Squirrel is the code name of the new service that is to be launched by Twitter co-founder and current Chairman Jack Dorsey. The service is to allow those with an iPhone to become a merchant.
Basically, it’s just like making use of the iPhone to take payments, like the wireless credit card swipers seen on certain shops and restaurants. While you carry your iPhone around, you can make use of it to swipe a credit card to collect payments.
Squirrel will be both a device add-on to the iPhone and an application to be installed on the iPhone. The physical device looks something like an acorn, that’s why it’s codenamed squirrel. This add-on device does not require power from the iPhone, as it’s smart enough to derive power from the physical swiping of the credit card to then read the card.
The Squirrel system could be useful for salesmen who always bring along their products on the run, and get their customers to swipe their credit cards on the iPhone once they’ve managed to convince the customers to buy. Or restaurants may use iPhone Squirrel to replace their existing wireless credit card swipers. And the restaurants may be able to save some costs on dedicated payment devices and make use of their employees’ existing mobile phones to take payments.
via techcrunch
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:34 am
[...] comes with a credit card reader which fits into the jack of the iPhone or iPod Touch to work as a portable credit card swiper. The Square iPhone payment system has gone for an alpha test at the recently opened New York store, [...]
February 17th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
i wanna, wanna a squirrel credit card swiper by twitter inventor…when does it become available..i’m a working artist…pitching a tent along the east coast and could really help grow my business…alot less hassel…less to pack..less paperwork…all the above… gimme, gimme
bailey jack
March 30th, 2010 at 7:10 am
[...] seen a number of applications and the associated accessories that turn the Apple iPhone into a credit card reader. And we have [...]