“Apple is in the process of updating the iPod touch units used by Apple Store employees as a mobile point-of-sale system to the iPhone 5s, according to sources familiar with the roll out,” Jordan Kahn reports for 9to5Mac. “It’s not clear the exact motivation behind Apple’s move to the iPhone after long using the iPod touch, but the device does provide a few advantages.”
“Apple’s upgrade to the iPhone 5s for employees brings new features via an upgraded point-of-sale sled that adds in RFID capabilities as well as chip and pin card reading functionality and improvements for Passbook scanning,” Kahn reports. “The new accessories are also said to integrate a keypad to allow input of pin numbers for debit payment processing and more. Additionally, the EasyPay software has been updated for iOS 7 with improved navigation on the new hardware.”
Kahn reports, “The move is a notable one since many large retailers have followed Apple in implementing similar iPod touch-based systems for employees. Just yesterday we reported that Target has informed employees it will replace its old PDAs and LPDAs this summer with an iPod touch solution.”
Much more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
An iPad is an iPad, whether it has carrier-based (“cellular”) wireless or it has WiFi only. Maybe this move is a hint that in the near future, there will no longer be a separate iPod touch line. Instead, it will just be an iPhone without the “phone” parts.
For marketing purposes, it obviously does not make sense to call it “iPhone something,” but the product can look like an iPhone. It can still be called “iPod touch,” or maybe “iPad nano.” For example, the iPhone 5c (and future “C” models) can be used as the basis for the future iPod touch, and share more parts and casing with that equivalent iPhone model.
True!
It is encouraging that rumours suggest that Apple could be abandoning the iPhone form factor for the more comfortable curved iPod design. It is puzzling why Apple found it more cost effective to have such different design philosophies for all its iPods and iPhones for so long.
With the brand recognition that Apple has with the iPod name, it has no reason to abandon them, but there’s no shame in putting an iPod with a bigger battery in an iPhone case sans cell receiver. There is a huge segment of the world who does NOT live life 100% connected to wi-fi or cell network, they NEED more battery and more memory. if I was an Apple product planner, you could buy by the end of 2014:
iPod shuffle – 4 & 8 GB with a new color or two
iPod nano – 16 GB – reassess colors based on sales
iPod touch – 32, 64, 128, 256 GB — FEWER colors based on sales, roll out new iPhone 6 body as soon as capacity allows
iPod classic — NEW 512 & 768 GB flash drives, 5.2″ display identical to big iPhone 6, USB3/Lightning connection, one or two new colors. Possibly add ability to plug in user-added SD or USB memory (for photographers!)
iPhone 5C — DEAD or relegate to emerging countries
iPhone 5 — resurrect, drop price
iPhone 5S – no change
iPhone 6 — 4.75″ and 5.2″ screens in 32, 64, and 128 GB, black and silver first, colors to follow only after initial demand wave crests
iPads — 1 or 2 colors, no tech changes for 2014, blow out inventory with back-to-school price discounts, then wow everyone in the spring of 2015 with new tech updates
Seems simple, the difficult part is selecting prices. But will Apple do this? Sadly, no. Cook is busy buying up competitors to iTunes Radio and he expects you to buy iCloud storage by the month instead of having serious memory capacity in your hand.
I have appreciated the flat iPhone edges when holding it steady to take a picture. Pro’s and con’s to everything.
That is a valid point. However, this again brings up a sore point with Apple’s iPhone: the thinner it gets, the worse the limitations are for camera optics, and the less stable it is standing on the edge. Time has come for Apple to get serious about offering photographer accessories: nice stable standing cases with mount for conventional camera tripods, mini tripods, bayonet lens attachments, even possibly a microscope that you can mount an iPhone onto for documenting small stuff. Lots of opportunities for Apple to kick-start these markets, but Cook seems content to wait for other 3rd parties to take all the accessories profits.
You’ve got it wrong about the iPhone 5c. It’s purpose is to continue the previous year’s top iPhone, but add product differentiation to the iPhone line-up.
Previously, in the years with an “S” model at the top (4s and 3gs), the top model had identical appearance with the middle ($99 with contract) model. That was NOT ideal product differentiation. Introduction of the colorful 5c allowed Apple to continue to use its design investment in the iPhone 5 while making it distinctly different in appearance from the 5s.
In the years with a completely new design at the top, the previous year’s top model can continue “as is” in the middle slot. For example, the iPhone 6 is presumably a significantly different design. There is good product differentiation between the 6 and 5s. AND, the iPhone 5c also continues to become the next low-end (FREE with contract) model. It will be quite popular in that position.
The following year, Apple creates a “C” version of the iPhone 6, and releases the iPhone 6s at the top. That iPhone 6c does not necessarily have a plastic case. Maybe it will use a colorful stamped aluminum case, like the current iPod touch. The 5s continues to become the low model. In this way, every iPhone (technical) design lives on for THREE full years.
The 5C, by Cook’s own admission, was a disappointment. It sold less than expected because people see them as cheaper quality and less attractive than last year’s flagship, without a reasonable price discount. Plus they’re hideous colors. All Apple accomplished with the 5C is sink a bunch of money into plastic molds when it could have continued to build unchanged iPhone 5 models with no problem. Perhaps with some adult color choices, a metal/glass iPhone would sell way better than the gray and white models, and certainly no worse than plastic ones.
What it should have done in the first place the 5C idea was a good one but the execution far from good. That said its done better than the snipers would have us think just not as good as it could have done.
Everyone I know who has a 5c (and I do know a few) likes them very well.
I would not be surprised to see the 5S discontinued and replaced by a 5SC leaving 6, 5SC, 5C line up. Next year 6S, 6C, 5SC. Apple may keep the 4S for certain developing countries, likewise the 5C the following year.
The reason is simple: TouchID