Emerging Technologies

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

February 27, 2008
Mercator Research
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.

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