Week in Review: Mobile Payments, Brilliant Companies and the Expansion of the Internet of Things
Posted by | June 3, 2011
In today’s constantly connected world, it’s important to stay on top of current social media and Internet trends, and we’ve already highlighted the impact that social media companies are having on Wall Street. The big news this week is around Groupon. As many speculated, the company filed for an IPO to raise up to $750 million.
Plus, with the explosive growth of mobile applications and the growing need for a smart grid to connect our Internet-ready devices, two of the biggest names on the Internet have launched new services to incorporate social media even more into everyday life.
Last week, Google announced Google Wallet, a Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology to be used in smartphones for wireless payments. Google said that more than 20,000 U.S. merchants are already set up to work with Google Wallet. The Internet giant also announced Google Offers in conjunction with Wallet, which will send daily deals from local businesses directly to your inbox, much like Groupon, Living Social and other daily deal sites.
Not to be left out of the spotlight, Twitter launched its own in-house photo-sharing experience that will link photos and videos directly to tweets. They are also overhauling the search function on Twitter, aimed to deliver more relevant tweets and incorporating related photos and videos.
Here’s a quick recap of news over the past week from our partner companies:
- Swap.com announced this week that they are making it even easier to swap by eliminating transaction fees. Even more exciting for the company — they were named one of Entrepreneur‘s list of “100 Brilliant Companies,” having coordinated 1.9 million swaps and saving users $11.9 million.
- PCMag’s Guide to Security Software named SafeCentral 2.6 the leader in Secure Browsers. SafeCentral’s WebProtection software creates a secure browser that can’t access programs outside the secure desktop, and automatically offers secure browsing to recognized financial sites ensuring users don’t get diverted to a fake site.
- ThingWorx announced that demand for their “Internet of Things” platform is driving internal growth, allowing them to expand to a new corporate headquarters and made two key new hires: John Schaefer, vice president of product management, and Dave Westrom, vice president of business development .
- AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions (AHS) will be presenting at Becker’s ASC Review’s 9th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference on Friday, June 10. AHS will also be exhibiting in Booth #506 at the Radiology Business Management Association’s 2011 Radiology Summit, being held June 5-8, 2011.
- Need a Job? NYC is the place to be according to a Beyond.com trend analysis report. According to the Beyond.com quarterly trends report, which gathers information across thousands of top-tier industry and local career sites, the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island region yielded the most online job postings, with more than 14 percent of jobs across all regions. The top three industries for jobs in this metro area include Healthcare & Medical Accounting & Finance and Information Technology, respectively.
- NuPathe presented additional migraine patch data from three trials at the American Headache Society (AHS) conference this week in Washington, D.C. Data demonstrated consistent relief of headache pain and nausea throughout a 12-month open-label trial of its transdermal migraine patch (also referred to as Zelrix and NP101).
Next week, the Philadelphia Chapter of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) will be holding the final round of business plan competitions. Five finalists were selected to advance to the final round, which will be held at Ernst & Young’s Philadelphia offices next Tuesday, June 7, 2011, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The grand-prize winner will take home $2,500; the second place winner will receive $1,000; and the third-place winner will receive $500 to help launch or expand their business, or further their education. Additionally, the first and second place winners will travel to New York City to compete against other regional winners in the National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge on October 6, 2011. Be sure to Follow NFTE Philadelphia on Facebook and Twitter.
To read more of our “Week in Review” series, please use the following feed:www.safeguard.com/WeekInReview. Enjoy your weekend!