The world of alternate payments has been moving fast of late.  Innovation in this area will help both consumers and retailers, but probably hurt the banks (at least that's the plan).  Here are four recent news items in this area:

Amazon has been making some interesting moves again, this time in the augmented humanity area.  Augmented humanity is about helping humans overcome their shortcomings using technology.  Putting a powerful smartphone in your pocket helps you in many ways like navigating streets, communicating with far off friends, and accessing information.  But the interface for smartphones is somewhat limiting and unnatural, so companies have been looking for ways to make the technology more transparent and therefore easier to use.

Back in mid-2010 Apple launched their own iOS application to support their stores, but it was overshadowed by the release of the iPhone 4.  I finally downloaded the app, and it appears to be well-done (no surprise there).  Users can get detailed information about stores and products, and even buy some products via the app.  The app locates the nearest store where you can reserve products, make a genius bar appointment, arrange for training, or see the event schedule.