Industry News

Industry News - February 8th 2014

RETAIL AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

PAR Intros Value-Priced POS Terminal

ParTech, Inc. (PAR), a subsidiary of PAR Technology Corporation has introduced the PAR EverServ® 500 POS terminal for global distribution through its channel partners. The EverServ 500 is built with the same rugged durability PAR is known for but in a compact design and value priced. The compact footprint of the EverServ 500 is ideal for environments where space is at a premium.

The EverServ 500 is built to last in the harsh hospitality and retail environments where POS terminals are subjected to abusive conditions, vibrations and liquid spills. The key features of the EverServ 500 include:

Performance – The EverServ 500 features an 2nd Generation Intel® Atom™ 1.86 GHz dual core processor (Cedar Trail Architecture), 2 GB DDR3 memory and a 320 GB hard disk with support for Windows Embedded POSReady 7, Windows 7 Professional for Embedded Systems and Windows 7 Professional.

Durable and Reliable – Shock mounted hard disk, spill resistant casework and sealed touch screen provide real-life environmental protection and long-life.

Fan-less Design – Quiet fan-less design requires less power and doesn’t bring grease and contaminants into the terminal.

Compact Footprint – The small footprint and easy cable routing to the POS, top of the counter and under the counter connections keep the POS environment clutter free and frees up counter space.

Low Total Cost of Ownership – Advanced energy saving features like the auto-standby mode and fan-less design dramatically reduce overall power consumption. The durable and reliable design extends the life and terminal and lowers the total cost of ownership.

Accor Ups Mobile Strategy With New Solutions

In a drive for ongoing innovation and to anticipate new consumer behavior, Accor has revamped its mobile solutions and now offers its customers an enhanced, more efficient, optimized experience available for every type of mobile device. These solutions will enable clients to book hotels under any circumstances, in particular thanks to geo-location and in full transparency, with hotel videos and factsheets.

Mobile bookings are booming with sales through this channel up 20-fold in just four years. In 2012, Accor’s mobile applications and websites notched up over 10 million unique visitors.

For this reason, Accor launched the following products for its individual business and leisure customers:

- A new version of the accorhotels.com multi-brand application that allows users to book stays at Accor’s 3,500 hotels in over 90 countries. This application was revamped to offer an enhanced customer experience with a tailored search function, a new, more user-friendly design, hotel video, photo previews and access to reservations.

- A new dedicated ibis family application which allows users to book stays in the ibis family’s 1,600 hotels (ibis, ibis Styles and ibis budget). This application is visually appealing, pleasant to use and highly intuitive. It notably includes practical functions like geo-location and hotel previews for easy and efficient booking. It is part of the group’s strategy to modernize and renew the three brands and represents a new, significant stage in ibis’ drive to become the digital benchmark in economy hotels by 2015.

These applications are available for Android1, iPhone and Blackberry operating systems. The accorhotels.com and ibis.com mobile websites have also been revamped to make them more user-friendly and are also available for over 7,500 different internet-enabled mobile devices.

These applications were designed:

- So users can be sure to find their hotel under any circumstances – several different hotel search methods are available to cater for any situation, including emergencies (offline access is possible):

o using an interactive map with a route planner

o through hotel video previews

o through the geo-location function for last minute bookings

o by typing in the desired destination directly

o by using the history of recent searches or stays

- For greater transparency - the hotel factsheets allow users to check out hotel photos (10,000 photos available on the accorhotels.com application) and services, providing all the information customers need to book.

- For completely secure booking - the mobile solutions use the same secure payment system as accorhotels.com and ibis.com

These new booking channels also deliver the accorhotels.com customer pledge. They guarantee the best available price, the discounts for Le Club Accorhotels loyalty program members and/or business travelers and are also available in several languages (15 languages available on mobile applications).

Choosing E-Commerce Providers

The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global forum for the development of payment card security standards, published the PCI DSS E-Commerce Guidelines Information Supplement, a product of the e-commerce security Special Interest Group (SIG). Businesses selling goods and services over the Internet can use it as a guide for choosing e-commerce technologies and third-party service providers that will help secure customer payment data and support PCI DSS compliance efforts.

"Take SQL injections as an example. This is not a new attack, and something we've known about in the industry for years. Yet it continues to be one of the most common methods by which e-commerce websites are compromised," said Bob Russo, general manager of the PCI Security Standards Council. "This can be addressed through simple, prudent coding practices, but merchants often don't know where to start. These guidelines will help them better understand their responsibilities and the kinds of questions they need to ask of their service providers. In the case of SQL injections, one of the most important items to request of an e-commerce service provider is a description of the security controls and methods it has in place to protect websites against these vulnerabilities."

The PCI DSS E-Commerce Guidelines Information Supplement provides an introduction to e-commerce security and guidance as well as appendices to address specific requirements and implementations, including:

E-Commerce Overview provides merchants and third parties with explanation of typical e-commerce components and common implementations and outlines high-level PCI DSS scoping guidance to be considered for each.

Common Vulnerabilities in E-Commerce Environments educates merchants on vulnerabilities often found in web applications (such as e-commerce shopping carts) so they can emphasize security when developing or choosing e-commerce software and services.

Recommendations provide merchants with best practices to secure their e-commerce environments, as well as a list of recommended industry and PCI SSC resources to leverage in e-commerce security efforts.

PCI DSS Guidance for E-Commerce Environments Appendix provides high-level e-commerce guidance that corresponds to the main categories of PCI DSS requirements; includes chart to help organizations identify and document which PCI DSS responsibilities are those of the merchant and which are the responsibility of any e-commerce payment processor.

Merchant and Third-Party PCI DSS Responsibilities Appendix is for outsourced or "hybrid" e-commerce environments, including a sample checklist that merchants can use to identify which party is responsible for compliance and specify the details on the evidence of compliance.

Las Vegas Sands Generates Additional Event Rev with Mobile App

Las Vegas Sands Corp. is giving conference and meeting customers one more reason to choose one of its properties in Las Vegas, Macao, Pennsylvania and Singapore for their next event. QuickMobile announced that Las Vegas Sands is the first global developer of destination properties to offer SnapApp, a self-service enterprise technology that will allow Las Vegas Sands to sell, create and distribute customizable, branded mobile event apps. SnapApp provides Las Vegas Sands an additional revenue-generating solution for its properties and a value-added service to drive venue loyalty and create more memorable and engaging experiences for meeting attendees. Las Vegas Sands expects to roll out its mobile event solution at all of its properties in February 2014.

With QuickMobile’s self-service SnapApp multi-event platform, Las Vegas Sands staff can quickly and easily develop custom event apps for event customers. To begin the process, QuickMobile developed a branded master app for each of Las Vegas Sands’ four regions. Sands staff uses SnapApp to create and deliver unique events that reside in the master app. Customers can choose from more than 30 built-in features and components such as in-app messaging, exhibitor and speaker profiles, photo galleries and social media. SnapApp technology also includes security, privacy and access settings, and the ability to select mobile device platforms for each event. Venue customers and event attendees only have to download the Las Vegas Sands master app for each property once as new customer event apps will be accessed from inside the master app using a special PIN or QR Code.

Traditionally, mobile event apps are built around an event rather than a venue. Since meetings are already coming to Las Vegas Sands properties, the company can offer customers a number of advantages, including:

Providing an efficient set-up process that leverages consistent features across all Las Vegas Sands mobile apps;

Selling sponsorships and advertising opportunities to resident and local companies; turning apps into revenue-generating solutions; and

Creating an affordable, easy-to-use mobile solution for any-size meeting by spreading costs across multiple events and companies.

Going mobile also supports Las Vegas Sands’ Eco 360° Global Sustainability strategy, which is focused on minimizing the company’s environmental impact and operating sustainable building development and resort operations. By deploying a mobile event solution, Las Vegas Sands can eliminate the impact and costs associated with developing and printing event guides, updates and other paper-based materials. Unlike printed guides, mobile event guides can be updated in real-time, which means attendees will always have the current information.

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