Mobile Payments: The biggest tech trend of 2011?

Author: Riley Alexander, MD, MBA

2010 saw the rise of Android and the introduction of the iPad, which has made the slate tablet the hottest device in computing (or recreated the sector if you remember the awful tablet PCs of the early 2000's). Despite this, I would still argue the biggest tech trend of 2010 was Groupon and its many clones. With recent valuation estimates placing the company at $15 billion and its largest clone, LivingSocial, selling over 1 million Amazon gift cards in one day, the daily deal/group coupon has changed the way consumers engage with business. 2011 may offer something of the same--mobile payments.

As of now, there are actually several ways to use your phone to make payments, but they all go about doing this in different ways. I'll try and cover some of the bigger ones, but I'm sure to leave out a few.

Card readers:

The simplest solution to paying with your phone is simply hooking up a card reader to your phone. There are several options for this...I was even surprised how many there are out there when I did a Google Shopping search for "iPhone credit card readers." The biggest player in this market is Square. Square is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey, who created a little website called Twitter. Square requires the use of a free card reader that plugs in to the headphone jack of your smartphone or iPad. The app and reader are free for the user. It is targeted at both the business user and personal user. The big drawback for personal use is, of course, that you have to have this square card reader sticking out of your phone or on you to use it.

iOS 4.2 brings multitasking to iPads

Apple has released iOS 4.2 to the iPad (and iPhone and iPod touch). This software update brings multitasking features to the Apple iPad. Plus, it allows you to have access to over 100 new features. Certain features are only available on the newest iPod touch models.

Apple's iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

Major Software Update Brings Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay & AirPrint to iPad

CUPERTINO, California-November 22, 2010-Apple® today announced that iOS 4.2, the latest version of the world's most advanced mobile operating system, is available today for download for iPad™, iPhone® and iPod touch®. iOS 4.2 brings over 100 new features from iOS 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 to iPad including Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay® and AirPrint.

Samsung Galaxy Tab coming to Verizon

I love to spread rumors. Right now, the biggest rumor about the Samsung Galaxy Tab (Android tablet) is that it's coming to Verizon Wireless. I don't know what's happening with the Verizon iPhone rumor, but if you're also waiting for a Verizon iPad, then you may be waiting a while.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7" Android tablet. Will 7" be enough? Maybe it's the ideal size for a mobile device that isn't a smartphone or a tablet PC. I think it's time to replace my Samsung Q1 Ultra (ultra-mobile PC). The Q1 Ultra has a 7" screen and it's currently running Windows 7. I'll have to compare these 2 devices side-by-side.

GlaxoSmithKline and MedTrust Online launch an oncology clinical trials iPhone app

This is being republished from MedicalSmartphones.com

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and MedTrust Online (an online physician portal) have launched a geolocating iPhone app that lets docs look up cancer clinical trials for their patients. Here are a few snippets from a June 4 press release:

With CancerTrials App, cancer doctors can easily find and share information about experimental therapies in clinical trials with their patients.  CancerTrials App provides a quick search menu based on 12 common cancers and more advanced features that refine searches based on criteria such as gender, age, trial status and more.  Once relevant trials are found, results can be mapped relative to the location of the iPhone or iPad running the application.

"GSK Oncology has always been interested in providing doctors and their patients with the access to the right information about the best therapies that improve patient outcomes," stated Jeffrey Bloss, M.D., Vice President, Medicine Development Leader for GSK Oncology.  "We are pleased to work with MedTrust Online to bring simple yet highly effective information-based solutions to the cancer community."

CancerTrials App is the first release of a mobile application for several platforms that connects to MedTrust Online's proprietary databases of oncology information at www.oncocentric.com.  Solutions for RIM's BlackBerry and Google's Android operating systems will be released over the next several months.  Oncologists using mobile communication devices will be able to share more with their patients as they search for the best therapies available in their communities.

About MedTrust Online, LLC
MedTrust Online LLC, www.medtrust-online.com, provides oncologists with clinically useful technology applications and solutions. MedTrust Online brings together experts in oncology, information technology, computational biology, pharmaceutical drug development, and personalized medicine to capture, organize, analyze, integrate and present the most up-to-date medical facts from a vast array of sources. This data is provided to doctors in a comprehensive yet concise way at www.oncocentric.com.

Apple iPad vs. netbook (or should you get a hybrid?)

If you've been thinking about purchasing a small and light mobile computer, you may have considered an inexpensive netbook. These tiny notebooks average $300-400 (or less) and are very small and light. What's great is that you can actually try them out at Best Buy, Staples, and even Sam's Club, Costco, and BJs.

Now that the Apple iPad has emerged on the scene, should you go for a netbook or should you get the iPad with the detachable keyboard? Keep in mind that the iPad runs the iPhone OS. Most netbooks run Windows 7 (and some still run Windows XP). How do you plan to use a tiny mobile computer? Business or pleasure?

I still think the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid may be the "ideal" device for people who are truly looking for a hybrid experience. If you want something that combines both a slate and a keyboard, then the U1 Hybrid could be the device for you. You can read a review of the U1 Hybrid on laptopreviewscentral.com and then you'll probably need to get your hands on one to decide if a hybrid makes sense. I'm still waiting to see how the HP slate compares with the iPad and the U1 Hybrid.

Voalté® Announces Support For Apple iPad

Mobile Healthcare – There’s a New Platform in Town
Voalté® Announces Support For Apple iPad, Integration Available by Apple Ship Date

SARASOTA, Fla. February 3, 2010 – Voalté®, the leader in Point-of-Care communication technology, today announced its Voalté One solution will be available on the Apple iPad platform. The application brings cutting edge communication technology to nurses and other point-of-care workers.

Voalté (nomenclature derived from Voice, Alarm, Text) currently consolidates all three functions on the versatile iPhone platform. The first-of-its-kind application enables users to send and receive text messages, make voice calls, and receive critical care alarms on the iPhone, providing faster response times to patient needs.

“We feel the iPad will be great tool for healthcare clinicians,” said Trey Lauderdale, vice president of innovation for Voalté. “While this is not necessarily a nurse’s only device, the increased screen size will be beneficial for physicians and other clinicians who want to connect with the EMR, view medical images, make diagnosis and educate the patient.”

Guided tours of the Apple iPad

Even though you haven't had a chance to hold an iPad, you can view these "guided tour" videos on the Apple website. This way, when you go to the Apple store, you'll be fully equipped to test the iPad so that you can determine if you should buy this device.

You're probably already familiar with the "pinch-to-zoom" feature that's found on the iPod touch and iPhone. Additional multi-touch gestures make navigation very easy on the iPad.   Well, I doubt I'll buy one this year, but maybe I'll get an iPad through a drawing or on Christmas.

To view the iPad Guided Tours, visit: http://www.apple.com/ipad/guided-tours/

The iPad as a patient empowerment tool

Patients want to be empowered. Physicians want their patients to improve the self-management of chronic conditions. Will the new Apple iPad bridge some of these gaps and become an effective patient empowerment tool?

On one hand, the iPad can be used by health care providers to teach patients about diseases and conditions. Imagine if every patient went to a doctor's visit with an iPad. The doctor could help the patient record some notes, access important patient education materials, and could also provide the patient with some digital media that could be used to help that patient manage his/her disease when he/she returns home. Patients frequently forget the majority of the conversation after leaving the doctor's office, so why not leverage digital media technology to capture some of the key points during that encounter with the physician?

When the patient gets home, imagine if he/she were to use the iPad as an entertainment device. Suddenly, the device could beep and remind the patient to take his/her pills. Also, a reminder could pop up to remind the patient to watch the disease management video that highlights some of the lifestyle modifications this patient needs to make over the next few weeks. The patient could record progress on the iPad and take the device to his/her next visit.

• The large screen on the iPad is ideal for those who have poor vision.
• The iPad is thin and light. It can be carried almost anywhere.
• Most doctors will know how to use an iPad. Don't they already use the iPhone?
• The iPad is easy for many people to use. After all, who's never used an iPod touch or an iPhone?
• The multimedia capabilities found on the iPad can be used to teach and empower patients.

Some have said that 2010 will be the year of the tablet PC. I think it's going to be the year when mobile slate devices begin to revolutionize health care.

Should medical schools require an iPad?

We've heard of several medical schools requiring students to use either an Apple iPhone or iPod touch, but what about the iPad? Some schools have been experimenting with digital e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle. Medical textbooks are frequently filled with photos and other color-rich images, so the grayscale Kindle isn't the ideal e-book reader for medical students who wish to carry their textbooks electronically. This is where the Apple iPad could revolutionize the way medical students learn.

Will some medical schools try to educate their students using digital technology? I'm sure it's bound to happen. What I don't know is whether the iPad will improve the way students learn medicine. Since I'm a technology advocate, I could make several compelling arguments to say that interactive learning is much more effective than traditional lectures and didactic education. I could also say that retention could be enhanced with the use of digital quizzes that occur at the point-of-learning. You can't do that with a text book, but you could do that with a digital version. I could argue that multimedia enhances the educational experience compared to static color images. But all these arguments could fail if students are not ready and willing to embrace technology to enhance their education.

The average pre-med college student is probably tech-savvy and digitally connected via a smartphone, several social media accounts, and a laptop computer. If you hand that student an iPad filled with medical textbooks and multimedia resources, will that student learn effectively? I would think so.

One in Five Physicians Likely To Purchase an iPad

One in Five Physicians Likely To Purchase an iPad, More than 60 Percent Intrigued By New Device According to Epocrates Survey 

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Epocrates, Inc., today announced its top-ranked clinical reference application for the iPhone® and iPod® touch devices will be customized for the new iPad™ computer tablet. The iPad is already receiving a warm reception from the healthcare industry with nearly 20 percent of clinicians expressing plans to purchase in an Epocrates survey conducted days after the Apple announcement.

“By optimizing our software for the iPad, we are capitalizing on the larger screen real estate and interactivity provided by this sophisticated device. We are committed to providing the most productive experience at the point of care, keeping physicians informed and focused on the patient rather than searching for answers”

“By optimizing our software for the iPad, we are capitalizing on the larger screen real estate and interactivity provided by this sophisticated device. We are committed to providing the most productive experience at the point of care, keeping physicians informed and focused on the patient rather than searching for answers,” said Rose Crane, chief executive officer of Epocrates. “We are continuing to explore the advanced capabilities of the iPad and ways it can help Epocrates address the evolving healthcare technology needs.”

In addition to announcing its engineers are using Apple’s SDK to optimize Epocrates’ offerings for the iPad, Epocrates surveyed more than 350 clinicians to gauge their interest in the new tablet. Findings include:

* Nine percent of survey respondents plan to buy the iPad when it was immediately available,
* Another 13 percent plan to buy it within the year,
* Thirty-eight percent of respondents expressed interest in the iPad with the request of more information to solidify their purchase decision.

Epocrates®, the first medical application available using the iPhone SDK, was quickly adopted by medical professionals across the nation. Today, as the most popular medical program in the Apple app store, more than one in five physicians are actively using Epocrates on their iPhone or iPod touch. The majority of Epocrates’ 275,000-plus physician subscribers actively use its free or premium software on a “smartphone” such as an iPhone, Blackberry® or Palm® device.

More than 900,000 clinicians worldwide rely on Epocrates software at the point of care to help improve patient safety and increase efficiencies with fast, reliable access to a host of clinical information, such as drug dosing, health plan coverage and disease treatment guidelines.

ABOUT EPOCRATES, INC.

Epocrates is a leading provider of clinical information and decision support tools to healthcare professionals. Epocrates currently has more than 900,000 healthcare professionals, including one in three U.S. physicians and 40 percent of medical students, in its active network. The company’s subscription-based services enable healthcare professionals to make more informed medical decisions, reduce medical errors and practice more efficiently. For more information about Epocrates, please visit www.epocrates.com/company.

Will the growth in health IT revive the tablet PC industry?

I use a tablet PC. Many other physicians also use a tablet PC in the office or hospital with their electronic medical/health record (EMR or EHR). However, there are many who use a convertible tablet and primarily use it as a laptop/notebook.

Will the growth in health IT revive the tablet PC industry as more physicians start using EMRs that leverage pen-based data entry? I think it would be fantastic to see a growth in small tablets (or ultra-mobile PCs) in the health care industry. There are many doctors who love technology and gadgets. As more embrace touch-screen smartphones like the Apple iPhone, they will recognize the power of multi-touch gestures and other features that are commonly found in tablet PCs.

As we see more health care providers make the switch from paper records to electronic records, let's hope to see a reviving effect in the tablet PC marketplace.

How do you define "multi-touch" on a tablet PC?

The term "multi-touch" monitor has different meanings to different people. At one time, multi-touch was used to refer to a tablet PC screen that could receive input in multiple ways: 1) a Wacom active digitizer that required a special stylus pen (allows you to hover over the screen); or 2) passive touch with a finger, plastic tip, or just about anything else.

Now, "multi-touch" seems to be used more for capacitive touch screens that allow a user to place several fingers on the screen and allow finger gestures to translate into commands. We see this type of technology on the Apple iPhone, the Palm Pre, and others. The HP TouchSmart tx2z tablet PC series also advertises that its screen is a "multitouch" screen:

This tablet PC is also "multitouch" : you can use more than one finger (e.g., index and thumb) at the same time.

Windows 7 is supposed to incorporate some of this type of multi-touch technology on tablets that have capacitive touch screens. With these types of screens, a plain plastic stylus won't work.

So, how do you define "multi-touch"? It's starting to get confusing out there.

Thoughts on the Apple tablet (giant iPod touch)

The upcoming giant iPod touch (Apple tablet) may be running the iPod touch OS (operating system). I doubt that it will run the full version of OS-X. The iPod touch OS may not be ideal for something as large as this upcoming tablet unless it's purely meant to be a multimedia device. I'm a pen-based computing guy, so I don't think the iPod touch OS alone will be sufficient for me. I need something more robust that allows me to run work-based productivity software. Maybe Apple is "beta testing" the tablet concept with this first generation model. I won't be surprised if subsequent models run a more robust OS that will allow for some type of pen-based computing.

Speaking of pen-based computing, this may be difficult if the upcoming tablet has the same type of screen that's currently found on existing iPods and iPhones. Although there are some stylus pens available for capacitive touch screens, the capacitive touch screen isn't the most popular type for pen-based computers. So, will the 2nd or 3rd generation models employ some type of dual-input screen? (capacitive and Wacom-based active digitizer?) Maybe by then, Apple will release a full Mac OS-X -based tablet computer.

Barnes and Noble eReader

There was a period in my life when I used to spend all my time at a Barnes and Noble bookstore. I used to read, study, browse the web, and even tutor students at the bookstore. Now, B&N is feeling the heat because the Amazon Kindle has taken off and the future is e-book or e-reader technology. B&N is planning on working with Plastic Logic to create an e-book, but in the meanwhile, they're working on getting a head start. They've announced free eReader software for the Apple iPhone/iPod touch, BlackBerry, the PC, and the Mac. Where's Windows Mobile in all this? What about webOS on the Palm Pre or Google Android?

Well, I suppose if they can get many subscribers to start using this eReader software, then it'll be much easier to switch to the e-book made by Plastic Logic.

PC Magazine has reviewed the Barnes and Noble eReader software.

Bottom line:

Barnes & Noble joins the e-book fray but, unlike Amazon, doesn't make you buy an expensive reader. The Windows software is serviceable and the iPhone version outstanding, but the Mac version could stand beefing up.

Pros:

• Huge library of titles.
  
• Cross-platform support.
  
• Excellent iPhone reader.

Cons:

• Books can't be purchased within app.
  
• Bare-bones Mac version.

Do you see yourself migrating to an eReader of some type? I already do all my reading on my Thinkpad X200 tablet. Since it's a convertible tablet, I can swivel the screen and hold the machine in my hand when I'm on the plane. It's a great way to read PDFs.

What's Your Favorite Gadget?

I love gadgets. I blame that on my MIT education. I just fell in love with technology at MIT. That's why I like to write about medicine and technology.

What's your favorite gadget? I'd have to say that my favorite is the Apple Newton Messagepad 2100. Why? Because it was so innovative for its time. It had a processor that was much faster than most processors found in laptop computers. Plus, the handwriting recognition was unbelievable! It used standard AA batteries, so I even traveled to China with my Newton because I knew that I wouldn't have any problems finding AA batteries.

So, what's your favorite gadget? I'm willing to bet that many young people would say the Apple iPhone. Some may even remember the days when Sony came out with the original "Walkman" (yes, I had one of those).