Square Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Square gets the backing of credit card giant Visa

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 27th, 2011)

Mobile payment startup Square confirmed it received a strategic investment from Visa. Square produces a credit card reader that connects to the headphone jack of an iPhone, iPad or other mobile platform. The Square application on the device accepts the credit card information from the reader ...

Square's mobile payment card reader now available on Apple's online store, retail stores this week

by Michael Grothaus (Apr 16th, 2011)

Square is one of the coolest accessories made for the iPhone. It's a hardware/app combination that, when the hardware bit is plugged into the headphone jack on the iPhone, lets the user accept credit card payments. Simply swipe the card through the Square device while running the Square iOS app, ...

VeriFone's FUD meets Square's QED

by Richard Gaywood (Mar 10th, 2011)

Yesterday, VeriFone (a $4.2b company) launched a harsh public attack on upstart rival Square (a less-than-fifty-people, $37.5m in funding startup). You may remember Square from previous coverage on TUAW or its impressive advertising last year. So what's going on, exactly? The basic gist of the ...

Square has billboard in Times Square, still slowly delivering card readers

by Steven Sande (Feb 14th, 2011)

If you've been reading TUAW for any length of time, you've probably seen our posts about Square. This startup had the idea to develop a free credit card reader that could be used with an iPhone (later expanded to many phone models) or iPad, and provide a card authorization service with low enough ...

University team is perfecting the art of hijacking power from the iPhone's headphone jack

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Jan 17th, 2011)

The University of Michigan's Project HiJack harnesses power by using bandwidth from the iPhone's headphone port. There are actually some peripherals that do this already -- think Square's credit card reader -- but Project HiJack sees this expanding to produce sensors for blood pressure, glucose, ...

Square card reader: Now anyone in the US can accept credit cards

by Steven Sande (Nov 6th, 2010)

Headline updated to acknowledge that Square is a US-only service for now. Remember the Square card reader and payment service from our first hands-on video in January at Macworld Expo 2010? Square makes it possible for anyone, whether an individual or small business, to take payments via credit ...

TUAW's Daily App: Voice Fantasy

by Mike Schramm (Nov 5th, 2010)

Voice Fantasy is a weird little app from Square Enix, creators of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series of role-playing games. You may remember Song Summoner, the original RPG created for the iPod a while back (that later came to the iPhone as well). That game had you creating soldiers with ...

Mophie and Intuit release Complete Card Solution payment system for iPhone

by Mike Schramm (Aug 26th, 2010)

Square has made quite a few headlines with its in-progress payment system for the iPhone, but here's that reader developed by Mophie (known for their battery pack add-ons) and serviced by Intuit. It's called the Complete Card Solution for iPhone, and it's costlier than Square's extremely low cost ...

Square delays reader distribution, says it's examining transaction limits

by Mike Schramm (Jun 21st, 2010)

Two weeks back at WWDC, Square told us that the company was "catching up with demand" of its little plastic credit card reader for the iPhone, and that it would "be there really soon." But it looks like things won't quite "be there" as soon as they thought. They've decided to delay the mass ...

WWDC 2010: Square's first steps

by Mike Schramm (Jun 14th, 2010)

Square has already made a big splash with its launch -- the company, founded by Jim McKelvey, Jack Dorsey (formerly of Twitter), and Tristan O'Tierney, has created a system for accepting credit card payments through the iPhone. After a lot of secrecy and hype, the app launched on the iPad a while ...

Square app now accepting payments on the iPhone

by Dave Caolo (May 11th, 2010)

Square is the app that won over our hearts at MacWorld Expo in February. It allows vendors, business owners, individuals, etc. to accept credit card and debit card payments where they stand via a handy little app. Originally developed and advertised as an iPhone app, Square hit shelves in April ...

Square payment system launches on iPad

by Dave Caolo (Apr 3rd, 2010)

The wait is over. The app that blew us away at Macworld Expo, Square, has finally launched...on the iPad. Originally developed and advertised as an iPhone app, Square hit shelves this morning as a fully-optimized iPad app. Now customers can install Square on their iPads, effectively turning them ...

Square used for fundraiser payments at SxSW

by TJ Luoma (Mar 19th, 2010)

Square is a very cool piece of hardware for the iPhone and other smartphones; when combined with the Square service, you can accept credit card payments right on your iPhone. TechCrunch reports that charity:water used Square at SxSW to collect donations, and other uses are already cropping up; ...

VeriFone credit card reader gets deal to be in Apple Stores

by Mike Schramm (Mar 5th, 2010)

The Square credit card reader for the iPhone has gotten most of the buzz around here, especially after we saw that impressive demo at Macworld a few weeks ago. But VeriFone's competing reader has been given the green light by Apple itself: the unit has been granted a deal for shelf space. ...

Adafruit shows off the Square dongle for credit card payments on the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (Feb 25th, 2010)

Adafruit is one of a few companies that has been chosen to test the Square dongle that automagically takes credit card payments on any iPhone. Even though we got to see it in action at Macworld, I think every look we can get at this thing is worth it, considering just how darn revolutionary it ...