Author: Stephen

OLO receives significant backing from PayPal

| February 2, 2013

OLO mobile payments PayPalOLO brings new mobile commerce service to restaurants

OLO, a relatively new mobile commerce engine designed for restaurants, has announced that it has received a sizeable investment from PayPal, one of the foremost advocates of mobile commerce. OLO has been experiencing rapid growth in recent months. The company, which has been receiving a great deal of attention from numerous investors, has been aggressively hiring and scaling up its operations to establish a firm presence in the mobile commerce market this year. The investment from PayPal is expected to help in this endeavor.

OLO service provides restaurants with consumer friendly services

The OLO service allows restaurants to accept payments and orders from consumers using a simple mobile application. These orders can be placed before a customer even arrives at the restaurant, removing the wait time that some popular restaurants are regularly associated with. Hundred of restaurants make use of the OLO engine and many of these establishments have reported receiving more than 50% of their digital orders through mobile devices.

PayPal may have a role to play in the future of OLO

OLO is designed to be flexible, accommodating the needs of a particular restaurant. To this end, the service allows restaurants to accept forms of payment they are most comfortable with. OLO itself is capable of facilitating payments from all major credit card providers, as well as stored-value cards and mobile wallet platforms. PayPal’s investment into the service is likely to ensure that the company has a place in OLO’s future operations.

PayPal continues looking for ambitious and innovative mobile commerce solutions

PayPal is one of the companies that has been heavily investing in mobile commerce, as well as one of the few looking for an alternative to NFC technology. NFC has become a very popular engine for mobile commerce, but PayPal has concerns regarding the safety and viability of the technology. As such, the company has been looking elsewhere to satisfy its interest in mobile commerce, and services like OLO are among those that have attracted the interest of PayPal in recent months.

BlackBerry 10 officially launched this week

| January 31, 2013

Blackberry 10 launchedBlackBerry 10 now available

The BlackBerry 10 has been officially launched this week, after nearly a year’s worth of delays. Research In Motion, which has changed its name to BlackBerry, has successfully launched its latest, highly anticipated mobile device, which has a very strong focus on mobile gaming. For nearly the entire lifespan of the BlackBerry, the platform has catered to business professionals and enterprises in various industries. Now, however, the platform is beginning to expand its capabilities.

New BlackBerry adopts focus on mobile gaming

While BlackBerry has never been exclusive to business professionals, it has not won the favor of a wide range of consumers because of its lack of consumer-oriented features, such as mobile gaming. The BlackBerry 10 was initially slated for a 2012 release, but Research In Motion decided to delay the launch of the new smart phone several times due to emerging competition in the mobile device market. During these delays, the company hosted several events in which Android developers were encouraged to port their mobile games over to the BlackBerry platform, making these games available for the first time on a platform apart from Android. Many of these developers were provided financial incentives to participate in this campaign.

Mobile gaming may attract attention of new consumers

The BlackBerry 10 boasts of a wide range of features that are likely to be well-received by diehard BlackBerry fans, as well as appeal to consumers suffering from iOS and Android fatigue. Given that the device has become more accommodating of mobile gaming, it may see a great deal of interest from tech-savvy gamers that have long been interested in the platform but had chosen either the Android or the iOS to satisfy their gaming interests.

BlackBerry 10 designed to last more than a decade

According to Research In Motion, the BlackBerry 10 is designed to have a lifespan of at least 10 years. This is significantly longer than most of today’s mobile devices, which have a lifespan of a little over one year. The device’s stronger focus on mobile gaming may come in handy if it is meant to last for over a decade before a new BlackBerry device is released.