square

Square has delivered a few improvements (and a new name) to its mobile payment service.

The application formerly known as Card Case has been rebranded "Pay With Square," the company announced today. Square hasn't said why it changed its mobile app's name, but the branding appears to make it clearer to users what they should do with the app. Card Case was, after all, a cryptic name for a mobile-payment solution.

Pay With Square comes with the same features users found in Card Case, allowing them to pay for products at merchant stores that support Square … Read more

Has the Federal Communications Commission finally learned its lesson on spectrum management?

The FCC began proceedings yesterday that could OK Dish Network's plan to use existing spectrum to build a terrestrial 4G LTE mobile broadband network. The rulemaking follows the agency's earlier rejection of Dish's request for a waiver of license conditions, which prohibit using the spectrum for anything other than satellite-based applications.

The decision to proceed with the slower but more formal process was certainly motivated in part by the recent fiasco involving LightSquared. In January 2011, the FCC granted LightSquared a waiver similar to the … Read more

Since PayPal launched its new payment service "PayPal Here" last week, it has raked in thousands of sign-ups. In fact, in the first 24 hours of its introduction, the online payment company says it was getting 1,000 sign-ups per hour.

"To say there's been some interest in our new offering would be an understatement," PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar said in a statement today. "Clearly there's a need for a secure, global solution that provides small businesses the flexibility to get paid anytime, anywhere, any way."

The idea of PayPal Here actually … Read more

Picking up where Square (and possibly PayPal) left off, the increasingly popular ticketing company Eventbrite said today it is releasing a payments dongle for iPad that could make it simple for event organizers to quickly sell tickets and merchandise.

Eventbrite said its At the Door box office package--which includes both the dongle and an iPad app--is potentially the "final nail in Ticketmaster's coffin," given that the new system should make it easy for organizers to sell tickets to just about any event, as well as to get what vice president of marketing Tamara Mendelsohn called a "… Read more

LightSquared says it's not yet giving up its fight to build a nationwide 4G LTE network.

The company, which is backed by Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital, has invested more than $4 billion into the network, which it hoped would be a wholesale alternative to wireless broadband networks run by AT&T and Verizon wireless. For the past year, the company has been fighting an uphill battle in Washington, D.C., where the GPS industry has rallied political support around its claims that LightSquared's network interferes with its receivers and therefore cannot be built.

So far, the … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--When a startup attracts a giant competitor, it's both a concern and a compliment.

And this morning, PayPal confirmed that it's taking on Square, the San Francisco-based startup whose core business is a device that lets a merchant or individual accept credit cards though a cell phone.

PayPal, a unit of eBay, today released a blue triangle device that plugs into the headphone jack of a smartphone. It's called PayPal Here.

President and CEO of eBay John Donahoe opened up the event at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, a location chosen because it's a place … Read more

PayPal is expected to launch a mobile payment dongle that would allow small businesses to process credit card transactions with a smartphone, according to a GigaOm report.

The dongle, expected to be unveiled at an event Thursday in San Francisco, would put the payment processor in competition with Square, Verifone, and Intuit, sources close to the matter told the blog.

PayPal representatives declined to comment on the report but confirmed the company plans to make a product announcement Thursday.

"While we cannot comment on rumors and speculation, what we can tell you is that at the PayPal event on … Read more

If you've ever tried to pay for a cab with plastic, you're likely aware that the experience is a nightmare. While New York City cabs have been equipped with card readers for a few years now, drivers are often combative about accepting credit due to service charges and the time it takes them to actually get paid.

If Square has its way, however, using a credit card for cab fare could suck a little less--and might even become fast and easy.

The service, founded by Jack Dorsey, the seemingly sleepless creator and chairman of Twitter, has aimed … Read more

Jack Dorsey and the brass at Square--the startup he runs when he's not doing duty as executive chairman of Twitter, the other company he co-founded--always gets amazing press.

And often deservedly so. Square's main product, a sleek device that turns the iPhone into a credit card processor, is a game changer for many. It's made it easy for individuals and small vendors to accept credit cards with little hassle, paying a flat transaction fee of 2.75 percent.

Square late Sunday blasted out news about a new product, an iPad app called Square Register, that won it … Read more