The Royal Wedding Makes Use of YouTube - WebProNews

On April 29th, the world of social media will explode when the latest Royal Wedding takes place. The soon-to-be nuptials of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, which takes place at Westminster Abbey, is the first Royal Wedding to take advantage of the Internet and the forecast is easy to predict.

There will be a run on Royal Wedding related Twitter hash tags, Facebook will explode with posts from ladies who dream of being in Middleton’s place, and of course, YouTube and Google will be in on the fun as well. In fact, YouTube will be streaming the event live, and some publications think the video king of the Internet could see viewership records broken as people flock together around mobile devices and laptops everywhere, eager to get a glimpse at the attractive couple.

It almost reminds one of a family gathering around the radio; however, in order to capture it correctly for this generation, instead of a black and white photograph, the medium would be a mash-up video of various people watching the event on their computer. With that in mind, it’s hard not to picture the video looking like a Chatroulette session.

Currently, there’s a countdown page on YouTube’s page for the Royal Family — the Royal Channel, naturally enough — reminding us that currently, only six days and 12 hours remain until the most anticipated wedding of the 21st century, considering the massive amounts of hype, anyway, kicks off. Interested YouTube members can upload best wishes and congratulatory videos if they so choose, which is the 21st century version of signing the wedding book:

YouTube’s page for the Royal Wedding also features the Buckingham-Palace-to-Westminster-Abbey procession route the couple will travel, making use of Google Maps in order to do so. There’s already a Google Earth-powered video of the route, which was previously discussed by WebProNews:

As for the records in doubt, as pointed out by The Vancouver Sun, the previous viewer record for a live stream was set when approximately 30 million viewers watched the YouTube Symphony Orchestra concert. If the whole world is indeed watching this wedding, creative license-ly speaking, of course, then that number should fall quite easily.

YouTube’s coverage starts an hour before the Royal Wedding does, giving users ample time to get their drink orders in and fulfilled.

 

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eWise payo: New Payments System Makes Online Shopping Safer and Faster - msnbc.com

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Attention buy side analysts, technology, banking, retail and financial editors:

Today sees the launch of eWise payo in the UK, the first and only bank inclusive Online Banking ePayments (OBeP) solution. Launched by the financial service firm eWise, eWise payo presents the safest and fastest online payment solution.

eWise payo enables the consumer to initiate secure and private payments for goods and services or bills online, without having to provide personal financial information to any third parties(1). To use eWise payo, customers are directed straight to their bank's website where they will log in using their existing account credentials. Once in their online banking application, consumers select from any account with available funds and confirm the payment. eWise technology enables the secure payment, leveraging the UK's Faster Payments network, thereby generating a near immediate payment for the merchant.

John France, managing director at eWise payo, commented: "Security remains the key concern for people when purchasing goods and services online. Statistics from the UK Card Association showed that over just 12 months GBP 118.2m was lost to fraudsters for card-not-present fraud in the UK alone(2). And, despite all of the good work that the International Card Schemes have done with respect to PCI, merchant websites are still being hacked and consumer card details are still being compromised.

"eWise payo is the answer to the industry's demand for improved security; the bank demand for innovation; the consumer demand for control and the merchant demand for lower costs."

For the financial industry, eWise payo presents the opportunity for banks to build upon and capture market share. And, for retailers it enables the opportunity for lower transaction costs, and increased sales via reduced shopping cart abandonment.

Consumers throughout Europe and in the US have been paying this way for years. eWise brings experience of implementing OBeP networks, through the successful Secure Vault Payments network in the United States, and as a founding member of the International Council of Payment Network Operators (ICPNO).

Commenting on the launch of eWise payo in the UK, Andrew McClelland, director of operations at IMRG(3), said: "Over half the population of the UK are now shopping online and the e-retail industry continues to grow impressively every year, but fears about cyber crime and fraud can prevent some people from taking advantage of the value and availability that online offers. Removing the need to provide account details to each retailer purchased from will greatly improve consumer convenience and trust, particularly in smaller online businesses."

On February 1st, 2011, eWise payo mobile will be unveiled at Finovate Europe 2011(4). The application brings a safe and fast way to pay face-to-face or online through a mobile device.

eWise is currently in advanced discussions with a number of the high street banks, merchant acquirers, PSPs and merchants. As a result of which, the company has brought forward its initial launch - planned for 2012, and hopes to make an announcement in Q2/Q3 2011. http://payo.com.

Notes to editors

About eWise:

eWise is a payments and online financial management solutions provider with a reputation for providing innovative solutions that make transacting online easier and more secure. eWise offices in UK, US, China and Australia support some of the world's top 50 financial institutions with solutions delivering outstanding, proven ROI for its customers and a better online experience for millions of end-users worldwide. For more information, visit www.ewise.com.

(1) The online retailer or eWise

(2) UK Card Association 2010

(3) Interactive Media in Retail Group - membership community for the UK retail sector

(4) http://finovate.com/europe2011/

© MarketWire 2011

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