checkout

Walmart is expanding its "Scan & Go" feature -- which lets users scan items with their iPhones while shopping -- to more than 200 stores across the U.S., according to Reuters.

Currently the feature is available in around 70 stores, mostly near Bentonville, Ark. and Atlanta, Ga. Now it's coming to 12 new markets, including Denver, Phoenix, Omaha, Neb., Dallas and Austin, Tex., Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla., Wyoming, Bozeman, Mont., Seattle, San Jose, Calif., and Portland, Ore.

The mega-retailer started testing the "Scan & Go" feature with employees last September and has since … Read more

When you wake up in the middle of the night to preorder a product, you aren't fully aware of what you're doing and you want to go back to sleep as soon as possible. This can make the process of selecting the item you want to order and ensuring that your shipping and billing information is correct feel like a monumental task. Especially if you're trying to beat the onslaught of traffic that's sure to slow or take down the store.

The preorder for the iPad Mini is likely to follow the same pattern. Get your … Read more

Google has fixed a bug in its Checkout software that exposed customer phone numbers to merchants in more than two dozen countries that charge a value-added tax--mostly in Europe and Asia.

"We had a bug in our Google Checkout merchant center and API. This meant that merchants selling digital goods may have seen buyer phone numbers which are normally provided only when users buy physical goods," a Google spokesman said in a statement.

"We fixed the problem in the merchant center and we're rolling out a fix to the API over the next few days," … Read more

Who needs to bother with a fitting room when you can use a Kinect to model outfits?

Between pitches for mobile payments, new self-checkout machines, and virtual customer service assistants, technology rules the show floor at the 101st Annual National Retail Federation Convention and Expo in New York, taking place this week.

This year it's possible to try on a new dress -- with matching purse, belt and jewelry -- in just a few seconds using a Microsoft Kinect camera. You become a paper doll on the television monitor with FaceCake's Swivel, a virtual dressing room that will … Read more

Google has rolled out its in-app payment service for any Web developer.

The service was first announced in May at Google's I/O Conference. The feature allows developers to offer single-click payments from their applications. At launch, Google touted the platform's simple integration into a respective Web app, saying that it only required the addition of a single line of code.

When Google first announced in-app payments, the company said it would be made available only to Chrome Web Store developers. However, Google said yesterday that its in-app payment system is now "available for all Web application … Read more

There's no line, so you figure you'll try it. You put your shopping basket down, then you begin to scan the items. That part generally works fine. But then there's the bananas. How much do they weigh? How much are they per pound? Which button are you supposed to press?

No, you're not reading a hacked cell phone conversation between myself and my mother. I'm just describing the irritating technological phenomenon known as the self-checkout, an idea which, it seems, may have already had its glimpse of notoriety.

In a move that might stun those … Read more

A short post on the official Android Developers blog last weekend brought big news for Android app developers and Android users: carrier billing will soon come as an option for the Android Market.

The blog didn't reveal a specific date, but "authorized carriers" are now considered an indemnified party. Current developers have 30 days to accept the new conditions to the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA), whereas new publishers are agreeing to them when signing up.

Adding carrier billing as an option should help developers move more copies of their apps. In the early days of … Read more

Foursquare is fast approaching its first anniversary. The free social service, which lets people share their location with others from their mobile phones, launched at last year's South by Southwest festival. It has since gone on to become a Web 2.0 darling in a way that its predecessor Dodgeball (also from one of Foursquare's co-founders) never did, due mostly to the growth of users with GPS-enabled smartphones.

But short of its badge system, which awards heavy use with virtual trophies, the service has always been lacking a sense of reflection--a way for users to look back on … Read more

Google might be ready to get its Google Checkout service in line with the hiring of a new executive to oversee the division.

The New York Times reported that Google has hired former eBay executive Stephanie Tilenius as vice president of commerce, with marching orders to look over Google Checkout. Tilenius, who worked on eBay's PayPal product while at the company, would seem a natural fit for the position.

Google Checkout gave eBay and PayPal executives fits when it was first announced back in 2006. But the service hasn't done much to halt PayPal's status as the … Read more