The days of tactile keyboards on mobile phones could be numbered, suggests Market Platform Dynamics CEO Karen Webster in her commentary on Google’s acquisition of Motorola. Will BlackBerry devices from Research In Motion (RIM) soon be on the rim of extinction? Or could RIM’s plans for the first BlackBerry smartphones with built-in NFC support put it “near” the front of the mPayments ignition race? Check out the latest Community Commentary and join in the debate with other PYMNTS.com readers.
Related Article: RIM to Debut First Blackberry with Built-In NFC Support: Are Contactless Payments Next?
Commentary: After Google Buys Motorola, What’s Next for the Payments Ecosystem?
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“The world is invaded by Androids. Is it in too late? There are forecasts of experts to 60 million Android handsets in the next 2 years! Good luck to RIM, but do not forget to make your applications more open platform!” – Josenesio Pedrosa
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“I don’t think people are worried about NFC on phones. I think we are welcoming it with open arms, and I think Josenesio’s comment is more about the looming pain for RIM as they loose more market share… Nokia to me are one of the biggest losers in NFC. I have my old Nokia 6131 NFC phone, now about six years old, a C7 (with built in NFC waiting to be activated), the new N9 is going on sale with NFC, yet the world is more aware of RIM and the release of a few reworked phones.” – Howard Furr-Barton
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“I read through this and could not stop thinking how there are so many people “changing” the world and how the consumer behaves. RIM, Apple, and apparently Howard (just kidding). The goal of mobile commerce is much bigger than the ability to download an offer or transact a payment request. The goal was to find a way to reduce costs of the transaction, increase advertising revenue, find more transaction points, and utilize a new method of payment (cell phone). The entire customer experience is actually making them believe they are in control when they are really not.” – John Maschenic
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“I think the Venn diagram of bleeding-edge smartphone (ie: the types that would have NFC in the near future), users and public transportation users would not show tremendous (eg: more than 50%) overlap, so I dont expect public transport to lead to adoption alone… it’ll require a constellation of different apps… ecoupons, ereceipts, mpayments, public transport, traveler documents, etc. etc.” – Ed Boyle
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“How do you think the phone companies will get customers familiar with the NFC capabilities of their phones? Unless they have a reason to try using it (such as for public transport), I think the Joe Bloggs of the world will just forget that their phone even has it. That is, I don’t reckon putting it in a phone will be enough to overcome the chicken-and-egg problem. If I was a phone company, I’d be saving my money to spend it on phone developments that people would be more likely to use.” – Mike Wilkinson
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“Great news and this could be add more stable benefits to the BlackBerry users and market in Latin America. Great news, and this could add more stable benefits to the BlackBerry users and market in Latin America.” – Juan Gomez
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“I can’t see real use, more than a Beta experience, of NFC Technologies in mobile phones in the short term. Do you?” – Jaime Cuesta Tovar
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“I hope this will be the first step.” – Andrea Prini
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“In reader mode, I fail to see the added value of the technology over what we have today. Using a phone’s camera and taking a picture is so common today, it will be difficult to beat this approach with any new technology unless it also gets adopted in our everyday interactions. I think using NFC in reader mode will be a result of the penetration of the technology rather than the icebreaker. Yes, it is simple, it may be useful, but it is not revolutionary, and the incentive is missing.” – Andras Vilmos
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