Google is unveiling a new age for payments through its electronic wallet for Android Phones at an event held at New York. It will be launching its long time plan of mobile payments which will be known as 'Google Wallet.' Users of Android phones equipped with an NFC chip will be able to use this new service. Initially the service will be made accessible to cities like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
This new method of payment will allow consumers to make store purchases and redeem coupons by waving smartphones at checkout counters. The service is expected to tap near-field communications technology and would allow users to pay for retail purchases by holding the devices up to a specialized reader at checkout counters.
Near-field communications allows devices like mobile phones, to swap and exchange information wirelessly when they are near each other, about 4 inches. Consumer can use the NFC technology to pay for items by using their smartphones to send payments directly from their bank accounts to a store terminal.
Speculations were high that Google was partnering with MasterCard and Citigroup to allow the financial giants' customers to use their debit and credit cards to pay for purchase from their Android smartphones. It is to be noted that Google also paid for the installation of thousands of NFC short-range, wireless point-of-sale systems from VeriFone at stores in New York and San Francisco.
It is anticipated that around 40 million to 50 million NFC-equipped phones will be sold in 2011, according to a research firm Forrester. However initially only two phones will be available with NFC chips installed in United States and they are Google Nexus S and the Nokia C7 or Astound. Soon many more will join the league once the service will kick start.
Apart from Google many other companies are also keen to make utilization of the demand for mobile payments business. Microsoft is planning to include NFC technology in a future phone of Windows Phone 7. T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon have already formed a joint-venture payment system called Isis which is predicted to hit the market soon. However Apple's upcoming iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 are believed to be without NFC.
The only big challenge that lies ahead of these giants is to instill the confidence among its consumers about the security as mobile payments still scares people of losing their money and data. And there are some bad guys always watching, to take advantage of such new technology.
The Internet, which has transformed the way we live, work, shop, socialise and now, is also emerging as a powerful catalyst for job creation, says a survey by global management consultancy McKinsey.
According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, the Net has a sweeping impact on growth, prosperity and has "created 2.4 jobs for every job that it has destroyed".
"The Internet is a contributer to net job creation," McKinsey Global Institute said in its report, titled, 'Internet matters: The Net's Sweeping Impact on Growth, Jobs and Prosperity'.
"While jobs have been destroyed by the emergence of Internet, many more have been created during the same period, including jobs directly linked to the Internet, such as software engineers and online marketers as well as more traditional jobs -- logistics to deliver online purchases," it added.
McKinsey further noted that notwithstanding the fact that some jobs have been destroyed by the emergence of the Internet, a detailed analysis of the French economy showed that while the Internet has destroyed 500,000 jobs over the past 15 years, it has created 1.2 million other jobs.
"A net addition of 700,000 jobs, or 2.4 jobs created for every job destroyed," it said.
This result was also reflected in another McKinsey survey of more than 4,800 SMEs, which showed that 2.6 jobs were created for every one destroyed, confirming the Internet's capacity to create jobs across all sectors.
McKinsey examined the impact of the Internet on 13 countries -- the members of the G8, Brazil, China, India, South Korea and Sweden.
In the 13 countries that the survey covered, the Internet contributed an average 3.4 percent to the GDP, more than agriculture, energy and other better established industries.
Meanwhile, the United Nations, in its millennium development goals, lists Internet penetration as a key metric in efforts to reduce poverty and encourage rational development.
Around two billion people are now connected to the Internet and the number is growing by 200 million each year.
India and China are strengthening their position in the global Internet ecosystem rapidly and are showing growth rates of more than 20% in terms of new connections.
