Tag: mobile technology

Square plans to expand its support of Apple Pay

Small businesses may soon get access to Apple Pay, thanks to payments firm Square. Launched last month, Apple Pay has become somewhat popular among retailers. The service enables companies to accept payments made by mobile devices, specifically the iPhone 6. Currently, some large retail organizations are among the few that actually support Apple Pay, but smaller retailers will soon be able to accept mobile transactions through the service.

Square offers a variety of services to organizations that are interested in mobile commerce

Square is often seen as a strong competitor in the mobile payments field. The company, however, provides services to a multitude of other organizations that are interested in mobile payments. Square offers physical point-of-sale terminals that are able to accept and process mobile transactions from a variety of different payment services. The company plans to integrate Apple Pay support into these terminals in the near future, allowing retailers using these point-of-sale systems to work with Apple’s new payment service.

Updates to Square’s module card reader are in the works

This will, of course, require hardware changes for Square’s payment systems, such as its mobile card reader. New hardware will be introduced to the firm’s card reader in order to give it NFC capabilities. NFC technology currently makes up the backbone of mobile payments and there are a growing number of services that use this technology to process transactions. The issue, however, is that the Apple Pay service will only work with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. That may change in the future, however, and Square’s upgraded card module may be able to give NFC capabilities to older versions of the iPhone.

Demand for mobile payment services among small businesses is on the rise

Square’s support of Apple Pay may make the payment service more attractive to small businesses. These businesses have an interest in mobile commerce, but have relatively few options available to them when it comes to engaging mobile shoppers. Many services are designed with large retailers in mind, ignoring smaller organizations that also want to use them.

The President was recently reported to have held his flight in order to retrieve his handset after having forgotten it.

Reporters at the White House recently reported that President Obama had been seen getting back off the Marine One helicopter, only moments after boarding, so that he could return to the official residence, as it seems that his BlackBerry had been forgotten.

A New York Times reporter tweeted that he explained that the delay was the result of having to fetch the smartphone.

Other news reports have also revealed that the President delayed the flight in the helicopter after having forgotten his BlackBerry. After this story became quite large, particularly over social media, Obama addressed reporters, asking them “Didn’t you guys ever forget something?”

Obama has proven to be one of the most loyal of BlackBerry users, which is likely a matter of pride for the company.

At a time in which the Canadian handset manufacturer has entirely shifted its focus to the business and government markets – its original position – and has left the consumer market behind, the fact that President Obama has remained a holdout throughout the last few years in which the company, formerly known as RIM (Research In Motion), has seen considerable struggles, particularly on the consumer side.

The company has never ceased to keep up its concentration and reputation when it comes to mobile security, and this is likely one of the features that the president finds to be the most appealing.

Back in March, Jay Carney, who had been a spokesperson at the time, explained that the White House had stated that it would be keeping up their use of BlackBerry smartphones and would not take part in a Google Inc. pilot program that would have had them using smartphones that were based on Android software.

President Obama is far from the only head of state who is still using a BlackBerry. Recently, others have also been seen with their smartphones equipped with the distinctive QWERTY keyboard. They include the United Kingdom’s David Cameron, as well as Angela Merkel from Germany. It looks as though 2015 will be another defining year for the company.