Mobile commerce transactions to surpass US$3.2trn by 2017 - report
A digest of the top business technology news stories from the past week.
Mobile commerce transactions to surpass US$3.2trn by 2017 – report
Mobile commerce transactions conducted through handsets and tablets will exceed US$3.2trn by 2017, rising from US$1.5trn this year, a new report from Juniper Research suggests. However, lack of mobile site optimisation remains a concern.
Dr Windsor Holden, author of the report Mobile Commerce Markets: Sector-by-Sector Trend Analysis & Forecasts 2013-2017, said a significant minority of retailers have yet to optimise their sites for mobile.
“Unless retailers ensure a seamless, user-friendly mobile shopping experience, they will fall behind competitors who are already using mobile channels to enhance customer relationships,” Holden said.
Yahoo! completes acquisition of Tumblr
It’s a wrap – blogging platform Tumblr now belongs to Yahoo! The internet giant announced yesterday it has completed its acquisition of the company for US$1.1bn.
Under the deal, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalisation technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers and content.
Tumblr, which brings 50bn blog posts (and 75m more arriving daily) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences, will operate independently. David Karp will remain the company’s CEO.
Yahoo! said it will support Tumblr’s efforts to create seamless advertising opportunities that enhance the user experience.
Openet acquires UCD spin-out Forkstream
Transaction management software developer Openet has acquired University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out Forkstream for an undisclosed sum.
Forkstream, a policy management company supported by Enterprise Ireland, has technology that enables operators to define policies for routing mobile data streams within and between different access networks.
Forkstream’s client side technology links to the network core via Openet’s Interaction Gateway, which lets operators manage network access policies using their Policy Controls Rules Function (PCRF), and uses standards that allow consumer devices to find and communicate with non-3GPP networks, such as Wi-Fi or WiMAX.
This, the companies said, provides granular control of traffic offload policies and enables new business models that include service options specific to an access network.
Irish firm CarTrawler snaps up online assets of Holiday Autos
CarTrawler, the Irish-based online car rental platform, has its sights set on extending its global reach as the company has acquired the online assets of the car rental broker Holiday Autos.
CarTrawler is now eyeing up 2.5m pro forma booking volumes per annum and gross sales of €500m, according to CEO Mike McGearty.
Financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but it is understood that CarTrawler has purchased the online assets of Holiday Autos and not the brand’s operations.
Under a separate agreement, CarTrawler will become the exclusive provider of car rentals to the travel deals site Lastminute.com, which is also part of Travelocity Global.
Gavin Patterson to succeed Ian Livingston as CEO of BT Group
The chief executive of BT Retail Gavin Patterson will step into the role of CEO of BT Group plc in September, when Ian Livingston leaves the post to take on the job of UK Minister for Trade and Investment.
Patterson has been chief executive of BT Retail since 2008, the same year he became a BT board member. He joined the telecoms company as a senior executive in 2004.
Livingston will join the House of Lords prior to taking up his front-bench government post in December.
HP changes leadership in Printing and Personal Systems
PC maker HP’s executive vice-president, Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) Todd Bradley is stepping out of that position to take on the role of executive vice-president, Strategic Growth Initiatives, at the company.
HP also appointed Nick Lazaridis to lead HP PPS-Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) on an acting basis until a permanent replacement is named.
In the newly created position, Bradley will work with HP’s president and CEO Meg Whitman to enhance HP’s business in China and extend the company’s channel partner relationships worldwide.
Dion Weisler, currently senior vice-president for HP PPS in Asia Pacific and Japan, will pick up Bradley’s role as executive vice-president, PPS.
Lazaridis is currently COO of HP PPS-APJ, and is also responsible for the Personal Systems division in the region.
NFC payment image via Shutterstock
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