Samsung develops ultra-thin 32GB flash memory

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 10:30:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Samsung tonight unveiled a breakthrough for its NAND flash memory that could lead to much more stora...

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Bracketeer 4 adds Snow Leopard support, new user
interface

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 09:45:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Pangea Software has released Bracketeer 4, the latest version of its photography utility that combin...

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TapeDeck 1.3 adds Apple Lossless Audio Codec
support

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 09:15:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

SuperMegaUltraGroovy and toastycode have launched an upgrade to the their Mac audio recorder, releas...

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Flip Boom All-Star animator uploads to YouTube,
Facebook

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 08:40:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Toon Boom Animation has launched a new animation title, Flip Boom All-Star, aimed at teens and older...

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Boris XML Transfer translates Final Cut to After
Effects

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 08:15:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Boris has released a new Adobe After Effects plug-in, Boris XML Transfer. The utility transfers Appl...

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T-Mobile suffers nationwide outage

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 07:45:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

T-Mobile users tonight have been reporting a widespread outage of service across the US. Those affe...

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Droid tethering likely to cost less than iPhone's

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 06:05:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Verizon today noted that it plans to add a data tethering option for the Motorola Droid. A represen...

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OWC offers external Blu-ray burner with USB,
eSATA, FW ports

post from Macnn | The Macintosh News Network on 03 November 2009 06:00:00 PM. © Macnn | The Macintosh News Network

Other World Computing on Tuesday announced that it is now offering a Mercury Pro external Blu-ray dr...

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Best Buy to let users stream purchased DVD movies

Best Buy today struck a deal with Roxio to create a unique online and DVD hybrid movie service for t...

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Apple’s New iPod touch-Based EasyPay System
Explained

easypay-sign

Image Credit: AppleInsider.com

Finally, Apple is beginning the roll-out of its iPod touch-based payment and checkout system for retail stores. According to an exclusive report over at AppleInsider, the Mac maker will begin retiring its current Windows CE-based devices and implementing the new system within a couple of weeks.

The device is an entirely new iPod touch, custom designed for point-of-sale (POS) usage. It features a magnetic stripe reader, an advanced barcode scanner, and Apple’s own proprietary software for processing payments. The new system allows for payment by credit, debit and cash, and includes features that allow for making returns, too.

The EasyPay touch, as the device is being called, was made possible thanks to the introduction of hardware device support via the dock connector. The extended case that surrounds the basic iPod touch contains sleep and volume control buttons, a mini-USB connector for charging, and a rechargeable battery to power the card reader and barcode scanner.

Things that the EasyPay touch can’t do (yes, even it isn’t a miracle worker) include divvying up payment between two or more debit or credit cards, or paying by checks and processing cash returns. These transactions will continue to be handled by more traditional computer-based POS systems.

The roll-out of the new EasyPay touch system will include more than just a change in the hardware used for processing transactions. According to AppleInsider, Apple is aware that many customers find its non-traditional check out systems to be somewhat confusing, so attempts will be made to make it more clear when and where store guests can pay for their purchases.

While there are no plans currently to extend the payment system beyond the confines of Apple’s retail store, it’s impossible not to think about how such an elegant and simple system might appeal to other retailers as well. Should Apple ever decide to license the tech, I’m sure there will be at least a few major companies out there interested in pursuing such an agreement.