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The widespread adoption of mobile commerce services enabling transfers, transactions and payments creates a requirement for stronger security. At one level, it’s about measures to make sure our personal information and assets are protected. But there also has to a balance that will allow us to share data with the companies and services we trust to deliver us personalized and convenient shopping services. Read Joy’s recent column HERE. ). Clearly, our lives and our devices have become inextricably intertwined. More importantly, mobile allows us to transact and conduct commerce. MORE >>

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Tweet. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, acquired social media firm Kosmix just over a year ago, creating  @WalmartLabs , with the intention to use this specialist R&D unit to define the future of commerce by merging social, mobile and retail. So far WalmartLabs has released two interesting developments using social: •  ShopyCat – the gift recommendation engine. This Facebook application uses your Facebook profile to suggest suitable products for you, based on the interests and hobbies of your friends. The next step – Big Data. Tweet This! Share this on Facebook. MORE >>

Let’s be clear.  Most people who write on social media outlets don’t do so just for the sake of doing it.  Some might, but the vast majority of people who share content, post comments, or offer sentiments and opinions online do so because they are in what Andrew Jeavons of Survey Analytics calls “the point of emotion.”  In other words, they are emotionally invested in the product, service or experience about which they are opining. As Jeavons points out, most feedback is conducted via traditional methods that suffer from huge structural deficits. In some contexts emotions are considered bad.  MORE >>