The weekend review: tablets, mobile payments and TV on the Internet

With CES fading from the headlines, GigaOM Pro readers continue to follow the consumer product market closely; articles on consumer devices and mobile payment systems dominated this week’s most popular content.

First, in “Lessons from Starbucks’ success in mobile payments,” Colin Gibbs takes a look at Starbucks’ popular mobile payment app, which has garnered more than 26 million transactions in the past year. Rather than relying on NFC-enabled devices, Starbucks developed an app for iOS and Android that integrates smoothly with the company’s existing loyalty program. Gibbs cautions, however, that Starbucks’ success may hinge largely on its customer demographics — young professionals with disposable income and an affinity for smartphones — and that it may not be an easily replicable use case.

Next, J. Gerry Purdy analyzes the rapidly evolving tablet market in “Forecasting the tablet market: over 366 million units by 2016.” While the tablet industry — currently dominated by Apple — is expected to experience major growth over the next five years, Purdy accounts for potential disruptions that may affect competing manufacturers and distributors, including RIM, Nokia and Amazon.

Last, Paul Sweeting asks, “Will Aereo be the next Slingbox?” and explores the browser-based media player that streams broadcast television signals over the Internet to Internet-enabled devices. Sweeting’s article compares Aereo to other players in the market and speculates why Aereo, unlike some of its peers, has not yet faced litigation from major broadcasters or content owners.

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