Location comes of age

via pasta&Vinegar

In the latest issue of Wired UK, John Battelle illustrates the shift in online behaviour, now that "checking in" has been integrated. We can see what people are doing, what they are buying, what they want, who they know and now we also know where they are. Location has been central to all of the biggest tech developments of the year, from Twitter places to Stickybits and Facebook Location. With smart phones to outnumber desktop PCs by 2012, location-based services are not going anywhere.

Going dutch? There's an app for that

The new Paypal app, described in the video above, is potentially a real game changer. Just as the Square payment system is empowering people to accept card payments on the move, paypal takes this thinking one stage further, doing away with the card altogether. Mobile payments will surely be one of the most exciting new technologies this year, and it will be interesting to see which ultimately wins out. Don't ask us to predict though; we will be doing no such thing in fear of backing the "Betamax."