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Apple Pay is the revolution that NFC was waiting for. Google had Google Wallet and Microsoft had a wallet. However neither set the world on fire. Google, despite its impact on the online world, was unable to get buy in to its wallet solution. It had some success with a small number of retailers using the technology but the main problem was the market itself. Each bank wanted its own solution, as did MasterCard, Visa and PayPal. In addition the USA still used swipe terminals and signature checks to process payments. This 40 year old process had been replaced by smarter secure 'chip and pin' almost everywhere else on the planet. Google wallet in action can be seen here . You can't but help notice that the video dates back a few years. Wallet never made it out of the USA because the banks didn't want to give Google a slice of the pie. Microsoft announced their own Windowsphone wallet in 2012. It wanted to reassure customers that using mobile payments was safe. So it ad

In a relatively small venue yesterday Apple announced a new set of iPads that improved their screens, introduced new models and, perhaps most significantly, added fingerprint recognition. If you are inclined to be an Apple fan then probably a good source in the UK media is the Guardian . The Guardian is always subtle in that it tries to appear 'independent' but always seems more positive than the technology warrants. For a more comprehensive view you can look at the supersite for Windows . The supersite is definitely favourable to Microsoft but the site has favourably reviewed competing technologies. You can watch the whole Apple event by following this link . The key thing for me is that Apple is now in the position of not disrupting the market but rather adapting to being the establishment. Apple coined the phrase "think different" to describe the way an Apple Mac user was challenging the Microsoft monopoly in the PC market. Right now Microsoft is not a monopoly in

One of the talking points in IT today is 'ecosystems'. What is meant by this is that if you have an Android mobile phone you are pretty much going to use Google Mail, Google Maps, Google Search and the Google Play Store. Similarly if you use IOS devices then you are in the Apple 'Itunes' universe. If you use Blackberry or Windowsphone you end up buying goods and services there. In years before the 'mobile revolution' the ecosystem was more simply described as 'lock in'. Up and coming products would tout openness and interoperability. Established players would be trying to keep consumers by making it more difficult to leave. Apple is a good example. The first Apple computer was built with standard components based around adding adaptors to increase functionality. The Mac was a closed environment in which upgrades were only possible from Apple dealers and, latterly, the Apple Store. They even added proprietary screws on their PCs and lots of glue to make m