Brendan Byrnes: Let's talk about the "mobile revolution," as we call it at The Motley Fool. It seems like everyone in the United States either has an iPhone or some kind of Android-powered device. These devices are turning into much more than just a phone. They can pretty much do everything. You talk about this "mobile fingerprint" trend. What does that mean?
Ann Mack: Yes, our mobile phone is evolving into a wallet, keys, a health consultant, and more. It's slowly becoming a de facto fingerprint -- our identity, all in one place.
Just consider the mobile wallet, for instance, which is going to grow in the year ahead. There are several applications, such as Apple Passbook, Google Wallet, Isis from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, that allow you to input all of your information; your credit card, your debit card, your loyalty card, your coupons, your boarding passes, your tickets... all in one place, consolidated there.
Google Wallet has relationships with 25 retailers, and when I go into those participating retailers all I have to do is tap my mobile phone on the payment terminal to purchase my products.
