Hasta La Gadget!

As you probably have heard — it’s created quite some buzz, after all — Starbucks just announced a partnership with Square to accept mobile payments via the Pay with the Square app. That’s huge news for Square, which currently processes transactions for some 75,000 merchants, as the coffee retailer is one of the largest national chains to integrate with the payment service.

At a breakfast in New York today, Square CEO and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz fielded questions about the partnership’s importance. While most of the talk centered on the rollout that will bring Square payments to 7,000 Starbucks stores ahead of the holiday season, the discussion also touched upon other areas of expansion for the mobile payments company.

Currently, the Pay with Square app is only available on iOS and Android. Asked whether a Windows Phone app is in the making, Dorsey said, “We will definitely build for where the users are, and we’re excited about the Windows Phone interface.” Take that as you will.

Starbucks will start accepting Square payments ahead of the holiday season, and Dorsey said the coffee retailer’s $25 million investment will be used for hiring and to expand “international efforts.” Starbucks, which has 18,000 stores in 60 countries, would certainly be a natural partner in any overseas plans.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Square CEO hints at Windows Phone app, says Starbucks funding will go toward ‘international efforts’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Wallet has been hampered by a number of limitations since its launch, not the least of which is its limited device compatibility. Perhaps a bigger problem though, was its lack of support for most major credit and debit cards. Today that finally changes with the latest version of Big G’s mobile payment system. Now you’ll be able to use any credit or debit card you wish, and take them with you from one device to the next. Early versions of the digital wallet used the phones secure local storage to protect your card info, now it’s all in the cloud allowing you to sync your preferred payment method across multiple devices and keep track of both your online and in-store purchase’s through Google’s web Wallet. Perhaps most importantly though, Mountain View has upped the security ante, by allowing you to disable individual devices, should a tragedy befall your beloved Nexus. For more info check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Google Wallet moves to the cloud, opens up to all credit and debit cards

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

Google Wallet moves to the cloud, opens up to all credit and debit cards originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like big sodas, paper ticket stubs may soon become a thing of the past in New York. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that, come next month, its employees will begin trials of a smartphone-based ticketing system aboard the Metro-North Railroad. While the grand experiment is currently closed to the public, it’s said that railroad workers will use their Android, BlackBerry and iPhone handsets to purchase rail tickets, which may then be validated directly from their smartphone. During the trial, the new system will be compared to the current purchasing scheme that combines both ticket machines and on-board purchases. Should everything prove successful, the MTA will expand the Metro-North’s new system to all-comers. Transit-minded folks will find the full PR after the break.

[Image credit: Masabi (Flickr)]

Continue reading New York MTA announces smartphone-based ticketing trials aboard Metro-North Railroad

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Software

New York MTA announces smartphone-based ticketing trials aboard Metro-North Railroad originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 04:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While it’s tested the idea several times in the past, London’s Tube system won’t be getting mobile-based payment technology any time soon. Customer Experience Director Shashi Verma told GigaOM that existing NFC technology wasn’t able to drop below the 500 millisecond barrier — something which Transport for London demands from its high-churn Oyster card-based turnstiles. Verma added, “The concerns are only around NFC technology and not EMV. We are keen to see any progress the industry can make in this area.” At least for the near-future, it looks like Brits will have to glue their NFC cards to their phones if they want that contactless payment look while journeying around London.

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

London Underground: NFC mobile payment technology ‘too slow’ for the tube originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poland and Germany could be the next two countries to get smartphone payments, powered by MasterCard and Deutsche Telekom. The SIM-based NFC solution will utilize the US bank’s ClickandBuy service for processing and will be available to T-Mobile customers, rolling out to Poland in Q3 of this year and Germany in 2013. This latest partnership comes on the heels of Vodafone’s pairing with Visa, which is also said to be making a push for the German market. What remains to be seen is whether or not there is in fact a demand for mobile payments — the technology has yet to take off in the US, despite an influx of funding and infrastructure from MasterCard and Google. NFC is no doubt the future of cashless transactions, but it likely remains a few years away from hitting the mainstream, with compatible devices still limited, on both the customer and retail fronts. Hit up the links below for a closer look at DT’s push to conquer the European market, one NFC-equipped SIM card at a time. Then jump past the break for a quick intro, compliments of Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann and MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga (the two seemingly random gentlemen that you may have noticed above as well).

Continue reading MasterCard and T-Mobile to bring NFC payments to Europe in Q3 (video)

MasterCard and T-Mobile to bring NFC payments to Europe in Q3 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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