Many mobile companies and big brands are ready to launch mobile payment services this year. Although there is a healthy amount of consumer scepticism, there is also enough interest among early adopters and smartphone users to make this a success.

Last month TechTalk published a post about NFC (Near Field Communication) based mobile services becoming adopted among a wider consumer base in 2011. At the time of publishing we highlighted a number of new services and advances being made, from small start-ups to smartphone giants such as Apple, Google and Nokia. Now we’re almost one month into 2011 the news and developments on NFC, in particular mobile payments, continues to hit the headlines in the technology press. Most notably, O2[1] is beefing up their m-payments team ahead of its NFC based mobile payments service launch later this year, whilst  Google announced the launch of Android 2.3 OS (Gingerbread)[2], which adds support for NFC.

Our online social networks are a key source of information and increasingly influence what we read, share and buy. However, if we do not filter out the mundane we risk missing the information that is most important to us and becoming a victim of information overload.

It occurred to me the other day that I have too many friends.  By this, I don’t mean the family, friends and colleagues I socialise with throughout the week and, you know, actually spend my leisure time with face to face. More, the numerous people sitting on my Facebook account I haven’t spoken to for nigh-on five years, (the occasional shallow digital platitude aside), but who seem intent on breathlessly updating their minute movements on the notice board whenever I (increasingly infrequently) log-in. Back in 2006 when the Facebook really took off, there was something ego-boostingly satisfying about racing to my first 100 friends, but now I find it a little tiring. Do I really need them all?

The television experience is constantly changing and evolving with the increasing number of devices and platforms available to watch video content. This year two of the tech giants, Apple and Google, have seriously entered the market to make the web accessible through your television screen. However, both have very different strategies as the battle over openness and control will play out through your television sets in 2011.

How IPTV has changed in 2010