How Cellular Electronic Payments Work

You're on your way home with a few errands to run and only your cell phone to help. From work, you walk to the commuter train station, where you touch your cell phone to a near field communication (NFC) reader to pay your fare. On the platform, you stand near a poster advertising a movie you'd like to see. You touch your phone to the NFC tag on the ad to download details about the film, including where and when it'll be playing and the URL for a Web site to visit to order e-tickets.




When you reach your stop, you go to the bookstore, where you use your phone to redeem a discount coupon and buy a DVD. The next stop is the dry cleaners, and again, you touch the phone to the NDC reader to pay your bill.

The last stop is your favorite restaurant for carryout. You sent a text order from your phone, so the food is ready and waiting. Another touch of the phone to a reader, and you're ready to head home for a relaxing dinner and a chance to watch that new DVD.

The cellular electronic payment described in this scenario may seem futuristic, but consider that:

    TheTrainLine, a British train ticket retailer, is piloting a smart-ticketing system that allows riders to link train tickets to NFC-enabled cell phones such as the Nokia 6131. The rider buys tickets online using a mobile phone or PC. At the station, the rider touches the phone to a mobile reader to pay the fare [source: Silicon.com].

    McDonald's Holdings Japan has begun offering a discount coupon program for NFC-enabled cell phone owners, who already use cellular payment for train fares, store purchases and McDonald's meals. With the coupon program, users can receive, select and download coupons, making their purchases 10 times faster. More than 40 million Japanese have NFC-enabled cell phones, which first went on the market there in 2004 [source: RFID Journal].

All of this may have you wondering: How does electronic payment with a cell phone work? How available is this type of payment? And what are the security risks? Keep reading to learn more, starting with the technology behind cellular electronic payments.

Content from: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cellular-electronic-payment.htm

Microsoft Excel shortcut keys:


F2                      Edit the selected cell.

F5                      Go to a specific cell. For example, C6.

F7                      Spell check selected text or document.

F11                    Create chart.

Ctrl + Shift + ;    Enter the current time.

Ctrl + ;               Enter the current date.

Alt + Shift + F1 Insert New Worksheet.

Shift + F3         Open the Excel formula window.

Shift + F5         Bring up search box.

Ctrl + A           Select all contents of the worksheet.

Ctrl + B           Bold highlighted selection.

Ctrl + I            Italic highlighted selection.

Ctrl + K          Insert link.

Ctrl + U          Underline highlighted selection.

Ctrl + 5          Strikethrough highlighted selection.

Ctrl + P          Bring up the print dialog box to begin printing.

Ctrl + Z          Undo last action.

Ctrl + F9        Minimize current window.

Ctrl + F10      Maximize currently selected window.

Ctrl + F6        Switch between open workbooks or windows.

Ctrl + Page up      Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document.

Ctrl + Page down Move between Excel work sheets in the same Excel document.

Ctrl + Tab            Move between Two or more open Excel files.

Alt + =                 Create a formula to sum all of the above cells

Ctrl + '                 Insert the value of the above cell into cell currently selected.

Ctrl + Shift + !     Format number in comma format.

Ctrl + Shift + $    Format number in currency format.

Ctrl + Shift + #    Format number in date format.

Ctrl + Shift + %   Format number in percentage format.

Ctrl + Shift + ^    Format number in scientific format.

Ctrl + Shift + @  Format number in time format.

Ctrl + Arrow key Move to next section of text.

Ctrl + Space       Select entire column.

Shift + Space      Select entire row.

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Cloud computing is a technology that uses the internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications. Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with internet access. This technology allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth.

A simple example of cloud computing is Yahoo email, Gmail, or Hotmail etc. You dont need a software or a server to use them. All a consumer would need is just an internet connection and you can start sending emails. The server and email management software is all on the cloud ( internet) and is totally managed by the cloud service provider Yahoo , Google etc. The consumer gets to use the software alone and enjoy the benefits. The analogy is , 'If you need milk , would you buy a cow ?' All the users or consumers need is to get the benefits of using the software or hardware of the computer like sending emails etc. Just to get this benefit (milk) why should a consumer buy a (cow) software /hardware ?

Cloud computing is broken down into three segments: "application" "storage" and "connectivity." Each segment serves a different purpose and offers different products for businesses and individuals around the world. In June 2011, a study conducted by VersionOne found that 91% of senior IT professionals actually don't know what cloud computing is and two-thirds of senior finance professionals are clear by the concept,highlighting the young nature of the technology. In Sept 2011, an Aberdeen Group study found that disciplined companies achieved on average an 68% increase in their IT expense because cloud computing and only a 10% reduction in data center power costs.