Ten Reasons Why Real Estate Professionals will benefit from Social Media | RealtyGo_blog

Doesn’t the image depict the way real estate is headed in our near future, if not already a necessity for most Agents to survive today when working with tech savvy clients, banks and/or any third party entities requiring analytics or reporting tools to reveal consumer patterns, as well to prove a real estates agents prior success in this tough market.

There are lots and lots of Real Estate Professionals that still aren’t quite convinced though when it comes to Social Media especially when it applies to them. It could even be as simple as the “Fear of the Unknown”. Its easier to dismiss new practices and stick to old traditions, but what if you could keep your traditions of real people networking in your community, which is still a very valuable trait to have, and update your online presence with out doing anything different then your use to. Would you take advantage of it. RealtyGo offers agents, brokers, real estate professionals, Vacation home owners and for sale by owner the ability to offer potential buyers, renters, investors and new customers easy engagement tools using modern day technology. Your Smartphone is a good example, place RealtyGo’s QR Codes anywhere you want to offer consumers information about your real estate listing(s) (flyer box, rider sign, real estate signs, print ads, digital ad space, like craigslist, zillow, Realtor.com) and allow the end user to choose their method of contacting you. This doesn’t mean you have to take you phone number off your signage or change anything your currently doing, RealtyGo  just makes it easier for you to interact and communicate, update, showoff, edit and promote your real estate listings and business using Mobile phones and the World Wide Web. Don’t think for a moment that by not offering consumers the means to get immediate information that you are some how helping your business, end users can google anything and find all the information they like about any real estate listing by searching online. It may be better for you and your clients if you show consumers information you want them to see at first look,like updated photos, remodels that have been done, positive information, because if you leave it up to the end user to go searching out in the wild wild west, we call the internet for information on your real estate, they may find old, non relevant information, old pictures, a previous owner or lister and even get distracted along the way and forget about your real estate listing all together. Make it easy for potential buyers to get immediate information and communicate with you, auto schedule appointments and leave notes about your property, which they can later review and use as a point of reference when making a decision to move forward.

Ten Reasons Why Real Estate Professionals will benefit from Social Media:

1. Brand Exposure (Facebook 500+ million users, Twitter 300+ million users, Linkedin 80+ million users etc)
2. Your Competition is already there and has a following that you have to catch up to!
3. This is how your potential clients find information about Real Estate (buying, selling etc)
4. There are conversations being had about your Brand and Industry that you NEED to respond to!
5. Gives consumers and other professionals a better idea of WHO they are dealing with – Transparency!
6. You will benefit from the Community style flow of information and find out things you otherwise wouldn’t have, enabling you to update your business model. I mean lets face it, every great company has to eventually make changes to keep up with new trends, especially since were in a Global market these days, buyers from outside the U.S. daily.
7. You will be an Industry Leader – Not Follower!  Early adopters of dynamic practices are winning big!
8. You will find NEW ways to conduct and streamline your business!  Growing a client base and professional Network, not only traditionally within your immediate community, but also abroad through the world wide web.
9. You can call yourself the “Neighborhood Expert” and your profiles,articles and new methodology will support that claim!
10. Technology and Business Models are evolving and so must you!  Lastly everyone else is doing it and you don’t want to be the one guy or gal NOT doing it!

RealtyGo makes it easy to use, apply, utalize and share your mobile real estate listings and business with advanced technology like QR Codes, SMS/MMS Text messaging, GPS and more.

RealtyGo – Your Real Estate Listings Best Friend!

Global Real Estate Market

RealtyGo offers Mobile Real Estate Listings for Best SEO search using MobileURL’s and advanced Web TAG technology.

RealtyGo - Mobile Real Estate Listing on Your iPad

RealtyGo provides an easy to use service for everyone listing any type of real estate, connecting with end users via their mobile devices, infusing the latest technology and business practices for advanced web to mobile communication and search engine optimization. By connecting all your professional information properly and tagging it, your real estate listings and online business practices will dramatically increase and work efficiently for you within the world wide web, increasing relevancy and helping drive more end users and new customers to you, while searching for real estate.

Our Service allows listers to deliver listing information on any property directly to potential buyers through a custom mobile application software that is functional on any Internet-capable mobile device as well as any text message-capable mobile phone.

“The challenge most ‘big box’ real estate company’s face by offering a mobile solution to promote and list real estate is how to instantly reach current clients with the information they need, using the device in which they want to use (mobile, Web, Phone) and how to generate new leads by providing better tools than the competition.  RealtyGo accomplishes all this by user friendly software applications that can be accessed by anyone on any Mobile device. There is no download necessary or modification, our services and your real estate listings are accessible from any mobile device right out of the box.

You can link your mobile real estate listings from RealtyGo to other social networking sites, like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, your blog or professional website, etc.. . RealtyGo acts like a bridge from your website presence to any mobile device, while providing the end user a friendly and easy to use experience. You can be sure that what ever the latest trend or most efficient way of communication is, RealtyGo will provide it for free as part of your MobileURL and Mobile real estate listing(s). We are constantly making upgrades and changes, and will always offer the most current and easy to use methodology for accessing real estate from anywhere with any type of device.

Buyers can leave personal notes about properties,  Auto Schedule an appointment to preview the your listing(s) – which automatically notifying you with the buyer’s name, phone number, email, etc.. , and the property their interested in previewing.

This turns ‘lookie loos’ into leads, creating stickiness, because once a user is able to contact you through the channel they are most comfortable with, they will almost certainly use the same method of contact down the way when needing immediate listing information from a viable and trusted source. Since RealtyGo offers you your Unique MobileURL consumers can find you fast and easily by simple remembering your Unique name or MobileURL you assigned to a property or listing. In the event you sell the listing, your MobileURL is still active and becomes your online Resume, that everyone uses and remembers in order to contact you in regards to your Real Estate profession.

The target demographic for Mobile Real Estate listings is any potential homebuyer, new customer or other business professional with the capability to surf the mobile Web.

Prospects may be young first-time buyer or the middle-aged executive whose BlackBerry has made him/her accustomed to having information at their fingertips at all times, The market is as broad as the mobile market, which is to say is very large and growing. Offer your real estate listings on every channel and cover all the basis, let the end user decide how and when they want to Auto Schedule an appointment to preview a listing, or simple click your phone number or email address to get ahold of you.

Prospective sellers are attracted to technology as well, as it communicates willingness to use new tools and available modern day methodology to market and promote properties making for a more attractive choice for a seller.

Help educate other agents in using RealtyGo for an easy way to show off the technological side of your business. Agents/Brokers can use RealtyGo’s robust analytics to download and either print or email to new customers and even prospective banks you would like to receive listings from. When you can provide actual analytics, which is how potential buyers are getting in touch with you, the area of your listings and up to date reporting on the ins and outs of your listings, banks are going to look at you as a up-to-date, trusted and valuable resource in the real estate business

RealtyGo assigns a MobileURL to each of your listings which allows end users to search for you using an advanced type of search, giving buyers the ability to find ALL your real estate listings, photos, pricing, virtual tours, business website, social networking sites, professional contact information fast and efficiently. End users can searching within major search engines (google, yahoo, bing) or from withing RealtyGo using one easy to remember Unique MobileURL you have selected to represent your mobile real estate business.

 

RealtyGo updates and offers All listing content to major search engines for Best SEO (search engine optimization) in regards to your real estate business. This includes pictures, listing changes, edits and updates, automatically formatted for optimal viewing on any mobile device.

Buyers are able to view all the standard and customized listing information, including photos and Google Mobile map location links, as well as the agent’s e-mail address and click-to-call phone number. Buyers can also easily forward your mobile listing(s) via e-mail or text message to other mobile devices like Smartphones, Flip phones, iPads, Tablets, etc.. .

Beyond MLS listings, RealtyGo also allows users to upload and manage their properties through a Web-based content management system, the same way you would create a craigslist ad promotion, and taking it a step further, giving you the ability to promote your properties within other real estate listing services with our Mobile Listing TAG, ensuring that end users are getting all the content you want them to have and not just the content many services only allow you to share.

RealtyGo works on any Text ready mobile phone or Internet-capable mobile device, including Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry, Google Android, Palm and Motorola flip phones, and do not require any downloads to use or manage.

Try RealtyGo today, and own your own listings and decide what you want the end user to see. Customize your Mobile listings any way you like and edit them at any time. RealtyGo will make sure that all of your most current information is updated and being used efficiently to promote your online real estate business as much as your off line presence. Don’t hesitate, simple visit our World Wide Website and follow the easy automated system that walk your through selecting your MobileURL’s and setting up your real estate listings and professional business information. We have designed our system to be fun and work freely within all other applications for promoting and marketing your real estate profession as a whole. Give the end user what they want, a choice in how they communicate with you in your real estate profession.

RealtyGo – Your Real Estate Listings Best Friend!

Mobile Everything | RealtyGo | Text Messages | QR Codes | Technology | RealtyGo_blog

Mobile Everything | RealtyGo | Text Messages | QR Codes | Technology | RealtyGo_blog

26 Billion text messages sent during China’s Spring Festival!

Text is forever

Here’s yet more proof that plain ol’ text messages aren’t going away any time soon. The recent Spring Festival in China (the local name for what’s often referred to as Chinese New Year) saw the country send some 26 billion text messages. That’s billion with a “b,” mind you.

That number, 26 billion, represents a 13 percent increase over last year.

And here’s one last quick stat: China has some 859 million mobile phone subscribers, which works out to 74.5 percent of the country’s population.

A survey last year pegged the number of U.S. mobile phone subscribers at 285 million, or 91 percent of the country’s population.

You’ll recall that Deloitte said in a report last week that text messaging was as popular as ever, more so than social networks like Twitter and Facebook, largely because they’re seen as more immediate and personal.

World Mobile Conference, 2011

WMC_2011_RealtyGo_blog

RealtyGo – Mobile that Accelerates your Business!

| 02.17.11 | Google: Personalization will revolutionize commerce – RealtyGo_blog

Google Mobile BARCELONA, Spain–Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt capped off the second day of the Mobile World Congress trade show here with a far-ranging and forward-thinking keynote address forecasting a future where increasingly personalized and relevant mobile services transform most every facet of users’ lives. “Smartphones are taking over–smartphone sales surpassed PC sales on a quarterly basis just last week,” Schmidt told a capacity crowd. “The smartphone is the destination for the next generation of games, apps and social connectivity.” Looking beyond the current mobile marketplace, Schmidt outlined what he called “a serendipity platform–your phone helping you learn new things and meet new people you wouldn’t otherwise meet. Why does my phone not talk to my friend’s phone? Why doesn’t it monitor people who are ill?” Adding he believes very strongly in “the optimism of what we can do with computers and technology,” Schmidt said the accelerated evolution of the Web, mobile and cloud services will ultimately shoulder even greater burdens plaguing everyday life, giving consumers the time and flexibility to spend more time with the people they care about, doing the things they enjoy and making the world a better place. “Computers are here to make us happier,” he asserted. Schmidt also stressed the increasing role of permission-based personalization solutions, anticipating a future where technology solves human failings spanning from fuzzy memories to boredom. Shifting his focus to more contemporary mobile industry opportunities, Schmidt said he anticipates substantial breakthroughs in the mobile advertising segment. “Think about the creativity of the commercials you see on TV, and apply that on mobile in a personal way–that’s the next great frontier,” he said. “The display business is fundamentally about telling stories–that produces a better, more relevant ad and a more satisfied consumer. A billion dollar business right in front of us.” In addition, Schmidt called mobile payment services and Near Field Communications transaction technologies a “mega-scale opportunity,” outlining a scenario where he’s walking down the street in a commercial area. “My phone remembers I need new pants, and it knows ahead of me are two stores–one offering the product at a 20 percent discount, the other offering a 30 percent discount. I enter the store with the bigger discount, the pants are ready, and out I go. You don’t think this is going to work? It should revolutionize electronic commerce and payments. We’re seeing that models around consumerism are working when they’re tied to location and advertising.” Despite the mobile industry’s myriad innovations, Schmidt cited its capacity to revolutionize life in developing nations as his greatest source of pride. “The future is for the masses, not the elite,” Schmidt stated. “Two billion people we’ve never heard from will enter our conversation in the next three to four years. Because of mobile, it’s possible, and it will change their lives more than it changed any of ours. That’s what I’m proudest of.”

| 02.17.11 | Google: Personalization will revolutionize commerce – RealtyGo_blog

Text Message marketing Vs Email Marketing | RealtyGo | MobileURL’s | QR Codes | GPS | zuzu

Text Message marketing Vs Email Marketing | RealtyGo | zuzurealestate | MobileURL’s | QR Codes | GPS

iPad - RealtyGo - Mobile Real Estate listings

 

RealtyGo offers end users 4 modalities for current and immediate real estate listing information; QR Code, GPS, Call, SMS/MMS mobile gateway technology.

Mobile Real Estate Listings

The Mobile URL in the image  is the word “DEMO”

In many ways text message marketing and email marketing are very similar. With multiple forms of marketing available you should offer them all and let the consumer decide which avenue they are comfortable using. Overall you are asking your customers to give you their contact information so you may update and market to them directly.

Building an email phone and text message marketing list of your best customers is a way not to waste money on advertising by casting a wide net and hoping your customers see it. RealtyGo analytics enable you to form a current and relevant  list, you can use efficiently to market to those customers who want to receive offers from you, have already spent money with you or requested information and in most cases are most likely to respond positively to your offers.

There are quite a few vast differences that effect the redemption rates, ability to bring instant sales, and ‘read’ rates in any type of consumer ‘opt in’ marketing.

Fewer than 20% of email messages are opened. Within 15 minutes of sending a text blast, over 95% of your subscribers will have read the message. Think to yourself, every time your mobile phone beeps, how long does it take you to read the text message?

With RealtyGo’s automated software, any time you make a change to your listing(s) a auto message is sent to ‘end users’ that have requested information about your listing(s), for example; if you change the price of a listing or the seller decides to offer their listing for lease and for sale. These are important things a potential buyer or interested party need to know. RealtyGo automatically updates previous consumers that solicited  listing information, any time you make a change, by sending a friendly text message alert.

Customers contact information is automatically captured and displayed in your login area under the specific MobileURL and real estate listing the QR Code and SMS text messages are affiliated with. The mobile call to action is easily integrated into print, radio, television, in store signage and online applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Google Local Search. They simply text your MobileURL or Scan the QR Code and all your professional business real estate information is provided. With email signups customers have to be on your website and enter their email address or fill out a form in your business.  With consumer trends rapidly moving toward the mobile communication channel for faster and more efficient communication using text messaging and QR codes; You need to give the consumer what they want when they want it and with the tool they use most frequently and feel most comfortable with, Their mobile device(s). By offering multiple contact modalities like Text messaging, GPS and QR Codes you enable consumers an easier and faster way to get the immediate information they want, most importantly the way the consumer wants to get it. More options or ways a consumer can contact you  enables you to build your marketing list much faster, and consumers will continue to utilize your services, due to the fact they know they will receive current and relevant information pertaining to their original interests in your real estate business.

Text Message Marketing Vs Email Marketing.

With text message marketing, you have the ability to increase sales the same day your message is sent. Often new sales can be in your door in under an hour or even market to customers already in your business. New text messages are read in an average of 14 minutes while the average time for someone to read an email is 6.4 hours. In addition, unless your customers have web-enabled phones, which only 14% do, they will have to wait until they are in front of a computer to read it, then print out the offer to bring it in to redeem it. With text marketing, the customer just has to show the text to the business to redeem. These same principals apply with information. Consumers can access immediate information about your real estate listing(s) and Auto Schedule an appointment to meet with the listing Agent or owner based on the listers pre set schedule. The Auto Scheduler allows Agents/Brokers to use their time more efficiently, social networking, continuing education, create new marketing campaigns and meeting with potential buyer.

Typically the benefit of email vs text messaging is cost. There are email marketing providers for small businesses that charge $20 a month. This is for unlimited email blasts. The redemption rates are often low, only averaging 5%, and only offering one modality for consumer contact.

RealtyGo offers all 4 current modalities for contact and much more, for half that price and at a 90% better ROI return-on-investment.

Get more, do less – RealtyGo

via zuzurealestate | Just another WordPress.com site. RealtyGo blog

Cisco Blog » Blog Archive » Offline Marketing Becomes Online Marketing with QR Codes

Originally designed for tracking automotive parts for vehicle manufacturing, QR codes may very well be the next wave in B2B marketing. Funny how technology can sometimes transcend its original purpose…

Although, we, here in the US, may be a bit slower to adopt QR codes,than the rest of the world, it seems QR codes are poised to make it to the mainstream in the near future. Then, it’s only a matter a time before they become a staple in every B2B marketers arsenal.  Here’s a few points to back that up:

According to the International Telecommunications Union, there are 2.5 times more mobile phone users than people connected to the Internet.

Smartphone manufacturers are pre-installing QR code readers on their phones. This already includes Android, Nokia and some Blackberry phones.

QR codes are already making creative appearances in music videos – see Kylie Minogue’s “All the Lover’s” video, NHL marketing – see the Detroit Red Wings’ interactive game program, and most notably the giant QR codes in Times Square earlier this year promoting Internet Week 2010.

So, how do we capture the power of the QR code for B2B? Here are a few thoughts on how QR codes can bridge the gap between your offline and online marketing:

Instant Access Direct Mail- Include a QR code on your direct mail piece and the recipient can instantly scan it. No more waiting to get online or to make a phone call, providing a more immediate way for a recipient to engage with your marketing message.

Direct Mail Personalization- QR codes can be personalized for each individual recipient, providing them with a unique experience, more relevant information, and, incidentally, providing you, the marketer, with increased trackability of results.

Tradeshow Signage- Add QR codes to your tradeshow signage that when scanned provide a customized offer, your company information, access to your Facebook page, a custom landing page etc. Whatever makes sense for your business or campaign effort.

I think you get the idea… QR codes are a way for us to “hyperlink” our offline and online marketing efforts in the B2B universe.

What do you think? Will you be utlizing QR codes in your marketing efforts in the next 6 to 12 months? We would love to hear form you.

Special Thanks to Ruth for the article.

via Cisco Blog » Blog Archive » Offline Marketing Becomes Online Marketing with QR Codes | RealtyGo_blog

HP reaches for the cool factor – Big Tech – Fortune Tech – RealtyGo_blog

Rahul Sood was working in a Calgary rug store when fate beckoned in 1991. A friendly customer saw him fixing a computer by the front desk, and suggested he take his skills into the PC business.

Sood borrowed $1,500 on a MasterCard and started Voodoo PC, buying high-end parts and building powerful workstation computers for clients in the local oil and gas industry. It didn’t take long for him to find a more appropriate niche: In the early days Sood and friends stayed up until 2 a.m. playing graphics-rich video games on the office computers, so it felt natural when Voodoo began building eye-catching rigs for fellow video game enthusiasts.

Now Sood is a key player in Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) push to create breakthrough new computer designs to push it further ahead of its rivals. Since HP acquired Voodoo in 2006, Sood and his team have been working to bring Voodoo’s artistic, high-performance culture to HP’s mass-market audience. HP’s latest efforts, which will be unveiled on June 10, could begin to establish the company as a provider of beautiful technology gear – an image that consumers had traditionally associated with competitors like Apple (AAPL) and Sony (SNE).

“Voodoo inside HP is very much akin to the acquisition of Lamborghini into Audi,” says Sood, a car buff who races in his spare time. “In the new Lamborghinis the quality is 100 times better, and in Audis, the styling has gotten more aggressive – it’s a win-win situation for both companies.”

HP’s moves are about more than looks. The PC wars have changed. In the 90s, victory meant building PCs cheaper and faster. Michael Dell (DELL) defined the era by establishing a build-to-order process at his Texas plants, tightly managing parts and inventory, then cutting prices to bleed his rivals. Since then, Dell’s competitors have largely neutralized its cost advantage, so today victory is more likely to mean building innovative PCs and selling them in a high-class environment. (Dell has responded by focusing more on retail sales, and courting gamers through its Alienware unit.)

That’s why HP has already been putting more focus on aesthetics. When PC unit chief Todd Bradley arrived at HP three years ago, he observed that business laptops had all the flair of military tanks and challenged his team to radically redesign them.

Since then, HP’s entire line of machines has begun dramatic changes. Many laptops now come with stylish, eye-catching engravings. A quirky touch-sensitive computer won raves from Martha Stewart, and a muscle-car desktop excited video-game enthusiasts with its precisely-engineered parts. The company even worked with the Pasadena College of Art to rethink computer packaging. A marketing makeover completes the package, with commercials featuring celebrities like rapper Jay-Z and snowboarder Shaun White. (By way of contrast, a recent Dell ad featured Burt Reynolds.)

Yes, HP has come a long way. In the spring of 2005, when Bradley first sat down with CEO Mark Hurd to talk about joining the company, HP was still struggling to digest its acquisition of Compaq and still trailed Dell in the marketplace. Over breakfast at the Stanford Park Hotel in Palo Alto, the two men talked about how to streamline the PC division and make it a winner. “I really believed in our ability to drive innovation into the core PC space,” Bradley says. “It was an interesting opportunity to change the way people viewed computing, and make it personal.”

Weeks later Bradley joined the company, and began to deliver. He quickly brought in a new leadership team and standardized the basic skeletons of HP’s computers to simplify manufacturing and speed innovation. Profit margins have steadily risen from less than 1 percent the year before Bradley took over to more than 5 percent now.

Now that Bradley has the mechanics down, more attention has shifted to marketing. Aside from the design of the PC lineup, his team is also working on a novel retail strategy.

I got a peek at the retail part a few weeks ago. During a conference for its reseller partners, HP built a mockup of its store-in-a-store concept in a room at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco. The most impressive thing about the setup was how well everything worked together; computers, printers, displays and other items sat on polished white surfaces, organized by how they might be used. The packaging matched, too – from printer cartridges to laptops, everything sported a black background accented by bright colors.

Versions of the retail space will begin appearing in stores this summer and fall. Micro Center, a U.S. electronics chain, will test the concept ahead of the holiday season; and HP will set up a boutique in Harrod’s, the upscale department store in London, this summer. The stores will include specially trained workers, promotions to draw people inside, and a commitment to continually improving the experience based on customer feedback.

For Satjiv Chahil, who heads up marketing for the PC division, it’s a reflection of how computing has gone mainstream. These days electronics stores aren’t really competing with each other – they’re up against chic fashion shops like Hollister, Louis Vuitton and Miss Sixty, competing for disposable income. “The purchasing power that people have is going to go somewhere,” Chahil says, and he has a point. Visit the mall, even during tough economic times, and you’re sure to see plenty of money being thrown around. Why shouldn’t HP get more of it?

“They’ve taken a stronger look at the experience of shopping for their product, versus just having their product available at multiple outlets,” says Kevin Jones, vice president of merchandising at Micro Center, who has been working with HP on the in-store concept. “This is about getting the cool factor into the PC product.”

That’s a tall order, since few computer makers have managed to make a strong case for why their machines are better than the competition – and in an economic slowdown, it can be harder to entice consumers to buy. But with it’s number-one global position, the backing of HP’s huge research labs and new ideas coming in from folks like Sood, HP may be better positioned than any other company to define the battlefield in the new PC wars.

 

HP reaches for the cool factor – Big Tech – Fortune Tech | RealtyGo_blog

Verizon’s iPhone 4 pre-orders break sales record – RealtyGo blog

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) said it stopped taking pre-orders for Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4 at 8:10 p.m. EST yesterday, and that the pre-order sales broke company sales records–an echo of the flood of traffic that greeted AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) when it took pre-orders for the device in June.

Verizon began taking pre-orders at 3 a.m. EST Thursday for existing customers. According to the carrier, within the first two hours Verizon sold more phones than any first day launch in its history. Verizon said online pre-orders will begin again Feb. 9 at 3:01 a.m. EST, and that its stores will open at 7 a.m. local time on Feb. 10 for the official launch. Apple stores also will open at 7 a.m. local time on Feb. 10; Best Buy will offer the CDMA iPhone then as well.

The launch was not without glitches. Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney told Reuters that the majority of the carrier’s customers were able to get their orders processed, but that some customers received error messages. She said Verizon is trying to sort through the issues.

Meanwhile, other carriers are working hard to blunt the impact of the Verizon iPhone. AT&T said Thursday it will throw its marketing muscle behind the Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) Atrix 4G. Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) will host a media event in New York City Monday to unveil an “industry first.” And T-Mobile is offering two free G2 smartphones when customers sign up for an unlimited, two-line family plan, which costs $179.99 per month. Additionally, the No. 4 carrier, which is kickstarting a company-wide turnaround plan, set up a special website to hype its smartphones and HSPA+ network, which it markets as 4G.

via Verizon’s iPhone 4 pre-orders break sales record – FierceWireless- RealtyGo Blog.

Starbucks expands mobile payments to all sites – USATODAY.com – RealtyGo blog

Starbucks Goes Mobile Pay!

Now you can pay for that latte with cash, credit card or mobile phone.

Starbucks (SBUX) , which tested mobile payments in select stores and Target outlets in the past year, expanded the program nationally to all its 6,800 company-owned stores starting Wednesday.

There are a handful of mobile payment experiments in operation now, including Bling Nation in Palo Alto, Calif., and Mocapay in Denver. But this is the biggest rollout to date for mobile payments, says Gwenn Bézard, analyst with the Aite Group, who follows mobile payments. Tech analysts expect substantial growth in mobile payments in coming years as more of us lead our daily lives on our phone.

 

TALKING TECH VIDEO: How Starbucks’ pay-by-mobile app works

CORPORATE PULSE: Executive Suite front page

 

“This is a more convenient way to pay,” says Starbucks Vice President Brady Brewer. “Your wallet or purse isn’t always with you, but the mobile phone is.” Customers pay using apps available on their iPhones or BlackBerrys. Download the app, and fund it with your credit card. When you reach the barista at the counter, hit the “pay” button, show the bar code, and scan it to complete the transaction. Starbucks says it’s working on an app for Android phones.

“Starbucks is using an interim technology that’s available today,” Bezard says. But he thinks the future of mobile payments will be based on a technology called near-field communications (NFC), which embeds a payment chip inside the phone.

NFC is popular in Asia, where many phones already have built-in chips, and retailers to support them. Juniper Research says $200 billion will be spent worldwide via mobile payments by 2012, up from $100 billion in 2010.Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile recently announced plans for a joint venture, Isis, to offer NFC purchasing via phones. Testing is scheduled to begin next year.

The success of its gift card sparked Starbucks’ interest in mobile payments. “Customers liked the speed of the card,” Brewer says. About one in five retail transactions are done with the card, and customers have loaded more than $1.5 billion onto them, Starbucks says.

Starbucks began testing mobile payments in 2009. To expand nationally, it had to retrofit older scanners with new ones that could accept the bar code from the apps. “We’re going to see big adoption,” Brewer says. He wouldn’t say how much the changeover cost the company.

If anyone has information at the estimated costs for starbucks to integrate this modality and upgrade their hardware and Scanners, please share. Thank You!

Starbucks expands mobile payments to all sites – USATODAY.com RealtyGo.co

RealtyGo – Concept Phone of Tomorrow… Innovate!

 

LINE Phone

RealtyGo / Innovate