Wal~Mart Launches Wal~Mart Pay; Adidas Looks to Robots to Make Shoes

Posted: December 10, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wal~Mart has rolled out its own mobile wallet called Walmart Pay. It will be available on iOS and Android devices, and allows payment with any major credit, debit, pre-paid, or gift card. According to reuters.com, it should be in stores nationwide by the first half of 2016. The giant retailer says it’s not bailing on the merchant consortium that developed CurrentC, and will consider it as an additional mobile wallet option. CurrentC was beta launched in August.

No longer content to export jobs to people making slave wages in developing countries, Adidas is finishing up a factory in Germany that will be staffed with robots. Right now, there are 10 people helping make it work, but the company is shooting for 100% automated production. Geek.com says they are more concerned with shipping costs than rising wages in Asia, and building so-called ‘Speedfactories’ all around the globe where their customers live will help them move from selling 600 million shoes to a billion in the next 5 years.

FAA Drone Study May Bring Good News For Amazon

Posted: May 6, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Federal Aviation Administration is beginning a study regarding drone flights beyond the pilot’s line of sight. Both Amazon and Google have clamored for this, and the Europeans are already getting ready for it. Geekwire.com notes that the present FAA policy-just set in February- limits drones to the pilot’s line of sight.

Home Depot is upgrading its point of sale equipment, and working towards accepting Apple Pay at all of its 2000 stores. Bloomberg.com says that would make the chain the largest retailer to accept Apple Pay. Home Depot doesn’t yet have an agreement with Apple, but already accepts PayPal, and is looking at including other kinds of mobile payment, too. This would presumably include CurrentC, the still developing pay system from the Merchant Customer Exchange.