Hip to be square
Back at MWC 2010 we brought you the vision of ARM and NXP that one day we will pay for everything using our mobile phones and contactless swipe pads. While that remains the Holy Grail of mobile commerce, it's likely to arrive in increments.
One of those could well be Square, an app and smartphone peripheral that turns your smartphone into a credit card terminal, such as the ones you might use at your restaurant table. The peripheral is a miniature card swiper that connects into your phone via the headphone port and reads the card details. A couple of videos below show what it's all about.
Square is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey, who is also one of creators of Twitter. He recently posted a state of play on the Square website. "We want to enable all people to accept payments instantly, with access to all the information they need, in a way that feels amazing and engaging," he said.
"Today, in addition to releasing clients for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Android devices, we are opening up our first cut at activating card processing and pricing, and sending out our first production batch of free card readers. All represent just the beginning of what Square is striving to become: a simple payment utility for everyone."
The post is only dated May 2010, but Dorsey's recent tweet announcing the iPhone and Android apps suggests it's a very recent announcement. While the demand for a service like this isn't necessarily overwhelming right now, it's one step closer the potential obsolescence of cash. It will be interesting to see what end-users do with this new facility.
