Oracle fires shot at Autonomy CEO

 Oh, this is good. Oracle issues statement, accuses Autonomy CEO, Mike Lynch of 'whopper'. The business software giant is somewhat miffed at Lynch's claim that he did not try to 'shop' them the firm before selling to HP.

Full story here. 

Spreading the word

During my obligatory mid-morning Facebook log in (I can't possibly wait until lunch, I need to know what my friends have been up to), I came across a Visa sponsored link which took me here.

Pretty cool page, I must say - lots of useful info such as a map showing the contactless retailers closest to you. I blogged last week about an FStech contactless and mobile payments roundtable. One of the key messages to come out of the roundtable was that the industry as a whole needs to look at how it deals with messaging at various levels because at the moment it is all over the place. So it's good to see Visa attempting to connect with millions of Facebook users in a clear and concise way.

I still think that in many ways contactless is a solution looking for a problem, a problem that many people just don't have. Ultimately, cash works very well for them. But I will leave that 'rant' for another day.

Upwardly mobile

Just going through my notes from last night's FStech roundtable (sponsored by Elavon) which covered contactless and mobile payments.

Thanks to Wil Cunningham of Lloyds Banking Group for chairing and to the attendees who contributed to what was an interesting, lively debate. I'll run an indepth review of the roundtable in the next issue of FStech, but for now here are some of the stand out comments:

When it comes to contactless, it's like someone has built a Ferrari but the roads are full of potholes.

There are real positives. Look at McDonald's - they rolled out contactless in a matter of weeks. They have a compelling contactless proposition.

The industry needs to look at how it deals with messaging at different levels. The idea that cash is dead is utter nonsense. The cards and payments industry does itself no favours by claiming otherwise. Cash will be with us for many years to come.

With the rise of Facebook, Google and Apple and NFC-enabled phones, are we approaching the stage where we say, why do we even need a bank account? We can make the switch from bank to cell phone provider.

This discussion brings up an interesting scenario. With the exception of the two ladies at the end of the table (NB: Sonia and Emma, FStech sales ladies), we are a bunch of boring old farts. We're talking about email but it is so last century. Young people are not even having this debate, they are on Facebook and so on and they are communicating and looking out for one another on a whole different level to us.

Banking rebooted

For me one of the highlights of Sibos 2011 has been the official launch of Movenbank.

Brett King, the author of BANK 2.0 and advisor to some of the world’s biggest financial services organisations, outlined his vision for the first bank to be launched globally that abolishes paper, plastic and hidden fees. Movenbank has been operating in stealth mode this year and is set to go live in October with a formal launch pencilled in for Q2 2012. The holding page promises a "third generation banking experience...built from the ground up for mobile and online."

The old guard have been out in force at Sibos 2011, but it's great to see new, innovative ventures competing for attention. An in-depth look at Movenbank will appear in the next issue of FStech.

Google Wallet ready to go

Word is the Google Wallet will launch this week in the US. The app allows customers to make purchases by tapping an NFC-equipped phone against a pay terminal.

And the first customer is none other than Seinfeld's George Constanza. Google has added an amusing teaser video on its YouTube channel. Watch it here. 

All together now: "My receipts! The chair! My tiger poster!!!"

To ring-fence or not to ring-fence?

So here's a question...The Vickers report has somewhat unsurprisingly attracted a flurry of media interest this week. Writing about the key points for the mainstream media, various hacks have gone with ring-fencing. Whilst others have opted for ring fencing and ringfencing. But which one is correct?

 

My money's on ring-fencing. Any advances on that?

Twitter ye not

Regular readers of this blog and FStech magazine will know that I took over as Editor earlier this year, joining from sister mag, Retail Systems.

 

Whilst at the helm of that publication, I established a thriving social media presence including a Twitter account which, as I write this, has 2,224 followers. After a sluggish start, retailers and retail tech vendors have really taken to Twitter and, even though I've left the sector, there are various people I continue to follow as their Tweets are insightful/amusing/informative/downright cynical (delete where applicable). Sadly, I can't say the same for FStech at this moment in time. That's not to say there aren't some excellent Tweeters out there, including @Chris_Skinner and @brettking.

 

But the same spirit of retweeting, of encouraging debate and comment, of creating a community feel, rather than remorselessly plugging one's company and services, doesn't appear to exist. Or maybe I'm just out of the loop here?

 

For the record, @FStechnology is closing in on the 1,000 followers landmark. Not to be sneezed at but someway behind our social media savvy friends over at Retail Systems.

2012 FStech Awards

The website for our 2012 awards is now live. You can find it here.

Three new categories this year: Best use of Technology in Customer Service;  Best use of Mobile; and Green IT Initiative of the Year.

This is my first FStech awards so really looking forward to receiving the entries, working with the judging panel to determine the winners and, of course, to the night itself.

Make a note in your diary: 28 March 2012 at the Lancaster London Hotel, Bayswater. Hope to see you there!