Connected Devices Summit in May - by invite only

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- Apr 05, 2010 Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. a provider of on-demand transaction management software platforms, today announced that it will host the Connected Devices Summit – “The Connected User Experience” in May at the Calistoga Ranch in Napa Valley, California. This three-day event is a device-centric forum, bringing together a diverse group of companies that are part of a unique ecosystem, such as OEMs, retailers/e-tailers, cable operators and communication service providers (CSP).

Invited executive-level participants – all whom represent a unique cross-section of the connected devices market as well as some very interesting business models and go-to-market strategies – include Acer, Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Best Buy, Cablevision, Dell, Google, HP, Intel, Nokia, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Sony, Sprint, Time Warner Cable, and Yahoo.

Kara Swisher, Co-Executive Editor and Producer of The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital and Columnist, and Rich Wong, partner at Accel Partners (one of the leading venture capital and growth equity firms in the Silicon Valley), will provide keynote presentations at the event.

The market for connected devices is experiencing considerable growth, with industry forecasts ranging from 10 billion units (Morgan Stanley Report) to 15 billion connected devices by 2015 powered by the embedded Internet according to Intel.

“The plethora of connected smartphones, netbooks, eReaders, navigation systems, gaming consoles and other Internet-enabled devices presents a broad array of new market opportunities and challenges for the ecosystem,” said Omar H. Téllez, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer of Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. “Similar to other events we have hosted, the Connected User Experience Summit will offer a unique, executive-level forum to explore different go-to-market strategies and approaches to deliver the best connected customer experience.”

The Connected User Experience Summit will be held on May 16-18, 2010 at the Calistoga Ranch. For more information, visit www.synchronoss.com.

Gemalto Expands Range of Secure Linux Payment Terminals

Amsterdam - Gemalto recently announced it is expanding its MagIC3 range of Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminals. The new MagIC3 product is a cost-effective solution for wireless payment, requiring no extra subscription nor additional communication fees. Remarkably light and compact, with unmatched autonomy, MagIC3 W-1 delivers increased convenience in restaurants and outdoor retail outlets. Several important financial institutions are currently leading the new payment terminal deployment in Europe and in Asia.

 

MagIC3 W-1 is part of Gemalto’s MagIC3 product family, which incorporates the Open&Sec technology running on LinuxTM. The MagIC3 product line leverages Internet Protocol (IP) technology and ensures high-level security in an open environment. It features Universal Serial Bus (USB) connections for instant plugging of peripherals such as check and barcode readers, WiFi dongles or electronic cash registers, making it a flexible and highly evolutive payment solution. The MagIC3 W-1 terminal comes equipped with an integrated Ethernet broadband connection to offer very high-speed secure transactions.

 

“MagIC3 W-1 offers mobility, speed and ease-of-use that make it really convenient for retailers to present the terminal to their customers,” commented Frédéric Deman, senior vice president e-payment terminals at Gemalto. “Our customers have started deploying MagIC3 W-1 and we already received very positive reactions. Retailers using the Ethernet broadband connection expressed strong satisfaction with the transaction speed.”

"Linux" is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds, the original author of the Linux Kernel.

KORE Telematics Touts M2M's Next-Generation Pricing Architecture

KORE IntelliRate Provides Onramp to Resource-Rich M2M Commercial Acceleration with Flexible, “Best Fit” Data Service Packaging

LAS VEGAS --(Business Wire)-- KORE Telematics, the world’s largest digital wireless services provider specializing in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, today announced KORE IntelliRate, the industry’s first truly scalable variable pricing program for next-generation data services. To be introduced initially in the Canadian market for all KORE customers worldwide, KORE IntelliRate has been developed exclusively for M2M connected device markets in conjunction with its partner Rogers Wireless. KORE IntelliRate accelerates commercial M2M adoption and empowers M2M application providers with intelligent, usage-based pricing that automatically adjusts to meet evolving business needs.

The KORE IntelliRate program automatically calculates pricing for data services based on previous usage patterns. For instance, if a M2M application provider has significant shifts in use patterns for system upgrades or to meet seasonal trends, KORE delivers affordable usage-based pricing that is flexible and cost-effective from zero use to 1GB of monthly consumption. This enables M2M application providers to maximize network usage time, reduce operating costs and focus on delivering more powerful, feature-rich M2M applications. KORE IntelliRate functions automatically within the KORE PRiSM Pro™ platform, requiring no user intervention.

“KORE revolutionized wireless data services pricing with the industry’s first ‘pay for what you use’ model in 2003, which also debuted in Canada, and helped create an ecosystem of M2M application providers that could not operate profitably under traditional plan-based pricing approaches,” said Alex Brisbourne, president and COO, KORE Telematics. “The latest in a long line of KORE innovations, IntelliRate is designed to help application providers operate more efficiently and reflect the changing face of new M2M applications that often have very ‘bursty’ traffic patterns and variability month to month. In particular, expansion to 3G services is driving this changing view of consumption. By removing concerns about whether or not they’re receiving the best data services rates, KORE partners can focus on growing their businesses rather than managing their service plans.”

“We are pleased to launch IntelliRate first in Canada, where our partnership with Rogers, which was recently extended until 2014, is seeing significant M2M market growth. Their enthusiastic commitment to working closely in developing this innovatory approach will benefit the market as a whole,” concluded Brisbourne.

The KORE IntelliRate program is ideal for M2M application providers at both extremes of the use spectrum, from those with ultra low-use and seasonal data service requirements, such as irrigation or alarm services, to high-burst needs including router back up and video services. By flexibly responding to seasonal variations and differing use applications, the program allows M2M providers to easily modify their offerings to meet changing business demands in real time. In particular, application providers that need to scale applications quickly or beyond 5MB will benefit from reduced operating costs related to network usage.

By anticipating an application provider’s data services demands, the KORE IntelliRate program eliminates the need to manually adjust network and device usage options. This reduces network management time requirements and eliminates “on net” costs related to inactive devices.

KORE Telematics will be demonstrating its specialized M2M network in booth #361 at International CTIA WIRELESS 2010, taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas from March 23-25, 2010.

Availability

The KORE IntelliRate program is available commencing May 2010, initially on the Rogers network in Canada. Visit www.koretelematics.com for more information.

Trafficmaster Offers Mobile Pay as You Go Satellite Navigation System

LONDON --(Business Wire)--  Trafficmaster’s Smartnav satellite navigation is the first Pay As You Go (PAYG) navigation application on the smart phone market, allowing users to only pay for satnav directions and traffic information when they need it. Trafficmaster’s PAYG satnav service is available on Apple’s iPhone and is an ideal application for people who only need navigation once in a while, but still want to have access to superior routing and navigation, which uses up-to-the minute traffic information. In addition all Smartnav users are able to contact a real personal assistant to help find destinations or provide emergency support.

The introduction of a PAYG tariff provides a flexible, cost effective satellite navigation service for drivers who are not sure how often they are going to use it. You can simply download an initial five routes for only £1.79. Thereafter you are able to purchase 10, 20 or 30 top-up routes.

Smartnav PAYG is part of the Trafficmaster Companion suite of travel services available on the iPhone. Within this application you benefit from Smartnav satellite navigation, which encompasses automatic map updates, efficient route calculations based on live traffic information and time of day data. It also provides ongoing route monitoring, which alerts you to new traffic problems en-route and the provision of alternative quicker routes.

Smartnav PAYG is supported by Trafficmaster’s unique team of Personal Assistants (PAs) who operate round the clock, 365 days of the year. The PAs are on hand to help you download routes and can be called upon in emergency situations, such as breakdowns and road accidents.

The routes can be downloaded via postcode entry or by setting up favourite destinations as well as through the Personal Assistants.* It is easy to use and provides clear directional visual and verbal instructions throughout the journey without distracting the driver with complex maps.

For more information about Smartnav PAYG and Trafficmaster’s other services go to www.trafficmaster.co.uk.

Accenture Announces Mobile Money Management Solution for High-Volume Mobile Financial Services

NEW YORK --(Business Wire)-- Accenture has announced a new secure, high-speed, high-volume mobile financial transaction software solution for telecommunications service providers and large banks. The mobile money management solution allows firms to reach customers through existing mobile operator networks, web and Internet channels and mobile devices, regardless of the device their customers prefer to use.

It also allows customers to conduct traditional banking transactions, automatically adjusts to fluctuations in network traffic, such as sudden peaks of traffic at the beginning of a business day, and can facilitate thousands of simultaneous transactions. Since it uses “cloud-like” technology, the solution can be launched quickly and economically and scales easily. Customers can be segmented by brand, product or language. The solution is now available worldwide, and is a key element in Accenture’s focus on mobility services.

“Mobile operators and banks are facing increasing pressure to provide mobile money services on mobile phones to all users,” said Andy Zimmerman, global managing director of Mobility Services at Accenture. “If they do not provide these services they risk losing subscribers and being eliminated from the payment process. Accenture’s communications industry experience uniquely positions us to support businesses that want to get into the kind of high-volume mobile money applications that can contribute significantly to their customer service and help generate new revenue streams.”

The mobile money management solution makes it possible to process micropayments in real time, which helps companies take advantage of new business models, while potentially opening new streams of revenue. Micropayments are used to process small transaction amounts that would otherwise severely limit profit, or even cost more than the actual product if processed as traditional card transactions.

This type of payment is typically used by Internet merchants who sell content – or other intangible goods – that cost between a few cents and a few dollars each, such as music, pay-per-play games, newspapers, articles, reports, small computer programs, tickets and postcards.

The mobile money management solution incorporates the Fundamo Enterprise Mobile Financial Services (EMFS) platform and combines it with Accenture’s Service Delivery Platform (SDP). Mobile money management is available from Accenture Mobility Operated Services, an Accenture business unit which provides services for mobile operators, financial institutions and large retailers to help enable new, revenue-generating services delivered through mobile channels, such as ticketing, loyalty, mobile marketing and mobile money.

Fundamo is the world’s largest specialist mobile financial services provider. Fundamo’s EMFS platform is powered by technology that already delivers secure mobile financial services to consumers around the globe.

“Mobile money management is about businesses facilitating financial services,” said Zimmerman. “Because it involves elements such as financial regulations, as well as customers’ money, and personal details, mobile money must meet extremely high standards in terms of performance and security.

“By installing the Fundamo solution onto our industry-leading SDP, Accenture helps provide businesses with an industry-tested way to deliver reliable, secure, mobile services to their diverse customer segments. This is an important advancement for the mobile financial services industry.”

Accenture is offering the mobile money management solution as a non-branded, “white label” capability, which allows businesses to retain their brand with their customers. The solution is offered under a transaction-based pricing model, which means businesses pay only for the number of customers who use the capability.

Accenture offers mobile money management as a managed service, hosted at Accenture data centers around the world. As a result, businesses do not have to invest in additional infrastructure, which reduces start-up costs.

“In the wake of the financial crisis, mobile finance has become a critical frontier for bank industry growth,” said Noel Gordon, global managing director of Accenture’s banking practice. “Consumers are looking for more convenience, simplicity and manageability in their financial lives. The banks that will win customer loyalty will be those with the technologies needed to deliver world-class financial services over mobile devices."