Fortunately, brave pioneers of intellectual freedom helped us bust out of the 1950's and begin to appreciate the world in all its rich and painful complexity and subjectivity. As of today, with the launch of News.me on the iPad - there's now an app for that. (iTunes Link) A collaboration between the New York Times and the data wonks at URL shortener Bitly, News.me shows you the news from other peoples' perspectives - and other people are very different from ourselves! I have found it quite appealing to use for the last several months - it's been one of my very favorite ways to learn about the world using my iPad. Even before launch, hundreds of publishing partners are intrigued as well. It's a strikingly new model for both users and publishers.

News.me has been eagerly anticipated by media-watchers for months. Prototyped by engineers at the New York Times, bought and built out by Betaworks (the Times now owns equity in Bitly) with data and interface rock-stars from Bitly and contracted friends, the app is a substantially new type of news consumption experience. The team behind it hopes consumers will appreciate it enough to pay for it at 99 cents a week or $34.99 for the year. The revenue will be split with publishers whose content is displayed in the app, on a per-click basis. Billing is done automatically through iTunes, weekly or yearly. There's a free one-week trial.

"We have no interest in taking ads in any form," says John Borthwick, CEO of Bitly and Betaworks. Borthwick says that more than 660 publishing partners are already participating. (Including ReadWriteWeb, the editorial department found out yesterday.)

Participating publishers range from the Guardian to the Associated Press to Al Jazeera to the Portland, Oregonian to the Bangkok Post in Thailand. A wide range of local, national and international publications are participating.

Borthwick believes that advertising-supported content is not suitable for the tablet experience and argues that a new business model is required.

But will users pay for it?

An Eye Opening App

What News.me offers is a strikingly original app. Open it up and you'll find a line of faces you can swipe left or right. Those are your friends or recommended people who have opted-in to sharing their subscriptions on the News.me platform. You cannot read the streams of people who have not opted in.

Those people know and follow different people than you do. Some people curate who they follow on Twitter very carefully and their News.me feeds are particularly distinct.

View Bit.ly data scientist Hilary Mason's stream on News.me and you'll see a flow of super-geeky articles shared by the people she's following on Twitter: articles about statistics, data mining and social networking from a qualitative perspective.

View Microsoft youth social network researcher danah boyd on News.me and you'll see something very different: anthropological articles about young people online, cyberbullying, teenage self-expression, mobile tech user studies.

At the end of each article News.me offers a list of other articles you might like. Borthwick believes that the experience also offers a meaningful antidote to the age-old dilema of internet-as-echo-chamber. The app makes it remarkably easy to find yourself reading content published and shared by people with world-views different than your own.

Seeing the online world through different peoples' perspectives is a remarkably unique way to experience news consumption. Is it something that a large number of people will appreciate enough to pay for? I don't know.

The app has a strong, clean visual design (thanks to the work of Justin Ouellette, best known for Muxtape), it's an ad-free experience, it's fast loading (there's P2P style-magic going on in the background) and it's got a fundamentally new model of user experience.

I hope enough other people find it compelling enough to make it a viable business - I certainly enjoy using it a lot myself. I am concerned that too few people may appreciate the empathetic experience of viewing the world through other people's eyes - otherwise society would likely be quite different.

Maybe we were all just waiting for the iPad app for such an experience, though.

Disclosure: ReadWriteWeb is a syndication partner of the New York Times.

See Betaworks CEO John Borthwick speak about Designing Products and Businesses for the Emerging Web at the ReadWriteWeb 2WAY Summit NYC June 13-14.

The report delves into everything from mobile use to media consumption and PCs to social networking. The takeaway, says Forrester, is that Gen Y "lives and breathes" a digital social life, Gen Xers are masters of the functional benefits of technology, but those older are much more reserved in nearly all areas.

"In almost every online or mobile behavior, Gen Yers lead the adoption curve," explains Forrester, summarizing the differences between the generations. The youngest members of this group don't remember life without a mobile phone or a time when texting or email was unavailable. Gen X, despite having a longer "tech memory" than its younger counterpart, still rivals Gen Y in many areas. This slightly older group tends to use the Internet and computers more functionally. For example, 26% of Gen Xers go online for information about food and cooking, 61% use it for news, 65% use PCs to manage photos and 53% email photos at least once per month.

Boomers fall behind on the technology adoption curve, but spend more money on everything tech-related from telecom fees to online shopping purchases. Seniors, however, lag ever further behind. 80% still subscribe to a local newspaper, for instance. But in other ways, they're catching up: 40% own an HDTV, one in five uses the Internet for reading news and one quarter for travel planning.

Devices: Gen X Leads

When it comes to devices - think HDTVs, digital cameras, PCs, gaming systems - Gen X leads the way, says Forrester. Their households are the most likely to have these devices in them.

When it comes to the household PC (meaning "personal computer" not necessarily "Windows machine"), Gen X and Boomers tend to use theirs for practical matters like word processing and household finances. They're also more focused on PC health, regularly scanning for malware and backing up files.

Mobile: Gen Y Leads

Meanwhile, on the mobile front, the 49 million Gen Yers lead the other generations, using their phones for everything from product research to social communication. Along with Gen Xers, Gen Yers are the most likely group to own a smartphone with an unlimited data plan. One fifth of Gen Y uses their phone for maps and directions now, while Gen X is generally more interested in checking news, sports and weather.

85% of Gen Y sends and receives text messages, while 68% of Gen X does the same. Only 15% of Seniors use SMS, however.

37% of Gen Y surfs the mobile Web. Mobile "Facebooking" is also more popular with Gen Y, with 27% participation, compared with 18% of Gen X. Seniors on Facebook, supposedly a growing trend on the desktop, is not so prevalent on mobile - only 1% use Facebook or other social networking sites from their phone.

Overall, 23% of Gen X and Y owns a smartphone and 17% of Americans do.

Online: Gen Y Surfs, Gen X and Boomers Shop

Internet use has surpassed TV viewing for Gen Y for a few years now, but this is the first time that Gen X can say the same. Younger Boomers (45-54) also now spend equal amounts of time online versus on the Web. TV viewing still beats Web surfing for older Boomers and Seniors though.

The survey found, too, that Gen X does the most online shopping, but Younger Boomers spend the most. In fact, Boomers were the only generation that spent, on average, more than $600 online in the past three months.

Forecast: eReaders are "Device of the Year," but Few Use

Forrester says that eReaders have drawn a lot of hype over the course of the year, but in reality, only a small percentage of the population currently uses them. However, the analysts forecast that another 6.6 million will buy an eReader by year-end. 8.3 million will buy a netbook or mini PC, though, in the same time frame.

Netbook and mini-PC purchases will outpace eReader sales until 2014, when both slow to 1% growth rates. Laptops will also decline to 2% growth in 2014.

This data seems in opposition to earlier reports from NPD that stated netbook sales have gone negative. This recently led to some controversy when the Wall St. Journal quoted Best Buy CEO Brian J. Dunn remarking on the netbook's decline, saying its sales have been cannibalized by the iPad. Dunn later explained, by way of a Best Buy press release, that "the reports of the demise of [notebook and netbook] sales are grossly exaggerated." It appears that Forrester agrees with this statement, given this new report's data.

Conclusion: Gens X & Y Outpacing Others

Forrester concludes that Gens X and Y are "setting the example of how future digitally native generations will live," with both generations "outpacing Boomers and Seniors on almost everything technology-related."

Statements like these tend to rile up the tech-savvy Boomers and Seniors who read this blog, often leading outraged comments about the wrongness of the data. In this case, though, Forrester analyzed 30,064 households containing 37,226 individuals to reach these conclusions, a sample size which seems sufficient enough for this analysis. Any generation will have its outliers, of course, from the digitally-adept Grandma to the Gen Yer who refuses to Facebook. Plus, anyone reading this article is at the top of the curve, no matter what the technology in question is, we would bet.

Image credit, top: flickr user Paulo Fehlauer; charts: Forrester

Canada will serve as the test bed for the service before it expands to additional foreign markets, explained Hastings. The company will determine whether or not there's opportunity for other countries based on its Canadian performance. Nothing will happen immediately though, said Hastings: "Until we get a couple of months after the launch, we're going to be sitting still."

Netflix's Canadian Competition

In Canada, top cable companies like Rogers Communications and Quebecor Media have been upgrading their online video offerings and lowering data plans in anticipation of Netflix's northward expansion, reads the Reuters report. This is good news for Canadians interested in using the service, especially given Canada's broadband pricing plans and its service providers' previous tendencies to enforce restrictive caps and overage penalties.

Other potential Netflix competitors like Apple TV and media center hardware company Boxee have plans for Canadian launches, too.

AppMarket.tv, a social TV market intelligence site, notes that Netflix isn't the first to offer video distribution in Canada: Local company Zip.ca, which now has a database of 82,000-plus titles, serves as a sort of cross between Netflix and kiosk-based rental company RedBox in that country, offering DVDs for overnight rentals both by mail and walk-up vending machines. That competition may be the real reason that Netflix is forgoing mailed physical disks in Canada, at least for now. Future foreign launches for Netflix may or may not include the by-mail option the company is known for in the U.S. - that decision will likely be made on a case-by-case basis.

Nonetheless, some are saying that Google CEO Eric Schmidt acknowledged the upcoming launch of "Google Me". Really, it looks like he acknowledged the coming of "layers", not the stand-alone, Facebook-killing social network we've all discussed.

As much as we want to see these words as the big battle between Facebook and Google, Schmidt said in plain language that this is not the case, according to Reuters.

"Everybody has convinced themselves that there's some huge project about to get announced next week. And I can assure you that's not the case," he said today at Zeitgeist, a tech event in Arizona.

In essence, "Google Me" will be an integration of social connections in much the same manner as we've seen with offerings like Facebook's "Instant Personalization", which allowed select partners like Yelp and Pandora to use social network connections and information to cater results.

"If you think about it, it's obvious," Schmidt told Reuters. "With your permission, knowing more about who your friends are, we can provide more tailored recommendations. Search quality can get better."

While we all love a good fight, this is becoming a bit more media-tastic than reality permits.

Why is this happening? Why are apps becoming more popular than music?

The original chart was posted on Asymco's website, home to a hybrid industry analysis advisory and app development firm. Assuming the data the firm has collected is accurate (they say it comes from statements made by Apple representatives), Apple customers will have downloaded more iPhone/iPod/iPad apps than songs sometime in the near future, either by year end or just a few weeks later.

That's a staggering thought, when you really think about it. After all, the original iPhone didn't even support the development of third-party mobile applications when it launched in summer 2007. It wasn't until March of the following year that Apple released development tools (the iPhone SDK, or software development kit), allowing aspiring developers to begin work on mobile creations that would run on an upcoming version of the iPhone operating system, due out later that summer.

When launched, however, these natively-built iPhone applications quickly became more popular the previously supported "Web applications" in terms of usage. App downloads surged and have been surging ever since.

But why are these apps, popular as they may be, on the path to besting music in terms of sheer download numbers?

Ouriel Ohayon, the creator of mobile application sharing and discovery platform AppsFire, has ventured a few guesses and we think he's right on the money. Here are the reasons he puts forth on the AppsFire blog:

1. Apps Let You Personalize Your Phone

Apps let you personalize your phone in the same way as only ringtones and wallpapers once did. They are the new music playlists, in a sense, he says. In many ways I think that's true - I know the first thing I do when I get hold of someone else's mobile phone is look at what apps they're using. I could care less what their musical interests are. However, I don't think this is the main reason for the trend.

2.Many Apps are Free

Ohayon says that apps are surpassing music in part because so many of them are free. That's hard to argue with. Apps are probably sampled more often because they're free. However, some of those free apps probably aren't used as often as the 99-cent song you knew you liked enough to purchase is listened to. Nor do free apps make up the majority of iPhone apps available for sale - roughly 70% are paid. Free apps cater to our desire to buy things on impulse, but without the guilt of throwing our money away. So what if you only play that game once? It was worth the price - nothing - to kill five minutes of time while in the waiting room of the doctor's office.

3. Apps Provide Downloaded Music Substitutes

Mobile applications like Pandora, Last.fm, Deezer, Spotify, MOG and Rdio provide free and/or paid subscriptions to streaming music. You don't need to download and pay for a song in iTunes if you use one of these applications - you can just listen to it over the Internet instead. Apple itself may have caught onto this trend, too. The company recently purchased streaming service Lala.com, which many suspect will be turned into a subscription-based, Internet music streaming service for iTunes.

In addition, some apps are music themselves. Ohayon points to apps like this Lady Gaga one or this Katy Perry one, for example, that package popular music within mobile applications. Some games also feature music like Katy Perry Revenge or Lyric Legend, which, when you think about it, is actually a new format for listening to music. But there are many, many others beyond the few mentioned here.

In fact, we spotted this trend nearly a year ago, noting the rise of "music-themed" apps that offer tunes and other content from artists. We then cited examples from NIN, Moby and Usher as artists who were using apps to promote their songs. (See: "Forget the iTunes LP, Apps are the New Album"). Still, the most devoted fans will probably buy both the app and the album, since only the latter usually works in playlists and when you go offline.

While no single reason can explain this trend in its entirety, the reasons put forth by Ohayon are reasoned and sound, we think. Asymco's Horace Dediu agrees, responding to Ohayon via the comments of the post, saying "apps are indeed content," referring to how apps can replace other forms of content. "Apps-as-media has implications in the way they are produced, marketed, priced and consumed," writes Dediu. "All the data since has been nothing but confirmation of this."

Will making it easier for Yahoo users to sign in to Google - a direct competitor - draw users away from the portal, search and mail provider, or will it help create an overall better user experience? According to Yahoo, making a process that users were already engaged in simpler will provide a better user experience and keep them interested in one of its most solid products - Yahoo Mail.

"People have been asking FOREVER when are the big web portals actually going to accept other people's OpenIDs. This a significant step by Google to become a relying party," Hamlin told us today.

Scott Kveton, co-founder of the OpenID Foundation, agreed that it was "a big step forward for making OpenID that much easier to use".

"Making it easier to have Google and Yahoo work together is great for Google," said Kveton, but he questioned the advantage for Yahoo. He noted that "making it easier to on-board users into Google via their email accounts means being able to suck in the social graph."

We asked Eran Hammer-Lahav, an Open Web advocate for Yahoo, about the feature, and he told us that it had been in some form of discussion for over two years and would provide a better user experience for Yahoo's users.

"We don't try to lock our users in any way," said Hammer-Lahav. "We want them to have a better Web experience no matter what site they are on, just by being a Yahoo user. Yahoo is not in the business of locking users to only use its services, especially when the Web is getting so much more distributed and social."

Hammer-Lahav told us that Yahoo believes its mail product is strong enough to keep users happy (and loyal), as evidenced by when Yahoo was one of the first email providers to provide address book mobility. When we asked if Yahoo would be offering the same sort of feature, he explained that there weren't many Yahoo products that required email sign-ins, but the company is adding OpenID support for activities like adding comments, which do require full account sign-ins. In this case, Google added this functionality, he explained, because Yahoo email account holders make up a large percentage of the email market and those trying to create Google accounts.

In the end, that may be just it - the simple fact that users will be drawn to Google's growing arsenal of Web tools, from Google Docs to Voice to AdWords, and it's better to keep what business you can rather than have your users abandon your product completely.

According to mobile-focused blog Unwired View, the innovation comes in the form of using nearby phones to measure traffic speed and density and then adapting a billboard's content accordingly.

When traffic is moving fast and drivers have no time to pay attention to billboards, or there's a dense crowd on the street so you are distracted and less likely to pay attention, the billboard may just blast a huge logo and slogan of the advertiser at you, to catch any peripheral attention it can get. When traffic slows down in a jam, and you are sitting bored at the wheel waiting for a car in front to move the next few meters, grateful for any distraction, the same billboard will give you a detailed information about the service, prices, benefits and stuff.

The two separate patents are for "Adaptive roadside billboard system and related methods" and "Adaptive pedestrian billboard system and related methods"; both are described as having a storage system that could retain a number of different messages for different speeds and traffic densities. Beyond the level of detail involved, such a system could also be used to offer interaction opportunities when density is high and speed is low (such as in a traffic jam).

The next step, of course, is for billboards to begin collecting more personal information than simply crowd-aggregated data - such as the types of cars being driven - to cater advertising more specifically to the people present. That same next step, however, treads on thinner ice in regards to privacy than simply the density and speed of traffic, which is already used by systems such as Google Maps to provide traffic analysis.

The number of adults who use text messaging has gone up steadily over the last few years. While 65% of adults in the U.S. were sending and receiving text messages in 2009, this number is now up to 72%.

A lot of Texting is About Location Sharing

When adults use text messaging, they mostly do so to say hello and chat (34%) and to report where they are and where someone else is (24%). Given how important location is for a lot of these usage patterns, we would think that there has to be a big market for location services (like EchoEcho) that make private location sharing between cell phones easy.

More Statistics about Adult Cell Phone Usage

• 82% of adults in the U.S. own a cell phone (83% of all men, 81% of all women)
• women make slightly fewer calls with their cell phones than men
• 65% of adults say they have ever slept with their cell phone on or right next to their bed (and 90% of younger adults - who probably also use their phones as alarm clocks - say they have done so)
• 42% feel irritated when a call or text interrupts them
• 57% of adults with cell phones say that they have received unwanted or spam text messages (what exactly constitutes an "unwanted" text message isn't clear in Pew's question, however)

Logo used courtesy of Flickr user Dan Zen.

What's New in webOS 2.0

The release of webOS 2.0 represents the biggest update yet, notes the page on Palm's Developer Center detailing the new features. And, by the looks of it, the list does include several compelling upgrades:

Stacks

The new Stacks feature extends Palm's "card" metaphor that allows users to interact with screens as if they were individual cards. To close an app, for example, you just drag the card off the screen and "poof!" the program is closed. With Stacks, webOS 2.0 will automatically group related cards in an effort to reduce clutter and to allow for quickly switching between tasks. Users can also manually create stacks via drag-and-drop to manage them outside of operating system control. Developers don't have to do anything special to use Stacks - new cards resulting from user actions within an app will be automatically grouped with the app's main card.

Just Type

Just Type is the new name for webOS's Universal Search feature which allows users to search for things both on the device and the Web. One of the new enhancements to this feature is something called "Quick Actions." This lets users perform routine tasks like updating their Facebook status, setting reminders, adding items to a shopping list, start an email and other common tasks. Also new is an ability for developers to expand their app's capabilities by hooking into Just Type either through indexing of data stored on the device or through the creation of their own custom Quick Actions.

Exhibition

Exhibition is a screensaver-like program that runs when the phone is docked. It can display slideshows, a clock, stock updates, news, or sports tickers but can also be customized through apps created by developers.

Synergy APIs

Synergy is remembered as the feature which merged Facebook contacts into the Palm Pre's address book, but it also supports Google, Microsoft Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo. Contacts are pulled into the phone's address book to show things like birthdays, work and personal calendars side-by-side, IM and text messages combined into a single conversation and more. In webOS 2.0, Synergy APIs are being made available to developers for use with connectors for contacts, calendar and Messaging and later for other webOS data types too. For example, developers can use the connectors to connect a chat or IM app with the webOS Messaging app, access contacts stored on a social network or online community into the Contacts app, or access other calendars or online events within the built-in Calendar app.

Under-the-Hood: HTML 5, JavaScript, PDK Plug-ins

Other advances in under-the-hood technologies include support for HTML5 features like enhanced canvas, Web storage, geolocation and application cache. Also new is built -in support for the Node.js runtime environment and PDK Plug-ins, which allow developers to build games and other immersive apps in C/C++. This latter feature is currently in beta, but with webOS 2.0 the beta period will end and developers can begin to distribute apps that use these plug-ins.

Does HP Have a Shot with webOS?

Before Google's Android emerged as the iPhone rival it is today, many saw Palm's WebOS as a possible contender to take the iPhone down a notch from its dominant position among smartphones. Wall St. Journal's Walt Mossberg even called the Pre "a powerful competitor" to the iPhone when it launched as well as a "beautiful, innovative and versatile hand-held computer." He wasn't alone in this sentiment.

The idea of the Pre as an upstart "iPhone killer" soon lost its appeal, though, when the webOS-powered phone and its smaller sibling the Pixi, simply didn't sell. It was said that the lackluster sales may have had more to do with the hardware used, the carrier or the lack of developer buy-in, and not the OS itself, however.

But HP, desperately needing to re-enter the mobile game, clearly thought webOS still had potential, and not just for mobile, but for tablet computing as well. In July, HP registered the trademark "PalmPad" and, earlier this month, confirmed its plans to ship a webOS-based tablet early next year. For the most part, the tech community's initial reaction was positive, upon hearing the acquisition news this April, with most hoping that HP could be the company to breathe new life into the dying, but delightful, webOS platform.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether or not tablet computing will actually take hold as a new trend in computing, regardless of the operating system powering the device, or if the iPad is simply another example of Apple releasing a product (like its iPod) that dominates a market. Android, although now outpacing iPhone shipments in many markets, most notably the U.S., has yet to emerge as the OS of choice on any iPad rival. There are many Android tablets in the works and some for sale in limited markets, but no major releases as of yet. It's far too soon to say if an Android tablet will overtake the iPad or vice versa. In fact, it's just as possible that HP's "PalmPad" could be the real iPad competitor, for that matter. That's what HP is hoping for, of course. But it is notable that HP, a personal computing powerhouse in this industry, has embraced a new operating system that's not Microsoft Windows. If marketed well, priced appropriately and - most importantly - if HP's brand name clout can attract developer attention, it's fair to say the "PalmPad" has a real shot.

Like Square, the new solution allows you to physically swipe credit cards while processing the transaction over an Internet-connected iPhone. But isn't toting around a physical plastic card soon going to be a thing of the past? Maybe, as makers of other new mobile payment solutions, including "contactless" technology and money-transfer apps, would have you believe. Then again, maybe not.

The Intuit solution offers a flat rate of $12.95 a month, plus 1.7-3.7% of each transaction and an additional $.30-$.40 per transaction fee. Square, on the other hand, will charge 2.75% plus a $.15-per-transaction fee. Intuit's biggest selling point, however, is its lack of long-term contracts.

NFC: Now Available, via a Sticker

Although what Intuit is offering is a brand-name and accessible solution for many small business owners, it may or may not be the next big revolution in mobile payment technology. At least, that's what another startup called Bling Nation hopes.

This company has partnered with another big name: PayPal, to push its "Bling Tag," an NFC-enabled sticker that can be stuck to the back of any mobile phone. (NFC, or "near field communication," is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 4-inch distance.) In this case, the Bling Tag replaces a credit card, and to use it, you only have to tap your phone onto the merchant's "Blinger." The name sounds a little hokey to us, but the idea is solid.

The Blinger is provided to companies for free upon sign up, and set up is simple: You just plug it into an electrical outlet. Also, no integration with a POS system is required.

Processing costs vary depending on the volume of business a company does, but Bling Nation claims merchants could save up to 50% in processing fees, as compared with the large payment processors. Payments are tied to your account at a financial institution, and now, optionally at PayPal. The money is instantly debited from the associated account at the time of purchase.

Unfortunately, the Bling Tags are only available from financial institutions, which have to first sign up to support this technology. That alone will limit adoption, as will the fact that few merchants actually support the thing.

Other NFC News: Apple's Plans and Visa's Case

That may change in time, however, especially if Apple builds NFC tech into its next iPhone, as a new hire by the company - Benjamin Vigier, an expert in the field - seems to suggest.

Plus, the startup Bling Nation is only one example of companies looking towards an NFC-enabled future. This summer, Visa is beginning trials of its contactless payment technology, payWave, integrated into a special protective iPhone case, developed in partnership with DeviceFidelity. Using NFC on the back-end, consumers could simply wave their iPhone in front of a terminal. For what it's worth, the system is already catching on in Canada.

(For more on NFC, see: "NFC: Never Mind Credit Cards, Pay With Your Phone")

Mobile Payment Services, Apps

Then again, it's possible that neither NFC nor hardware attachments represent the future of mobile payments: it could be, simply, an app.

Last fall, we looked at several m-Commerce solutions, including Boku, Zong, Obopay, MasterCard's MoneySend and Nokia Money, to name a few. They aren't household names, at least here in the U.S., for several reasons, including limited availability, issues with usability and small user bases.

Even though big names like Amazon and Google are jumping into the mobile payments game, as well, (the former with a service for in-app and mobile website purchases and the latter with an even geekier solution - a combination of a browser extension and QR code) the technology hasn't yet truly caught on for brick-and-mortar merchant-to-consumer transactions.

Consumer Reports Warns of Mobile Payment Issues

Meanwhile, the respected organization Consumer Reports - the same group whose decision to "not recommend" the iPhone 4 due to antenna issues forced Apple to finally fess up and offer free bumpers - has recently warned consumers of mobile payment dangers.

With what seems to be a dire warning, Consumer Reports issued a press release: "Mobile Payment Systems Could Leave Consumers at Risk." At the crux of the problem with these new technologies, the report claims, are the varying protections for bank errors and unauthorized use. Debit cards only provide protections for bank errors and unauthorized use, not disputes with the merchant. The same goes for transactions where money is automatically deducted from a bank account. And payment services provided by mobile carriers might escape consumer protections entirely, unless a contract specifically provides them.

"Consumers should not be expected to figure out what protections apply to each competing new payments venture," said Michelle Jun, staff attorney for Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. "Now that mobile payment ventures are emerging in the U.S., it's time to harmonize and extend consumer protections for all payment services."

Ironically, this news release's intention is actually to push mobile payment companies to get up to speed with their credit card-swiping counterparts. (Consumers Union called on them to include "full consumer rights provided under existing federal law for both debit and credit cards," it reads. And to provide "true voluntary 'zero liability' assurance for consumers without loopholes.")

But sadly, in an age of headline-only journalism, the news will likely be taken in a more negative light. (As it will by those who have only skimmed this article, reading the section titles, sigh).

Who Will Win?

NFC has seen some success in parts of Europe and Asia, and mobile payments are par for the course in many parts of Africa, where access to banks is limited. But at the end of the day, it's too soon to know how well (or if) these technologies will take off in this part of the world, namely North America, and specifically, the U.S.

One disadvantage many startups have entering this space is brand-name recognition, or rather, the lack thereof. In Intuit's trials, for example, many customers trusted the product because they had heard of the company before. Faced with "Bling" stickers and apps that sound like games ("Boku," "Zong"), there may be adoption issues until there's a brand-name partnership underway.

With the new Facebook Places integration, Topguest members will now receive automatic rewards for their check-ins via Facebook.

Rewards for Topguest users include things like 50 Priority Points for check-ins at any Holiday Inn, Crowe Plaza, Intercontinental or Hotel Indigo property, 20% off food, drink or spa at the Viceroy Hotels or room discounts at the Standard Hotels.

With Facebook check-ins, Topguest members will now be able to check-in to a venue via Facebook Places and automatically receive the associated rewards with that location, without any additional effort on their part. (U.S.-only, for now).

Facebook Available, Not Required

But Facebook isn't the only avenue to earning rewards. As noted above, users can add their accounts on other location-based services like Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and Twitter (it supports geo-location), to earn the same benefits.

In fact, forgoing Facebook may even be the preferred course for some who are mistrustful of Facebook's privacy controls, given the network's past transgressions. Thanks to the ACLU's dire warnings about Facebook Places' privacy concerns and the reports of confusing settings that seemingly opt you in before you opt in, using Facebook Places' check-in feature comes with its own set of caveats to contend with. Having a more locked-down account available only to family and very close friends on a location-based service like Foursquare may be better alternative for some geo-location early adopters concerns with security and privacy.

That being said, plenty of mainstream users' first exposure to the idea of check-ins will come via Facebook. Others simply prefer Facebook to Twitter and the other smaller startups because it's the only social network their friends have joined.

Topguest: An Answer to the Question "Why check in?"

By offering real-world benefits for virtual check-ins, Topguest answers the question many users have about using these new sorts of location-based services: Why do this?

For the pragmatic, checking in to a location - thereby potentially exposing yourself to possible privacy issues, geo-stalking, or worse - is not the best idea, especially when the only benefits are the bragging rights of claiming "Mayor" on Foursquare or earning a pretend "passport stamp" in an iPhone app. Topguest provides a more valuable reason for checking-in: real rewards that translate into actual savings or benefits.

Interested users can sign up with Topguest here. The Facebook integration is live now and will require you to authorize Topguest as a Facebook application.

We've missed it, sure, but now it's back, and this time it's turning your computer into a streaming music server, giving you access to your home library from wherever you are: on any computer and even on your iPhone and Android smartphone.

Unfortunately we haven't launched yet and have been testing the service with limited users. We've disabled new signups and are a couple weeks away from opening our service to the masses. We are moving into a colo-facility soon with starting bandwidth capacity of 300mbit which will allow us to open the floodgates.

When we visited the site last night, we didn't notice anything saying it was in beta or wouldn't be open to the general public and quickly signed up. For those of you who didn't get in, we guess the only thing to do is to wait.

The first thing to note is that this is not the cloud-based music service we've been waiting to see. In order to work, the computer with your music library needs to be on and connected to the Internet - not asleep, hibernating, saving power or being even slightly environmentally friendly.

The program works by installing a client on your home computer which scans your hard drive for music. Then, either via the Web interface, the iPhone App or the Android app, you can access and play your music from anywhere.

The website is supported on the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome, and there's no limit to the size of the collection you can share. The company says it has successfully used Audiogalaxy with a collection of more than 80,000 songs without a problem. The service is is completely free, both on the Web and on your smartphone, and although the company's FAQ mentions paying for "uninterrupted access", we happily listened to an entire Radiohead album without any problem. We were also happy to find that the playing continued in the background when we switched out of the iPhone app.

For some people - those who rely on streaming music services like Pandora or MOG - the service may not really offer any benefits. If, however, you have 100 gigs of music sitting at home and you want to access it from your 16GB iPhone, Audiogalaxy is a sure winner. It's like having it all right there on your phone, with an easily navigable list of artists, albums and playlists that you can create using the website.

There's a very interesting question over on Q&A site Quora.com regarding last night's announcement of Facebook's geo-location effort, Facebook Places. Someone asked the question: "Are Foursquare and Gowalla going to survive now that Facebook Places has launched?"

This question was on the forefront of our minds, too, as we watched the somewhat-reluctant partners trotted out in support of Places during Facebook's press briefing last night. While some (Yelp, Booyah) appeared excited about the ability to integrate with Facebook's new service, others - most notably Foursquare, the startup whose geo-location service has been the media darling as of late - seemed a little unsure of themselves.

What will Become of Foursquare and Others?

In fact, Foursquare's VP of mobile products, Hogler Luedorf, appeared unenthusiastic, if not downright depressed, talking of how his company had been working in the field of location-based services for years. And in a backstage interview, Venture Beat's Cody Barbierri spoke to Foursquare's co-founder and chief exec, Dennis Crowley, who admitted that his company had no definite plans yet for Places, because, apparently, they didn't have early access to test the feature.

Still, don't count these small startups out just yet. "If Facebook thinks that location is a good idea, then we are on to something," Crowley said.

Location: The "Boring" Part of Geo-Location Services?

In fact, maybe Places could end up helping these companies grow by allowing them to focus on features and innovations, as opposed to the dreary but necessary location database maintenance currently required.

But that's not my suggestion - it comes from Yishan Wong, a former Facebook engineer whose last project at the company was working on the location platform.

According to his answer to the above question about Gowalla and Foursquare's survival, he reveals that the one of the main product questions at Facebook was, "How can we build a product that maximally benefits location-oriented startups?"

"There's no reason to copy and crush a competitor - none of them are profitable, or a threat," he says. That last point is debatable, in our minds. While none are a threat today, had a winner among location-based services emerged, it could have at least appeared on Facebook's radar the same way blips like Twitter and the now-acquired FriendFeed once did. Any network where users in large numbers are choosing to share data is a network Facebook wants to be a part of. Actually, it's a network Facebook wants to own.

Wong continues his response by suggesting that location-based services can now focus on the fun parts of building their business, and not the "boring" task of managing location databases.

"My guess is that Facebook's product tries to commoditize the 'boring' parts of location while providing a platform for the 'real' location-oriented companies (e.g. Foursquare, Gowalla, Booyah, Yelp) to build real products off of. Based on what I've heard from various sources, companies like Foursquare find the 'venue management' business to be quite tedious and not the real source of differentiating value... so commoditizing this aspect of their business doesn't threaten their core value proposition."

Location as Commodity

Incidentally, the idea of location databases as a commodity is a suggestion many have been making for some time now. Not only did TechCrunch suggest this back in April, as Wong notes, others, like Jeff Holden, CEO of location-based company and Whrrl maker Pelago, suggested that location-based check-in data was on its way to becoming a commodity.

"We'll see check-in data eventually becoming a commodity as more and more such services arise and a couple of the big social network companies step in with open check-in platforms," he wrote via blog post only days before Facebook's announcement.

For end users, the commoditization of this data, which would lead to syndication and aggregation of structured data, would have a big impact on the competitive playing field, Holden says. It would also address the issue of so-called check-in fatigue, as well as permit personalized recommendations, he says.

Compete on Features, Not on Geo-Databases

While it's true that there is value to the end user in the commoditization of location data, it's a commodity that many location-based companies likely did not want. Until now, they've been able to compete not only on features, but also on the richness, accuracy and completeness of their own geo-location databases. That selling point is now going to disappear, thanks to Facebook. Hopefully, the location-based startups have a few other ideas for retaining their users in this post-Places era.

For what it's worth, in an informal Twitter poll last night, several Foursquare users and friends of @rww responded that they'll stay with the service. "Nah not quitting 4sq or esp Gowalla in favor of places. I'm looking forward to the integration," said @tsudo. "I'll xpost to Places occasionally for innocuous checkins like conferences, but continue using 4SQ for trusted friends," said @LynneBaer. "Absolutely not - Foursquare's too great," replied @TheHarrisWalker. A few others replied that they don't plan on using either or are interested only in Facebook Places because none of their friends are on Foursquare.

As for Wong? Well, he just tweeted, "Why am I still using 4S to check-in?"

Instead, the new "ShopAlerts" service is actually a white-label platform that allows retailers and other businesses to send location-triggered mobile text messages to consumers who've opted in to receive them.

Yes, geo-fenced, geo-targeted mobile couponing, discounts and promotions have arrived.

A "geo-fence" is a term which refers to a virtual perimeter around a geographical region. For example, geo-fencing technologies are used in certain child location services to notify parents when the child leaves a certain pre-designated area, such as their school or home.

In mobile location-based shopping services, such as the recently arrived ShopAlerts platform (it launched earlier this spring), geo-fences are used around each retail store in order to trigger the mobile alerts the service sends.

When a customer is within range of that store, a (relatively) accurate calculation based on neighborhood-level cell tower data, the alert is sent out via an SMS text message. The inability of smartphone-grade GPS to determine a precise location is actually used to the service's advantage. "ShopAlerts brings consumers into [retailers'] stores when they are in the neighborhood rather than engaging with the consumer once they are inside the store," explains Blair Swedeen, VP Market Development at platform creator Placecast, which is launching the service in partnership with location provider Location Labs.

But that's just one of the many differentiating factors between ShopAlerts and the new Shopkick mobile app. ShopAlerts also doesn't require special hardware installed inside the stores, as Shopkick does, nor does it require a specific mobile app installed on a specific brand of smartphone or smartphones.

Instead, shoppers opt-in to a retailer's mobile alerting system, a service marketed however the retailer sees fit. (Think Twitter updates, Facebook posts, websites, or even in-store signage). Once a consumer opts-in to receive alerts, they'll be notified with news of sales, promotions or other messages the retailer wants to send, but only when they're near the store.

That last part is the key difference between this and other mobile text-messaging based services. Although ShopAlerts won't necessarily know you're at Macy's or Best Buy specifically, as Shopkick does, it could see that you're at the mall shopping and alert you then. And because it's a "set-it-and-forget it" type of service, you don't have to remember to break out your phone, launch an app, check-in or scan barcodes. You would just get a text.

Not as Sexy as Foursquare, but Potentially More Useful?

ShopAlerts may not have the "geek chic" feel or the media hype that accompanies today's ever-growing list of location-based mobile services (Shopkick, Foursquare, Gowalla, MyTown, Brightkite, Whrrl, Loopt, WeReward, TopGuest, Hot Potato, SCVNGR, AroundMe, Poynt, Geodelic, and whew...who have we forgotten?), but that's OK with them.

After all, research from the Placecast-commissioned Harris Interactive study on mobile behavior showed that only 7% of men and 4% of women were currently using location-based "check-in" apps like those. 40%, however, were avid text message users. Lest you think the research is somehow tainted by Placecast's obvious conflict in interest, it's notable that the findings back up Forrester's earlier discovery that only 4% of U.S. online adults use location-based mobile check-in apps.

While both research companies acknowledged the hype surrounding the services, which may end up leading to real-world successes in the future, they're still very cutting edge, unknown entities to most of the mainstream mobile audience.

The ShopAlerts platform is noting today their partnership with clothing brand The North Face on board and more brands "signing on monthly."

If you're wondering how the engineers are claiming "first" when video conferencing solutions, most notably Apple's FaceTime and mobile video applications like Fring, already provide face-to-face communications ideal for signing, the difference is in the technology behind mobileASL itself.

The UW team, led by Eve Riskin, a professor of electrical engineering, claim that Apple's FaceTime uses 10 times the bandwidth of MobileASL. FaceTime is also currently limited to Wi-Fi, although Apple may eventually open it up to run over 3G, assuming network operators could manage the overhead. Fring works over both Wi-Fi and 3G, but is limited to various smartphones like the iPhone, phones built with Google's Android mobile OS and certain Nokia devices.

MobileASL, on the other hand, could be integrated into any device that has a video camera on the same side of the phone as the screen.

It also increases the video quality around the face and hands while optimizing the compressed video signals specifically for sign language. The software even detects whether a person is signing or not in order to extend the phone's battery life during use.

Jessica Tran, a doctoral student in electrical engineering who is running the field study, is experimenting with different compression systems to further extend the battery life of phones under heavy video use. Another researcher, engineering doctoral student Jaehong Chon, made MobileASL compatible with H.264, an industry standard for video compression.

The field test underway now, with students in the UW Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computing, is the first of its kind. "This is the first study of how deaf people in the United States use mobile video phones," Riskin said.

Most of the study participants say that email or texting are currently their preferred methods of communication. This MobileASL technology may eventually change that.

FaceTime Still a Good Alternative for Now

However, it's not alone in its goal of making smartphones more useful to people with disabilities. Video Relay Services company ZVRS recently announced its launch of a mobile video relay service that works with Apple's FaceTime to enable single-tap, face-to-face video interpreting. The service was released to the public on July 26, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The iPhone-only FaceTime-enabled service works by connecting those in need to a video interpreter by way of a special phone number.

But while ZVRS's service only works on the iPhone 4, mobileASL technology could potentially work on any phone. And that, in many ways, makes it a first.