Revel’s iPad Point-Of-Sale Platform and Starbucks Mobile Ordering

TECHCRUNCH: Revel makes one of the leading iPad point-of-sales systems and was among the first to offer Apple Pay. Despite its focus on mobile payments, however, the startup is also trying to attract companies that are wary of handling financial transactions solely through wi-fi. To get more enterprises on board, Revel is launching wired ethernet connections, a move that it hopes will convince large retail businesses to replace their cash registers with iPads.

Revel claims they are the first iPad POS provider to offer failover connections between wi-fi and cabled Ethernet, so if one falters, the other will take over. Called Revel Ethernet Connect, the hardware is now on sale for $250 and will be included with Revel’s iPad POS system after June 15. Read the full article

TECHCRUNCH: Starbucks, whose embrace of mobile payments and mobile loyalty in-store has already established the company as a forward-thinker when it comes to new technology, is this morning announcing the expansion of its “Mobile Order & Pay” system to 21 more states, including 3,400 individual café locations across the U.S. The feature allows customers to place their order and pay using the Starbucks mobile app, then skip the line when they arrive at the store, as their drink or other item is already being made.

Mobile Order & Pay first began as a pilot program in Portland in December, and has expanded across Starbucks’ locations in a relatively short time frame thanks to the way it leverages the technology infrastructure Starbucks already has in place. The company said in March the feature was rolling out across the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle, as well as elsewhere in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska. At the time, Mobile Order & Pay was available in 650 stores. Read the full article