Poynt’s ‘Smart’ POS Terminal Is Ready To Ship

Poynt is bringing its Smart Terminal to market after securing $28 million in Series B funding.

Source: www.pymnts.com

Been waiting for this one — The Poynt Smart Terminal builds upon the trend of tablets being used as the point of sale, featuring two touch screens, the ability to integrate with existing payment systems and the ability to accept the latest payments technologies, which Poynt said makes it a “future-proof multi-purpose device.”

The company also announced that both the hardware and software of its Smart Terminal received PCI PTS, PCI-DSS and EMV certification.

The Poynt Smart Terminal builds upon the trend of tablets being used as the point of sale, featuring two touch screens, the ability to integrate with existing payment systems and the ability to accept the latest payments technologies, which Poynt said makes it a “future-proof multi-purpose device.”

The company also announced that both the hardware and software of its Smart Terminal received PCI PTS, PCI-DSS and EMV certification.

Retail automation is the next phase for the “big box” footprint

Three weeks ago Best Buy announced that they are testing a new robot name “Chloe” for the automated 24/7 distribution of all media. This is now live in their NYC store. Hats off to Best Buy for taking that next step in delivering a better consumer experience. Not only do the old video/game/music racks take up substantial space but they are difficult to shop. At Kinetic we have deployed multiple connected retail robots for automated distribution of product in retail. The results have been amazing. We built a similar robot for Blockbuster two years ago. We were able to reduce the store footprint by 70%. At first we thought there may be a reduction in sales but the opposite happened. Consumers via an intuitive user interface were able to find product faster. The next amazing result was that the automation increased catalog sales in media by 38%. We attributed this to the recommendation engine helping push sales of older product. We are currently working on automated solutions for other high shrink product for major retailers. We expect to see a shift to automation to in retail as a means to add more for floor space for new products and reduce labor. Expect to see more retailers testing similar connected retail as Best Buy is doing in 2016.

Source: www.linkedin.com

John Laspia III1st

CEO Kinetic Connects
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Robotics, automation play a big role in Gartner’s top 10 predictions

According to Gartner’s annual top-10 list of strategic predictions, robots, robotic systems and automation will have an expanding role.

Source: www.cio.com

More on the article link but here are top three predictions:

Here are Gartner’s predictions:
1. Writers will be replaced. By 2018, 20% of all business content, one in five of the documents you read, will be authored by a machine, Plummer said.
“Robowriters” are already producing budget reports, sports and business reports, and this trend is sneaking in without notice. One advantage for machines: They don’t have biases or emotional responses, he said.
2. By 2018, 6 billion connected things will be requesting support. These non-human “things” are nonetheless customers requesting services and data, and other methods of support. Marketing to them (and by extension their human owners) can help build a business.
3. By 2020, autonomous software agents outside of human control will participate in 5% of all economic transactions. Smart algorithms are already beginning to perform transactions without our help.

Verifone Shifts POS Approach To “Engage”

Verifone launched its new point of sale offering, Verifone Engage, which introduces a new line of connected commerce-enabled devices.

Source: www.pymnts.com

In what the company is calling the “next generation” of payment devices, Verifone Engage products come equipped to support a variety of payments methods, including all mobile payments wallets, while also preparing merchants to wrap additional value around the point of sale opportunity. Multimedia displays enable two-way customer interactivity and multilayer security safeguards data via encryption and tokenization.


The launch stands as a major shift in the way Verifone approaches the point of sale. While the hardware is slick and modern, that’s only a small part of the Engage proposition. Vlugt emphasized the importance placed on what’s happening behind the scenes as well.

“It’s not just a shiny new device; there is a whole infrastructure and ecosystem and value that’s associated with it,” Vlugt noted.

Central to the Verifone Engage platform is the Verifone App Marketplace. Verifone is opening the door to developers to channel their creative energies and create new apps that respond to the personalized POS experiences that merchants seek, and value-added services that consumers demand. Vlugt emphasized that the apps marketplace is architected in such a way that developers don’t need a payments knowledge base to add value. They simply build on top of the equivalent of a “Verifone Engage Inside” payments layer.

Starbucks Moves On From Square With Chase

JPMC has stepped up to fill in where Square left off at Starbucks. The question now is: Will JPMC be able to make money on a deal that lost Square $71 million.

Source: www.pymnts.com

Hopefully, JPMC can make the deal work better than its predecessor over at Square. Data made public in the Square’s IPO filing last week made it clear that processing for Starbucks was a losing proposition for Square, which lost $71 million for the firm over the course of three years.


The new Chase deal will cut short the Square contract, which is technically set to go until Q3 2016. JPMC will take up at least some of the processing duties immediately, with the total transition forecasted for spring next year.

Kevin Johnson, COO of Starbucks, noted that the new pair-up will prepare his company for the “coming wave of innovation in our digital payment ecosystem

This Week in Pot – Fed Turns Down Treasury backed Banking Credit Union

The Treasury Department may have offered banking suggestions for the emerging legal pot industry, but it may all be for naught, since the Fed said no.

Source: www.pymnts.com

Weirdly, the Treasury Department seems less concerned about that part. The Fourth Corner Credit Union (the bank that suffered a denial in Colorado) was designed using rules issued by the Treasury last year for how banks can accept drug money from states where those drugs are legal. Fourth Corner was chartered specifically to service the state’s $700 million a year industry and create a safe place to bank for it.


The credit union now wants a federal judge to step in and order the Federal Reserve to change its mind.


The disconnect between the Fed and Treasury — whose stated goal is to “enhance the availability of financial services for, and the financial transparency of, marijuana-related businesses” — is a little bit peculiar.


But the Fed says it is in a strange position and that while it does not intend to lock anyone up for this, it also simply can’t allow the banking system to house the proceeds of an illegal industry.

The Fed further compared the state asking for approval to a situation where “Colorado enacted a scheme to allow trade in endangered species or trade with North Korea.”

Which means, for the time being, pot is a cash business, even in states where it is a legal and regulated cash business.

Wireless M2M & IoT Market $196 Billion by 2020

Despite its low ARPU, the wireless M2M market has become a key focus of many mobile network operators as their traditional voice and data markets become saturated. Likewise, government and regulatory initiatives such as the EU initiatives to have a smart meter penetration level of 80% by 2020 and the mandatory inclusion of automotive safety systems such as eCall in all new car models, have also helped to drive overall wireless M2M connections and revenue.

By enabling network connectivity among physical objects, M2M has initiated the vision of the Internet of Things (IoT)a global network of sensors, equipment, appliances, computing devices, and other objects that can communicate in real time.  This gives rise of a multitude of application possibilities including but not limited to location tracking, diagnostics, process automation, remote monitoring/control and even entertainment. Given the vast array of M2M and IoT applications, the industry has attracted attention from a multitude of vertical market segments.

Consequently we expect the wireless M2M market to account for nearly $196 Billion in revenue by the end of 2020, following a CAGR of 21% during the six year period between 2014 and 2020. Eyeing this lucrative opportunity, vendors and service providers across the highly fragmented M2M value chain have become increasing innovative in their strategies and technology offerings which have given rise to a number of submarkets such as M2M network security, Connected Device Platforms (CDP) and M2M application platforms.

This report presents an in-depth assessment of the global wireless M2M market.  In addition to covering the business case, the challenges, the industry’s roadmap, value chain analysis, deployment case studies, and the vertical market ecosystem, vendor service/product strategies and strategic recommendations, the report also presents comprehensive forecasts for the wireless M2M market from 2014 till 2020, including an individual assessment of the following submarkets: Network Connectivity, Application Services, Embedded Cellular M2M Modules, Network Security, Connected Device Platforms (CDP), Application Platforms (Application Enablement Platforms, AEP and Application Development Platforms, ADP), Integration Services and Enabling Technologies, across six regions.

The report segments wireless M2M connections and associated service revenue forecasts separately for cellular, satellite and short range wireless technologies. Country level connection forecasts are provided for over 50 countries. Also provided are wireline M2M connection and service revenue forecasts.

Furthermore, network connectivity and application service revenue forecasts are individually presented for the following 8 vertical market segments: Utilities & Smart Grid, Automotive & Transportation, Logistics, Public Safety, Security & Surveillance, Retail & Vending, Healthcare, Intelligent Buildings & Smart Cities, and Consumer Electronics.

The report covers the following topics:

  • M2M/IoT technology and architecture
  • Market drivers and key benefits of wireless M2M
  • Challenges and Inhibitors to the wireless M2M Ecosystem
  • Wireless M2M standardization initiatives
  • Wireless M2M opportunities, use cases and applications across industry verticals
  • Wireless M2M deployment case studies
  • Industry, mobile network operator and vendor commitments to M2M
  • Wireless M2M industry roadmap: 20142020
  • Wireless M2M value chain assessment
  • SWOT analysis of M2M access technologiesCellular, satellite, short range (Wi-Fi and others) and wireline
  • Key trends in the M2M ecosystem: acquisitions, evolving requirements, business models, cloud based analytics, network security, impact of LTE, roaming issues, alliances, IPv6, module costs and price elasticity
  • Profiles, market positioning assessment (current strategy, target market and products/services) and strategic recommendations for 175 players in the M2M/IoT ecosystem: embedded wireless module vendors, hardware & bundled solution providers, vertical market specialists, M2M MVNOs, M2M/IoT platform & software specialists, wireless industry incumbents, M2M network operators and integration specialists
  • Market analysis and forecasts from 2011 till 2020

 

Apple Patent Loss to Wisconsin on A7

Automated Retail

Apple A7 ChipWrite up on The Recorder

Apple’s computer processors infringe technology patented by the University of Wisconsin, a federal jury in Madison found Tuesday.

Lawyers for Irell & Manella have set up the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation—the university’s licensing arm, also known as WARF—for a potentially big damage award following a six-day jury trial. WARF is prepared to ask for as much as $862 million in the upcoming damages phase, according to a pretrial ruling.

WARF alleged that Apple’s flagship A7 processor, which is used in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina Display, infringed WARF’s 5,781,752 patent, which covers circuitry that improves chip efficiency and performance. WARF also brought a new suit against Apple just before trial based on the recent launch of the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus and iPadPro, which WARF says contains the same technology.

Apple, represented by Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, tried first for invalidation at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The PTAB declined to institute proceedings in April, and on Tuesday a jury found the six challenged claims valid and infringed.

Irell’s trial team was led by partners Morgan Chu, Gary Frischling, Jason Sheasby and Alan Heinrich, along with associates Christopher Abernethy, Amy Proctor and Anthony Rowles. Defending Apple at trial were Wilmer partners William Lee, James Dowd, David Marcus, Andrea Jeffries and Jordan Hirsch, along with Catherine Cetrangelo of Madison’s Cetra Law Firm.

The ‘752 patent concerns a “table based data speculation circuit for parallel processing computer.” The circuit predicts when a processor can execute programs out-of-sequence, to improve efficiency, without risking errors. Irell settled a suit against Intel over the same patent in 2009.

Apple has argued that the technology was well-known by 1995, but U.S. District Judge William Conley, the PTAB and U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb in the Intel case all rejected Apple’s construction of the term “prediction.”

“While the court agrees with Apple that [Crabb’s] decision has no binding effect on this court … any more than the PTAB’s decision does, the court will obviously consider Judge Crabb’s and the PTAB’s reasoning and analysis in the opinion below,” Conley wrote in denying summary judgment of invalidity to Apple.

Contact the reporter at [email protected].

Read more: https://www.therecorder.com/id=1202739753930/Apple-Loses-Big-Patent-Battle-in-Wisconsin#ixzz3oYblMK1l