Our Product Pick

Touch Dynamic (Irvington, NJ) has showcased two new editions of All-in-One POS. A version of Acrobat J1900 now furnishes white casing and 14" LED LCD projected capacitive touchscreen, as well as Intel Celeron Quad-Core CPU at 2 GHz. It follows an earlier, black Acrobat J1900. Secondly, the Pulse J1900 has been upgraded to Intel Celeron Quad-Core CPU at 2 GHz. It has detachable base, 15" LED LCD projected capacitive touchscreen, and up to 4-GB RAM. Both feature fanless, bezel-free design. "We're always open to feedback about our products and are willing and eager to provide enhancements to ensure we are delivering what our partners both need and want," commented Craig Paritz, President of Touch Dynamic.

White Acrobat by Touch Dynamic

COMPANY BUSINESS

A Restoration at PAR

PAR Technology Corporation (New Hartford, NY) has announced the retirement of Ron Casciano from his position of CEO and President, effective January 1, 2016. Casciano joined PAR in 1983, eventually serving as Chief Financial Officer for 16 years before rising to CEO and President in 2013. He will remain on PAR's Board of Directors.

In turn, Karen Sammon has been elected as the next CEO, President, and Board Member of PAR. Sammon currently serves as President of ParTech, the company's largest subsidiary, addressing restaurant and retail POS, as well as food safety. During her time with PAR, Sammon has held roles of Corporate Counsel, Investor Relations, Chief Marketing Officer, and President of PAR Software. Outside PAR, she served as SVP of Operations for restaurant ISV, The CBORD Group. She also happens to be the daughter of John Sammon, who founded PAR Technology Corporation in 1968.

"Karen has been a leader in redefining the nature of our business," commented Cynthia Russo, the Lead Director of PAR's Board. "She was the architect of the strategy to refocus PAR on expanding software solutions and recurring revenue growth through acquisition and organic development. She has been instrumental in restructuring and reorganizing PAR, improving profitability in the process, and re-allocating resources to high-growth areas. Karen has inspired colleagues through her energy and vision, and we look forward to great things under her leadership."

Karen Sammon, CEO and President, PAR

Bixolon's Kind of Town

In support of its channel, Bixolon America (Torrance, CA) has engaged national hardware service center Gremark Technologies, located southwest of Chicago in Woodridge, IL. It joins an extensive network of third-party service providers and suppliers of parts for Bixolon America, including names such as Mardek Computer Services (Weymouth, MA), Quality Retail Systems (Schaghticoke, NY), Team One Repair (Suwanee, GA), Southwest Monitors & Printers (Rockwall, TX), and National Repair Center (Spokane, WA). Bixolon, of course, provides its full family of thermal printers--label, mobile, and receipt.

"We have been doing things right for over 20 years, offering solutions to POS manufacturers such as component level repair and failure analysis," reported Greg Jablonowski, President of Gremark. "Our strategy is to develop strong and lasting partnerships by emphasizing our flexibility in meeting client requirements the first time, and every time, and we are delighted with our new relationship with Bixolon America." In addition to printers, Gremark handles keyboards and touchscreens for POS.

"As Bixolon continues to expand globally and within North America, we are happy to decrease product repair lead time with our new partnership with Gremark," emphasized John Choi, Product Manager at Bixolon America. "This new service center offers expanded capabilities in one centralized hub for the Midwestern U.S." Recently, Bixolon America also has stepped up its recruitment of ISVs, with Aldelo (Pleasanton, CA), CAP Software (Ft. Worth, TX), Focus POS (San Antonio, TX), and Future POS (Butler, PA).

Bixolon America Adds Midwestern Service Center, Gremark Technologies

Worth Your While

NRF's Big Show - Annual Conference
National Retail Federation
January 17-20
New York City

Inspire 2016
Retail Solutions Providers Association
Jan. 31 - Feb. 3
San Diego

Transact 16
Electronic Transactions Association
April 19-21
Las Vegas

WERC 2016
Warehousing Education and Research Council
May 15-18
Providence, RI

NRA Show 2016
National Restaurant Association
May 21-24
Chicago

ALL IN THE FAMILY

POS-X Presents EVO 2D

POS-X, Inc. (Bellingham, WA) has unwrapped its EVO Omni 2D Presentation Scanner. Meeting the increasing need for reading electronic coupons and tickets, this member of the company's EVO Omni family of POS offers auto-sensing with adjustable reading angle (of up to 46 degrees), fast scan rate (of up to 90 inch/230 cm per second), and good depth of field (of up to 10.5 inch/267 mm). Resolution includes 4 mil (Code 39), 7.5 mil (Data Matrix), and 5 mil (PDF-417), with programmable features of presentation mode, prefix code, length code, barcode type, scanning mode, time out, and case conversion.

With physical dimensions of 5.5 in. (H) x 2.9 in. (W) x 2.8 in. (D), and weight of 11 oz., the EVO Omni 2D Scanner has black ABS housing. It utilizes 630-nm red LED, with good read feedback via blue LED. Additional features include 5-ft. cable, holes in the base for mounting on counters or walls, and USB. As with all products by POS-X, it comes with three-year standard warranty and free two-day "Advance Exchange." As durability, it withstands drops from 5 ft./1.5 m.

"Due to increased demand from our customer base, we decided to develop and bring to market this two-dimensional presentation scanner," Mark Dunlop, VP of Sales for POS-X, shared with RRN.Com. "We built the EVO Omni 2D Scanner from the ground up, utilizing an extremely aggressive scan engine while keeping its category-leading price point. While brand new to the market, the EVO Omni 2D Scanner has already proven itself successful in its pre-launch rollout for one of the large pizza chains based in Canada."

POS-X EVO Omni 2D Scanner

Xploring Rugged Android

Xplore Technologies Corporation (Austin, TX), one of the major makers of vertical-specific rugged tablet computers, has unveiled its XSlate D10 with Android Lollipop 5.1. It delivers an Intel Quad-Core Bay Trail CPU, 4-GB RAM, 64-GB SSD, and significantly, full suite of ports such as USB 3.0 x 2, RJ-45, and optional HDMI. Additional benefits include eight hours of battery, Bluetooth, 802.11a/c, GPS, and 4G LTE.

Weighing 2.4 lbs., the XSlate D10 carries 10" multi-touch, outdoor-viewable, backlight display with contrast ratio of 800:1, aspect ratio of 16:9, and 500-NITs. It meets IP-65 ratings for water and dust, MIL-STD-810G standards for overall durability, and 5 ft./1.5 m drop specifications. Accessories include secondary battery, barcode scanner, and NFC. A Kensington lock slot provides physical security.

"Every day, we see more and more customers turn to Android for their rugged technology needs," indicated Mark Holleran, President and COO at Xplore Technologies. "The XSlate D10 not only shows what's possible with a rugged Android device, but exemplifies our commitment to Android. With the XSlate D10, our customers will continue to enjoy the latest mobile technology in a versatile and rugged form factor."

XSlate D10 by Xplore Technologies

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ALLIANCES

X Marks Spot for Elo and ISV

Elo Touch Solutions (Milpitas, CA) has received certification from pcAmerica (Pearl River, NY) for its X-Series POS Terminals. Now part of Heartland Commerce, the point-of-sale focused business unit of payment processor Heartland Payment Systems (Princeton, NJ), pcAmerica supplies its two flagship programs: Cash Register Express (for retail) and Restaurant Pro Express (for hospitality). With integration to Elo's X-Series, as well as Heartland "Out-of-Scope" and Heartland "Secure," this new bundle offers flexibility, customization, and better checkout management, according to the two parties.

Elo's X-Series has 15" or 17" 4:3 standard aspect ratio touchscreens powered by Intel Core i3, i5, i7 or Intel Celeron CPUs. A full set of touchscreen technologies are offered: AccuTouch micro-bezel resistive; IntelliTouch surface acoustic wave (SAW); and IntelliTouch Pro projected capacitive (PCAP). Memory is configurable from 2 GB to 16 GB and storage options include 64-GB/128-GB SSD or 320-GB to 1-TB HDD.

"Certification between our award-winning software and Elo's hardware provides our customers with greater choice, so they can build the customized POS experience that keeps shoppers engaged, satisfied, and returning to their physical locations," reflected David Gosman, SVP of Heartland Commerce (which now includes ISVs Xpient, Dinerware, Digital Dining, and LiquorPOS as well as pcAmerica). Introduced at the National Retail Federation Show in January, Elo's X-Series has starting price of $1,095. It carries purpose-built ruggedness for harsh environments and full suite of ports. "A perfect certification partner to help us better serve this market," as Craig Witsoe, Elo's CEO, described pcAmerica.

Elo's X-Series Certified by pcAmerica

"Omaha" on Payment Logistics' Map

Payment Logistics (San Diego, CA) has received EMV Certification of its Paygistix Gateway on the First Data Omaha Platform. It covers the range of payment terminals from PAX Technology (Jacksonville, FL) and all major card types--American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover--for both online and offline. Significantly, it supports traditional tip adjustment for all EMV sales transactions regardless of cardholder verification method, which is vital for restaurant, bar, and nightclub settings.

Utilizing point-to-point encryption and tokenization, Payment Logistics supplies its application programming interface (API) for Windows, iOS, and Android (as well as Mac and Linux). It removes the merchant from the scope of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). An exhibitor at the Retail Solutions Providers Association Show, Payment Logistics enlists VARs and ISVs in POS. It was founded in 2003.

"By performing our end-to-end EMV Certification in-house, we learned the technical intricacies of EMV firsthand, which I believe gives us a competitive advantage in the marketplace," remarked Dustin Niglio, CEO of Payment Logistics. "While numerous payment devices and even some software applications have recently become EMV Certified, there are very few payment gateways that have completed end-to-end EMV Certification. We're proud to be one of the first in the U.S. marketplace."

Dustin Niglio, CEO, Payment Logistics

Code Corner

NCR Small Business (Duluth, GA) has updated its tablet POS with NCR Silver 3.9. With exporting of time-clock results to Paychex, merchants receive more seamless payroll management. Once set up, this feature pushes employee hours in the correct format for payroll processing by Paychex. Other employee management upgrades in NCR Silver 3.9 include cash tip reporting and clock-out summary. This first new feature helps merchants stay in compliance with wage laws by ensuring servers and other tip-receiving employees are properly reporting income. The second new feature, clock-out summary, provides employees with records of time punches and hours worked. All of which makes it easier for managers to analyze labor costs. "By offering integration with technology partners such as Paychex, our merchants can spend more time serving their own customers and less time dealing with back office functions like employee management," proposed Chris Poelma, President and GM of NCR Small Business.

ENVIRONMENTS/PLATFORMS

At Loyalty's Core, Apple Pay

Another stride for Apple Pay, as the largest drugstore chain, Walgreens, links its loyalty program. Under this arrangement, members of Walgreens' "Balance Rewards" may automatically earn or redeem their loyalty points without scanning of physical cards or barcodes. A potential end-user base includes more than 85 million members of Balance Rewards, with more than 8,000 stores across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In order to participate, consumers add their account for Balance Rewards to the Wallet App in iOS 9. At checkout with smartphone-based, contactless Apple Pay, rewards information will be sent via the "Touch ID" function. Consumers with Apple Watch double-click the side button, select Balance Rewards, and move the face of the Apple Watch near the reader.

"We're excited to be the first to provide our customers with increased ease of access to their Balance Rewards account and information when using Apple Pay," exclaimed Sona Chawla, President of Digital and Chief Marketing Officer for Walgreens. "This offering supports our commitment to removing friction and enabling a simple and convenient customer experience." As expected, Apple Pay works with iPhone 6, iPhone 6+, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S+, and Apple Watch.

Walgreens Links Its Balance Rewards Loyalty Program to Apple Pay

[Editor's Note: And the list keeps growing. Another major smartphone supplier, LG Electronics, will debut its "LG Pay." Scheduled to roll out in its home country of South Korea in December, LG Pay will likely make its way to the U.S. It joins Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay.]

Trustwave's 13 Step Program

Trustwave (Chicago, IL) has fashioned its new SMB Security Toolkit, with 13 enhancements. This toolkit delivers easy-to-use, critical capabilities, according to the vendor, addressing advanced areas of remote access, web malware monitoring, mobile security, and "POS Tracker." It costs "not much more than the typical annual rate for anti-virus software alone," according to the vendor, "while offering substantially more protection from cyber-attacks and data breaches."

In addition to regular monitoring of malware, the SMB Security Toolkit addresses other issues that may affect consumer confidence in the company's website, such as being listed on search engine blacklists, domain hijacking, and expired SSL Certificates. With 40% of data breaches related to POS, according to the 2015 Trustwave Global Security Report, equipment tampering and substitution gets watched by the POS Tracker. With the SMB Security Toolkit as part of their merchant program, processors, acquirers, and resellers can increase revenues as well as merchant retention rates, contended Trustwave (which exhibits at the Retail Solutions Providers Association Show).

As part of Trustwave TrustKeeper PCI Manager, the SMB Security Toolkit furnishes Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Compliance. "In today's cybercrime environment, taking a 'check box' approach to security is like using a deadbolt on a door made of straw--technically you've met the requirement but it's not going to stop the bad guys," warned Ted McKendall, VP of Product Management at Trustwave. He described the SMB Security Toolkit as an "automated, integrated, security-first approach." According to Steve Petrevski, SVP and GM of Security and Fraud Solutions for First Data, which employs Trustwave, "this solution is cost-effective and unparalleled in the market."

Trustwave PCI Compliance Services

Key Advertiser Links

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

POS & Peripherals
AnywhereCommerce
Bematech
Elo Touch Solutions
Harbortouch
Hewlett-Packard
Partner Tech
Pioneer POS
POSBANK USA
Posiflex
PowaPOS
Shopify
TEAMSable

Barcode & Transaction Printers
Brother Mobile
CognitiveTPG
Honeywell Scanning

Cash Drawers
MMF POS

Data Collection
CipherLab
Code Corporation
Datalogic
Honeywell Scanning

Integrated Payment Solutions
Cayan
Datacap Systems
Discover
iPayment Inc.
Mercury/Vantiv
Moneris
Shift4

Keyboards & Mobile POS
Cherry, ZF Electronics Corp
PrehKeyTec

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
CognitiveTPG
Epson America
Star Micronics

Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA

Touchscreens & Monitors
Elo Touch Solutions

PARTNER PROGRAMS

One Percenters Endorsed by Sionic

Sionic Mobile (Atlanta, GA) has launched its online ION Loyalty Reseller Center, specifically targeting payment partners looking to enter ancillary areas of mobility, marketing, and customer loyalty. With this, merchants pay a flat rate of 1% for payment processing, regardless of credit card brand or type, and gain added benefit from unlimited mobile advertisements, self-branded e-gift cards, and not coincidentally, 1% automated customer rewards. Chalin, Inc. (Marietta, GA) is among the first payment service providers to leverage this new platform.

"My team now has the ability to onboard new merchants in a matter of minutes," declared Chris Bissell, CEO of Chalin. "It doesn't require any upfront investment or expensive new hardware--which allows any business owner, regardless of size, to compete in the mobile market. Providing these benefits at a low rate simply allows us to compete with all other mobile payment and advertising services."

Under this process, once accounts are approved, merchants may immediately accept low-cost payments and offer instant rewards to their customers at every checkout, according to Sionic Mobile. A new ION Loyalty App, with so-called "Scan Pay," delivers mobility for smartphones and tablets. Added to capacity for multiple merchants, the Reseller Center has detailed reporting. "Resellers have essentially been locked out of, or limited by, the mobile movement up until this point," observed Ronald Herman, CEO and Founder of Sionic Mobile.

Sionic Mobile Launches ION Loyalty Reseller Center for VARs and ISOs

Calling All Scanalysts

A bit esoteric, perhaps, but worth noting. A long-time barcode verification fabricator, Automatic Identification Systems (Columbus, OH), has established its Scanalyst Compliance Partner Program. Soliciting "barcode professionals, consultants, application developers, and supply chain professionals," AIS offers equipment such as its Scanalyst 3, which carries price tag, depending on features, of $3,000 to $8,000. As such, it furnishes "the highest resolution in the market" for verification.

"It's portable, for use in production, warehousing, and even customer locations," elaborated Scanalyst. "It uses ANSI/ISO Standards and Predictive Analytics to determine print quality of barcodes." For new business approaches dependent on such highly accurate, automated barcode reading, AIS cited UDI, UID, GS1, DSCSA Track and Trace, DQSA, AIAG, and GTC. Anywhere and everywhere, it estimates 6 billion barcode scans per day.

AIS Scanalyst 3 contains five-megapixel camera, two external lighting pods (670-nm standard), three-legged stand, cable with USB, PC App Software (Windows XP, 7, or 8.1), calibration and test symbols, lens cleaner, and carrying case. As special features, Scanalyst 3 has "region of interest" and "spot reflectance" tools, connection to remote databases, automatic averaging of multiple inspections, and certificate of conformance (required by many industries and countries). Of course, Scanalyst 3 may be configured to handle linear, two-dimensional, both, and direct part marking symbologies.

A Partner Program From Barcode Verification Maker, Automatic Identification Systems, and the Scanalyst 3

Channel Factoid

A month after the official transition date of October 1, 20% of shoppers in the U.S. find slow transaction time as their top concern of EMV, according to new research by Harbortouch. So far, only 21% of shoppers have actually used an EMV card (for 25-to-35 year-olds, the "millennials," it's 25%). When polled on the quickest form of electronic payment, 67% chose traditional swipe cards. Indeed, nearly four times as many survey respondents were more worried about speedy processing times than chip card security or scarcity of EMV terminals. Since shoppers hold such concerns, approximately 44% would be open to purchasing goods in line, via "line busting," instead of waiting to check out at the traditional retail counter. At present, however, 33% are unaware of such practices, the survey found. "On average, it takes between seven to ten seconds to pay using a chip card versus two to three seconds to pay using a traditional swipe credit card," estimated Jared Isaacman, CEO and Founder of Harbortouch. "While seemingly small, during busy times like the holidays, these increased processing durations could add up quickly. It's possible we'll see longer checkout lines or even cart abandonment by those unwilling to wait. But there is an opportunity for retailers to get ahead of the issue by implementing line-busting programs or even mobile payment schemes."

HELLO GOODBYE

Mr. Data at Paytronix

Paytronix Systems (Newton, MA) has recruited Tom Harrison as Head of Distributed Data Processing--i.e., big data--for its Paytronix Rewards Platform. He brings decades of experience: at DirectHit and then Ask Jeeves, he led the engineering teams that gathered and indexed billions of web pages. Earlier, he worked for TripAdvisor and its spin-off DigitalAdvisor, handling very large volumes of both transactional and analytical data.

"Paytronix has led the industry in bringing big data tools to deliver more relevant and timely customer engagement," suggested Andrew Robbins, President of Paytronix Systems. "We know that there is so much more that can be done with these tools. Tom has led several of Boston's most innovative start-ups in the area of big data search and scoring across industries that include web search, travel advice, and social networking. We are delighted that he will help Paytronix bring these revolutionary technologies to the restaurant and convenience store markets."

"The unstructured data portion of the Paytronix Rewards Platform is built on an open source big data tool set that includes the data stores MongoDB, Hadoop, and now Apache Spark," relayed Harrison. "Moving forward, the challenge for the Paytronix Distributed Data Team will be to optimize our existing technology infrastructure while constantly incorporating the best big data innovations as they come to market." At present, Paytronix serves about 250 restaurant and retail chains with more than $10 billion in guest spend.

Tom Harrison, Head of Distributed Data Processing, Paytronix

. . . Mr. IPO at TabbedOut

TabbedOut (Austin, TX), fast out of the gate in mobile payments for restaurants and bars, has named Jason Morton as Head of Corporate Development. Most recently, he served as Portfolio Coordinator for Wellington Management's Private Equity Unit. His appointment comes on the heels of $23 million in Series C funding raised by Wellington Management. In making this announcement, TabbedOut cited its upcoming IPO.

"Jason is an extremely talented business development executive who can orchestrate our international expansion," related Alex Broeker, CEO of TabbedOut. "During his time at Wellington, Jason built a deep network that will add some rocket fuel to our growth strategy. We're very fortunate to have him."

"TabbedOut is an exciting product that appeals both domestically and abroad, particularly with mobile-savvy millennials," expounded Morton. "We have only scratched the surface of the big data analytics and personalized marketing strategies that TabbedOut can power. The possibilities for this platform are endless."

[Editor's Note: A fond farewell to Catherine Shergi, one of our long-serving channel executives, who has left POS & Auto ID. Many readers of RRN.Com knew Shergi from her time in sales and marketing for Indiana Cash Drawer, then MMF Cash Drawer, then PrehKeyTec USA. She now works for Mitsubishi Engine North America. Thanks for your help and support, Catherine.]

A Career Change for Catherine Shergi