Cellphones to get Emergency Broadcast System
updated 05:10 pm EST, Wed November 17, 2010

Emergency Broadcast System coming to cell phones?

The Emergency Broadcast System that will alert TV viewers of any emergencies may soon arrive on cellphones, Alcatel-Lucent said on Tuesday. The company is developing a Broadcast Message Center that will let government agencies send mass information regarding local, state or national emergencies. These text messages can warn users of anything from road closures to hurricanes and tornadoes.
The Broadcast Message Center will help phone companies meet FCC rules for a Commercial Mobile Alert System. All phones would get such alerts, though users could opt out of receiving the less serious ones such as about weather, traffic accidents or Amber Alerts.

US agencies such as the FCC, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency would have access to Alcatel-Lucent's service.

Alcatel-Lucent envisions each cell provider needing to install two message exchange centers to ensure reliability. Initially, the messages will be sent out in text form, but they will eventually support multimedia formats as well.


Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/11/17/emergency.broadcast.system.coming.to.cell.phones/#ixzz15fAP18WC

FROM CNN

Mobile-phone cash register Square open for business

(CNN) -- Square, an application that turns a smartphone into a mobile cash register, is open for business.
Created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square uses a free download and plastic card reader to let users accept credit card payments.

The app charges users 2.75 percent of the transaction cost plus a 15-cent fee -- a rate Dorsey said is in line with what retail stores pay for accepting cards.

"No one carries cash any more," Dorsey told CNN's "American Morning."

"Everyone carries a little plastic card and nobody carries their checkbook. So being able to accept credit cards means more money, more volume."


READ MORE ON THIS CRAPPY WEBSITE

FROM DAILY MAIL SHILLS


Shoppers are to be targeted with money-off electronic vouchers as they wander the High Street with the arrival of 'Ping Marketing'.

The electronic vouchers will be sent direct to a mobile phone by coffee shops such as Starbucks or beauty brands such as L'Oreal as they pass stores offering deals.

The technology relies on the GPS satellite system that allows mobile networks to track people every minute of the day via their mobile phone.

The system has created concerns that the tracking of the movements of consumers by stores chasing sales is a threat to personal privacy.

Customers who sign up for the scheme will be sent a text message when they pass every Starbucks

However, O2, which is the first mobile network to trial the system to Britain, says customers must actively opt-in before they receive any vouchers.

So far, the network has signed up more than one million Britons to the system.

The new way of targeting shoppers is known as geographic marketing, directing advertising and offers to people based on their specific location.

When the consumer moves within a set distance of the store  - passing through a so-called geo-fence - the voucher is sent automatically via a text message to their phone.

The idea has echoes of the film Minority Report in which Tim Cruise was recognised as he passed a Guinness billboard and a personalised greeting was played to him.

Starbucks and L'Oreal have signed up to a six month trial. Others will join soon and, eventually, most stores on the High Street could  use the system to entice custom.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1320846/Starbucks-bombard-people-money-vouchers-direct-phones-pass-coffee-shops.html#ixzz12WHMxtbz