The Financial Times just may go down in history as the publication that stood up to Apple.

Last year 10% of FT’s new subscription revenue came through the iPad. But two months ago Apple started requiring all in-app purchases go through the iTunes store, and it seems that FT is standing its ground…perhaps to its detriment. The Financial Times apps have disappear from iTunes.

Apparently, though, the skirmish isn’t about money. Financial Times is more concerned with the customer data it gathered by processing its own subscriptions, according to PaidContent. It just goes to show the value of information. What’s a measly 30% of 10,000 (or more) iPad subscribers when you can mine the subscriber info for valuable stats that can make your product more alluring to advertisers.

Today, Google announced plans to buy Motorola Mobile, or as one of my friends put it in a Facebook post: “In other news, Google moves forward with their plans for total world domination… good for them.” The search giant says:

The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

This move, however, has some anti-monopoly hackles raised. Jamie Court, president and CEO of Consumer Watchdog, issued a statement raising questions about the acquisition. He wrote: (more…)

If you’re one of those people who spent last weekend fretting about the end of the world, then today’s Google announcement of a mobile payment platform probably has you up in arms. Yes, people well-schooled in the signs of the apocalypse well know that a cashless society is often said to be one of those signs. Mobile payment solutions abound, but I’ve yet to be standing in line at a Target — or even a futuristic IKEA — and see a fellow shopper whip out his or her smart phone to pay. Nope, we’re all still punching our pin numbers into a keypad. But if anyone can finally convince the masses to use their phones to pay their grocery bill, it’s probably Google…or Apple. (more…)

As viewers move further away from the traditional television experience, it seems it was only a matter of time before something like HBO GO became a reality. This new app allows HBO subscribers access to the channel’s content on the go, differing slightly from similar “TV Anywhere” apps, but not quite embracing a business model independent of cable providers.

“HBO GO differs in that the user must have a subscription to HBO via a cable provider, without an HBO subscription, there is no way for a consumer to use HBO GO. Apps such as Hulu+, allow users to sign up without having a cable connection. And other TV everywhere apps that are provided by a cable companies, only offer a small selection of VOD videos from certain channels,” says Bryan Gonzalez,  director of Social & Digital Media Technology Labs at the  Entertainment Technology Center @ USC. “Time Warner currently is the only TV everywhere app that offers streaming channels, but the app’s streaming capability is restricted to only occur within the consumer’s home. HBO GO on the other hand truly offers HBO content anywhere the user goes.” (more…)

I was reading a post over on min Online about magazines and media brands who have, perhaps, given up on trying to lock users into branded mobile content thanks to the rise of apps like Flipboard. Colin Crawford wrote:

While traditional publishers are looking for answers they tend to favor solutions that lock consumers into their branded content they produce and try and charge for access. Now, to meet customer needs, a number of personalization and aggregation services have launched on the iPad.

I started to think about writing a blog post on the topic, and then realized I’d already written a column about just this subject. In my April T.0 column I asked “The Daily: Is It What Tablet Users Really Need?”My conclusion was, “Probably not.” I wrote: (more…)

iPhone users — myself included — let out a giant, collective gasp this week when we were told that our beloved devices were spying on us. How could it be? These little machines that spend all day with us, from the time its alarm wakes us up in the morning, to the mid-afternoon when we use it to check Facebook, to when we’re checking our email one last time before bed are tracking our every move. Or at least that’s what some were saying when they found a cache of location data after syncing their phones to iTunes, but Apple says it just ain’t so. (more…)

Well, mobile payments may actually finally be going mainstream. Despite Google’s aspirations to be king of the mobile payment mountain, it seems the search giant may be lagging a bit behind.

Payfone, a provider of mobile payments, yesterday announced the closing of its $19 million strategic funding round, making it one of the largest mobile payments funding rounds to date. American Express is the largest strategic investor in this round of funding, which also includes Verizon Investments Inc., Rogers Ventures, and from existing investors Opus Capital, BlackBerry Partners Fund and RRE Ventures. Payfone’s new funds will be used to continue innovations in its market approach and to support its global expansion across North America, EMEA, Latin America and Asia.

Context just may be the most important buzzword of the moment when it comes to user experience on the web and in mobile platforms. CoreMedia conducted an independent study, which surveyed over 1,100 German and U.S. internet users, with the  aim of providing insight into consumer satisfaction with digital experience across several key areas, including website personalization and mobile platforms.

The CoreMedia survey found that companies are failing to meet expectations for the majority of consumers, with 56%  indicating they do not feel as though website content is tailored to their personal needs or preferences. When asked to identify their preferences for online experiences, 69% of respondents chose the ability to quickly find what they are searching for as the top priority. Almost a quarter of the respondents selected websites that easily adapted to current needs, and 14%  of survey respondents identified being able to comment, recommend, or retweet as taking precedence. (more…)