square

Square unveils 'Business in a Box'

Square today unveiled its "Business in a Box" package, a bundle including all the components needed for a small business to start taking payments on the company's Square Register platform.

With Square Register, almost any business can accept payments wirelessly from customers' mobile devices. The system lets businesses use an iPad instead of a cash register, and gives them an accompanying set of analytics tools, while customers download the app, sign up, register a credit card, and then pay automatically at any of the hundreds of thousands of merchants running Square Register.

The new bundle includes two … Read more

Study: People don't use or understand digital wallets

The digital wallet has been anointed by many as the future of payments. In the present, however, virtual-pay apps remain largely untouched and misunderstood.

Only 51 percent of U.S. consumers are even aware of digital payment providers other than PayPal, and a teeny-tiny percentage of people -- 12 percent spanning all brands -- have actually used applications such as Google Wallet, MasterCard PayPass Wallet, or Square Wallet, according to a new study from analytics firm ComScore.

ComScore analyzed data from a panel of 1 million U.S. consumers and two separate surveys of U.S. Internet users in November … Read more

Verizon Wireless to sell Square's credit card reader for $9.97

Verizon Wireless today became the latest company to sell Square's credit card reader, giving business owners another way to obtain the mobile gadget for credit card processing.

The carrier will offer the Square Card Reader at its stores across the country for $9.97, with a $10 rebate to a Square account. After plugging the reader into the headphone jack of a smartphone or tablet, users can swipe credit cards through the device to be read and processed.

Square has quickly been gaining popularity with small businesses and larger corporations. Starbucks supports Square's mobile payments in thousands of … Read more

How I quit worrying and learned to love Vine

mixing gnarly basslines today vine.co/v/b55LOA1dgJU

— The Glitch Mob (@theglitchmob) January 23, 2013

I'll admit it, I misjudged Vine. Here's why.

One of the first things I read about Vine, Twitter's new stand-alone video app for iPhone and iPod Touch, was Jack Dorsey's gushing tweet about the service.

"Vine is the most exciting thing I've seen in a while," Dorsey, Twitter's co-founder (and also founder of Square), tweeted yesterday morning. "Not just because of the team, because it brings an entirely new art form to the world."

I … Read more

Square COO Rabois resigned following harassment claim

The surprise departure of Square chief operating officer Keith Rabois is now less of mystery after the mobile-payment-processing company confirmed the high-profile executive is currently facing accusations of sexual harassment from a Square employee.

Rabois, who joined Square in August 2010, is being accused of engaging in a nonconsensual sexual relationship with a male colleague he had helped to get a job at the startup.

Rabois and Square first learned of a pending lawsuit when a New York attorney contacted Square earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal first reported Friday afternoon.

"The first we heard of any of … Read more

Square COO Rabois steps down; CFO to fill in

Square Chief Operating Officer Keith Rabois has stepped down from his post.

Rabois issued a statement Thursday saying that "it is better at this point for me to be doing something different every day," adding that he "will have more to share" about his future plans "soon." The statement was obtained by All Things Digital.

Then on Friday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rabois' resignation came "amid accusations from a Square employee of sexual harassment," with Square failing to take appropriate action. Rabois told the Journal that he denies the … Read more

Bluetooth speaker made from 50,000-year-old wood

Bluetooth speakers are everywhere, so it's hard to come up with a way to distinguish a new design. An Indiegogo project called Petite Square is looking to stand out by building its enclosures out of ancient history. The speakers are crafted from 50,000-year-old wood excavated from bogs in New Zealand.

Ancient Kauri has been called the the oldest workable wood in the world. It's certainly easier to work with than petrified wood. The giant logs have to be raised out of prehistoric bogs, adding to the expense and rarity of the material. Still, there seems to be plenty available on the market for craftspeople to make musical instruments, carvings, and the Petite Square speakers.… Read more

Starbucks starts selling Square Readers for $10 in-store

Square has just extended its partnership with Starbucks a bit further.

The companies announced today that Starbucks customers can now buy Square's Mobile Card Readers in-store at 7,000 locations nationwide. Starbucks is selling the Reader for $10 but will give customers back $10 if they're new merchants or individuals who sign up for Square's service.

Starbucks is a major investor in Square, dropping $25 million into the mobile-payment startup last year. Since then, the companies have been working closely to expand Square's footprint across the U.S. In November, in fact, Starbucks announced that it … Read more

The social 'gifting' boom: Wrapp now sending 1M cards a week

A handful of players -- one of them named Facebook -- have worked hard over the past year to create a new category of business known as social gifting. Facebook saw enough opportunity that last spring it snapped up a startup called Karma and built what became Facebook Gifts -- a way for any of Facebook's billion-plus users to send a gift a friend, whether it's a bottle of wine, an iTunes gift card or an item of clothing.

Square, meantime, added gift cards this month to Square Wallet to help its battle with PayPal. And a … Read more