For more than two decades, South by Southwest has attracted people eager to sample the latest in culture and technology — and connect with like-minded folks. But as the Austin festival grew larger (it now sprawls across 110 stages and 265 venues), such casual collisions got harder. So SXSW will use a mobile app that takes advantage of location-aware Apple iBeacon technology to bring people together. The newly launched app, 2015 SXSW Go, will allow festival attendees to check in to venues, learn who is nearby and get relevant information, such as which of the 2,000 acts scheduled to appear this year is performing onstage.

The Mobile World Congress has become one of the most popular global events for showcasing new innovatio, not only in mobile but in adjacent industries such as well. Here are some notable highlights in payments and commerce from MWC 2015 in Barcelona. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced the latest in mobile payment services, Samsung Pay, ushering in a new era of mobile payments and e-commerce. Samsung Pay allows consumers to transition to secure mobile payments at nearly all merchant locations. To achieve this, Samsung leverages both Near Field Communication (NFC) and a new proprietary technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) …

Target is testing a new loyalty program called Redperks that centers on a mobile application enabling users to earn points by scanning a bar code every time they make a purchase. The app – which is available in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and by invitation only – enables users to earn 10 points for every dollar they spend and rewards them with 5 percent off the price of a purchase once they reach 5,000 points. Redperks is an example of how mobile makes it easier for both merchants and consumers to partake in the benefits of loyalty programs.

Adshel is rolling out more than 3000 beacons across its national out-of-home advertising network in a bid to bring stronger customer targeting and data capabilities to the outdoor advertising space. The company said the beacons will initially be used as ‘listen and learn’ devices to build insights on consumers, as well as for advertisers. Longer term, Adshel hopes the technology will allow advertisers to leverage their existing customer databases to send geo-targeted and contextually relevant messages to customers standing within the vicinity of an enabled Adshel panel.

Starwood Hotels is making a strong push to spruce up events and conferences held at its properties with its new ProMeetings mobile application, which enables event planners who belong to the brand’s rewards program to submit requests directly to employees for immediate fulfillment. The world of events is increasingly going mobile, with many conferences turning to mobile apps instead of offering attendees print agendas and schedules. Starwood Hotels is establishing a stronger presence in the lucrative industry by rolling out this app, which can help planners request coffee service, extension cords and lighting preferences with the tap of a finger.

Virgin America is the first United States airline to integrate with Visa Checkout, a platform which does not require consumers to enter in credit card information while completing a purchase online or on a mobile device, proving that the airline industry continues to move quickly into the mcommerce sector. Customers wanting to pay for Virgin America flights, meals or services can now simply tap the Visa Checkout button to complete a purchase, making the process as streamlined as swiping a credit card. The airline brand is celebrating by offering a promotion of a $25 discount on a future flight for …

In a UK first, Barclays has announced that it will be the first British bank to allow people to pay each other and small businesses using just their Twitter handle. Launching on both Android phones and iOS devices next month, Twitter payments through Pingit will expand the existing service to social media and a potential 13.5 million Twitter users in the UK.  The service will be available to all Pingit customers whether they bank with Barclays or not. To sign up, users can link their Twitter handle to their Pingit profile under the app settings.  Payments to friends, family and …

The latest report from IMRG has found that mobile phones were used to carry out 40 per cent of the sales made online between November of 2014 and January this year, according to Internet Retailing. This shows that smartphones and tablets are well on their way to overtaking traditional desktop e-commerce sales, both in the UK and internationally. This time last year, mobile sales accounted for 32 per cent of all online transactions, so there has been significant expansion in the portion of the e-commerce market that is attributable to portable devices in the past 12 months. Interestingly, it was …

Delivery Agent has inked a deal with Toyota to power a TV-based interactive ad campaign for the carmaker’s 2015 Camry.   The campaign is using Delivery Agent’s ShopTV platform trigger interactive elements in the 30-second spot that provide more info on the car model.  As this video of the ad shows, viewers with access to that interactivity can use their remote controls to browse features of the Camry and receive more information directly by inputting their mobile phone numbers.