Beacons Go Well Beyond Coupons

That’s too bad, because while it is easy to think only of coupons, advertising and data collection when we think of beacons, the reality is that these little transmitters could also make the world around us richer, more useful and more interactive.

They could enrich museum experiences, deliver the right recipe in the grocery store aisle, take us on interactive tours of cities and towns, let us quickly and easily check in to hotels or even pay at the gas pump. And used properly, sure, they could also deliver the right coupon at the right time.

We are in the early stages of beacons but on demand self service experiences are already underway. Cover allows customers to pay restaurant bills without waiting for the bill from the server. NFL stadiums are using beacons for on demand food ordering. MLB stadiums are serving stats and news through beacons to complement your game experience. Retailers are providing recipes through apps like Epicurious. The number of use cases are endless and developers will continue to launch services well beyond coupons. 

Unbundling Begins

HBO CEO Richard Plepler, speaking at an investor presentation hosted by HBO parent company Time Warner, said the company will start selling a digital version of its service that won’t require a pay  TV subscription in 2015.

Alipay Eyes US Market

Alibaba will provide marketing support for these retailers to raise awareness of their brands in China, Alipay says, and an Alibaba-affiliated logistics company is expected to remove some hurdles that traditionally present themselves when shipping goods into China. Alipay will take a cut of sales in exchange for its services, though the company declined to provide details on how much.

Alibaba's pursuit of the US market continues. Alibaba has yet to formally announce the results of 11 Main but providing Western retailers the option to access Alibaba's Chinese network is invaluable. Payments are step 1 but fulfillment is a bit more difficult when shipping from the US. Companies like Borderfree specialize in cross country/border shipments but unavoidable processing and duties often lengthen the shipment times and overall cost.

Rise of Yik Yak

Yik Yak now available on 1,000 college campuses, only a matter of time before this anonymous social platform is adopted by other mainstream audiences.

Way Too Many Clouds

The number of cloud services I use has become endless. Prior to outlining a consolidation goal, I thought it would be worthwhile to outline each service:

1. Personal photo store and sharing: Dropbox (Carousel) - Huge fan of the UI and simplicity. Downside is limited storage...unless you want to pay.
2. Work files: Box - Much more accepted in corporate environment and have grown up with Box as free service for over 50 GB. 
3. Work file sharing: Quip and Slack - Love both too much to figure out which to keep.
4. Personal files: Google Drive - Use Google Docs on personal laptops and/or Chromebook, no Microsoft apps.
5. Contacts: Google - For fear of leaving iOS, not wanting to export or Office contacts vanishing with job change.
6. Music: Amazon Cloud - Lots of storage with a few MP3 purchases and the ability to import AAC, MP3, etc. 
7. Books: Amazon Kindle - Simply for portability on various operating systems and devices.
8. Notes/Reminders: iOS Notes - Left Evernote after the debacle a year or so ago. I should probably go back.
9. Exercise: Nike Running - Only because it has my history. 
10. Social Messaging: iMessages - Leaves out texts and can't be access on 2 of my machines, need to transition to Facebook Messenger for full continuity.

10 is just too many. Ambitiously trying for 7 by year end. Any ideas?