android-powered Motorola devices were banned from being imported to the U.S. for sale because Motorola was found to have infringed Microsoft's ActiveSync patent, thanks to a ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). ..... More recently, a German court banned the sale of all Motorola devices running Android because the smartphone maker infringed a Microsoft-owned patent relating to file storage. .... Meanwhile Motorola secured an injunction against Windows 7 and the Xbox in Germany over H.264 video codecs, though the sales ban will not be enforced immediately. Microsoft said it wanted to use the video compression technology, but Motorola would charge in the region of $4 billion in annual royalties -- which Microsoft said was not at the market rate.

Microsoft wants 'patent peace' in ongoing Motorola spat

Microsoft's lawyers pen a public note to Motorola: 'We want to talk because this patent nonsense is getting way out of hand.' Will the two companies kiss and make up, or squabble until a court rules?

Related articles

• A Solid Foundation for Patent Peace
• Microsoft calls on Google to make 'comprehensive' patent peace in Motorola dispute
• Microsoft to Google: Enough With The Diversionary Tactics, Let's Hug It Out
• Motorola To The Rescue
• Motorola Android devices banned in Germany for infringing Microsoft's FAT patent
• Motorola Android devices banned in Germany after losing patent case against Microsoft
• Fighting Over Rectangles
• Apple And Microsoft vs Samsung And Google For Kodak Patents
• Apple, Motorola Appeal Dismissal of Patent Infringement Case
• Motorola Android devices banned in Germany in Microsoft FAT spat

Outlook.com: Microsoft's New Attempt At Email

This move kind of surprised me. But it sure is a great move. It is a great attempt to bring the sexy back to the Microsoft brand name.

This quote below is from my first email in my Outlook.com inbox.

An experience with no compromises

Outlook.com is the first step in creating one complete experience for the next generation of communications. Email should be connected to your friends – whether they like to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, or a combination. Email should let you get more done, faster – with immediate access to your inbox and tools that can automatically categorize, move, or delete messages you don't want. Email should be deeply integrated with other services – for Outlook.com, you'll find that Office Web Apps, SkyDrive, and, soon, Skype come built right in. And we hope you have already noticed our fast, beautiful user experience.

Introducing Outlook.com - Modern Email for the Next Billion Mailboxes

Webmail was first introduced with HoTMaiL in 1996. Back then, it was novel to have a personal email address you could keep for life - one that was totally independent from your business or internet service provider. Eight years later, Google introduced Gmail, which included 1 GB of storage and inbox search. And while Gmail and other webmail services like Hotmail have added some features since then, not much has fundamentally changed in webmail over the last 8 years ..... email represents 20% of the time we spend on smartphones, and is used extensively on tablets as well as PCs ..... the first email service that is connected to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and soon, Skype, to bring relevant context and communications to your email. .... 50% of the email in a typical inbox is newsletters and another 20% is social network updates.

It does look clean. But then I only have one email in the inbox, one from Microsoft itself. I am more likely to come for Skype and SkyDrive, also the Office apps. For now I think I will stick to my Gmail.

This puts Marissa Mayer under additional pressure. Yahoo also needs to reimagine its email.

Related articles

• Microsoft launches Outlook.com to challenge Gmail
• Farewell, Hotmail: Microsoft previews Outlook.com, ending longtime webmail brand
• Introducing Outlook.com - Modern Email for the Next Billion Mailboxes
• Outlook.com: Here's What Microsoft's New Webmail Looks Like (Plus, A Walkthrough)
• Hotmail replaced by Outlook.com
• Hotmail dead, reborn as social-friendly Outlook
• Microsoft relaunches Hotmail as Outlook in challenge to Google's Gmail
• Microsoft rebrands Hotmail as Outlook, adds fresh Metro design & Skype calling
• Get Your Email Address for Outlook.com, Microsoft's New Hotmail Killer
• Microsoft Tries, Tries Again to Take on Gmail, This Time With Outlook.com

Larry Page

Tim Cook

Steve Ballmer

The Fast Paced Smartphone

Source: Technology Review

The ITU claims that 90 percent of the world's population is already covered by 2G networks, many of which can provide data services like Internet access via slower "2.5G" technologies such as EDGE and GPRS. The more modern 3G networks that have catalyzed the current smart-phone boom by providing richer, quicker mobile experiences have been expanding rapidly and now cover 45 percent of the world's population, more than three billion people.

Smartphones Are Taking Over The World

Are Smart Phones Spreading Faster than Any Technology in Human History?

the unprecedented speed at which mobile computers are spreading

Big Money In Big Data

Big Data, The Moving Parts: Fast Data, Big Analytics, and Deep Insight (Photo credit: Dion Hinchcliffe)

I do think there is big money in Big Data. A lot of people do. But here is a disagreeing thought.

Is There Big Money in Big Data?

Peter Fader says a flood of consumer data collected from mobile devices may not help marketers as much as they think. ..... Few ideas hold more sway among entrepreneurs and investors these days than "Big Data." The idea is that we are now collecting so much information about people from their online behavior and, especially, through their mobile phones that we can make increasingly specific predictions about how they will behave and what they will buy. ..... what was going on 15 years ago with CRM (customer relationship management) .... ask anyone today what comes to mind when you say "CRM," and you'll hear "frustration," "disaster," "expensive," and "out of control." It turned out to be a great big IT wild-goose chase. And I'm afraid we're heading down the same road with Big Data ..... many "big data" people don't know what they don't know. ..... the still-powerful rubric of RFM: recency, frequency, monetary value. .... Ask anyone in direct marketing about RFM, and they'll say, "Tell me something I don't know." But ask anyone in e-commerce, and they probably won't know what you're talking about. ...... Chartists are looking at the data without developing fundamental explanations for why those movements are taking place ..... Among financial academics, chartists tend to be regarded as quacks. But a lot of the Big Data people are exactly like them. They say, "We are just going to stare at the data and look for patterns, and then act on them when we find them." In short, there is very little real science in what we call "data science," and that's a big problem. .... the more data we have, the more false confidence we will have

If his point is that collecting Big Data is not enough, you also have to make sense of it. I agree. But in my definition the whole idea behind Big Data is that of course you are going to make sense of it.

One part where I agree is that Big Data enthusiasm will have plenty of accompanying froth.

What he is saying is making sense of data is going to be more important than collecting data. I agree. But that is what I thought Big Data was all about. To me it never was simply collecting.

Related articles

• Big Data For The Masses
• How C-Level Execs are Tapping into Big Data Analytics
• Big Data for the Business World: Making it Work for You
• 5 Ways To Benefit From Big Data
• Big Data Advances in Customer Experience Management
• Exploring Big Data and Procurement Leveraging McKinsey's Foundational Analysis (Part 2)
• Big Data & Ethics
• via Stowe Boyd: The Future Impact Of Big Data In 2020?
• Big Data and Cloud - Managing the Explosion of Data
• Big Data and Cloud - Managing the Explosion of Data