Artificial Intelligence

Tampa, Fla. -- The global market for advanced services based on mobile context insights could be worth as much as $44 billion annually. A research report for Syniverse from economists at the Surrey Energy Economics Center (SEEC) values the market for operators providing services to brands based on end-user context data and proposes a sustainable long-term market structure with balanced, mutual benefit between operators, brands and consumers.

MasterCard and Syniverse are partnering to deliver a number of mobile and payment services for consumers to use when traveling abroad. The two companies are currently in pilot-phase for an opt-in service that will enable card transactions for users only when they have their mobile device switched on in a specific geolocation abroad.

Oakville, Canada – Tim Hortons is unveiling a strategic four-year growth plan for 2014-2018 called “Winning in the New Era.” The plan, which has specific segments for the Canada, U.S., and international markets, includes the opening of 300 new U.S. locations by 2018.

Purchase, N.Y. – MasterCard and Syniverse are partnering to deliver a number of mobile and payment services for consumers to use when traveling abroad. The two companies are currently in pilot-phase for an opt-in service that will enable card transactions for users only when they have their mobile device switched on in a specific geolocation abroad.

By Catherine Tabor, CEO, Sparkfly

Beacons provide retailers with an opportunity to increase engagement and help direct the in-store experience, and they indicate a shift in many brands’ digital and in-store marketing and merchandising strategies. However, they need to be connected to other consumer touchpoints to deliver their full potential value to retailers.

Merging the Physical and Digital

Madison, Wis. --  Solomo Technology Inc. has launched Solomo Exchange 2.0, a comprehensive platform for location analytics and mobile engagement enabling rapid implementation and management of smart locations. With a smart location, retailers can activate devices and sensors to realize analytics, build and measure campaigns and enhance engagement across a facility, multi-floor building or entire organization. Consumers are given complete control of their personal identity and location information.

PayPal and Samsung have collaborated to make Samsung Galaxy S5 users the first to be able to log in and shop at any merchant that accepts PayPal on mobile and in-stores using their fingerprint.

The new biometric feature means Galaxy S5 users will no longer need to remember passwords or login details. PayPal is touting itself as the first global payments company to support Samsung’s mobile fingerprint authentication technology.

London  -- ECommera, a provider of Big Data and omni-channel commerce solutions for retailers, has completed a $41 million Series C funding round. Dawn Capital led the round together with investors West Coast Capital, Frog Capital, EPlanet Capital, WPP and new partner Wti.