In recent weeks there has been an influx of new mobile technologies. The Samsung Galaxy Gear, PayPal Beacon, Google Motorolla / Skip, Apple iBeacon and Google Glashion now include key features that can enable payments.
Samsung Galaxy Gear
The Galaxy Gear, Samsung’s now official and it’s quite different to anything you’ve seen before. It is a smartphone accessory that can pick up notifications, control music playback, and keep time with a rich variety of watch faces. Samsung says there are over 70 to choose from — which can be installed via the Galaxy Gear Manager app on a Samsung phone. The watch has NFC which could be used for payment applications.
PayPal Beacon
PayPal recently advanced its push in to mobile payments with the latest debut of its hardware, Beacon, a bluetooth LE enabled device for hands-free payments. PayPal’s mobile app can detect a Bluetooth signal coming from the Beacon device and can automatically alert the merchant of a shopper’s presence, and the shopper can complete a purchase without touching the PayPal app.
A hands-free check-in and payment system, the Beacon plugs into any outlet, turning retailers and restaurants into a “beacon” for PayPal app users. Now, instead of waiting for your bill to be delivered and paying on a speed point device, users can simply pay using the mobile application.
Google/Motorola Skip
The first handset Motorola developed under Google ownership makes use of Near Field Communication with the first product being the newly announced Motorola Skip for Moto X. Google made reference in January that it was dissatisfied with password authentication. The Moto X smartphone comes with an NFC clip called “Skip” and a few NFC stickers used to unlock the phone without typing a PIN. This is a good start to familiarizing users with NFC technology.
Apple iBeacon
Apple’s iBeacons uses a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) which enables very precise micro-location triggers for events in iOS 7 apps. The main difference between NFC and BLE is that iBeacon has a better range than NFC. An iBeacon requires a physical beacon to transmit data like NFC requires a physical NFC tag. A Beacon can also accept payments, so customers can pay without having to tap the phone against anything.
Google Glashion
Glashion is an app for Google Glass that lets people instantly discover fashion products simply by taking a picture. The Glashion app gets downloaded onto your Google Glass and then you can take a photograph of any item you come across in a store. The app will immediately display similar products and all you have to do is either tap to buy the product or swipe to see more matching products. The application will also help you find the product in a store near your current location.
