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ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2016 UK
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DOING BUSINESS DIFFERENTLY THE NEW FACE OF 21st CENTURY BUSINESS A START-UP IS SHAKING THE MOBILE WALLET
IN DEPTH
We take a look at the business news making headlines
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REACTION
Apple and their price hike analysed by an expert
INTERVIEW
We talk to a start-up trying to improve spending
REVIEW
The review of the hottest gadget at the moment
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CONTENTS NEWS
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FEATURE PARLIAMENT
POOR PHONE SIGNAL PROBED BY MP'S
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4G Coverage across the UK has come under fire from MP's that have filed a report against major mobile networks saying not enough is being done to make sure there aren't any 'blackspots'
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CASE STUDY
ARTIFICIAL INTEL' MAY REPLACE HUMANS A survey suggests a majority of human tasks in IT will be replaced over the next ten year's by robots and automated 'artificial intelligence' more on pg.5
REVIEWS
THE MAN DOING BUSINESS DIFFERENTLY
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ANALYSIS
GOT THE TIME? As smart-watches reign on the wrists of many across the globe, this article looks at whether or not there is a long-term future for the little gadgets or if it's a passing fad
One of the worlds most iconic companies, Apple, has insisted the price of the new MacBook Pro is determined as a result of Britains decision to leave the EU pushing up prices
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Asking Price mag reviews the latest Apple product fresh from the factory. The new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus range
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GOOGLE'S FIRST SELF MADE PHONE
We take a look at the queen of search engines first selfmanufactured handset and throwback to when google phones were made by other manufacturers such as LG and Huawei
EDITOR
MICROSOFT STILL FIT FOR BUSINESS?
COMPETITION
APPLE'S NEW IPHONE 7
FROM THE
REACTION
BREXIT BLAMED FOR APPLE PRICE RISE
We take a look at a number of factors when deciding whether or not Microsoft Windows is still at the forefront of business computing. We also take a look at the history of the Bill Gate's company
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A North West man has decided to exploit existing tech available to better himself and failing companies. Get the full picture on pg.10
PRODUCT NEWS
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ISSUE 1 | JANUARY 2016
Front page, credit: Michał Kulesza
Magazine Editor: Jim Scott Produced by: Jim Scott Design by: Jim Scott Content by: Jim Scott Editor: editor@askingpricemag.com Newsdesk: 0207 100 1010 Website: askingpricemag.com tweet us: @askingpricemag
Jim Scott is the editor and producer of this magazine. Salford alumni, he has worked on other publications and at broadcasters too. He has a background in journalism and has since decided to open up his own publication across the UK. It will be sold to consumers around the world but most of the content, if not all, will be UK based. Each and every story included has been meticulously sourced and used to the best of their advantages too. The decisions behind the magazine are made by Jim and he developed this to target the niche in magazines. There aren't any tech/business mixed magazines on UK shelves, and the main readerships of the content like what you'll find in Asking Price are mainly online folk. At present if you want to find stories that mix what we have to offer, you will have to seek these online! No other publication focus on both business news that has a tech based angle and vice versa, this magazine hopes to target those individuals especially. Always wanting to hear any comments, tweet me directly @Jim_Scott12
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LATEST TECH AND BUSINESS
NEWS POOR PHONE COVERAGE PROBED BY MPs NEWS IN BRIEF
CONTACTLESS IS NOW IN EVERY BLACK CAB ACROSS LONDON All of London’s black cabs are now contactless, letting passengers pay for any journey using a compatible credit or debit card which has been set up for contactless NFC transations. In February 2016, TfL announced it would require all black cab drivers to accept card payments by 2017 and has met this target. Mark Lelinwalla
ADOBE EXPANDS UK BASE AMIDST BREXIT WOES
MOBILE PHONE coverage in Britain is so bad that foreign visitors often get a better signal, MPs have warned after a report found that 17million customers have poor reception at home – or none at all. It identified 525 ‘not spots’ where coverage is non-existent. Partial blackspots where signals are provided by only one firm are even more common. In the South East, almost 30 per cent of customer’s report dropped calls or blackouts every day. In Wales, just 35 per cent have access to a 4G signal. The MPs said the refusal of mobile phone giants to allow users to switch networks in areas of poor coverage meant tourists using these ‘roaming’ services often get a better signal. The firms are also under fire for locking customers into costly deals even where reception is woeful. ThE parliamentary report accuses network providers of failing to honour promises to improve coverage. The report comes after Vodafone was fined £4.6million for ‘serious and sustained’ breaches of consumer protection rules. It was found to have failed to provide top-up credit to pay-as-you-go customers who had paid for it. Grant Shapps, chairman of British en lain Van D Credit, A
Hende
The Software giant, Adobe, have annouced they are to expand across the country despite Britain choosing to leave the EU. The companies president Garrett Ilg, said "London was a centre of excellence double the size of 'Fitzrovia' and called Brexit an interesting move." The company makes £4 billion annually for the sale of its software. For now Adobe haven't announced whereabouts in the UK they will base. James Titcomb
By Jason Groves
INSTAGRAM TO SELL PRODUCTS ON APP More people are getting onboard with mobile shopping, the app is unveiling a new feature that will let users shop product using Instagram. The app announced plans for the new feature which will roll-out in a testphase as early as mid-December. The photo app partnered with 20 brands including Kate Spade and Warby Parker to test the feature over the next few weeks. Lauren Alexis Fisher
Infrastructure Group that produced the report, said the situation was scandalous. The former Conservative Party chairman added: ‘For millions of people and businesses in this country, the mobile phone signal on offer is simply not good enough. ‘It is crazy that you are better off having a French sim card in this country than a British one – it’s scandalous…it is time to get tough with the industry. Regulators and the Government have had the wool pulled over their eyes once too often – The time for excuses is over.’ Mobile phone firms oppose the idea of allowing domestic customers to switch between networks using roaming technology – even though they offer the service to foreign customers. In 2014 they struck a deal on the issue with the then culture secretary Sajid Javid. In return for avoiding a change in the law they agreed to invest £5billion in improving signals, including a guarantee that they would extend coverage to at least 90 per cent of the country by the end of next year. A £150million Government scheme to put up 600 masts was abandoned this year after managing to achieve progress at just 75 sites in five years. Ofcom figures show that on average the big mobile phone companies provided coverage to 74 per cent of the geographic area of the UK last year. Three provides the least coverage, at just 68 per cent. The regulator will publish an update in December. The report said a typical contract lasts for 24 months, and costs around £17.50 a month. This means a customer who wants to exit a 24-month contract after three months because of poor service faced a bill of up to £367. Sources at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the report was based on out-of-date figures and plans were under way to introduce ‘hefty’ fines for firms that failed to hit agreed targets. Vodafone, EE and Three all insisted they were working hard to improve coverage despite the report and hope to improve customer's signal across the UK as a whole.
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Organic Vine, Jonathon Charles
Got a story? editorial@apmag.com
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MAY REPLACE HUMANS IN IT By Jim Scott IT’S EXPECTED that 45 per cent of roles in the technology industry will be automated by Artificial intelligence over the next ten years, a survey has revealed. Conducted by Harvey Nash, the survey represents the views of more than 3,000 technology professionals, many of whom believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will replace numerous jobs in business. AI has been developed to perform a plethora of human tasks; data analysis, decision making and reproduction of thought and is an important part of job automation. It acts as a robot, a series of algorithms and codes, which can be programmed to carry out numerous tasks simultaneously and has proven extremely popular within the tech sector. David Savage, Associate Director of Harvey Nash UK indicates that tech as it currently exists will be monstrous in a decade, “Through automation, it is possible that ten years from now the technology team will
be unrecognisable in today’s terms causing frustration.” Job automation by Artificial Intelligence is considerably cheaper than a physical workforce that require wages. It can be considered an attractive buy for businesses as AI can be inexpensive in comparison to a workforce, the main costs would be development of software, creation of technology and maintenance through physical engineers. But it seems some people might not have to wait until 2027 to feel the effects of an automated industry, disgruntled IT graduate, Mark Gibson, is one of many that think jobs in IT will be automated. Despite his best efforts finding a relevant job he said,“I graduated with a secondclass honours upper division degree, but it looks like even that wasn’t good enough for employers especially those that I interned for at university.”
LINKEDIN HACKER CHARGED FOR SELLING 100,000s OF LOGINS
GOOGLE REVEALS FLAW ANGERING MICROSOFT GOOGLE HAVE exposed a security flaw in Microsoft Windows, warning that it is already being "actively exploited" by hackers. The internet giant said in a post on its security blog that it informed Microsoft of the weakness in the kernel or core of the Windows operating system on October 21, but a fix is yet to be released leaving users out in the open. However, the declaration has angered Microsoft, which says Google could endanger Windows users by revealing the vulnerability before an update to fix the problem has been issued. Spokesperson for Google: "We believe in co-ordinated vulnerability disclosure, and today's disclosure by Google could put customers at potential risk," the Windows developer said in a statement.” Google recommend customers use Windows 10 and the Microsoft Edge browser for the best protection. By Martyn Landi
By Nicky Woolf A RUSSIAN MAN has been charged with hacking and stealing information from computers at the popular networking website, Linkedin in 2012. The US attorney’s office in San Francisco announced Friday that a grand jury indicted 29-year-old Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin, of Moscow, Russia, a day earlier on charges including computer intrusion and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors say Nikulin used a LinkedIn employee’s credentials to access the company’s computers whilst hacking two other companies, Dropbox and Formspring. He is believed to have sold user names, passwords and email addresses of Formspring customers too. He was arrested on 5 October by officials in the Czech Republic and remains there,
according to prosecutors. Russian officials have said they are working to prevent his extradition to the United States. LinkedIn has suggested that Nikulin’s arrest was tied to a 2012 breach of member information. In May, LinkedIn said the 2012 breach resulted in more than 100million of its users’ passwords being compromised, vastly more than had been previously thought. Abraham Simmons, for the US attorney’s office, declined to comment on whether the charges against Nikulin related to that breach. Simmons said he did not know the name of Nikulin’s attorney. LinkedIn said in a statement that it appreciated the FBI’s ongoing work to “pursue those responsible for the 2012
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breach of LinkedIn member information”. The indictment alleges three unnamed co-conspirators, one of whom offered to sell the stolen Formspring user information to another for £6000. The US has accused Russia of coordinating the theft and disclosure of emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions and individuals in the US to influence the outcome of the election. Russia denied that. LinkedIn has also stated extra-measures have been put in place to prevent minimal disriuption. Photo, Madleline Price Ball
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PRODUCT NEWS MOST RECENT OPERATING SYSTEMS TO 'BOOT' All coherent and all different, Windows is available in 1.25 billion devices at present. And over 500 million Windows 7 licences were sold in the past two years.
Released July 2015 , Windows 10 marked the change from the previous generation of keyboard bound computers with the new era of the touch screen laptop and the rise of the familiar 'tiles'/
Released July 2009, Windows 7 was highly anticpiated after Vista's 'flop' of a buggy and erraneous operating system. Windows 7 brought in a 'half-tile' feature that gave users a small taster of what was yet to come.
Released November 2006, Windows Vista wasn't well recieved. The newer interfaces and the refreshed GUI's we're confusing, but the refresh came as a surprise months before the announcement as leaked images caused rumours.
MICROSOFT COMPUTERS FIT FOR BUSINESS? By Matt Weinberger
THE DREAM of making Windows a major player in smartphones is all but dead, with 1% overall market share. Previously one of the most popular devices in business, Windows and Windows mobile were at the forefront of how businesses worked with tech. But a few year's of rivalry and software updates we're looking at what Microsoft are going to do to save them! Even top executives are signaling that the company is treating Windows 10 Mobile as more of an academic exercise than a serious product. And yet a new report from ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley indicates that Microsoft could have something up its sleeve. Microsoft is said to be working on a project, to be finished later this year, that would let full versions of Windows software run on an ARM processor — the same processor used in the vast majority of smartphones. While that tech could be used on any Windows phone, this report just adds fuel to the idea that Microsoft is still secretly hard at work on the Surface Phone, the longrumored device that the company had hinted would be a serious contender with Apple's ubiquitous iPhone. To understand why, it helps to know a little history. Windows 10 Mobile's flagship feature is what Microsoft calls Continuum. Basically, you can plug certain Windows phones like the Microsoft Lumia 950 or HP Elite x3 into a display, attach a mouse and keyboard, and use it like a computer. It works, but it's limited to a few specially designed apps from Microsoft's anemic Windows Store app market, including the mobile versions of Microsoft Office. According to various reports and industry whispers over the past year or so, the Surface Phone's breakthrough feature would be the ability to run any piece of Windows software while in that Continuum mode. That would be a huge deal for large businesses, where
the majority of work still gets done with PC software rather than apps. Given Microsoft's well-documented ability to sell to those same big customers, it would indeed be a competitive threat to the iPhone, at least among professionals. What Microsoft is reportedly building is the next best thing to an Intel-powered phone, given the circumstances. In technical parlance, what Microsoft is said to be building is an "emulator" — a way to trick a gadget into thinking it's another gadget. It's similar technology to what Nintendo is using with the NES Classic to get old games to run perfectly on a smaller, more modern console. This emulator would essentially trick Windows software into thinking it's running on an Intel processor, even if it's actually running on an ARM-powered smartphone. The drawback with emulation is power consumption, since it takes way more processor resources to run software in emulation than it would to run a proper app on that device. It's one thing to run NES games from the '80s in emulation — it's another entirely to use powerful enterprise software, and it would drain any phone's battery in a heartbeat. But as some users note, that's not such a huge deal if you're using the hypothetical Surface Phone in Continuum mode, since you would probably be plugged into the wall anyway. The Surface Phone still isn't a sure thing, especially given Microsoft's recent hesitation to talk about any kind of plans for mobile. From a technology perspective, though, it seems that things are slowly but surely starting to come together, if and when Microsoft decides to take what could well be its last shot at mobile dominance. And so with the death of Windows in the mobile phone world, the market share of the most influencial operating systems in the market is on the edge.
The figures speak for themselves Source: netmarketshare.com
Released August 2001, and still going. Windows XP is available in most offices. You don't have to look much further than a library, government office or even a school to see the 'most stable' OS is still going strong sixteen years later.
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PRODUCT NEWS
ECONOMIST WARNS OF PRICE SURGE AS APPLE HIKES MACS
OVER THE YEARS
The average cost of the MacBook Pro in sterling. Based on a 15inch base model. 2016's is one of the most expensive.
By Jim Scott
AN ECONOMIST from the Institute of Directors suggested that the prices of tech in the UK will continue to ‘surge’ as a direct result of Britain’s vote to leave in June’s referendum. Michael Martins said there was a considerable level of uncertainty amongst many large firms that import products which until now were absorbing the decrease of profits due to the weaker pound. He stated that Apple chose to increase the price of its MacBook in Britain as sterling is much weaker in comparison to their resident currency US dollar, which has fluctuated since June. The MacBook Pro is now 30 per cent more expensive advertised on Apple. com/UK since the refresh of the MacBook line-up last month, making Britain the most expensive country to buy a MacBook Pro. Martins believes other businesses towards the beginning of next year will join Apple and increase their prices because of higher import taxes and the need to cover the costs, “At the moment large firms that import have currency hedges, meaning that they will expire towards the end of the year or beginning of next year, this means we’ll likely see price increases at bigger shops.” Apple have been affected in a way that smaller brands that tend to import less haven’t, “Apple has been affected by the weaker pound, but smaller firms will be affected by short term decline in wage growth as consumers increase their savings ration and decrease their levels of consumption.” Sterling depreciation will cause a decrease in importing from abroad in the short term, “In the medium to long term this will depend on the UK’s trading relationship with the EU, and the world,” Martins commented. Apple, which is based in California, imports products made in China across the world. It is still unknown what a relationship between the
REACTION
MacBook Pro 2016 399
£2,
MacBook Pro 2015 The mid-range MacBook Pro, Photo credit: Apple inc.
two countries will be like once politics across UK and the US are settled. “Imports from countries like the US may change after the election of Donald Trump, whose campaign advocated for protectionism and an increase in tariffs,” Martins mentioned that the investigation of tax avoidance in Ireland doesn’t help Apple’s relations with the EU. Earlier this year, the European Commission ordered that Apple repay the equivalent of £11 billion in taxes to Ireland, base for Apple’s non-US sales, after it was accused of not paying taxes. Professional Photographer, Jamie Hall, uses MacBook products to edit his work with, didn’t blame tax avoidance but hailed the price hike as an attempt to scaremonger because of the result of the EU referendum Mr Hall mentions, “We haven’t even left the EU so we shouldn’t be disciplined. I could understand the extra cost if we had already witnessed increased import charges.” The price hike indicates that Martins analysis is plausible. Apple appear to be preparing for a trade in post-Brexit Britain as the Government argue its case ifArticle 50 can be triggered.
99
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MacBook Pro 2012-14
£1,9
MacBook Pro 2011 99
£1,7
MacBook Pro 2009-10 99
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MacBook Pro 2006-08 99
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Laptop graphic credit, Stephanie Walter
APPLE MIGHT MAKE NEXT YEAR'S MAC CHEAPER If the price of Apple’s new MacBook Pros made your eyes water and your wallet cringe when the refreshed range was revealed in October, then you certainly weren’t alone. But fortunately, there’s some heartening news on the cost front courtesy of the rumour mill, which insists that price cuts are planned for the second half of 2017 alongside a hardware refresh of the notebooks. As spotted by 9 to 5 Mac, Kuo reckons that the next MacBook Pro refresh will come in the latter half of next year – presumably the autumn, as that would be business as usual – and that Apple will offer an option for 32GB of system memory with the new models. That would address one of the sticking points with the freshly unveiled Pros, with some folks being unhappy that you can no longer specify 32GB of RAM (apparently due to power issues – such is the price of ever thinner and lighter notebooks when it comes to trying to fit a beefy enough battery inside). However, whether this happens will depend on whether Intel’s Cannonlake CPUs arrive in time, according to Kuo, as this will offer the necessary boost in power efficiency to make the larger quantity of RAM viable. By Darren Allan
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REVIEW
iPhone 7 Is this the hottest phone in business? With the release of Apple's most sought after product, find out below why getting your hands on one might be difficult By Jim Scott This year's annual instalment of iPhone goodness has made for some interesting reading. Apple revealed their quarterly profits from the iPhone were down 1.9 per cent. Profit margin this time last year with the 6s was 38 per cent. In October ‘The Guardian’ reported the number of iPhones sold had peaked in 2015. Apple sold 45million handsets in the third quarter of 2016, compared to 50 million over the same period last year. However, pre-orders have been competitive and getting hold of one was a painstakingly slow business, but will the improved camera, deletion of the headphone jack and redesigned look be enough to reverse the iPhone’s declining sales figures? Both models feature an A10 chip and embedded M10 coprocessor. The chip delegates tasks to certain processors to preserve the 2800mah battery for maximum usage. The phones last all day with heavy usage, so it’s great to see the A10 chip and higher capacity battery working together, unlike older iPhones with shorter battery spans. If you want to ensure you get the most out of the phone, the 7 Plus provides an extra two hours and an additional two with power-saving enabled. This year’s iPhone comes with the usual extras, a standard 3 pin charger, lightning to USB cable and wired earphones with adapter, although it was quite sad to see that Apple didn’t include a USB-C cable for those with MacBook’s without standard USB 3. The USB-C cable costs £29 if you will need it and the (included) earphone adapter is £9. Apple have killed ports on products before, in previous years they’ve eradicated the Floppy Disk Drive, CD drive, recently the headphone jack and USB from their latest products. Apple say the loss of the jack is to retain its water resistance rating of IP67, meaning it can be submerged for 30 minutes but no longer. The water-resistance is handy if
Earphone adapter, included in the box. Photo credit: Julia Symmonds
Clearly water-resistant or not? Photo credit: Apple iPhone 7
the phone gets wet but is unadvisable to use as an underwater camera. The only port on the device, the lightning port, carries power, audio and video but can be a headache as you can’t charge and listen to music simultaneously. The port was introduced in 2012, on Apple's iPhone 5 range. It largely recieved a great deal of criticism and opened the company up to a lot of scrutiny from users with the old 30 pin connection, first introduced on the iPod, but this time round it seems, the lightning is staying, despite an era of USB type C connectivity as present on the new MacBook Pro's. A mightmare and a half!
What could make up for the lack of headphone jack are the striking new are the colours available. The normal range were looking a little old fashioned so two new finishes are available in jet black and matte black. Any smidgen of dirt is enough to ruin the look of the jet, dampening your day if you’re slightly OCD like me. Apple suggests all colours, especially the jet black is prone to scratching. Rather Interestingly, the camera on the iPhone 7 has improved detail but the dual-lens camera on the 7 Plus creates perspective and true-to-life pictures blending a sepia image with a coloured one. Pictures taken at a national park North East England came out well, the camera managed to capture correct colours. The resulting detail is likened to an entry-level DSLR but the depth of field effect on people subjects worked fantastically well. Both the iPhone 7 and the 7 Plus are available in 32gb, 128gb and for the first time, 256gb respectively. iPhone 7 32gb costs £599 and the 7 Plus 32gb costs £719. The more storage needed costs another £100. Each are available on EE, Vodafone, O2, and Three and contracts on the base model average £40 monthly with a £149 upfront. But if you’re after a new phone every year, consider Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Programme. You lease the phone for 23 months and after the 11th payment you trade the iPhone in and lease another. Insurance isn’t included unless you’re on the Upgrade Programme where AppleCare Plus is bundled within the monthly cost. You can however, buy it if you’re not on the programme but is £119 for two years. It does however covers against two incidents of damage (£75 excess) but doesn’t cover you for theft/loss. If you want to risk it then, you still get one year’s AppleCare, but this doesn’t cover accidental damage. This year’s iPhone has brought some great new features to its ageing range, and there seems to be exciting plans for future products. But the iPhone 7 Plus feels more like a sneak preview of next year’s big reveal rather than a ground breaking piece of technology. Next year’s 10th anniversary iPhone will incorporate more daring features, supplying the much-needed boost that Apple needs to recover from its steadily decreasing sales. Time will tell the fate of the Cupertino brand, exciting times.
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Essentials APPLE IPHONE 7 Price: £599 up to £919 Storage: 32gb/128gb/256gb Water resistance: IP67 Splash and dust Battery life: up to 22 hours (talktime) Materials: Aluminium, corning gorilla glass Screen sizes: 4.7 in (iPhone 7) 5.5 in (iPhone 7 Plus) Camera: 12mp back 7mp front (facetime) Availability iPhone 7 - immediately iPhone 7 Plus - limited AP verdict: The iPhone 7 Plus blows the iPhone 6S out of the water when it comes to specs, but don't worry about skipping until next year unless you really want to be an 'early adopter.' Business Verdict: There's some great business deals out there for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The average a little bit cheaper per month and the good news is, you can claim some of that back! The phone can be serviced anywhere in the world too with it's warranty.
"Great phone, but not as good as could have been - Samsung have definitely caught the upper hand with this one, sorry Apple" - Wired
"So while this isn't the most remarkable or exciting iPhone revision, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are still excellent phones in their own right" - Daily Mail
"It’s disappointing that apple didn’t put more work into making wireless audio a better overall experience" - The Verge
"Apple removed the clicky button you press to open, using some mysterious alchemy to replace it with a system feeling like you're clicking a mouse - even though you're not" - The Sun
Photo credit, Apple
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FEATURE
THE MAN
But Josh is just getting into business. He’s a University drop-out and doesn’t hold any relevant qualifications. In fact, he studied Graphic Design for a short while before quitting. However, he has bagged himself a senior role, without the senior experience, as a fulltime marketing manager at large online firm DrinkedIn based in the UK. Ironically it’s an app showing the best places to drink alcoholic beverages, allowing users to see available offers by using data collected from the users’ locations, information then being tailored to A fresh-faced business start-up is likely to A fresh-faced everyone, similarly to MyPassHub. the mobile phone world by threatening Josh says, “I have quite the knack for reading business start-up is disrupt to undermine every loyalty app out there with data, and analysing it,” and what big compalikely to disrupt the one simple pass. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear nies won’t tell you is that each customer with a loyalty reward app have a transactional log mobile phone world yet another contactless payment somewhere in the world. 1 in 5 transactions in the UK are now attached to them. “Brands will capture data by threatening to contactless, meaning that cardholders don’t need to and manipulate it to their own advantage.” undermine every enter their four-digit PIN to complete a payment. He continues to say, “customer data is only a means to an end and I urge brands to do have been several landmark changes in the loyalty app out there There something creative with data, and not make it payment world which have further threatened complicated for customers". with one simple pass, the existence of plastic (credit/debit cards); the MyPassHub is designed with a basic look rise of contactless and the development of paying Words by Jim Scott which can be customised minimally for a via the mobile phone. “I think by 2020 the wallet brand. Josh does this as he believes existing might not exist, which isn’t a bad thing,” comments loyalty apps are slightly on the complicated plucky 21-year-old, Josh Morrison from Prestwich, side, he says “I’m learning more and more who is the creator of his own loyalty scheme about the industry is that there are unnec'MyPassHub'. essary parts to an app, which are confusing He’s made it his mission to use existing and unneeded and means they’re un-popular technology to his advantage and is hoping to target as we’re all running out of memory on our phones.” Apps like Starbucks UK (147mb) failed loyalty reward schemes by encouraging the and Costa Coffee (121mb) use up much more switch from plastic. Sitting feet slightly apart and sporting a rather large beard, the storage in comparison to MyPassHub which start-up entrepreneur is poised to take questions. He has no notepad, no notes and as a pass uses 10mb. no bag, a certain gesture that he’s living in the digital world. For now, I have his full MyPassHub is designed as a pass to conserve attention, “MyPass is fully customisable by brand and offers a simple equation: the storage space Josh says, “People are seriously more you spend, the more you earn back.” The pass also offers notifications from limited by what they can have on their phones business owners and can pinpoint customers which currently isn’t available on - you’re not going to want to download someother apps, according to Josh. thing that’s crap and keep it on your phone “The minute you walk past a brand that I’ve personally enrolled in my business, and use it are you.” At present, his 64-gigabyte a small discreet notification will pop up and give you a little push reminding you iPhone is full to the brim with apps, although he says available storage is something that it’s there to be used - this is the future,” Josh says. He plans to work with businesses some consumers value above all else. He sugwho have failed to engage customers with past flawed reward schemes. gests that apps which consumers may not feel worth keeping play some part in customer ‘retention’. Looking clearly bothered, he explains that despite moving forward towards a cashless society, businesses which engage through flawed tech are misguided, “I was shown an app by a manager at popular chain of pubs and it didn’t load first time, the interactive game froze and crashed.” He denounced the company and others like it for their approach in developing apps which he says don’t work efficiently. However, he believes a contactless trend has forced companies to rush into the new technology, leaving room for bugs and major issues that could negatively affects the brand’s reputation...
DOING BUSINESS
DIFFERENTLY
"People care about how much storage an app takes up"
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FEATURE
so anytime they purchase anything or the interact with a brand, the brand will capture that data and use it for their own manipulation, whether that wold be marketing, selling or whatever," they get annoying. Customer data and the way companies use such
"Data is a means to and end, you've got to use it"
Josh sits on a bark, photo credit, facebook.
Research carried out, last year by Forrester, revealed that 71 per cent of customers were dissatisfied with the loyalty rewards apps for mobile, and a further 10 per cent said this would be enough to prevent them from shopping with that brand entirely. In conversation with the pub manager, Josh says the company had invested significantly on special branding in each pub and online, but claimed that very few customers were satisfied with the app or even knew it existed. Condemning existing loyalty apps, he says repeatedly annoying customers won’t help, “In the business world if you nudge that’s fine, but if you nudge too much you’re going to be a pest and that will ruin a brand’s reputation.” Josh has observed many businesses and can recall some schemes that run smoothly, but notes that when too many notifications are sent it gets annoying. Josh remembers a conversation he had with his father, “Every month my dad complained to me that he didn’t know what to do with his loyalty cards and the vouchers sent in the post - nobody wants to join any old loyalty programme by writing an essay and applying for something that might just get them 50p off their next shop.” Josh says this helped him realise that he must simplify rewards schemes for everyone and laid the foundations of his pass. “So I’m saying forget all this bo**ocks because it’s too much. I don’t allow thirty-to forty salesmen to talk to me on a weekly basis, of course, because my phone blocks a lot of that,” Josh continues, “MyPassHub does something that allows local businesses to send out messages to a list of customers that could be interested.” It is expected that customers won’t be annoyed as offers will be targeted based on their locations and interests. “If you think of big business like Tesco for example, they have databases with millions of customers. Each one of those customers will have what is called ‘transactional logs’
…you’ve got to do something with that data and this has to be put into context," he comments. When asked if local businesses can abuse the system, Josh responded by saying his clients are subject to review every so often, risking withdrawal of the pass, despite businesses paying for usage of the pass. Last year more than 97.1 million contactless bank cards were issued to customers in the UK, an increase of 30.4 per cent over the previous year. Mobile Payments aren't neccesarily new. They've been around since 2007. Photo credit, Hlundgaard.
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FEATURE
GOT THE TIME?
Apple Watch on wrist, photo credit, Oluir Rahman
Whether wearable devices will have a place in the enterprise remains to be seen, but the devices do have some interesting uses for businesses
T
By Margaret Jones
here's been a lot of buzz about wearables such as Google Glass, Apple's iWatch and Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch, but no one knows how these devices will affect the enterprise. A smartwatch might seem like a purely consumer-facing device: Fitness buffs use them to keep track of their workouts and sleep cycles. But there are uses for a tool such as a smartwatch in business settings, too. A worker who spends most of his day sitting in a cubicle may not need devices that offer vital data at a moment's notice, but emergency workers and medical personnel have a lot to gain from such tools. Find out more about wearables, how they may fit in your company and what steps you might have to take to manage them. Wearable computing devices are tiny computers that users can wear on their bodies. Some devices clip to clothing, some users wear them as glasses and others are smartwatches. Some wearable devices are like desktop computers that have been shrunken down for body wear, but most wearable devices that are getting attention now -- Fitbit Flex, Pebble smartwatch, Apple iWatch and Google Glass, to name a few -- link to the Web or to a mobile device via Bluetooth. Wearables such as Fitbit Flex track steps, sleep cycles, workout stats and more, then deliver that information to the user's smartphone. Other wearable computing devices may be useful in the medical field because they can monitor patients' vitals and send that information to doctors.
And your wrist isn't alone smart glasses too
Google Glass is purported to give users an augmented reality experience, supplying information on demand. For example, when a Google Glass wearer walks into an airport, the device might show him detailed information about his flight. Because wearable computing devices let users go handsfree, there are a lot of ways they could be useful at work. For emergency personnel, search and rescue teams and mobile warehouse workers, wearables can provide high-tech mobility and tracking features. Smartglasses could be useful for technicians who need to consult a manual or a set of schematics while performing repairs. Because wearable computing devices let users go handsfree, there are a lot of ways they could be useful at work. For emergency personnel, search and rescue teams and mobile warehouse workers, wearables can provide high-tech mobility and tracking features. Smartglasses could be useful for technicians who need to consult a manual or a set of schematics while performing repairs.
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FEATURE
Moto X watch, Motorola press team
It's just hasn't caught on as much as you'd think
Watches and the law when on the road
Because wearable computing devices let users go hands-free, there are a lot of ways they could be useful at work. For emergency personnel, search and rescue teams and mobile warehouse workers, wearables can provide high-tech mobility and tracking features. Smartglasses could be useful for technicians who need to consult a manual or a set of schematics while performing repairs.Workers who need to wear special suits, such as environmental disaster teams, could have hands-free access to data via smartglasses or a smartwatch. Any user who needs instant access to important data members of sales teams, real estate agents, lawyers, rural doctors, law enforcement and fire fighters, military personnel and more can benefit from using wearables in the workplace.
Wearable computing devices haven't gone mainstream yet, so it's hard to say whether they definitely will or won't end up in the enterprise. If you consider the rise of smartphones and tablets a harbinger of wearables' trajectory, then they could be in your office fairly soon. But consumers are fickle and difficult to please. If wearables don't take off with consumers, they may never make it to the enwterprise. If users do start wearing smartglasses and smartwatches to the office, it could pose some problems for IT.
The cost of looking good at industry prices
But do Really Smartwatches need to exist as of Today? Looking at my messages, answering calls, controlling my music, and everything in between can be done by simply using my phone. But there's simple, old-fashioned geeky joy to eliminating those small, seemingly inefficient steps. One Simply will not not having to reach for my phone to glance at a message, instead simply turning my wrist over to read the latest message that my mother has sent me or answer the call simply by flicking my wrist. Smartwatches are becoming an eye-catcher simply by virtue of it's Back lit Displays and the ability to do so much more from your Wrist itself. And while a traditional watch looks the same day in and day out, a smartwatch can have its face changed to whatever you fancy.
Movado press team
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FEATURE
Photo credit, Chris Harrison
The future of tech might
be just round the corner Although a computer generated image, as above was created by graphic designer, Chris Harrison, of Microsoft Research showing what could be the future, 'future', of what to expect over the next twenty years. As wearable tech continues to grow and consumers begin to ditch the analogue for the digital, it seems companies are at it - trying to out do each and every competitor by seemingly conjuring wild and wacky ideas. The size of technical components is beoming ever-smaller, and groups like Microsoft wanted to work with Google to figure out what could theoretically be achieved with a wearable technology platform. So they attached their phones to their wrists and wandered the halls of Google, where they worked, pretending they were watches. Among their findings was that a wrist-mounted keyboard is all but impossible to use: Information has to proactively come to you at the right time says Microsoft Research.
But there just isn't place
in the boardroom, sorry! When asked how long it would take for wearable technologies such as smart watches would become widespread at work or being used for work purposes, 16 per cent of the respondents said they would enter the workplace immediately. A further 33 per cent said they would use wearables at work when costs came down. Just eight per cent of the entire sample disagreed that the technologies would become widespread - especially boardroom members whom thought there was simply no point at all!
The all important
verdict on wearable tech
As it stands, you wouldn't ask a user to relinquish his Rolex so you could configure and secure it, but you might face that exact situation with smartwatches. Undoubtedly, there will be pushback from some users. Plus, so little is known about how wearables will work that it's tough to say if or how you'll be able to manage them. Will you be able to apply configuration profiles or mobile device management settings? How will you keep corporate data from leaking from someone's smartglasses? There aren't answers to these questions yet.
KEY POINTS
- Marketshare down - Apple, high achievers - 'many can't find a use' - 'often worn for sport' - averages ÂŁ300 in cost 'Satchel', photo credit, River Island
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