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NFC technology ID patent will halt sale of used Sony PS4 games

| January 8, 2013

nfc technology Sony PlayStationIndustry experts are speculating that the company is beginning a strategy to cease disc resale.

Observers of the video and mobile gaming industry have noticed a new patent that has been issued to Sony, in which it has gained the ownership of an NFC technology that would make it virtually impossible for used PlayStation 4 game discs to be resold.

This strategy would apply a new form of ID scanning through the console so the exclusive owner can be identified.

Though many console and mobile gamers love to grab the latest games as soon as they are released, others prefer to wait a while so that those who like to have the games right away will finish with them and sell their used copies at a lower price. This is the bane of the existence of many game manufacturers as it gives people an opportunity to obtain the discs in a way that won’t generate full retail royalties. New efforts are always being made to help to prevent this activity, such as the patented NFC technology that has now been registered by Sony.

It is expected that NFC technology built right into a console and enabled on a disc will serve this purpose.

Near field communication (NFC technology) is most commonly found in certain credit cards as well as in the most recent models of smartphones. Typically it is used for mobile marketing as well as smartphone payments. However, the new patent received by Sony will allow the technique to be used in the PlayStation 4 so that the console will be able to link a specific enabled disc with an individual user’s account. This will allow the owner of the disc to be identified from the first time that it is used.

The speculations about the use of this NFC technology are not without evidence. The patent document that was discovered linked to the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan stated that “When the game is to be played, the reproduction device conveys the disc ID and a player ID to the use permission tag.”

That same document also descried that “The use permission tag stores the terms of use of the game and determines whether a combination of the disc ID and the player ID conveyed from the reproduction device fulfils the terms of use or not.” This indicates that it would not be possible for the owners of a game disc to sell or trade that product, as it would be connected specifically to their own consoles.

Mobile commerce from eBay receives considerable confidence from analysts

| January 8, 2013

ebay mobile commerceThe massive online marketplace is demonstrating a continuing upward momentum on smartphones and tablets.

Analysts are discovering that the mobile commerce performance of some of the original players in the smartphone and tablet shopping channels – such as eBay Inc. – are among the top performing locations and that they are now ready to continue the growth they have established.

It is also among these companies that the most established data is available regarding individual performance.

According to Michael Graham, an analyst from Canaccord Genuity, in a letter that went out to clients “E-commerce should continue to grow in the mid-teens as online shopping models become more useful, more efficient and more mobile, and eBay has positioned itself well against this opportunity.”

Analysts are bullish about the positioning that eBay has established in the mobile commerce environment.

Similar to Mr. Graham, Colin Gillis, an analyst from BGC Partners has identified the online marketplace as his top exposure to e-commerce pick for this year. He even issued a statement in the form of haiku that indicated his belief that mobile commerce could lead eBay’s value to one day exceed that of Amazon.

Graham also pointed out that from his company’s perspective, that “We believe eBay’s fundamental outlook is stable and could improve further over the course of 2013”. He explained that the gross merchandise volume (GMV) year over year from eBay has been consistently accelerating. This is because of a number of new and active users. He feels that a rapidly growing number of people are finding at eBay is useful, and that this is “likely driven by mobile”.

Gillis also took the opportunity to point out the value of mcommerce at eBay. In fact, he expressed that his company feels that the online auction site has “the strongest suite of offering for mobile commerce between its PayPal and its marketplace businesses.” He added that nearly one third of all purchases that are made at eBay are done from a smartphone or tablet device. Moreover, its estimates show that it will likely have processed more than $10 billion in mobile payments in the last year.