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Industry News - November 15th 2014

 

RETAIL AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Isis Mobile Wallet Available Nationwide

Isis, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Verizon Wireless, has announced the latest version of the Isis Mobile Wallet is now available to consumers for download in the Google Play app store and at thousands of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless retail stores nationwide. The Isis Mobile Wallet allows customers to pay at contactless payment terminals, and to save money through special offers and loyalty cards at participating merchants – all from their Isis Ready smartphone.
 
The Isis Mobile Wallet allows consumers to shop and pay using their mobile phone, by securely storing virtual versions of a customer’s participating credit or prepaid cards, as well as coupons and merchant loyalty cards. To use the Isis Mobile Wallet, customers simply select a payment card and tap their smartphone on the point-of-sale terminal.
 
The redesigned Isis Mobile Wallet features a simplified user interface with a clean, white background and easy-to-navigate toolbars. Integration with American Express Serve® makes it convenient for Isis Mobile Wallet users to load funds to their American Express Serve Account from a U.S. debit or credit card, bank account, or through direct deposit, as well as pay bills online and send money to friends and family using an American Express Serve Account.
 
Customers with one of the more than 40 Isis Ready smartphones available from AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless can receive a free enhanced SIM card from their wireless carrier and download the Isis Mobile Wallet for free from Google Play. Customers who visit a carrier retail store to activate the Isis Mobile Wallet will receive hands-on support and education from store associates.
 
Customers can use the Isis Mobile Wallet at merchant locations nationwide that accept contactless payments such as Toys“R”Us, Jamba Juice and Coca-Cola vending machines. Aite Group projects that hundreds of thousands of locations in the U.S. will have contactless-ready payment terminals by year end, making it the most broadly deployed mobile payments technology at the point of sale.


LG Electronics Intros Smart IPTV to Provide Guests Access to Personal Content

LG Electronics USA is helping hotel operators transform the in-room guest experience with a the next generation of interactive TVs that interface seamlessly with guests’ smartphones and tablets for a personalized big-screen viewing experience.
 
LG’s new commercial-grade LP870H series LED Smart IPTVs (Internet-protocol televisions) are built around the advanced Pro:Centric® platform designed to deliver an enhanced, interactive guest-room experience. 
   
Available in 42-, 47- and 55-inch class sizes, the edge-lit LP870H TVs feature a Full HD 1080p display in an ultra thin cabinet with a stunning slim bezel. These Internet-connected TVs include an embedded web browser and interactive applications support. They also feature LG’s EcoSmart™ technology for reduced power consumption and improved energy savings. 
 
Capitalizing on the emerging trend of leisure and business travelers viewing content on their own devices in hotel rooms, LP870H televisions are designed for “second screen” support and include Wi-Di™, Wi-Fi Direct™ and LG’s Smart Mirroring technologies, which are used to pair guests’ mobile devices. This enables guests to view their own content on the large LED screen – directly with the TV or via an imbedded application from a system integrator partner.
 
LG Smart Mirroring is a simple-to-use pairing process to connect the guests’ device to the TV without using the hotel’s Wi-Fi network bandwidth and enables the guest to view videos and other content from their smartphone or tablet direct to the TV in full HD resolution.  It allows users to transfer content back and forth between their device and the TV for a seamless entertainment experience on either platform. For example, users can switch from viewing a YouTube video on their phone to viewing it on the large screen, simply by pairing the two devices and then continuing to control the video via the phone.
 
The flagship of LG’s hospitality TV line, the LP870H series is built around the enhanced Pro:Centric platform with support for Java, Flash and HTML software to deliver one of the widest ranges of partner interactive applications available in the hospitality market. Through an advanced platform design, the LP870H series provides uniform services and functionality across both RF (radio frequency) and IP (Internet protocol) networks, enabling the TV to operate in both network types, while allowing integration of the set top box client to avoid additional hardware costs associated with traditional two-piece solutions.
 
The LG LP870H series also benefits from the innovative Smart TV features consumers have come to expect from LG, with a full web browser, Skype camera, and an array of smart apps. Users can easily navigate the Smart TV ecosystem using the intuitive point-and-click LG “Magic Remote.”
 
The Pro:Centric Advantage
Pro:Centric technology, a standards-based applications platform  designed to enable hotels to easily communicate up-to-the-minute information, introduces new ways for hotels to communicate with guests. Hoteliers can now customize the entire in-room experience providing guests with an Interactive Electronic Program Guide with advanced channel search and selection capabilities. Guests can also check the weather or book room service, spa services and golf course schedules at the touch of the remote.
 
With built-in b-LAN™, as well as all other FTG system providers, Pro:Centric-enabled TVs with Pro:Idiom, the digital rights management system that assures the availability of high-value HD content in hospitality settings, eliminate the need for an added card to provide this function.
 
LG’s LP870H series is ENERGY STAR® qualified and incorporates LG’s EcoSmart features, which allow for multiple manual and automatic options for energy conservation, providing an ideal solution for lodging environments looking to save on energy costs. EcoSmart includes the following energy saving features:
 
Dynamic Power Savings – reduces power consumption and optimizes picture settings
Static Power Savings – allows the installer to set the preferred power consumption level
Intelligent Sensor – allows integrators to program the display to respond to the ambient light in the room and automatically reduce brightness and energy output under most circumstances



PCI Standard Updates Released for 2014

Version 3.0 of the PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) and Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) has been published and will become effective on January 1, 2014. The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global forum for the development of payment card security standards, published version 3.0 to its website, but version 2.0 will remain active until December 31 to ensure adequate time for organization to make the transition.
 
The standards are updated every three years based on feedback form the Council's global members per the PCI DSS and PA-DSS development lifecycle as well as in response to market needs. Version 3.0 will help organizations make payment security part of their business-as-usual activities by introducing more flexibility, and an increased focus on education, awareness and security as a shared responsibility.
 
Overall, the updates include specific recommendations for making PCI DSS part of everyday business processes and best practices for maintaining ongoing PCI DSS compliance; guidance from the Navigating PCI DSS Guide built into the standard; and enhanced testing procedures to clarify the level of validation expected for each requirement.
 
PCI DSS requirements include:

  • Evaluate evolving malware threats for any systems not considered to be commonly effected
  • Combined minimum password complexity and strength requirements into one, and increased flexibility for alternatives
  • Where other authentication mechanisms are used these must be linked to an individual account and ensure only the intended user can gain access
  • Control physical access to sensitive areas for onsite personnel, including a process to authorize access, and revoke access immediately upon termination
  • Protect devices that capture payment card data via direct physical interaction with the card from tampering and substitution
  • Implement a methodology for penetration testing; if segmentation is used to isolate the cardholder data environment from other networks, perform penetration tests to verify that the segmentation methods are operational and effective
  • Implement a process to respond to any alerts generated by the change
  • Maintain information about which PCI DSS requirements are managed by each service provider, and which are managed by the entity
  • For service providers, provide the written agreement to customers
 
PA-DSS requirements:
  • Payment application developers to verify integrity of source code during the development process
  • Payment applications to be developed according to industry best practices for secure coding techniques
  • Payment application vendors to incorporate versioning methodology for each payment application
  • Payment application vendors to incorporate risk assessment techniques into their software development process
  • Application vendor to provide release notes for all application updates
  • Vendors with remote access to customer premises use unique authentication credentials for each customer
  • Provide information security and PA-DSS training for vendor personnel with PA-DSS responsibility at least annually
 
Organizations can access the standards and detailed summary of changes from version 2.0 to version 3.0 at the PCI SSC website.



Live Mapping Improves Delivery Performance and Speed of Service

SpeedLine LiveMaps, from pizza point of sale provider SpeedLine Solutions Inc., drives delivery performance and speed of service with live map data and capabilities such as mobile maps for drivers, innovative delivery zone options, and live digital wall maps. SpeedLine will offer all new and existing customers a 90-day free trial of the new mapping solution.
 
LiveMaps combines live data with easy map editing for new developments—and reduces costs by eliminating ongoing maintenance charges. An expeditor view on an optional second display speeds up dispatching. And restaurants can improve delivery times with maps and directions sent to drivers' phones—using the drivers’ own native mapping apps for hands-free navigation.
 
Delivery restaurants can also replace their outdated wall maps with a live digital map of current deliveries and zones displayed on a wall-mounted TV.
 
With address verification by geocode, restaurant operators reduce delivery errors and build a more accurate customer database for direct marketing. The built-in address verification also reduces the cost to a restaurant operator, eliminating the need to purchase a separate street database.
 
The new mapping solution also taps into a new level of analytics, with heat map views to give operators new insight into market reach, purchase trends, and delivery performance by neighborhood or zone.



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