This Week’s Product Pick

Datalogic ADC (Eugene, OR) debuted its PowerScan 9500 family of imagers, with several significant enhancements. PowerScan 9500 features omnidirectional reading of one and two-dimensional barcodes from up to 3.3 ft./1 m. Ergonomically designed to fit the operator's hand, this ruggedized device utilizes soft-pulsed white illumination when scanning to reduce the "flash" effect and handle low contrast or colored codes. An intuitive frame "aimer" clearly identifies the captured area, with "green spot" technology and dual good-read LEDs, or "3GL," for visual confirmation. This combination enables the highest first-reading rates even in the darkest and noisiest areas of the warehouse, logistics center, or manufacturing plant, according to the vendor. "Datalogic's PowerScan 9500 imager includes innovations that make reading easy and intuitive, resulting in significant performance improvement and time savings, which are crucial for companies faced with pressing deadlines," declared Giulio Berzuini, GM & VP, Hand-Held Scanners, for Datalogic ADC.

PowerScan 9500
by Datalogic ADC

COMPANY BUSINESS

At the Speed of Light in SoHo

Montreal-based LightSpeed Retail will open its first U.S. headquarters in New York City with 3,000 square feet of space at 510 LaGuardia Place. This new facility will house its enterprise sales team and complement its national sales force in the home office, according to the company. LightSpeed Retail, which actively recruits resellers, was early out of the gate in developing POS, inventory management, and store software based upon Apple's Mac and iOS platforms.

Its new office in New York will encompass an interactive product demonstration showroom, as well as an education and training center for smaller, so-called boutique merchants. Located in the heart of SoHo, this facility sits in close proximity to nearly 100 of LightSpeed's retail customers, including Treasure & Bond, Vespa, Saturday's Surf, and Beats by Dr. Dre. LightSpeed's platforms are currently used by over 1,000 retailers in New York City and nearly 11,000 globally.

"Representing the hub of retail innovation, SoHo was clearly the ideal location for our first U.S. office," relayed Dax Dasilva, CEO of LightSpeed Retail. "As demand increases for retailers to implement new technologies, we look forward to supporting the retail community here by providing a forum to exchange ideas as well as the tools they need to offer a more engaging in-store shopping experience." Dasilva, who founded LightSpeed Retail in 2005, was named Ernst & Young's 2012 Quebec Entrepreneur of the Year for the Information Technology category.

Dax Dasilva, CEO, LightSpeed Retail

Healthy Choice for ScanSource

ScanSource has brought healthcare closer for employees and their spouses through the new Wellness Clinic located on its campus in Greenville, South Carolina. Created in partnership with the Greenville Hospital System, the Wellness Clinic will function four days per week with nurse practitioner on staff and will mimic the typical doctor's office with the full range of medical services, according to the distributor. All such services will be strictly confidential and abide by HIPAA privacy rules.

"We are continuously looking for options that can lower healthcare costs for our employees, as well as for ScanSource. The creation of this Wellness Clinic will enable us to deliver convenient access to healthcare for our employees and their spouses, while also helping ScanSource to better control rising healthcare costs," reported Mike Baur, CEO of ScanSource, Inc., an avid runner. "This clinic is a direct result of our enhanced focus on health and wellness, and we are very excited to offer this service to our employees."

"On-site employer clinics are an effective way to improve access to care and the overall health of a company," indicated Mike Riordan, CEO/President of the Greenville Hospital System. "GHS' Business Health works with employers using claims data, health risk assessments, and biometric screenings to address their rising healthcare costs. We are looking forward to further developing our partnership with ScanSource." GHS provides similar customized wellness plans for more than 30 companies, municipalities, and universities in the region. Typically, 70% of each company's employees are diagnosed with one or more preventable health problems--most often, pre-diabetes, diabetes, and high blood pressure--that can be addressed through targeted education and intervention programs, according to GHS.

Jessica Howard, ScanSource Wellness Program Manager, Mike Baur, ScanSource CEO, Mike Riordan, CEO/President of Greenville Hospital System, and Brittney Brown,
Wellness Clinic Nurse Practitioner, Cut the Ribbon to Officially Open the ScanSource Wellness Clinic.

Worth Your While

Field Service USA 2013
Worldwide Business Research
April 22-25
Indian Wells, CA

ETA Annual Meeting & Expo
Electronic Transactions Association
April 30 - May 1
New Orleans

THE Tech EVENT
(Formerly NACStech, National Association of Convenience Stores)
May 6-10
Dallas

NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 18-21
Chicago

HITEC 2013
Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals
June 24-27
Minneapolis

RetailNow 2013
Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA)
August 4-7
Las Vegas

Pack Expo 2013
Packaging Manufacturers Machinery Institute
September 23-25
Las Vegas

ALL IN THE FAMILY

An Advancing Glacier

Glacier Computer (New Milford, CT) has unveiled its T710 rugged tablet with 10.4-inch touchscreen display and flexible configuration choices. Measuring approximately 11 in. (W) x 8 in. (H) x 1 in. (D), and weighing 2.4 lbs., T710 carries an Intel Atom Dual Core CPU (Cedar Trail) at 1.6 GHz, 2 GB DDR3, 32 GB SATA SSD, and Windows 7. As expected for use in industrial environments, the device meets IP-65 ratings against water and dust, MIL-STD-810G for temperature, humidity, and vibration, and six-foot drops to concrete. Its five-wire resistive screen with LED backlight provides easy sunlight readability.

A full suite of ports, front and rear-facing cameras, and hot-swappable batteries with eight-hour life come standard with the T710. Communication schemes include 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and optional WWAN at 3G or LTE. A wide range of data collection choices are offered, such as two-dimensional barcode scanner, GPS, NFC, RFID, and magnetic-stripe reader (MSR).

Glacier Computer's New T710 Rugged Tablet

Printronix Pops Up With T2N

Printronix (Irvine, CA) has showcased its new T2N thermal barcode printer targeted at the low end of the industrial-grade market. This new series includes direct thermal and thermal transfer models with print speeds of up to six inches/second, resolution of 203 or 300 dpi, and PGL (Printronix), ZGL (Zebra), and EGL (Eltron) graphical emulations. Notably, the 203-dpi model breaks the $1,000 price barrier, and "provides the best value in the market," according to Printronix, which has been somewhat quiet in our channel of late.

A number of competitive features have been furnished in the T2N. Serial, USB, and Ethernet connectivity comes standard, as does 32 MB SDRAM, 8 MB Flash, and real-time clock. Ease-of-use is supported by side-loading ribbon, large printer status indicator, and two-button LED design. With rugged metal and plastic construction, T2N offers peeler, cutter, and SDMC slot as options, with Andale Fonts (Korean, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese) coming in the next few months.

T2N Entry-Level Industrial Label Printer

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ALLIANCES

Putting the Touch on Power

Touch Dynamic (Irvington, NJ) will add power protection from Smart Power Systems to its line of offerings for POS. All models of electronic power conditioners and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) will be handled by Touch Dynamic. These products will be sold at the standard reseller price, RRN.Com was told by Craig Paritz, CEO/President of Touch Dynamic.

"Smart Power Systems is proud to announce our partnership with Touch Dynamic," proclaimed Roger Faridi, COO of Smart Power Systems (Houston, TX). "Our collaboration will allow POS dealers a 'one-stop-shop' for a bundled solution to better serve their clients. We have heard what POS dealers are in need of and this new relationship will definitely allow both Smart Power Systems and Touch Dynamic to lead the way in the POS industry with solutions that are both robust and reliable." Smart Power employs patented TBF (Transformer Based Filter) technology to protect equipment against lightning, EMI and RFI noise, low voltage and high voltage spikes, and any transients.

"Touch Dynamic found that partnering with Smart Power, who has its complete line of power protection, is perfect for our diverse clientele," shared Paritz, referring to the restaurant, retail, gaming, healthcare, and industrial markets he serves. "This partnership gives our resellers and ISVs one single source for their POS hardware and the equipment to protect their investment." Touch Dynamic also recently enhanced the speed of its Breeze Performance All-in-One POS with G40 Dual Core CPU at 2.5 GHz, up from G530 Dual Core CPU at 2.4 GHz. Moreover, all Breeze Performance terminals will now ship with LED LCD displays.

Touch Dynamic to Handle Products by Smart Power Systems, Such as the Venus UPS

WaveSoft Recasts the Tablets

WaveSoft Technologies (Vancouver, BC, Canada) has optimized its WavePOS for Aldelo for use on the Apple iPad and iPad Mini. Specifically, WaveSoft has redesigned the layout of this specific application from its previous configuration for iPod Touch or iPhone. Now end-users will enjoy high-definition graphics and more consistent ordering capability, with synchronization of menus, modifiers, and other system configurations across handhelds, tablets, and stationary POS terminals, emphasized the mobile POS developer.

WavePOS comes fully integrated with Aldelo's EDC 6.2 for payment processing. Significantly, it does not require Windows Server or Terminal Services license, meets Payment Card Industry (PCI) mandates, and supports magnetic-stripe reader (MSR) at the table. In keeping with the times, this latest version of WavePOS for Aldelo can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store.

"We have experienced an increased demand for our software applications to work on tablet devices," confirmed Wilson Chao, President of WaveSoft, which markets through resellers and ISVs. "By having WavePOS for Aldelo available on the iPad and iPad Mini, users will now have the ability to more easily view orders and other information on larger display formats, which improves workflow." In addition to Aldelo, WaveSoft addresses mobility for POS ISVs such as CES Software, Dinerware, Poswise, and Squirrel Systems.

WavePOS for Aldelo Embraces iPad

Code Corner

McAfee (Santa Clara, CA) has delivered the industry's first-ever "whitelisting" security solution for systems based on Android. Appropriately entitled "McAfee Application Control for Android," this new build resides in the inside kernel of Android, embedded in the O/S. Equally important, McAfee also provides protection at the application layer. Prior to McAfee's "Embedded" Control, security applications for Android functioned at the user level only, not the entire Android stack, thus leaving devices vulnerable to system attacks. McAfee's new release provides tamper-proof protection, superior operational control of devices in the field, and ease of device management concerning Android, according to its developer. Previously, embedded engineers only had one option--Security-Enhanced Linux , or SELinux--if they wanted to have enforceable security capabilities for this expanding platform. "As Android continues to grow in its adoption, McAfee is committed to making this platform as secure and trusted as other common embedded developer platforms," pledged Rishi Bhargava, McAfee's VP of Product Management for Embedded Security.

ENVIRONMENTS/PLATFORMS

A Data Deluge at Paytronix

Paytronix Systems (Waltham, MA), loyalty provider for hospitality, has launched Data Insights as its new customer relationship management (CRM) bureau. This effort will be headed by JJ Deutschle, who comes to Paytronix with 15 years of experience in market and customer research, most recently with dunnhumby. In the area of POS, Paytronix has business relationships with major channel players such as Micros, Digital Dining, Positouch, SpeedLine, and Xpient, among others.

"Restaurateurs have an unbridled desire to better understand their guests," stated Andrew Robbins, President of Paytronix. "Our new Data Insights offering will deliver the understanding they need to create the type of relevant loyalty programs and promotions that drive meaningful incremental sales. With JJ's consumer-behavior expertise, he and the team will help restaurant executives uncover actionable marketing opportunities among millions of bits of data."

"Our combination of data, people, and technology puts us in a unique position to assist restaurateurs in finding meaningful information from the deluge of data that they face in today's marketing world, including social media, mobile, online ordering, and loyalty programs," added Deutschle. "The Data Insights team creates behavioral and demographic-based audience segments. Using these segments, merchants are able to develop specific promotions that influence what guests buy, when they visit, and how much they spend. In the end, it's about improving the guest experience while keeping discounts at a level that enhances restaurant profitability."

Andrew Robbins, President, Paytronix

Gift Giving With Silver

NCR Corporation (Duluth, GA) has updated its NCR Silver POS package with an automated gift card program. NCR Silver, of course, operates on Apple iOS devices such as iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, delivered through the cloud, and specifically targets the under-served class of SMB merchants. Its new capability makes loading, accepting, and managing gift card sales no more difficult than taking credit card payments, according to NCR.

"Until now, small business owners relied on hard-to-manage paper gift certificate programs--if they offered any gift certificate program at all," summarized Christian Nahas, VP and GM of the NCR Small Business Team. "Integrating gift cards with NCR Silver gives small business owners the power to easily build their business. It also sets up current customers to tell others about the business while giving gifts to their friends and family."

More Evolution for NCR Silver

Key Advertiser Links

Be sure to visit these vendors for the latest in channel products and offers for resellers.

POS & Auto ID Distribution
Metropolitan Sales
Synnex
Wasp Barcode Technologies

POS & Peripherals
Harbortouch
Partner Tech
Pioneer POS
Posiflex
POS-X

POS Systems - Hospitality
PAR

POS Systems - Apple Based
LightSpeed Retail
ShopKeep POS

Barcode & Transaction Printers
Zebra Technologies

Cash Drawers
MMF POS

Data Collection Terminals
CipherLab
Datalogic ADC
Trimble

Data Collection Software
Wavelink

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems
Merchant Warehouse
Mercury

Keyboards
Cherry, ZF Electronics Corp
PrehKeyTec USA

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
Citizen Systems America
Epson America
Star Micronics

Scanners
Code Corporation
Honeywell

Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA

Touchscreens & Monitors
Elo TouchSystems

INSTALLATIONS

Ingenico Hangs Ten for Billabong

Ingenico (Atlanta) has deployed its new iSC Touch 250 Series payment processing terminals with signature capture for more than 100 Billabong stores in the U.S., with the remainder to come by the end of Q1. This upgrade was part of the sports retailer's strategic plan to modernize store systems for "savvy younger consumers," according to the two parties. With the iSC from Ingenico, the retailer will boost consumer engagement and convenience at checkout, reportedly, by delivering multimedia brand building as well as more diverse forms of payment, including NFC-based mobile wallets, contactless, and EMV Chip-and-PIN, above and beyond credit and debit cards.

"We were in the market to replace an older, problematic terminal with a more reliable, secure, and robust model," recounted Roger Moreno, Retail IT Manager with Billabong USA. "After evaluating options from the leading manufacturers, a decision was made to implement Ingenico's iSC Touch 250 due to its proven performance and dependability. Since rolling out Ingenico's iSC Touch 250 solution in late 2012, our PIN Pad terminal issues have dropped by 99%."

Billabong called upon SalePoint (San Diego), POS ISV and VAR, to manage, integrate, and carry out the installation of the new iSC Touch 250 devices. "The rollout was successful and Billabong has already seen the value of their investment during their busy holiday season," remarked Paul Streicher, President and Managing Director of Retail for SalePoint. "The new iSC Touch 250 in conjunction with SalePoint POS software provides benefits such as scrolling receipt, integrated signature capture, and full color video capability to promote their products and brands."

Ingenico's iSC Touch 250 With Signature Capture and Telium 2 Architecture

Agilysys Accepted to Vanderbilt

Agilysys, Inc. (Alpharetta, GA) has supplied its Agilysys Eatec inventory and procurement system for Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN). In all, 19 locations will be supported, including dining centers, multiple restaurants and cafes, and three retail markets. Based on Microsoft Windows, Agilysys Eatec spans core purchasing, inventory, recipe, forecasting, production, and sales analysis functions, as well as modules for catering, cycle planning, retail management, and nutrition, with ties directly to the POS. It was designed specifically for the hospitality and foodservice industries and got snapped up by Agilysys in 2008.

"An automated inventory and procurement system is an essential tool for higher education dining operations, where margins are tight and mistakes are costly," declared Tony Ross, VP of Sales for Agilysys. "Eatec's solution, with its customizable modular structure, is ideal for colleges and universities of all sizes. It will allow Vanderbilt Campus Dining to streamline the purchase process, control inventory, and manage overall costs with real-time automated information. Its comprehensive reporting features will also enable the campus dining team to make more accurate and informed business decisions."

Agilysys also has placed  its InfoGenesis POS with Kirkwood Mountain Resort, near Lake Tahoe, California. "One of the primary reasons we selected the InfoGenesis POS system for Kirkwood is because of its successful installation at several of our other properties," explained Ian Buxton, IT Director at Vail Resorts, which owns Kirkwood. "The solution's openness, flexibility, and 24/7 reliability are major selling points." Kirkwood runs several quick-service restaurants, two casual dining locations, and small grocery store in the ski complex.

The Commons Dining Area at Vanderbilt University

Channel Factoid

Although more than half of U.S. businesses with less than $10 million in revenue have experienced at least one data breach, only one-third notified individuals that their personal information had been exposed. In its survey, the Ponemon Institute found that 55% of those responding had their data breached, almost all involving electronic records, and 53% had multiple breaches. Only 33% notified the people affected, although 46 states require such action. Lost or stolen laptops, smart phones, and storage media were common causes of problems, along with employee or contractor mistakes. Sensitive information is more likely to be compromised when the data has been outsourced, 70% of respondents believe, but 62% do not have contracts that require third parties to cover such associated costs. At least 85% share customer and employee records with third parties for services such as billing, payroll, employee benefits, web hosting, and IT. When asked which type of lost or stolen information was more likely to harm their business, 70% agreed the loss of personally identifying information was more damaging than confidential company data. "Smaller companies are targeted by data thieves, but they often don't know how to respond when sensitive information they keep on customers and employees is lost or stolen," counseled Eric Cernak, VP for HSB Insurance, which commissioned the study. "Failing to act in a timely and effective way can harm the reputation of businesses and even risk legal penalties in many states."

HELLO GOODBYE

New Wings for Mercury

Mercury (Durango, CO) has enlisted two new members for its executive circle: Randy Clark, SVP of Marketing, and Jim Maloney, Chief Information Security Officer. "Randy and Jim are outstanding additions to our management team," commented Matt Taylor, CEO of Mercury. "Both bring a clear passion for their respective disciplines and deep experience managing high-growth organizations, which is invaluable to us as we extend our market leadership over the next few years. More than 3,000 channel partners and 80,000 small business organizations count on us to deliver the best payment and marketing solutions, services, and support to help them succeed in this competitive environment. Investing in our information security and market leadership means we'll be able to continue innovating and growing to support their current and future needs."

Clark joins Mercury from UC4 Software, where he served as CMO and helped build the company into an $100 million enterprise IT leader, according to Mercury. Prior to UC4, he served as CMO for Platform Computing and VP of Marketing for Symyx Technologies. "The opportunity for Mercury to help SMBs profitably navigate the rapidly changing payments industry is clear and I'm excited to help lead the company through its next phase of growth and market expansion," said Clark.

Maloney brings nearly two decades of global experience in information management, risk management, and policy setting. In addition to directing security at Intuit, he headed such practices at Barclays Bank, Amazon.com, Corillian Corporation, and Boeing. He also ran his own management consulting firm, Cyber Risk Strategies. "Securing information across an ever-changing landscape is paramount to ensuring retailer and consumer confidence, and Mercury has been at the forefront of meeting that challenge for years," Maloney said. "I'm looking forward to putting my knowledge and experience to work for Mercury to continue driving their information security efforts and accelerating innovations."

Randy Clark, SVP, Marketing, Mercury

VeriFone's Newly Departed

VeriFone Systems (San Jose, CA), one-half of the duopoly dominating worldwide sales of electronic payment terminals (with Ingenico), has announced the departure of Douglas Bergeron, CEO, effective on March 12. Richard McGinn, Chairman of the Board of Directors, has been named as Interim CEO. Alex "Pete" Hart, one of VeriFone's Directors, will lead the search committee charged with finding another CEO, it was reported. Over the past month, VeriFone's stock price dropped by one-third, from more than $32, following an earnings warning for its most recent fiscal quarter.

"Doug Bergeron has led VeriFone since 2001 and overseen its transformation into an industry leader," McGinn stated. "I want to thank Doug for his dedication and his many contributions. Our immediate focus will be on accelerating value creation for our stakeholders, including our shareholders, customers, and employees, by leveraging our superior product and service portfolio. At the same time, we will be redoubling our efforts to reinforce our competitive positioning within the electronic payment systems industry."

"It has been an honor to lead VeriFone through such an exciting period in its history," Bergeron volunteered. "I am very proud of our progress and accomplishments during the past 12 years. Now is the right time for new leadership to take the baton and continue to drive the company forward." Interesting times in the payments industry, for sure, with an ever-growing number of disruptive new technologies and non-traditional players added to the mix.

Former CEO, Douglas Bergeron, Leaves VeriFone