Yesterday we looked at how Google Wave(a new product that is part email, part IM, part something entirely new) is being used as an educational tool. In this post we explore if and how Wave is being used by the artistic community. This topic was suggested by Cory Huff, a commenter on the first post, who noted: "I've been looking for artists to Wave with, as I think artistic collaboration has some possibilities." We discovered that there is excitement about the potential for artistic collaboration using Wave. However the level of actual collaboration activity is still very low. Here's what we found...SponsorWave & The ArtsWe saw in yesterday's post that Wave is being used by educators mostly as a real-time collaborative note-taking tool. For artists, there is similar potential to use Wave as a collaborative creative tool. Cory Huff suggesteda real time painting app that allows visual artists to work together on a new project, or an event planning tool for Art events.Right now, there doesn't appear to be much artistic activity on Wave. The closest we could find was a public wave called 'Artists Wave,' created by Fernando Fonseca and others. That wave lists some videos, pictures and music works - which at least shows off Wave's multimedia features. However there was little evidence of collaboration, for example more than one person creating a new piece of art.Wave & FilmmakingThere was more activity in Wave around filmmaking. Jonathan Poritsky wrote a postback in June outlining his thoughts on how Wave could streamline the movie-making process - specifically, post production workflows. He's now made put that post into a wave called 'Google Wave for Filmmakers: Wave Edition.' The following chart depicts how Poritsky conceptually sees Wave being used in filmmaking. In a nutshell, all of the participants in the filmmaking process would use Wave to collaborate. In Poritsky's words, "every job and step passes through the wave." Poritsky admits that "not all of this is possible yet," because it requires faster computers and network technology to process such large video files in real-time. However he says that "the basic precepts of digital editing could actually be done over a network today."Ultimately Poritsky is bullish on using Wave in filmmaking because "cinema is a collaborative art form." He cites the huge credits list at the end of every movie as proof of that.Santuary: Short Film Using WaveAn early example of a filmmaking wave is a short film called Sanctuary. Their wave is entitled 'Sanctuary - remixable film - dev wave.'Santuary is a "re-mixable Science fiction film"directed by Michela Ledwidge. It's been in production for a number of years, due to budget issues. The film is currently in post-production and Ledwidge is attempting to use Wave to assist with that process. Wave has a couple of geeky features that may be used by the Sanctuary team. One is 'gadgets,' which are add-ons similar to the mini web applications you can install in your Firefox browser. Sanctuary is looking for two gadgets: a Shot tracker UI and a "Production lingo translator."Another feature of Wave is 'robots.' These are automated participants on a wave. A robot, according to Google, "can read the contents of a wave in which it participates, modify the wave's contents, add or remove participants, and create new blips and new waves." Santuary is looking for the following two robots: an "AI character bot" and a "trac notifications integration" (to show different shots from the movie).As of now, the Santuary wave doesn't have much collaboration around the actual film in it - but this may change if the desired gadgets and robots get developed and deployed.ConclusionIt's clearly early days for the artistic community in Wave. There's a fair bit of discussion on possible uses for Wave, mostly around collaborating on artistic projects. But not much actualcollaboration on projects happening yet.Filmmaking appears to be the most likely to gain traction in the short-medium term. So we'll check back on progress in 6-12 months.Discuss

  The French Government's public finance department will switch 130,000 desktop PC's to Mozilla'semail and calendar applications.Mozilla's Thunderbird email service, Lightning Calendar and an open-source groupware will replace IBM Lotus Notes and Microsoft Office.The move signals how more government agencies from around the world are dropping enterprise accounts with major vendors to cut down on costs and get better license agreements.They are turning to open-source providers and companies like Google that can offer email and services such as Google Docs.Sponsor01net, a French IT news site, originally broke the news about the Mozilla win. The decision to go with Mozilla came after the Directorate General of Public Finance (DGPF).merged with the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) and the Directorate General of Public Accountancy (DGCP). Each has their own email and licenses fro Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook.The merger provided the opportunity to save money and better manage the licenses.OBM is the other player in this story.Linagora makes the open-source groupware that will be used by DGPF.The tax authority is one of several French agencies using OBM. More than 600,000 French employees use the application.The French Government's decision to go open-source follows the city of Los Angelesdecision this week to adopt Google Appsover Microsoft. Again, the win has almost everything to do with cost. The city will pay $7.25 million for the service.About 30,000 city employees will use Gmail and have access to Google Docs.Discuss

  Almost every TV channel offers some programming on the Web these days. Epix, a new premium movie channel that will launch this weekend, goes a step further. If you are a Verizon FiOS subscriber, you will be able to watchthe same movies that Epix shows on TV on the channel's Internet site. Epix is a joint venture between Viacom, MGM Studios and Lionsgate. If you are not a FiOS subscriber, you can still take a peek at the service. You can request a three-day pass hereor read on for instructions on how to claim a 30-day pass.SponsorWhile only FiOS subscribers can currently access the programming on Epix's site, the channel's chief digital officer Emil Rensing today told us that the company is actively pursuing deals with other Internet and cable providers as well. The company, though, isn't ready to make any announcements about these partnerships, yet.We got a chance to test the web site over the last week and the site, which will feature an exclusive Madonna concert to celebrate the launch this weekend, feels very similar to Hulu - just with a different kind of content. It's completely Flash-based, so users won't have to install any new plugins to use the service. This, Emil Rensing stressed when we talked to him today, was done on purpose to make the user experience frictionless. The quality of the videos on the site, which scales up to 720p HD depending on your connection's speed, is exceptionally good. A user needs to have at least a 500kbps connection, though this shouldn't be an issue for FiOS subscribers who are watching at home. The site currently features about 300 movies, including relatively recent releases like Iron Man and the latest Indiana Jones movie. Rensing told us that he expects to be able to offer over 3000 movies by the end of next year. Because of Epix's close connection to various movie studies, the site will be able to feature movies about 9 months after their theatrical release. Most premium channels like HBO have to wait about a year before they can show a movie.More Than Just Movies: Extras &SharingIf Epix was only a premium movie channel on the web, it would be interesting in its own right. The site, however, also offers a number of interesting additional features.Epix, for example, features DVD-like extras like interviews and behind-the-scenes specials for almost every movie. Right now, most of these are produced by the studios, but Epix will add more original programming over time.Another feature is the sites 'watch with a friend' functionality. This allows users to watch a movie together with up to 5 friends, no matter if they are FiOS subscribers or not. The host remains in full control over the video playback and can start and stop the video at any time. As Rensing told us, Epix wants to recreate the feeling of inviting your friends over to your house, so it doesn't care if your friends subscribe to the same channels you do. Get Your Invites (Even if You Don't Have FiOS)If you are interested in giving Epix a try, you can request an invite for a three-day pass here. These will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis. Epix also provided us with 180 30-day VIP passes. If you want to claim one of these, you have to follow these instructions:follow @epixHD on Twittertweet "@epixHD Experience Epix #readwriteweb"Discuss

  At today's Unite Conference, game dev platform provider Unity Technologiesannounced it will be releasing the latest build of its Unity Platform and making a previous version available at the low, low price of free.All platforms allow developers to create games for PCs, Macs, Nintendo Wiis, and iPhones. The free version, formerly known as Unity Indie, was previously priced at $199. Broke and/or stingy devs are welcomed to download the platform here. The pro version of Unity's platform will continue to sell for around $1,500.SponsorThe Unity platform is used in games such as EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, LEGO's Tthe Quest for R2D2, and Cartoon Network's FusionFall. Since the company's release of an iPhone game dev platform earlier this year, more than 325 games have been built with the Unity engine. These games include Zombieville USA, one of the top 10 best-selling iPhone games.In a statement released today, CEO David Helgason said, "With the explosive growth in new platforms and performance improvement in our Unity suite of products, we believe that there are no technical hurdles remaining for high quality interactive content everywhere."Now we are removing financial hurdles as well. Unity is mature enough and easy enough to use that it can be the entry point for those developers taking their first steps with the technology."With the 2.6 release of the platform, Unity provides full support for external versioning tools such as Subversion, Perforce, or any other version control system. Unity has also added Visual Studio integration and can automatically sync a VS project to source code so all scripts are in the solution and IntelliSense is configured.Discuss

  It seems aggregation services aren't just a viable business in the travel and web-media worlds. AccessDNAoffers users a chance to compare genetic test providers like 23andMeand Navigenics. Users receive a Expedia-like experience when inquiring about tests on anemia, cancer and ancestral lineage. While the company appears to be a surprising step away from CEO Lee Essner's former life at Wedding Channel, the business models are incredibly similar. SponsorAs a former executive at the Wedding Channel, Essner saw how family-driven lead generation could make a successful business. The company not only made money when brides purchased services through the site, but also when family members were forwarded travel deals and gift registry links. The company was so successful that it was acquired by popular wedding network

  In its most significant update to date, Jive Software is following the evolution of the social web in the enterprise with features that allow users the flexibility to use the tools in multiple ways.Social Business 4.0 (SBS), is Jive's latest version of its enterprise collaboration technology. In this new release, Jive includes deep integration with Microsoft Office, a mobile application for the iPhone and Blackberry plus the ability to bridge from internal to external communities.SponsorCompanies in the Enterprise 2.0 space are quickly finding that the era of isolation is pretty much over. Social technologies are not space age concepts anymore. It no longer feels like you are speaking a different language when talking about the social web. The users are there. And they want more than single-use applications.They want flexibility and convenience.In this regard, Jive is offering the ability to create or save documents in Microsoft Office with automatic upload to the Jive platform. Documents are rendered for the browser for users to view and make comments.Users may also collaborate on documents such as Power Point presentations. This co-authoring feature is similar to what you can do in Google Docs. We expect to see more companies offering this type of co-authoring capability. Socialtext, for instance, came out of beta with SocialCalc,its distributed spreadsheet application.Mobile applications are starting to make headway into the enterprise. SocialCastunveiled its iPhone application earlier this month. We expect that enterprise applications will proliferate over the next year.Jive took this into consideration when deciding to go with an iPhine application. Analysts they spoke with said that enterprises are accepting the influx of iPhones, mostly due to huge demand for the device..The Jive application for the iPhone includes:Collaboration features for users to engage with others through discussion threads, blogs, documents,comments and repliesAbility to follow people based on their activity streamA rich profile environment, providing the ability to quickly find peopleFor the Blackberry:Users may receive content they follow via email and reply as well to the content they follow. This includes content from blogs, discussions, documents and status updates.The application leverages vCard technology that users may download and apply to a particular space or group.SBS 4.0 is a comprehensive update. It has a number of additional features including the ability to bridge communities outside the firewall. Other new features include tools for community managers to quantify the activity of their communities.Jive SBS 4.0 is available now. Discuss

  When it comes to video discovery, the thrill of the hunt is only really fun when you're viewing more good than bad. You could scour your feeds for entertainment, but the fodder you'll file through is enough to feel like work. Tomorrow is a Friday, and we all know that you're going to mentally check out from your desk at about 1pm. With ReadWriteWeb's list of easy video aggregation services you can spend the afternoon curating your corporate videos, scouring for media clips or sharing amusing videos with friends: Sponsor1. Vodpod: This service offers users a chance to collect and share videos from popular services like YouTube as well as specialized sites like the Daily Show. Users can click a browser button to flesh out their collections and their Vodpod profiles auto-sync across all of their related domains. The Gawker Screening Roomis one example of the premium Vodspot TV solution. 2. Popscreen: Popscreen allows users to import videos from a number of services via your video site username. From here you can save all of your videos from sites like Vimeo and YouTube to your Popscreen homepage and share them with friends. The fact that I could aggregate and add more than 45 ReadWriteWeb videos in under a minute makes this an easy solution for media clippings. PopScreen also lets you follow live shows from Kyte,

  Some people believe that Augmented Reality (AR), the class of technologies that place images or data on top of other views of the physical world, could be the web browser of the future. AR has rocketed out of the research labs and is catching mass market interest fast - from mobile phones displaying restaurant reviews when you look through your phone's camera to next month's Esquire Magazine, which you'll be able to hold up to your webcam to see marker-based 3D "holograms" in your hands telling you jokes. The International Symposium on Augmented and Extended Realitythis month had major sponsors from all around the world, including Qualcomm, Volkswagon, Intel and Nokia. Despite all this energy, media darling startup Layaris reported to have raised...a mere $1 million investment from venture capitalists. Why are VCs not investing more in Augmented Reality? Here are three reasons why we think investment in this sector has been slow so far.SponsorLayar is the media darling in this space, thanks to the company's easy-to-use consumer product and dazzling demonstration videos. Earlier this week, VentureBeat broke the newsof the company's funding by European investors. (Layar declined to comment for this story.)Total Immersion, the company that made thoseawesome interactive 3D baseball cards(video below) has raised two rounds of funding over the last eight years. Metaiohas forthcoming consumer apps but is a major B2B business in AR already - it wouldn't be a surprise if they've raised some money.But for all the hype, this doesn't seem to be a field that investors are rushing to fund. Why is that? There are a number of theories.AR is Just Hype, It's Not UsefulLots of people are excited about AR, but is it just eye-candy? Mobile AR, the implementation most accessible to consumers today, is a little disappointing to use once you get past the initial Wow-factor.Not everyone agrees, though, that there's no utility here. IT analyst firm Gartner named Augmented Reality one of its Top Ten Disruptive Technologies for 2008-2012.It is early days. People have been hoping that AR will help with things like auto repair for years and the US Marines have seen big efficiency gainsin tests of AR vehicle repair with an Android phone hooked up to a pair of goggles. Advertising and marketing seem like the low hanging fruit but there's interest in medicine as well. Imagine anatomical models you could hold in your hand, turn around to look at and interact with or read about."The real impact of AR on business," consultant Tracy Sheridansays, "is money saved in manufacturing, training, etc. [and that] has been overshadowed by its role in digital marketing."Since when have investors been shy about backing advertisingtechnology, though? None the less, the perception that AR lacks real utility is undoubtedly mitigating some enthusiasm. There are other arguments that are more compelling, though.It's a Feature Not a ProductCompanies like Yelp and UrbanSpoon have seen a lot of press coveragefor adding AR views of data on top oftheir existing customer review iPhone apps. Companies in all kinds of verticals where location data is used will no doubt roll out AR features in coming months.This critique makes sense. Can services like Layar, Wikitudeor Tonchidotreally become effective browser plays, used by millions of people to browse a wide variety of AR data sets? Or will AR simply appear as features in other, stand-alone mobile applications? Only time will tell.Neither marker-based AR, the lesser-known but more established form of AR, nor mobile AR may prove difficult enough as technology to present a meaningful barrier to entry.Markerless AR that processes live video? That's a whole new storythat may offer plenty of technical challenges.Either way, the "feature not a product" concern was something we've heard from several people, including one VC who preferred not to be quoted.It's Too EarlyDavid Hornick of August Capitaloffered perhaps the most convincing explanation why VCs aren't investing more in AR."I'd be happy to invest in the space if there was a near term opportunity," he told us. "The challenge for investing in emerging markets is to not get too far out ahead of the market (there was a ton of money lost getting too far ahead of the mobile market, etc.). And I think that venture firms are being particularly cautious about getting out too far ahead of trends these days."That makes sense. AR isn't new, it's been developing in academic labs for ten years or more, but effective commercial applications of it really are. These are the very early days of a new paradigm. User experience, utility and monetization strategies remain in their infancy.The market has evolved a lot over the last 12 months, though, and answers to some of these questions will likely emerge soon. What better time could there be for daring investors to get in early?Discuss

  GMailis rolling out a new feature to some users that makes it easy to import contacts and archived emails from other email accounts, with other providers, into your Gmail account. The feature is powered by a 3rd party service called TrueSwitchand it really is a breeze. The feature was announced this Springbut the roll out has been slow and many users are seeing it for the first time today. Some still don't see it.Users are required to give TrueSwitch (through a Gmail interface) the username and password for the old account, then import can take a few hours or days. I pulled in contacts from an old Hotmail account and am now waiting to have them arrive in my Gmail contacts list.SponsorYou're also given the option to set up automatic forwarding to your new account and the TrueSwitch service outside of Gmail gives users the option of notifying all their contacts of their new email address. That doesn't appear to be an option with Gmail and that's probably a good thing.Dear Internet, please offer features like this at every website. The ability to pull in contacts and data from one service provider to another is the dream of data portability. It enables users to try new services, prevents them from being locked-in to old ones, promotes competition between service providers and generally makes the world a better place.Not all Gmail users can see the new Import feature but over the next few weeks that will probably change.Discuss

  MapQuestcontinues to lose market share to Google Maps. While MapQuest started the year with a small lead, it's now 10% behind Google Maps. Today, MapQuest launcheda few new features and a major update to its map design. MapQuest now features more readable maps, as well as enhanced terrain and vegetation data. The new maps also feature building footprints and main subway stops. It is unlikely, however, that these updates will be enough to fight back Google Maps' momentum.SponsorOver the last two weeks, Google rolled out remarkably similar updates. Google Maps, for example, now also sports a new look with more readable maps. Google also updatedits maps with enhanced terrain and vegetation data earlier this month. Trend for MapQuest: DownOverall, this looks like a good update for MapQuest, but these updates are only minor and won't be enough to win back users who have abandoned the service. Our friends at Experian Hitwisewere kind enough to provide us with fresh traffic data for Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps and Yahoo Maps. While MapQuest managed to edge outa slight lead in February, Google Maps now owns 45% of the market, while MapQuest's market share has fallen to 35%. Yahoo Maps is now at 6.6% (down from 10.2% in February) and Bing Maps owns 4.3% of the market (up from 3.6%).For many Internet users, MapQuest is still synonymous with online mapping, but this group is shrinking and Google's relentless pace of releasing updates and new features isn't likely to let up anytime soon.Discuss

  The new version of Wordpress for iPhone justarrivedin the App Store (iTunes link). While the first versionwas already quite usable, this update brings a number of new features and usability enhancements to the Wordpress experience on the iPhone. The new interface makes it easier to switch between comments, posts and pages. The comments interface now also displays Gravatars. Throughout the app, the Wordpress team has tweaked the interface and it's now easier to manage your blog from the iPhone.SponsorFeaturesThe new version also now automatically saves posts and restores them if the network connection is lost during the publishing process.Just like the first version, Wordpress for iPhone 2 is an open-source program. It's important to note that this new version will not appear as an update to the old version. Instead, users will have to install a new app, which can run side-by-side with the older version. The new version, of course, still offers the same basic feature set as the earlier version. These include support for multiple blogs, photo uploads and post previews, as well as full support for tags, categories and password protected posts.Blogging on the iPhoneThere can be little doubt that the iPhone - or any mobile phone for that matter - isn't the ideal platform for writing long, thoughtful blog posts. Maybe that's why Wordpress for iPhone 2 puts more emphasis on comment moderation than the first version. For a quick blog post on the road, though, the app is perfectly adequate, especially if you just want to upload a few pictures. It's not as easy to use as the more specialized PicPosterous, but Wordpress for iPhone 2 is a far more flexible application and Wordpress has a different user in mind for this app. Discuss

  Hitwise, a web traffic analytics firm that often publishes fun and interesting stats on issues of the day, looks today at how threatened Facebook's growth might be by Twitter. The company's conclusion: Twitter is no threat at all. Traffic to Twitter is declining, Hitwise General Manager of Global Research Bill Tancer writes, while Facebook's growth continues to go through the roof. Facebook is approaching ubiquity, while Twitter's appeal is narrow and its average registered user is totally unengaged. "That being said," Tancer writes, "I still plan to tweet this entry."SponsorTwitter maybe befuddling still for mainstream masses of users, but for the millions of people who get it - Twitter is invaluable. It's a public listening post for innovative thought leaders across a broad swath of industries - if that's what you're into. It's also a great place to read short jokes about flatulence or sex from people you've never met - if that's what you're looking for.Facebook feels more secure though, it's got clearer social hooks and it's easier to start using. As a result, Facebook is probably ten or more times the size of Twitter. As Twitter user Justin Houkput it today, "Twitter is a cult classic in the making - not a blockbuster."The Hitwise data doesn't take into account the use of 3rd party Twitter clients, but the Twitter website is a more common way to interact with the service and its traffic is a good proxy for overall Twitter use.What are the relative business prospects for both, long term? It's hard to say, but charts like these from Hitwisehave got to make Twitter HQ feel uneasy.See also: Facebook Has Twitter Envy - But Why?and Twitter and Facebook Investment Terms and Game PlansDiscuss

  Mobile ad firm AdMobhas revealed the dramatic changes the mobile industry has seen in their latest Mobile Metrics Report, released just this morning. Believe it or not, it was only a year ago that the Motorola RAZR scored as the number one phone here in the U.S. while the iPhone was the only touchscreen device to even make the list of top ten handsets. tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/admob_reports_on_mobile_webs_explosive_growth.php';tweetmeme_source = 'rww';Only a year later, and so much has changed. Now half of the top ten are touchscreen devices, six include Wi-Fi capabilities, and six have mobile application stores. And as you would expect, this new crop of super-powered phones are making heavy use of the mobile web. SponsorKey Takeaway #1: iPhone Still the Top Smartphone Worldwide and Has Traffic to Prove ItAmong the devices making the heaviest use of the mobile web are the iPhone and its non-smartphone counterpart, the iPod Touch. The data traffic created by these two handhelds has increased 19 times from September 2008 to this past month and now accounts for 43% of all smartphone requests worldwide. In the U.S., that percentage is even slightly higher, withiPhone traffic accounting for nearly half (48%) of all smartphone requests. Apple devices (iPhone and iPod Touch) also claim the top two spots on both the U.S. and the worldwide charts of top handsets. However, feature phones like the RAZR v3 and Samsung's R450 are still making the top ten list as well and account for 60% of ad requests in the U.S. - a figure that's likely due to the unlimited data plans available with each of these devices. Key Takeaway #2: Watch Out! Android is Rising FastNow climbing up the charts, Google's Android, the newcomer to the mobile operating system game, is beginning to have an impact on mobile web traffic as well. From August to September of 2009, thepercentage of smartphone traffic generated by devices running the Android OS grew a whopping 13% over the course of the month. That's a dramatic increase in such a short period of time and gives credence to recent reports that Android is poised to become the number two smartphonein the worldwide market. While still far behind the iPhone OS in terms of traffic with only 17% of U.S. traffic and only 10% of traffic worldwide, Google's mobile OS is already beating out competitors like RIM, the maker of Blackberry devices, and Windows Mobile. It has also claimed two spots on the top 10 chart of handset models in the U.S with the HTC Dream coming in at number 3 and the HTC Magic coming in at number 10. Worldwide, the Dream is also number 3, but the Magic only makes it to spot number 15. Key Takeaway #3: Outside of U.S., Mobile Web Strong in India, Indonesia, U.K., PhilippinesWhen looking at the number of ad requests by country, the U.S. is still dominating with 47.3% of all requests coming from the States. The next nearest country, India, only comes in at 6.5%. Rounding out the top five are Indonesia, the U.K., and the Philippines. These numbers point to heavy mobile web use in each of these countries as compared with the rest of the world. When grouped by larger regions, North America is number one with 49.5% of requests, most of that from the U.S., and the second largest region is Asia, accounting for 25.3% of requests. Western Europe, Africa, and Latin America follow with 9.4%, 5.3% and 5.0% respectively. Looking at just percentage increases in traffic growth, a different picture appears. Latin America is showing a large percent increase year-over-year at 0.6%, second only to North America's 1.1%. Other regions in the top five, while still accounting for large numbers of requests, actually saw slight decreases in growth (less than0.5%) over the past year. Smartphones are Taking Over, Mobile Web GrowsWhile none of the data included in this report is all that surprising, it's interesting to see actual numbers put to the reported trends. We can now see the disproportionate amount of web surfing done by iPhone users, no doubt thanks to the phone's Safari web browser, a vast improvement over the browsers included in many other mobile devices on the market. It's also worth noting how fast Android is moving up the charts right now. It could very well be the next contender to the smartphone crown, especially given the company's plans to continue spreading its OS across numerous devices worldwide. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently declared, "Android adoption is about to explode." Also, AdMob noted on an earlier blog entrythat there are already 12 Android phones available through 32 carriers in 26 countries. By the time they release their next Mobile Metrics report, those numbers are sure to have increased. What all this means to the consumer is that smartphones are now edging out feature phones as the devices of choice. More phones than ever come with the advanced capabilities like touchscreens, full-featured web browsers, and Wi-Fi. With features like these, more people will begin to surf the mobile web and download mobile applications. This, in turn, will drive related changes in mobile platforms, communication, e-Commerce, and more, all of which are bound to see similar upward trends over the coming months. Discuss

  Online retailer Amazon.comhas just announced a new checkout system called "PayPhrase" which speeds up the process of making online purchases by allowing shoppers to enter a unique phrase and 4-digit PIN number to complete their transaction. Both the phrase and PIN are created in advance and are linked to a shipping address and preferred method of payment. After the initial set up, PayPhrase users are no longer required to sign in or fill out credit card information when shopping online. SponsorWhy PayPhrase Beats 1-ClickAmazon already has a similar speedy checkout system known as "1-Click." When activated, customers can associate payment methods with a frequently used shipping address, such as a home address, to quickly complete purchases without having to fill out their name, address, and credit card details. Although not designed to replace 1-Click, the new PayPhrase system is even easier to use and more flexible. Using this system, shoppers don't have to be signed in to the site with an Amazon account as is necessary with 1-Click. That saves an extra step and could lead to more impulse buys as there's no "cooling down" time, however brief, between seeing something you want to purchase and then finalizing the transaction. The PayPhrase system also allows for the creation of multiple PayPhrases and PINs so you can associate different addresses and methods of payment with each other. For example, you could additionally have a corporate credit card tied to your office address or a pre-paid credit card your children use tied to your home address. 1-Click checkout, on the other hand, only allows for the combination of one address and one method of payment. The PayPhrase technology will go live across all of Amazon.com as well as on several third-party sites that use "Checkout by Amazon," a service that lets other retailers checkout customers by using their personal and payment information saved on Amazon's servers. At this time, DKNY, Jockey, Patagonia, Buy.com, J&R, and Car-Toys have announced they will add the PayPhrase system on their sites, too. Is PayPhrase the Future of Mobile Transactions?Clearly, the new PayPhrase technology has been designed to make online checkout easier, but could there be more to it than that? Earlier this month, the company launched a mobile payments servicewhich allows mobile application developers to integrate Amazon's checkout system into their mobile software and mobile websites. The mobile payments system also allows for the integration of the 1-Click checkout process, so there's no reason to doubt that the PayPhrase technology will now also be added to the payments platform as well. With PayPhrase, the process of making an online purchase takes far less steps than any other checkout system today. Even PayPal forces you to sign in, choose payment methods, and complete your transaction before being redirected back to the retailer's website. While a few extra steps aren't a big deal on the web, when you're on a mobile phone, every delay makes it that much harder thanks to slower internet connection speeds, tiny keyboards, and, more often than not, a lack of time to get involved in any long process. If you can't checkout in a minute or so, it's generally not even worth bothering until you're back at home on your broadband-connected PC. But with PayPhrase, you can checkout incredibly fast - only two steps are required: one to enter your special phrase and another to enter your PIN. Although Amazon hasn't made any formal announcements about integrating PayPhrase into their mobile platform just yet, they must have had it in mind when they designed this technology. Discuss