Advanced Peak at Apple Retail Stores' New iPod touch-based EasyPay Gear
< AppleInsider has a great, exclusive look from ifoAppleStore at the new iPod touch-based EasyPay system Apple Retail Stores are set to roll out, replacing their old WindowsCE gear.
Those who have seen the system for processing credit card, debit card and cash purchases, dubbed "EasyPay touch," said it combines iPod touch features with a magnetic stripe reader, advanced barcode scanner and Apple-written software to speed plastic and cash transactions.
It definitely bulks up Steve's ultra-thin portable, but it's no doubt refreshingly modern technology -- and Apple's own -- going into the hands of employees. Check it out via the link above and let us know what you think.
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
| Tweet |
|
|
Leave a Reply
Note: Comments must be civil, respectful, and on-topic. If a comment does not add to the conversation, if it contains spam advertising, or inappropriate language or content, it will be removed. Insulting the topic, author, staff, site, network, or other commenters will result in the comment being marked as spam and potential prevent future comments from appearing on the site. Do not post as a business or your comment will likely be confused with spam. Comments containing links may be held for moderation. Relax, enjoy, and share in the discussion.
Interesting...
non capici.. !!
I got to see these firsthand recently when I went to get my Magic Mouse from the Valley Fair store in SF Bay Area. Looked like the inCase Power Slider with a slot on back for a CC. Pretty sweet!
The neat thing is that this is essentially just a Case with smarts for the Touch, and it suggests that Apple might have a new generic product for business. (Especially if it can be made to work with the iPhone over 3G).
There are a LOT of stores and businesses that would love to get to this level of portability.
I can see this thing ending up in Restaurants, ball parks, convention centers, big box stores of all types.
Maybe Apple is getting serious about Business applications after all but ignoring that segment of the market for the last several years.
Hot tip - it's peek not peak.
This would be great for restaurants. The waitress brings you the check, swipes your card right there at the table, you put in your pin, done! I always hate it when they take my card out of my sight!
@Rich:
Not just for payments at the Restaurant, but also for taking orders.
The entire menu could be on line, the table layout (who gets the Croque Madam?), which seats are on which bill, the up-to-the-minute cellar inventory, Reminders so the server won't forget a table, Order Up paging from the kitchen, the whole nine yards.
The bigger the venue, the better it would work. Big busy bars, larger restaurants, Room Service, all would kill for this.
Downside: Restaurants jobs no longer suitable for high-school drop outs. Oh, well!
it doesn't combine the device with a card swiper. the article explains how it uses another device and a server that this app connects to for the credit card part.
Not even Rene must have read the actual article.
"Debit card transactions will be a hybrid of the EasyPay touch and the existing Hypercom desktop terminal. A customer's order will be entered and logged on the iPod touch. The customer will be directed to one of the store's existing Hypercom-brand credit card terminals, where they will swipe their card and enter their PIN. When the card is approved, a code is returned to the iPod touch for matching with the order."
Considering the battery life, Apple stores will now only be open for 2.5 hours.
@Kevin:
http://images.appleinsider.com/easypay-091103-2.png
Follow the link in the Story to AppleInsider. Read The paragraph immediately before the first picture.
In the image above you can see the mag stripe reader when looking at the device end-on.
AppInisder says: [S]ome other transactions will continue to be processed through the existing POS system, including using two or more credit/debit cards to pay for a single transaction, accepting bank or traveler's checks, and processing returns for cash.
The bit you quoted simply says Apple was smart enough not to require the customer to handle this device to enter his PIN for Debit cards. I would be very reluctant to enter a PIN in a device that wasn't hard wired. If I was apple I would be reluctant to have to hand this device to a customer under any circumstances.
So it DOES have ar card swiper, and Rene DID read the article.
@ Kevin
"Apple's solution consists of a hard plastic, two-piece slip-on shell with a grip texture. The magstripe reader is tucked onto the back of the shell, and the barcode scanner is installed within the top of the device. Hidden inside the shell is a rechargeable battery to power the card reader and scanner. A set of four tiny lights on the back indicate the unit's state of battery charge."
How did the Desing of this BRICK? Steve Jobs has athorized this? Please tell me that it is just a TEST Case... Where is Ive? Does anybody knows?
Psh. "Bulk Up" ? This is better that those huge contruction strength things they us.
@ VR1:
Quote:
Who did the design or that sentence?
You can't buy it, so why do you care what it looks like?
@Tom
Hahahahahaha. I was thinking the same. Hopefully, that new scanner has a battery pack.
@Rich: They already do something similar to this at some restaurants in the UK. A friend of mine went over there a couple years ago and she mentioned she was really surprised at most of the restaurants she ate at, they brought a small credit card processor thingy to the table and ran it right there in front of her. She thought it was pretty cool.
And that case looks kind of like a Mophie Air JuicePack.
@Aimz it's called a chip and pin machine and they've been in Europe a long time before UK. Nearly all transactions in all retailers use this system now- some are just wired in while others (mainly at restaurants) are portable.
They are just for payment by card though and have no other function.
Dear Ms. BlogMeister:
The word is "Peek", not "Peak".
HTH.
Going along with IGenius:
I never do this, but I'm only doing this because I haven't seen anyone point it out already. It is an "advance" peek, not an "advanced" peek. The two are quite different.
Once again, I apologize for doing this, since I don't quite like it when other people do.
Really, nothing new here. The service industry has been using these, just like apple stores, for quite some time now. The only difference is the little Apple logo. Once again Apple re-releases an old product/technology with their name on it and it becomes an epic, ground breaking and industry changing device. Next they will make a device that you can carry with you while you browse the 7 items they have in the store that will buzz when it is your turn at the “Genius Bar” Yawn…
@Davie199:
Yeah, there were already mobile phones before the iPhone. No new technology there.
:O So mUch Info :O � THis Is the MOst AMAzing SIte DUDe �
