After watching its rivals Square and Groupon play their hands earlier today, PayPal announced a program that allows merchants to trade in their old payment processing equipment in exchange for new hardware. The promotional offer features POS systems from ERPLY, Leaf, Leapset and the company's own PayPal Here. In addition to luring retailers with a fancy new cash register, the outfit is offering to waive credit, debit, check and PayPal processing fees for the remainder of the year. If the aforementioned incentives sound appealing and you'd like to know more, head on over to our source link to check out the program's all-important fine print.

Filed under: Peripherals, Software

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Source: PayPal

You're at a coffee shop or restaurant and it's time to pay for your sustenance. After reaching for your wallet, you're presented with... an Android tablet? This particular scenario is taking place more and more often as small businesses are taking their point-of-sale systems mobile, and Leaf is one of the big contenders battling for market share in this industry. Its signature product, known as the LeafPresenter, is an Android-based tablet with a funky lip on the top right that allows for mag-stripe credit card transactions. While the first-gen version of the device has been out for some time, Leaf is ready to branch out later this summer with a new model that offers more functionality.

In addition to a newer forked version of Android (Leaf OS), the upcoming LeafPresenter throws in NFC, EMV and gift card support, as well as a 2MP front-facing camera, 1,280x800 display and better battery. Last but not least, the new device also includes support for a Leaf-branded third-party app store geared toward small business usage. While there's no specific cost to the tablet itself, business owners will need to fork over $50 per month for the opportunity to use it. Check the press release after the break for more.

Filed under: Tablets, Wireless, Mobile

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Those of you familiar with the Nissan Leaf will know about its Carwings system, which lets you check the vehicle's charge, turn on the AC, rate your driving efficiency against others and even read RSS feeds out loud -- all over an always-on cellular data connection. In fact, the RSS functionality raised some privacy concerns when it was discovered that Carwings embeds location and other data in the URL it sends to public servers (something that can thankfully be disabled by the owner). Nissan announced today that it plans to make telemetry data from the Leaf available to third-party developers for a fee -- with the owner's consent, of course. The company already uses telemetry data for vehicle maintenance and products like Carwings, but it hopes to broaden the ecosystem with apps. Examples include smart-grid integration (supplying power to a building for a reduced parking fee) and location-based services (real-time coupons as you drive by restaurants). It'll be interesting to see if there's enough interest from both developers and Leaf owners for Nissan to successfully monetize this idea.

Filed under: Transportation

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Source: Nikkei (subscription required)

New York City's full-on EV taxi blitz may not come until late this year, but the metropolis is taking its first tentative steps into that electric world as of today: it's deploying the six Nissan Leaf cabs promised as part of a pilot program. The half-dozen sedans will spend a year on the road, with officials able to gauge the effectiveness of EVs as taxis when they have access to both regular chargers at their home bases as well as fast chargers in Manhattan's far West Side, Lower East Side and Union Square. Don't expect to hail an eco-friendly cab very often, though -- along with the daunting numerical odds, the Leaf drivers have more liberty than usual to turn down passengers and protect their remaining power supply. If you do happen to find yourself in the back seat, however, you'll likely get a glimpse at New York's cleaner and quieter future.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Autoblog (1), (2)

Source: New York City (PDF)