February 2008
Boston, MA

Mercator Advisory Group Viewpoint:

A Seamless POS Future: Moving Order Entry and Payments into an iPod

At the end of 2007, a patent for ordering frequent purchases like your morning coffee was awarded to Apple. The design allows the consumer to make an order using any wireless portable device -- a WiFi-enabled iPod, a PDA or a mobile phone -- when it comes into range of a merchants WiFi system. The mobile device wakes up and displays the customer's "usual" choices, along with appropriate advertisements or incentives. The world of seamless mobile payments does not have to wait for the NFC business proposition to work itself out.

This is a Mercator Advisory Group Viewpoint which is not available for one-off purchasing. It is available only to the members of Mercator Advisory Group's membership services.