Smartphone and 3G growth in South America will create an ecosystem that is capable of supporting mobile banking, according to a Pyramid Research study, “Smartphone, 3G Growth Creates Mobile Banking Opportunity in Latin America.” Banks and telecom operators will be the principle beneficiaries of this growth.

“8.6 percent of all the new units sold in Latin America in 2010 will be smartphones,” said Pyramid’s David Noe.

“”However, this percentage will grow dramatically during the forecast period; our estimation is that almost one-third (32.2 percent) of the new handhelds sold by 2014 in Latin America will be smartphones,” Noe said.

The advanced functionalities of smartphones will enable better access to mobile banking services. According to the report, the mobile payment market should spread across low and high-income populations, as well as among more advanced users. Financial institutions can not miss this opportunity.

To succeed, financial institutions need to take vary their strategies according to the customer.

“The needs, mobile phone capabilities and education levels of end users vary wildly,” Noe said. In an earlier report by Frost & Sullivan, mobile services are set for strong growth in South America. In 2009, the region accounted for $2.5 billion in revenue, and accounted for more than 60 million customers.

This morning, Michael Arrington, co-editor of TechCrunch.com, started his blogging day by complaining and mixing up the meaning of “interest into someone’s content” and “friendship” on a post. He claims the need to fake being someone’s friend to better use Twitter. Not to worry, this is very common in online social networking, especially with egocentric personalities.

The website talked about is the popular Twitter (www.twitter.com), which provides a way for people to express themselves about anything, as long as the message fits into 140 characters maximum. You can choose to follow anyone and monitor all of their messages.

So what Arrington complains about happens a lot in social networking sites. It’s when “following” someone or “subscribing” to someone’s list equals for a lot of people the same thing as being “friends” with this person, taking the true meaning of friendship to the bottom level. If it is not reciprocated, frustration and pressure come into place.

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Apple [AAPL]’s campaign for the iPhone 3G is “Twice as fast. Half the Price.” Both claims should come with caveats. While the symmetry of the slogan is nice, Apple’s so-far-successful attempt to market the iPhone 3G to more mainstream users is, to some, less-than-truthful. Apple’s ad fails to tell the full story about pricing or the speed.

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The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has ruled that Comcast [CCS], the nation’s largest cable company, is in violation of the agency’s policy regarding unrestricted access to the Internet because of their move to block peer-to-peer file-sharing.

FCC chairman Kevin Martin concluded that Comcast is in violation of the four principles the agency created in 2005 to regulate Internet usage, namely one that states broadband Internet access should be widely available and open to all consumers at a reasonable price.

At the outset of the implementation of these Internet regulations, Comcast openly questioned whether the FCC has the authority to regulate the Internet in such a manner.

Consequently, the country’s largest cable provider opted to arbitrarily block file-sharing applications such as BitTorrent, an online program that enables users to share large files and software including television shows.

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Editor’s UPDATE: Today’s hottest trends on Google in about a website that we covered earlier this year. So I thought it would be an good opportunity for you to revisit our post.

A free national database, MissingMoney.com, is helping Americans reclaim missing money quickly and easily.

Ever wondered if you have any unclaimed money, such as utility deposits or cash left in a bank account? Chances are you might. According to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA), there is an excess of unclaimed property funds totaling $32.8 billion. Furthermore, one in eight Americans has some missing money to claim.

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A new study reports that Canadians lead the world in the frequency of online bank visits.

According to the Internet media metrix company, 67.1 percent of Canadian Internet users banked online in April 2008 – 15.5 million out of Canada’s nearly 24 million internet users. This is a significantly higher percentage than the U.S., which had 44.4 percent. Other English-speaking countries were also lower that Canada, as in the U.K. 49.5 percent of internet users banked on line, and in Australia, 41.7. Canadians also led the world in online banking frequency, with an average of 8 usage days and 10.5 online banking visits per visitor in April, spending an average of 46 minutes, viewing approximately 121 pages per visitor. The leading bank in usage growth is Bank of Montreal [BMO].

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Missouri governor Matt Blunt signed a bill that changes the definition of harassment after 13-year old Megan Meier committed suicide in 2006 because of messages sent over social networking site Myspace, as we previously reported.

The updated harassment law takes into account communications via text messaging and online, whereas the previous version was limited to written or verbal, such as over the telephone.

The signed bill comes almost two years after Megan Meier killed herself after receiving demeaning and antagonistic messages on Myspace. The messages were between Meier, 13 years old, and a fictional teenager named Josh.

According to the Associated Press, Meier’s neighbor Lori Drew along with her daughter and an employee set up the fake account in order to see what Meier said about Drew’s daughter.

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Today firms are faced with rapid changing technology and innovation management activities and, therefore, with changing technology intelligence needs as well. During the last few years, web technology and strategies have become one of the most important factors for companies. Atelier’s team are here to assist you navigate technology changes, new customer expectations and emerging communication channels. The Internet must be considered as the extension of a brand and a tool that directly contributes to attracting new customers and reinforcing existing customers’ loyalty. Atelier’s focus on emerging innovations and their significance will be delivered to you through newsletters, meetings and specific studies.

Example for a European Brokerage Company:

• Build up its technological monitoring in preparation for new usages or business opportunities
• Spot innovations that will allow it to differentiate strongly from its competitors
• Have a better knowledge and understanding of internet users and of their behavior - especially when it comes to finance. The scope will be the US market but will gather data from Asia and Europe thanks to Atelier’s network
• Have at its disposal a consultancy unit, who can help coordinating a project or suggest innovative ideas based on its knowledge of the Silicon Valley ecosystems. This will be done with strong support and involvement of the company’s dedicated internet team
• Tighten the bond between potential partners and headquarters, with a constant on-the-spot presence that will help promote and secure projects
• Share with the company various departments - sales force, engineers, product-marketing planners - innovative products and services in the valley
• Help develop innovation within the corporation’s employees: organize short, innovation-oriented business trips in Silicon Valley, aiming at creating or developing new corporate products or services inspired by the latest emerging best practices

Contact an Atelier Expert today

At Atelier North America we have been helping our clients to connect with the most innovative companies, disruptive thinking organizations and leaders. A 5-day trip in the heart of Silicon Valley will help you see, feel, and understand how innovation and change can improve brand’s performance along the purchase cycle from simple awareness to trial to loyalty.

Example for a European Retail Bank:

• build up its technological monitoring in preparation for new usages or business opportunities
• spot innovations that will lead to differentiate strongly from its competitors
• have a better knowledge and understanding of Internet users and of their behavior - especially when it gets to finance. The scope will be the US market but will gather data from Asia and France thanks to Atelier’s network
• start relationships with potential partners, with a constant presence on the spot that will help boost up and secure the projects
• meet and share with Bank of the West Executives ideas and good practices
• meet with top notch consulting firms to brain storm and work on the operational sides of the project

Contact an Atelier Expert today

United States of America

L’Atelier North America has been located in San Francisco since ‘05. Part of L’Atelier’s global network, L’Atelier North America specializes in helping Europe-based companies to track down, analyze and then use information and innovation.

In order to better identify and understand the specific challenges related to IT and communication technology development, L’Atelier North America will help you with tailor-made business trips in Silicon Valley and dedicated technological Intelligence and strategic studies.

L’Atelier North America is part of an advisors committee that reports directly to BNP Paribas’ executive committee dealing with online presence and Internet strategy. Subsidiaries of the BNP Paribas Group such as Cortal Consors and Cetelem have been working closely with Atelier NA to improve their innovation process and Internet strategy.

Read more about L’Atelier North America

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France

L’Atelier BNP Paribas est depuis 1978 le centre de veille technologique du groupe bancaire BNP Paribas.
Il dispose en cela d’une expertise de longue date sur les technologies émergentes et les grandes tendances de marché liées à l’usage des technologies de l’information.

Depuis 2006, ce dispositif de veille et d’analyse s’appuie sur une présence dans les grands centres régionaux d’innovation : Europe (siège à Paris), Silicon Valley (San Francisco) et Asie (bureaux à Shanghai).

L’Atelier est à la fois un forum de rencontres pour les acteurs du marché (plus de 100 événements organisés par an) et un média à vocation pédagogique destiné aux entreprises et au grand public (publication quotidienne d’articles sur le Web, émission de radio avec BFM, collaborations éditoriales avec la Presse magazine et la télévision).

L’Atelier intervient également à titre de conseil, pour BNP Paribas ou sur commande externe, dans la mise en place de projets innovants.

Plus d’informations sur L’Atelier : www.atelier.fr
Plus d’informations sur BNP Paribas : www.bnpparibas.com

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Europe

The BNP Paribas Technology Intelligence Center known as “L’Atelier BNP Paribas” was founded in 1978 to provide a place where companies from all business sectors can meet and pool their best practices in new projects and real-world deployments of IT and communication emerging technologies.

L’Atelier BNP Paribas provides local companies and IT professionals with a “knowledge-hub” in order to better identify and understand the specific challenges related to IT and communication technology development.

L’Atelier publishes market surveys to assist in the decision-making process based on real-world data collection and analysis.

Our international presence includes:
- Europe (headquarters in Paris) www.atelier.fr
- North America (office in San Francisco) www.atelier-us.com
- Asia (office in Shanghai) http://asie.atelier.fr

L’Atelier is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, one of the largest international banking networks.

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L’Atelier BNP Paribas公司简介

L’Atelier BNP Paribas于1978年成立, 作为法国巴黎银行科技信息监测中心, 在高新科技及资讯科技应用的全球市场趋势方面拥有丰富的专业知识与了解。

继2006年开始，这个科技信息监测分析中心在大型的革新地带积极拓展国际网络 :
- 欧洲 (巴黎总部) http://www.atelier.fr
- 北美洲(旧金山办事处) http://www.atelier-us.com
- 亚洲(上海办事处) http://asie.atelier.fr

除了应对法国巴黎银行集团内部的科技需要与创新挑战，L’Atelier BNP Paribas还将协助集团外部客户，为他们分析及了解资讯科技与通讯科技发展所面对的挑战，提供崭新和有用的方案。

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