e-reader : 2010 to be a confirmation that edition will go to electronic

After the noisy announcement of Apple ipad and all the new Android e-readers to come this year, 2010 looks to be the year of a new area : electronic edition versus paper. Already millions of people now own Kindles or Sony e-reader. And more important Kindle owners read, a lot. When Amazon have both editions : paper and e-book, they sell 6 Kindle books (ebook for Amazon e-reader) for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books — free Kindle books would make the number even higher.
There is now a competition on which format should be e-books : propriatary or e-pub. e-pub is supported by Apple and Google, so....Wikipedia has got a definition of EPUB : electronic publication alternatively capitalized as ePub, EPub, or epub, with "EPUB" preferred by the vendor, is a  content, meaning that the text display can be optimized for the particular display device. The format is meant to function as a single format that publishers and conversion houses can use in-house, as well as for distribution and sale. It supersedes the Open eBook (more).
It will be interesting to see how european and specially french editors will cope or not......
Here after some statistics :
US Trade Wholesale Electronic Book Sales

Source : http://www.idpf.org/doc_library/industrystats.htm
China and Taiwan agreed in principal to promote the EPUB e-book format for the Chinese-language market which will give a push to this market in Asia and so world wide. 


Source : http://www.pcworld.com/article/183506/china_and_taiwan_agree_to_promote_epub_ebook_standard.html

Orange Business Live wrote about RFID in a very complete summary

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology was first envisaged just after the Second World War, when transponders for aircraft were developed using a precursor of the technology, as outlined in The history of RFID. Today, thanks to advances in miniaturisation and radio communications, millions of RFID tags now litter our retail products, warehouses, medical institutions, and even our pockets. What are they, how can they be used, and how are they developing in line with future requirements?

Passive RFID

The most common type of RFID is known as a passive device. It requires an external electromagnetic source to activate. In a passive scenario, a reader provides enough power for passive fight the tag to transmit its data over a short distance. It is primarily used for applications in which a dormant item must be read infrequently, such as in retail, where tags on items of clothing may occasionally need to be queried.

There are many other applications for passive RFID. Many concern themselves with tracking a unique identifier attached to a physical object. For example, passive or ID tags can help companies to trace items through the supply chain, ensuring that they are legitimate, and in the right place at the right time. This becomes particularly important in highly regulated applications with items prone to tampering, such as pharmaceuticals, for example.

Active RFID

Active RFID has a number of differences compared to passive RFID. It contains a battery, allowing it to autonomously broadcast its signal, without waiting to be activated by an external reader. It also has a much longer range, of 100 metres or more, compared to the 3 metre range inherent in passive RFID tags. Generally, active RFID will contain more data, and will cost somewhere in the region of 50 times the price of a passive tag.

The benefit of active RFID tags is that they can be used within a large designated area, such as a warehouse, or a road toll system. Conversely, the shorter range of passive RFID tags makes them more suitable for scanning very narrow areas through which high volumes of goods will pass (such as a retail point of sale system).

Because of its broader range, active RFID has significant potential in enterprise applications such as ERP, where supply chains must be monitored in environments that cannot be very closely scan. One example might be shipping containers, which might be scanned from a dock while they are sitting on a boat.

Machine to machine (M2M) applications can be used to automatically scan active RFID tags in such environments, feeding the data through to ERP software applications that can use it to update product and material workflows. For example, a container of chilled food might log its temperature constantly on an active RFID sensor, which might communicate its logs to an M2M application when it hits the port. This could relay the history to an ERP application, which might automatically adjust the scheduling of the food on retail shelves based on the data. ERP applications such as SAP and Oracle support RFID, butcommentators suggest that some middleware customisation may be necessary to make it work seamlessly.

NFC and mobile phones

Based on RFID, Near Field Communication (NFC), as promoted by theNFC Forum, is a two-way communication technology that works over much shorter distances, measured in centimetres rather than metres. Consequently, it is referred to as a contactless technology, which generally requires one device to be touched to another (or at least waved very close) for a data transaction to be completed.

One area of NFC that is beginning to open up is low value transactions.MasterCard operates a system called PayPass, in which a card preloaded with plants can be tapped against the reader to pay for groceries, and other items. Visa has a similar system called payWave.

Oyster card, designed to store credits for use on the London public transport system, also uses NFC technology. Users charge up the card by paying at a kiosk, and then touch the card against a reader when they want to begin a trip. The card is then debited to reflect the payment.

The ultimate logical conclusion for NFC technology is to put it directly into mobile phones, which are becoming hubs for general day-to-day interaction with social networks and consumer services. Instead of touching a card to pay for a low value item or gain paid admission to a service, users will be able to touch their phones to a reader instead.

Projects supporting this idea are already underway. For example,Orange conducted a trial with Reading Borough Council in the UK in late 2008, enabling members of the public to pay for past services using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone with an NFC chip and a SIM card to authorise payment.

Security

However convenient NFC technology may turn out to be, there are also significant security implications. In June 2008, Dutch academics developed a technique to clone an access card using the Mifare chip, which forms the basis for the Oyster card, among many other smartcards.

Other security problems have been discovered with RFID. For example, Adam Laurie, a researcher specialising in RFID security, demonstrated how to clone the UK's recently introduced biometric passport in 2007. He managed to guess a key, printed inside the passport, which is meant to give access to the encrypted data on the RFID chip. They key was not created randomly, and he could guess it using specific facts about the recipient of the passport. He then used the key to read the chip from a demonstration passport which was still inside a sealed envelope, as it would be sent in the mail. This would then enable him to clone the passport.

Cost and reliability

The manufacturing cost of passive RFID tags is far lower than their active counterparts, because of the simple components, and the lack of a battery. As large retailers including Wal-Mart mandate the use of such tags, it is hoped that the economies of scale will continue to bring down costs. Reliability problems, which were an issue with some of the earlier RFID tags, are now being resolved thanks to better technology. It is becoming easier to read these tags when they are positioned on and around lots of metal objects such as clothes hangers, for example.

Standards

Perhaps the biggest barrier to the take-up of RFID is the lack of standardisation. There is no single body governing a global standardisation movement, although EPCGlobal, an organisation set up to standardise electronic product code techniques, is currently the main contender. EPCglobal created the EPC Gen2 standard, focusing on passive RFID, and designed to bring the cacophony of different protocols underpinning the medium together.

Source : http://blogs.orange-business.com/live/2010/01/chips-with-everything---an-rfid-primer.html

Germany to roll out eID card from November 2010

Germany has unveiled the design of its new electronic identity card, which will start to be issued from November 2010. The credit-card sized eID is intended to ease the citizens’ transactions with government and businesses and to increase security as well as to enhance public confidence in electronic services. The front side has the image of the federal eagle, with the Brandenburg Gate depicted on the reverse. The card contains numerous security features and the holder’s details stored digitally. It can also support a digital signature. Both features will allow card holders to complete commercial online transactions as well as official business with government offices. Additionally, vending machines will support the use of the new ID card, mainly for age identification purposes, for example when purchasing cigarettes. Great emphasis will be put on privacy, data security and the citizens’ ability to self-determine the extent of access to their personal data. All information and transactions will be securely protected by means of internationally-recognised and established encryption techniques. An access system based on authorisation certificates issued by the state regulates who can access which identity data stored on the card. The ID card holder keeps full control as to what information will be sent over the Internet to relevant service providers, by authorising access to selected data categories and by using a six-digit PIN number. Access to particularly sensitive information, such as the digital photograph or the fingerprints, is available only to the explicitly competent authorities. In addition, the ID card must be presented physically in order to prevent unnoticed access. In any case, biometric data cannot be transferred to any commercial service providers or via the Internet. For more information (in German), click here. Source : http://www.eu-forum.org/article.php3?id_article=1025

Sauvegardes des données dans des environnements virtuels

Orange Business dans son blog a publié en 3 partie une intéressante analyse du nouveau challenge de la sauvegarde en environnement virtuel. Nous reprenons ci-après ces informations :

La virtualisation d'une architecture est une excellente occasion de refondre la sauvegarde et donc de repenser la philosophie en profitant de la flexibilité des outils de l'écosytème virtuel.

Dans une architecture physique traditionnelle, nous sommes confrontés aux acteurs traditionnels du monde de la sauvegarde (que la décence m'interdit de nommer ici comme disait l'autre). Lorsque l'on aborde une plateforme virtuelle, on doit approcher différement le sujet de la sauvegarde.

 La virtualisation d'une plateforme inclut nécessairement la mise en place d'un stockage centralisé. L'introduction de cette composante est l'occasion de repenser la sauvegarde en intégrant une solution "disk to disk to tape" (D2D2T).

Le propos d'une telle solution est de raccourcir les fenêtres de sauvegarde en effectuant une sauvegarde au niveau du stockage centralisé entre les catégories 1 (production) et 2 (sauvegarde). Une fois la partie D2D effectuée, on peut alors externaliser les données avec une étape D2T sans contrainte horaire puisque l'on adresse uniquement des données de sauvegardes et non celles de la production.

Le stockage doit alors être dimensionné selon le niveau de rétension souhaité. On complète alors en externalisant selon la politique d'archivage souhaitée.

Aujourd'hui : La plupart des entreprises ont investi beaucoup de temps (donc d'argent) et d'énergie dans la mise en place d'une solution de sauvegarde globale industrialisée, parfois couplée à des ordonnanceurs afin de pouvoir gérer la sauvegarde de leurs infrastructures.
Dans les discussions avec les équipes en charge de ce périmètre, le constat est assez étonnant: la virtualisation n'a engendré aucune remise en question de la solution, de la stratégie associée ni même de la philosophie qui a poussé l'entreprise vers cette solution au moment de son choix.
Le résultat ? Des plateformes virtualisées sauvegardées avec des solutions pour plateformes physiques, une politique d'agent sur chaque VM etc. le tout gentiment envoyé sur bande par l'intermédiaire d'une infrastructure aussi couteuse que généralement peu adaptée.

Demain: La virtualisation d'une plateforme implique de repenser l'ensemble des services qui y sont associés (sauvegarde, restauration, supervision, déploiement). La généralisation du D2D2T ( voir part1 ) est assez prévisible grâce à la flexibilité et des performances qui caractérisent cette solution.
Le développement de l'écosystème virtuel a engendré la naissance de nouvelles solutions adressant les services mentionnés plus haut. ces solutions sont radicalement différentes de leurs prédécesseurs en environnement physique. La distinction la plus majeure (en dehors de la dé duplication native des données) réside dans le fait de traiter les VMs pour ce qu'elles sont: un ensemble de fichiers à plat. On abandonne ainsi la philosophie de sauvegarde d'une système d'exploitation au profit de la sauvegarde d'un jeu de fichiers à plats dont on assure la consistance avant sauvegarde en s'appuyant généralement sur la technologie des snapshots bien connue dans l'environement virtuel. Cette méthode permet la restauration de tout ou partie d'une VM (avec une granularité différente selon l'éditeur) et parfois d'un fichier même au sein de l'OS guest.
La rapidité et la fléxibilité de restauration en D2D est sans comparaison avec la gestion de bandes même si l'externalisation reste à priori assurée par les média de ce type (la réplication de baies SAN intersite pourrait toutefois changer la donne assez rapidement sauf pour ce qui est de la partie archivage).
Enfin le D2D permet aux équipes de production de la plateforme virtuelle, d'acquérir une indépendance et donc de la réactivité pour des restaurations récentes sans pour autant impacter le périmètre de la sauvegarde sur bande traditionnelle gérée par une équipe dédiée la plupart du temps.

Il est possible d'ajuster le niveau de haute disponibilité d'un service au sein d'une infrastructure virtuelle en optimisant l'ensemble des mécanismes existants afin d'obtenir le meilleur équilibre "cout / haute disponibilité" pour une brique donnée.

Actuellement les plateformes virtualisées rendent possible la redondance et la haute disponibilité sur l'ensemble des maillons de l'infrastructure (stockage, hyperviseur, réseau). Cette haute disponibilité a un coût. Cette logique de redondance est aujourd'hui prolongé au sein de la gestion des VMs elles-mêmes. Des fonctionnalités comme HA sont désormais complétées par le "fault tolerance", la réplication de VMs. Il devient ainsi possible de palier à n'importe quelle défaillance hardware en assurant une continuité de service de manière automatisée ou d'un simple clic.

Cette souplesse et ce niveau de haute disponibilité ont naturellement un coût. L'attribution de ressources physiques en doublon dans un cas, l'allocation d'un espace de stockage double dans l'autre.

Ces fonctionnalités ne sont, bien entendu, pas généralisables à l'ensemble d'une plateforme (sauf absence totale de limite budgétaire, mais les années 90 sont bien terminées ...).

En revanche, elles permettent d'adapter le niveau de haute disponibilité de chaque VM selon son niveau de criticité, les contraintes financières et de gestion des ressources ... et cela de manière évolutive tout au long de la vie de la plateforme.

Source : http://blogs.orange-business.com/virtualisation/2009/10/de-la-vraie-granularite-dans-une-sauvegarde-virtuelle-part-i.html

Mophie To Launch Their Own iPhone Credit Card Reader

Known primarily for their battery packs and cases, Mophie is about to jump into a whole new ball pit: credit card readers for the iPhone.

Considering that Mophie has thus far stuck solely to the hardware end of the iPhone add-on game, this seems like an odd market for them to dive into. So much so, in fact, that I initially thought they were just releasing the credit card reader (pictured above) as an alternative to typing your credit card into various applications by hand or, perhaps, as a more aesthetically pleasing piece of hardware for Jack Dorsey’s Square.

With a bit more reading, however, it looks Mophie might be prepping to square off (had to do it) against Dorsey’s service with a software solution of their own. Here’s what Mophie said on the matter:

Marking its first combination hardware and private label iPhone application device, mophie is launching its innovative new credit card reader, empowering users to complete financial transactions on the go.

The wording of that was just vague enough that it left things a bit unclear; they are indeed bringing their own software – but what was it for? Under that definition, this could still be little more than an easier (if a bit silly) way for consumers to input credit card numbers whilst ordering online. We prodded for more info – here’s the response:

The credit card reader works with an iPhone application and is meant for small business owners to conduct transactions easier.

 More to come at next week CES.

Source : http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/12/30/mophie-to-take-on-square-with-their-own-iphone-credit-card-reader/

Apple stores has got a pay systems for iPhone tech

Apple retail stores are looking to move away from Windows Mobile-based handheld checkout devices in favor of iPod touches with custom accessory add-ons, with a transition expected to follow the release of iPhone 3.0 later this year.

Apple's EasyPay terminals

Starting back in 2005, the company's retail outlets began using EasyPay, a specialized PDA device built by Symbol and running Windows Mobile, after a pilot program validated the practice of using employees with mobile devices to speed checkout lines. Apple has pushed to expand the program ever since.

The company has obvious interests in replacing the EasyPay devices with its own technology, however, both to improve reliability and efficiency, as well as to show off its own devices in action. Apple retail stores have already begin using iPod touch units running a Concierge app to triage visitors needing support and schedule appointments for them. Internally, store management also uses a Red Zone Report application to track store sales and performance.

However, Apple's initial positioning of its mobile technology as a smartphone has limited the company from using the iPhone to replace the more generic EasyPay devices outright. The main barrier has been a lack of support for peripheral devices in the iPhone hardware. EasyPay terminals need to plug into a credit card reader, something that hasn't been possible on the iPhone, but will become available with the move to the new iPhone 3.0 software.

Heal thyself

While Apple could build its own point of sale (POS) system from scratch based on the iPhone's technology, doing so would be an expensive undertaking just for the couple dozen devices needed by each of the 225 retail stores. It would also result in a completely proprietary system that the company probably couldn't successfully sell outside of a narrow niche of retail stores with similar needs. Devices like the EasyPay are open enough to allow for a wide variety of customization using Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, even if the tools and the underlying software aren't that reliable or desirable. That specialized market isn't enormous, so it would be difficult for Apple to justify trying to compete with its own iPhone-based POS device.

Instead of introducing a dedicated POS sibling to the iPhone and iPod touch family, Apple instead worked to expand the iPhone platform to suit the needs of developers. With iPhone 3.0, that includes new support for working with peripheral devices over USB through the Dock Connector and wirelessly using Bluetooth.

Demand for participation in the accessory program from developers proposing new hardware devices has exploded, with insiders noting that Apple is overwhelmed with interest. Apple itself will benefit from those platform stretching efforts. At last year's release of the iPhone 3G, various problems with the EasyPay Pocket PC devices ranging from unreliable hardware to buggy software resulted in frustrating delays that created long lines for buyers, particularly people trying to get the new iPhone 3G.

There's an app for that

This year, a software app is expected to help iPhone 3.0 devices sell themselves, quite literally. There's already POS titles available in the App Store, including CCTerminal, which costs $50 and enables users to ring up purchases using a credit card merchant account. Apple began promoting the new app in one of its latest ads showing how small businesses can ring up sales, print shipping labels, and track shipments using various iPhone apps. 


Source and more : http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/04/10/apple_stores_to_ditch_windows_easypay_systems_for_iphone_tech.html

VeriFone's iPhone Secure Payments Solution

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. announced PAYware Mobile, a complete payment solution for the Apple iPhone that provides small businesses with simple and secure card processing capabilities on the popular smartphone platform.

VeriFone’s payment solution for the iPhone (www.paywaremobile.com) puts mainstream payment processing capabilities in the hands of small business merchants who need a mobile card acceptance solution for enterprises such as home repair, small cafes, door-to-door sales, or virtually any other type of business. The hardware and software solution will begin shipping January 15 and is available free to those who sign up for a PAYware Mobile secure gateway service agreement.
PAYware Mobile includes a PA-DSS approved payment app and a sleek and durable card reader that slips over the iPhone to accommodate card swipes and allow merchants to avoid high-cost “card-not-present” fees. The combined hardware and software provides the strongest card payment security available for the iPhone, including VeriFone’s VeriShield Protect end-to-end encryption solution as a standard feature.
“The complete PAYware Mobile solution brings secure payment capabilities to merchants who previously could not justify a dedicated payment acceptance device. We believe this represents a potential market of millions of small businesses worldwide,” said VeriFone CEO Douglas G. Bergeron.
“Banks and processors are concerned about the security issues of unapproved merchants using unregulated software and insecure fobs to accept card payments,” Bergeron added. “PAYware Mobile leverages VeriFone’s proven payment and security expertise to provide the ultimate in end-to-end protection against payment fraud and misuse on an open and unregulated platform such as the iPhone.”
VeriFone’s iPhone payment solution will be available through existing bank acquirer and ISO channels, as well as direct from VeriFone. VeriFone also expects to eventually make PAYware Mobile available wherever mobile phone accessories are sold. Customers who sign up directly with VeriFone without existing merchant accounts will be directed to a variety of payment processor options.
PAYware Mobile is connected to First Data, and will be available for shipment through TASQ Technology, a First Data company.
Edward (Ed) Labry, president of First Data’s retail and alliance services business unit, said: “We are pleased to support VeriFone’s new iPhone payment solution, and believe it will generate many new electronic payment transactions.”
Transactions initiated by PAYware Mobile will be managed through VeriFone’s PAYware Mobile secure gateway and routed to one of many credit card processors for authorization and settlement. VeriFone expects to make PAYware Mobile fully available to most other processors.
The PAYware Mobile card reader utilizes a secure magnetic stripe read-head and firmware certified to the Federal Information Processing Standard FIPS 140-2. Card details are immediately encrypted during the card swipe process, meaning no sensitive data ever reaches the payment app, eliminating the possibility of compromise either on the iPhone or when information is transmitted over WiFi or cellular wireless.
Merchants can reserve a system and view service options and fees at www.paywaremobile.com. An EMV version for international payments will be available in the spring.
About VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (www.verifone.com)
VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (“VeriFone”) (NYSE: PAY) is the global leader in secure electronic payment solutions. VeriFone provides expertise, solutions and services that add value to the point of sale with merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems for the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare vertical markets. VeriFone solutions are designed to meet the needs of merchants, processors and acquirers in developed and emerging economies worldwide.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, and other risks and uncertainties affecting the operation of the business of VeriFone Holdings, Inc. These risks and uncertainties include: our ability to successfully deploy PAYware Mobile, our customers’ acceptance and adoption of our newly released products and applications, our ability to protect against fraud, the status of our relationship with and condition of third parties upon whom we rely in the conduct of our business, our dependence on a limited number of customers, uncertainties related to the conduct of our business internationally, our dependence on a limited number of key employees, short product cycles, rapidly changing technologies and maintaining competitive leadership position with respect to our payment solution offerings. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriFone is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

Source and more : http://pymnts.com/verifone-announces-iphone-secure-payments-solution-20091208005342/