Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's Squirrel project revealed... as the Square iPhone Payment System

Remember the Square iPhone Payment System we told you about back in August? If you'll recall, the device -- which involves an iPhone app and associated dongle -- enables an iPhone or iPod touch to become a kind of mini credit card reader, allowing payments to be taken on the spot, no matter where you are or how big (or small) the transaction may be. When we'd first reported the device, word on the street was that it was only being alpha tested around New York City, and there wasn't much else to say. Now, we may have a little more insight on just where this device is headed, and who's behind the project.

Jack Dorsey, the man who all but built Twitter in a matter of two weeks, has been working on a half-secret start-up project since around May. His new venture -- dubbed, funnily enough, Squirrel -- is based around the concept of using the iPhone as... yep, a portable, personal cash register; essentially the exact device which Square has created. And that's no accident. In the images we ran of the Square system, you can see a domain name on a receipt: squareup.com. Squareup.com is the domain of the Square System (obviously), and a casual investigation into the site's WHOIS profile reveals registrant info that points to an office in San Francisco, and a contact email address which reads... [e-mail]. Square, squirrel, square... are you getting it? So the cat, er, squirrel appears to be out of the bag. Now the question is whether or not Dorsey and co. can turn this fairly obscure piece of tech into the kind of firestorm which Twitter has become -- and who knows, maybe there'll even be a business model this time.

[Thanks, Little Birdie]

[ggoodale Posted Oct 17th 2009 8:55PM]

One question - based on that photo, does it seem the dongle plugs into the headphone jack? Or am I just not seeing the cable? Seems like a clever bit of tech if it is, but why not just plug it into the dock port?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 11:19AM]

Yes. I'm shocked that has not be mentioned. When I first saw this in May I thought the same thing. How is this done? The doc connector requires Apple blessing. "MFIPWIP".

[metric Posted Oct 17th 2009 8:59PM]

So will they continue to use Windows CE devices at the Apple stores? Lol

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 17th 2009 10:07PM]

If any of you missed the great article posted on TUAW take a look: http://www.tuaw.com/2009/09/23/credit-card-terminals-for-iphone/

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 18th 2009 3:00AM]

This story exists solely to shine some more light on the Judas Phone.

Your 15 minutes are up.

[Stranger2 Posted Oct 18th 2009 3:56AM]

Funny reading, but old tech. We evaluated a system like this running on Pocket PC seven or eights years ago. While the tech was working fine the cost of micro transactions was just too high to make it worthwhile. I hope it has improved by now.

[ChrisJ Posted Oct 18th 2009 1:57PM]

Why did they limit themselves to the iPhone? Apple's exclusivity agreement with AT&T has gone on far too long for any of the other carriers to care about them anymore. They've moved on, and in the case of Verizon with their Droid, are burning bridges. iDon't think Verizon has any plans to carry the iPhone in the future, and they're the carrier with the network which could truly handle it.

I'm going to say this is a doomed business model before it gets off the ground as long as it's locked in to a locked down phone platform.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 18th 2009 6:24PM]

There's a POS company here in Canada called Squirrel.
http://www.squirrelsystems.com/

[zhupeilan1230 Posted Oct 18th 2009 10:26PM]

http://www.bestlaptopbattery.co.uk/hp/2230.htm
http://www.bestlaptopbattery.co.uk/gateway/m325.htm

[wrsu1996gmailcom Posted Oct 19th 2009 9:42PM]

fail why dont u do it like japan and have it just in a program an all instead u have a thing about the size of ur thumb and constantly need to plug it in loding the shit and ect...

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 19th 2009 11:42PM]

Wow this is awesome!

Now the local drug dealer can take his iPhone /w Squirrel app with him and take payments on the fly.

"So just the Crystal Meth today? Will that be on your Visa?"

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 9:01PM]

Just at the Apple Store a couple days ago. Noticed they were scanning credit cards with slider attached to iPhone (not the wireless devices they've been using on the floor for a while now). I asked the sales person about it as I've been desiring something like this for my business. Floor manager was pretty quick to jump into conversation and say there was nothing to talk about. Of course this just peaked my interest. I assumed this news of Jack Dorsey's credit card reader was going to be it, but the one Apple is currently using slides down the length of the side. It appeared to be attached to the back of the phone and completely covered by a double-thick case. Anyone else seen this? Maybe Apple is working on one concurrently as well?

[WmPenn Posted Oct 21st 2009 8:03AM]

Credit card skimming made easy! I image these dongles will be popular with restaurant workers...