Tag: at&t

These two brands are coming together to bring out services for mobile devices within one of the hottest new tech categories.

This week has been an important one for wearable technology, from the announcement of the Apple Watch smartwatch to AT&T’s new service plan pricing for these mobile devices to show that they are serious about this market.

Now the wireless service provider has announced the first on their plans list is from Timex.

AT&T has now released a data plan for the wearable technology from Timex called the Ironman One GPS+. This smartwatch is now being offered for pre-order through the online portal at the wristwatch company, but it will become available to AT&T as of this fall. That said, the wireless provider did underscore the fact that regardless of whether they purchase this device from that company or whether they buy it elsewhere the first year of data plan service will be included, free.

This wearable technology device will work only with the AT&T data network, at the moment.

This partnership means that if a data plan is to be purchased for the Timex Ironman One GPS+, it must be from AT&T. Therefore, customers who buy this smartwatch will automatically head to that wireless carrier for a data plan, which will be received for one year for free as a part of the agreement between the two companies.

Following the year of free service, a data plan for these smartwatches, through this carrier, will cost only $40 per year. It was also explained by AT&T that the wearables can be added to the Mobile Share account of the customer, which will become available within the not too distant future.

It isn’t yet clear whether or not there will be data limits applied to the free plans for these wearable technology devices. At the time that this article was written, the fine print had not yet been released, but it is certain that it won’t be long before the company will be providing consumers with all of the details that they need to understand the true value of the deal.

Mobile payments continue to be a complex issue

Mobile commerce has become quite popular, but not everyone is sold on the idea of paying for things with their mobile device. The idea is quite simple: Mobile applications act as facilitators of mobile transactions, allowing people to make purchases while shopping online from their smartphones and tablets. Under the surface, mobile commerce is anything but simple, thanks to changing commerce standards and the ever present threat of exploitation coming from malicious groups that want to get their hands on consumer financial information.

Because mobile commerce is not as straightforward as it seems, many people are wondering whether or not mobile payments are actually worthwhile or little more than a passing novelty. Much of this uncertainty is actually tied up in the technology that is supporting mobile payments. NFC technology and cloud computing are the two structures that currently support the mobile payments industry, and this industry is currently in the midst of a format war. NFC-based solutions are vying for the support of consumers and businesses alike alongside cloud-based services.

In the format war, the cloud may have the upper hand. NFC-based solutions have the drawback of only being available on NFC-enabled mobile devices. This means that mobile wallets and other mobile commerce services that rely on NFC can only be used by smartphones and tablets that have an NFC chip embedded within them. Cloud-based services have no such limitations and it is for this reason the cloud is becoming more prominent when it comes to mobile payments.

Beyond the format war, other issue exist that continue to make mobile commerce a complicated matter. Large companies are beginning to muscle their way into the mobile scene, hoping to take advantage of the growing popularity of mobile payments. Companies like AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Google, and others have launched mobile wallets into the market. The problem isn’t that large companies are entering into the mobile commerce fray, of course, it is that these companies are rushing into the battle with little concern for anything else but exposure.

When Google first launched its ambitious Wallet service, the mobile wallet quickly fell prey to serious security issues that made the platform unpopular with many people. The platform had been using NFC technology at the time, and many people began to consider that technology faulty from a security perspective. Google has since moved away from NFC and has resolved many of the security issues that it faced with the initial launch of Wallet, but the damage the company’s haste caused has set its mobile commerce interests back considerably.

Another issue that mobile payments are facing has to do with the long wait people must endure before mobile commerce services become available to them. Many of the services that are most popular today were only released a few short months ago, while those that are highly anticipated may not be released for several years yet. Large organizations are beginning to take their time developing comprehensive platforms, but small companies are pumping out nw platforms at a rapid pace, saturating the market but doing little to overcome the actual problems that face mobile commerce currently.

Mobile commerce is not something that can be solved easily. There is no singular correct approach to engaging mobile consumers or enticing them to pay for products with a smartphone or tablet. As with most things, those seeking success in this field may have to find a balance between the problems they can and cannot solve.