Tag: google

Target is developing its own mobile platform that will allow consumers to shop with their smartphones

Major retailer Target may be working on its own mobile payments service, which will allow it to better connect with consumers using smartphones and other devices. Target is the fourth-largest retailer in the United States, but it has yet to establish any significant presence in the mobile commerce space. The company had intended to use a platform developed by the Merchant Customer Exchange, but the organization has been slow in developing its mobile payments service for retailers.

New platform will serve as a type of digital wallet, storing information for consumers

While Target may be developing its own mobile payments platform, the company has not announced plans concerning the launch of the platform. It would allow consumers to pay for products with their mobile devices, however, and it will also serve as a type of digital wallet. The platform will store information provided by Target, such as discounts, and consumers can use the product to store their financial information, making the purchasing process more convenient.

Target will compete with other companies involved in the mobile payments space

Target entering into the mobile payments field could bring more competition into the market. Companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung have already established footholds in this market, but they are finding it difficult to effectively connect with mobile consumers. Retailers are finding its particularly challenging to convert mobile shoppers into paying customers. By developing their own mobile payments platforms, however, they may be able to provide a more enjoyable experience for consumers that may help solve this problem.

Walmart is also developing its own mobile payments platform

Target joins Walmart in the development of a mobile payments platform. Walmart believes that its platform will allow it to better connect with mobile consumers, whom are beginning to rely more heavily on their mobile devices to get their shopping done. More retailers are expected to follow suit, developing their own mobile payments platforms while also making use of those developed by other companies. Whether or not these platforms will become popular among consumers has yet to be seen, however.

Google’s new video offered a mixed-reality style environment to bring digital and physical objects together.

Trixi Studios recently released a video that brought the new BB-8 Star Wars droid into a fun new augmented reality based environment in which digital objects were brought into the physical environment.

This experience was meant to provide Star Wars fans with a fun glimpse into what AR technology can do.

Despite the fact that Project Tango at Google and Hololens from Microsoft are both considered to be in the early phases of development, they are both working at full tilt to try to make the augmented reality experience more broadly available. Some of the recent releases have include the Hololens development kit from Microsoft that comes with a price tag of $3,000, while the development kit from Project Tango is a notably more affordable $512. The release of the Star Wars simulation was only one of a range of AR technology based teasers that have been released over YouTube in recent weeks.

There have also been several other players that have been strutting their augmented reality stuff.

Among them was the rather mysterious Magic Leap, which has been quite secretive about what it’s been up to. That said, it didn’t hold off releasing its own AR technology based video recently. With each new release, it becomes more clear that the tech has quite a bit to offer in terms of a unique and fascinating experience for users.

When it comes to the more recent Star Wars video, while the BB-8 droid was featured, it wasn’t the only character that made its way into the spotlight. In fact, there were several character interactions available as the creator of the video made it possible to provide digital representations of Boba Fett and Stormtroopers to be fought off.

While it is clear in the videos that the animations remain in earlier forms, the point wasn’t to show how accurate and detailed the animations could be. Instead, it was a fascinating demonstration of the type of features augmented reality could have to offer. The fact that top Star Wars characters were brought into the mix showed that there is some meaningful potential on the fun side of the spectrum.