Most of you know I am not an Apple fanboy. I have been a loyal Android user mostly because of the openness and lack of closed walls. Reading this I have to admit Apple nailed it. This patent is so simple and only works in a closed environment. If Apple can displace all the POS operating systems in the next 24 to 48 months I think they will create enough continued demand for their product to just save them from being just another technology company in the wearables space .

Apple has applied for a patent (via AppleInsider) related to its new Apple Pay mobile payment system, and within the document, it goes into detail about how the near field communication between the phone and the payment terminal at participating stores works. Essentially, it explains in more technical and specific terms what Apple talked about on stage at its iPhone 6 event in September, but it’s well worth a closer look, especially as it details some of the things Apple didn’t talk about with much specificity, like how Apple Pay works on accessories like the Apple Watch.

The filing discusses the basics, like how Apple’s new smartphone uses an NFC module to communicate to a merchant’s payment terminal. But it discusses in detail the way the tokenized transfer occurs, whereby shoppers only transfer a special, single-use digital token that the POS system will decode using a shared secret, but at no time does a user’s credit card information ever actually leave the secure enclave contained on the user’s device. That applies to the Apple Watch, too, which also has a secure enclave chip to store payment info.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/09/apple-patent-on-the-nfc-mechanics-of-apple-pay-details-its-inner-workings/

Wearable devices are everywhere. Most use sensor technology to measure things your body is or isn’t doing. Another class of devices, like insulin pumps, takes action on the measurement data to change some condition in the body.

One Los Gatos, Calif.-based company, Thync, is developing wearable devices in that second class, but the body part being acted upon is the mind.

The company says its startups use neurosignaling algorithms — waveforms that signal neural pathways — to shift and optimize the wearer’s state of mind in areas related to energy, calm, and focus. Thync says its device taps directly into the user’s brain.

In short, the device sends low-grade electronic or ultrasound signals to the cranial nerves, which send information to the brain. The Thync device can currently send three types of signal: one for calm, one for focus, and one for energy. You can control the type and intensity of the signal using an app on your phone.

Thync represents the consumerization of a technique called transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) that doctors have been using for years to treat depression, head injuries, learning disabilities, and poor memory.

Now it will be used for serving up good vibes.

The company says it has raised $13 million in venture funding from Khosla Ventures since it launched in 2011. “Thync is at the groundbreaking intersection of neuroscience and consumer technology,” said Khosla Ventures’ Samir Kaul in a statement.

Thync was founded by engineering and neuroscience experts from Stanford, Harvard, and MIT. The company says it’s built “a safe, effective, aesthetically designed lifestyle device that anyone can use.”

The wearables market is projected to top more than $7 billion in 2015, with an estimated 300 million wearables to be shipped. Thync says its technology platform comprises neurosignaling algorithms, hardware, software, and biomaterials

http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/08/thyncs-neurosignalling-wearable-will-change-your-mind-literally/

Already, the companies employing these types of advanced analytics have seen significantly improved click-through rates and higher conversion rates (between three and ten times the average). Additionally, McKinsey analysis shows that using data to make better marketing decisions can increase marketing productivity by between 15 and 20 percent—that’s as much as $200 billion given the average annual global marketing spend of $1 trillion.5

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/digitizing_the_consumer_decision_journey

Digital customer service has become a significant factor in both purchase and service transactions: roughly 70 percent of telecommunications purchase journeys occur in part or in whole online, as do 90 percent of service journeys.1 Digital customer service also provides superior customer satisfaction: our research shows that 76 percent of telecommunications customers are satisfied with a customer service journey that is fully digital, compared with 57 percent satisfaction for interactions through traditional channels (exhibit). When you consider that migration to e-care can, in our experience, reduce call volumes and operating expenses by 25 to 30 percent, its benefits seem obvious.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/why_companies_should_care_about_ecare

As a former lighting designer for theater, this stuff interests me. Natural white and blue are tough to replicate. LED does a good job and at lower energy consumption.

Two scientists in Japan and one at the University of California at Santa Barbara were awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in physics for helping create the LED light, a transformational and ubiquitous source that now lights up everything from our living rooms to our flashlights to our smart phones
https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/world/europe/nobel-prize-physics/index.html

Our on body tech will be a retail or marketer’s best friend. Trust me, it’s about to get crazy out there.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102044569