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Shopping app lets you beam payments to old-fashioned cash registers
Remember Mobeam's barcode scanning trick? It looks like it just found a new home: the Clutch app. The digital shopping app can now beam credit card loyalty card numbers, ticket info, coupons and gift card data to the regular laser scanners used at most retailers. The catch is, of course, that this feature only works on the few devices that support Mobeam -- namely the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and the Note 3. Although the feature is limited by device, it's unique because it puts the burden on the customer, unlike options like Square that require retailers to abandon traditional payment systems for new technology. Mobeam actually released a similar app of its own sometime ago, but hey, when your technology is supported by just a couple of phones, even partnering with the competition is a good way to reach more people. Update: Mobeam does not support payments or beaming credit card numbers at point-of-sale.
Mobeam's new app digitizes loyalty cards, exclusive to Note 3 and GS4
Last time we've heard of Mobeam, it formed a partnership with Samsung to bring its barcode-scanning tech to the Galaxy S 4. Now, the company has launched a new app on Google Play called Beep'nGo, which digitizes membership, gift and loyalty cards and allows them to be read by ordinary laser scanners. While potentially useful -- who wouldn't want to leave some of those plastic rectangles at home? -- it only works on phones sporting Mobeam's proprietary technology. For now, that means the Galaxy S 4 and the Note 3 only, although the San Francisco startup is looking to expand to more devices. Samsung faithfuls who see themselves using the Beep'nGo app frequently can head past the jump for the press release and a video of how Mobeam's tech works.
Samsung partners with Mobeam to offer scannable bar codes on the Galaxy S 4
For over a year, mobile commerce startup Mobeam has been looking for OEM suitors willing to embed its bar code scanning tech into phones -- and it's found an ideal partner in Samsung. The tech, which Mobeam calls light based communications (LBC), will be embedded in the manufacturer's latest flagship, the Galaxy S 4. LBC makes it possible for point-of-sale scanners to pick up digital 1D bar codes. So how does it work? Mobeam takes advantage of the phone's proximity sensor to beam pulses of light which mimic your standard black-and-white code. The option should be available for any third-party developer that wants to use it, but unfortunately the tech is only launching -- for now, at least -- on the GS 4, though we've been told that it will eventually be ready to go for more devices down the road. Head below to scan through the full press release for yourself. Check out our event hub for all the action from Samsung's Galaxy S 4 event.
Procter & Gamble partners with Mobeam to deliver coupons to your phone
Ah, remember those good 'ol days when we actually used those things called scissors and clipped our coupons when we wanted to save 50 cents from a bottle of Tide? Those activities have already been teetering on the brink of obsolescence since early last year, when Target introduced a program featuring mobile scannable coupons. Google Wallet and Walgreen's have furthered along the concept by offering them as well, and now Procter & Gamble are jumping on board. The company's teamed up with mobeam, a startup which has found a way to make mobile coupons readable using normal laser scanners, still the weapon of choice for many retailers. Next up, the two partners are hoping to work with OEMs to integrate the tech into new phones, push out an app to take advantage of it and begin field testing the process with shoppers and retailers sometime in 2012. Once it kicks off, any company should be able to issue digital coupons; those who choose to partner with mobeam, however, will have access to opted-in consumer information that tracks which couponing websites the consumer visits, the location and time each coupon is redeemed and other items purchased using the app. Physical coupons will still be around for a while -- P&G asserts that there will still be plenty of coupon-clippers that hunt through newspaper inserts or print them out -- so the old-fashioned method isn't completely dead yet. We'd sure love to see mobile couponing grow to a point where more and more trees are getting saved, though.
