GLOBAL – SEPTEMBER 28, 2011: A round-up of the latest in the tech arena.
Battle of the tablets: Apple to meet new challenger in Amazon
Apple’s iPad has steadily been dominating the tablet PC market since its first release in April 2010 despite challengers Research in Motion (Blackberry), Samsung and HP releasing their own versions of a tablet PC.
Entering the fray and hoping to put a good fight is the world’s largest internet retailer Amazon, which unveiled its own 7-inch tablet PC this week called Kindle Fire. Capitalizing on the popularity of the Kindle e-reader, Amazon is keeping prices down to USD199 to attract more users and at the same time still sell content and services. It also aims to power up the Kindle against competing e-reader, Barnes & Noble’s Color Nook. Amazon also introduced touchscreen and non-touchscreen versions of the Kindle at USD99 and USD79, respectively.
AsiaPay and Smart tie up for more secure online shopping
A team-up between Middle East’s premiere provider of secure electronic payment solutions and the Philippines’ leading wireless network will soon provide a safer, much more convenient way for Filipinos to shop online. AsiaPay, Middle East’s premiere provider of secure electronic payment solutions, partnered with Smart Communications to enable Smart Money account holders to pay for their online purchases through merchants of PesoPay – AsiaPay’s online payment service in the country.
AsiaPay boasts of a wide network of merchant partners, years of experience in handling electronic payments, and a complete and real-time fraud management system. Combined with Smart Money’s partnership with MasterCard and a distinct lock/unlock feature that enables the authorization for online purchases through a mobile phone, AsiaPay will provide a more accessible, affordable, and secure online shopping experience.
The partnership may help boost Filipinos’ trust in the e-commerce medium. A 2009 research conducted by Yahoo! and Nielsen showed that only 3% of the 20 million internet users in the Philippines engage in online transactions.
Google+ plus traffic: New social network on the rise
After it opened its doors to the general public last week, Google+ received 15 million US visits in the week of September 24, according to a report from Experian Hitwise, a New York-based research firm. Until last week, Google+ was on a beta testing stage, open only through invitations from existing members.
Aside from welcoming new users from across the world, Google+ also enhanced its search features, making it easier to find posts, friends, and relevant online content either from existing updates or through Sparks. Sparks is unique to Google+ which collates online content – photos, articles, and other media – that may be of interest to the user based on his/her profile.
Competing with Facebook, which as of press time has at least 800 million members, Google+ also opened a gaming service, which included the wildly popular Angry Birds, developed by Rovio. Somewhat ironically, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is present in Google+, who is currently in more than 560,000 member’s Circles.
[Updated September 29, 2011]
Image: CC-licensed by Micky.! via Flickr
