AustinStartup

Here in Texas, it’s a downright shootout between location-based-networks. SXSW 2010 brought the big guns with contenders like Gowalla, Foursquare, and Plancast. But, the question remains: who is making money, and how?

Here’s a thought: walk into a bar, order, and pay with your phone. Why not? Japan as an entire nation has been doing it widely for at least the last five years. I know it sounds crazy but it’s time the wild wild West looked beyond what the mobile giants are pedaling today and ask themselves, “Why haven’t we done this yet?”

We’ve already seen a number of mobile payment technologies break onto the scene since the start of 2010, including a few raised right here in Austin, and they are doing more than just introducing new portals to give our money away; they are actually ballooning a market that has the potential to disrupt how we view, value, and spend our hard earned dinero.