The Official ROAM Blog

Quarterly Mobile Market Overview by Chris Miller @ROAM Data

Filed under mCommerce, News, Uncategorized

As of 2/20/2010, we officially offer ROAMpay Swipe support for 22 Android devices, 5 Apple iOS devices, and 14 BlackBerry devices, for a total of 41 mobile devices.  Here is the breakdown by carrier:

• Verizon: 12
• AT&T: 10
• T-Mobile: 8
• Sprint: 9

note: iPod Touch & iPad are not counted as carrier distributed devices

As you can see, ROAM has made a point of even distribution of supported devices across carriers.  We also aim to support flagship Android & BlackBerry devices across all four major carriers.  To that end, we recently added to our supported device list, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 (T-Mobile) and the HTC EVO Shift 4G (Sprint).  I will now briefly summarize changes in the smart phone landscape since Q3 2010, broken down by OS, along with my thoughts on ROAM’s strategy towards approaching device support.

RIM/BlackBerry

At the time of our launch of the #1011 ROAMpay Swipe, which enabled support for select BlackBerry devices, we boasted support for RIM’s flagship handsets across all four major carriers, in particular the Curve 8500 series devices, the Bold/Tour 9600/9700 series devices, and the Torch 9800.  We are working on supporting the new flagship, the Curve 3G 9300 series.  While there are still plenty of 8500 series Curve devices in the wild, we are beginning to see increasing demands for its 3G successor, and its CDMA counterpart and we are working towards supporting this device in the coming quarter.

RIM also announced its first tablet computer in September 2010, dubbed the BlackBerry Playbook.  It is slated for a Q1, 2011 release in the US.  It runs on a new QNX based operating system called BlackBerry Tablet OS, which is rumored to allow the device to run Android applications.

Apple/iOS

Apple released the iPhone 4 on Verizon on February 11, 2010, Breaking Verizon’s Wireless’ sales record in a mere two hours.  We obtained one on launch day and are hard at work on bringing ROAMpay Swipe compatibility to this in the very near future.

With Apple’s history of an approx 12 month product cycle, it is likely that we will see new iPhone and iPad releases in Q2/Q3, 2011. When more details on these devices surface, you can be sure that ROAM will be ready to bring support to these and any other surprise devices Apple may have up its sleeve.

Google/Android

In January, we released an update to our ROAMpay Application for Android, which added Swipe functionality to 13 new devices.  To date, The ROAMpay Swipe supports 22 Android devices.  Since Q3 2010, close to 40 Android powered smart phones hit the global market and the number becomes much larger once you take into account tablet PCs and other devices (i.e. Barnes & Noble Nook).  But since ROAMpay is currently only available in the U.S., our focus has only been on domestic handset releases on the major four carriers.

Unlike BlackBerry and Apple, which produce the both the hardware and software of its handsets, approaching Swipe support for Android devices is more complex.  While our applications are compatible on most Android devices running OS Version 2.1 or higher (approx 89% of all Android devices run 2.1 or higher), the Android OS runs on a variety of different hardware, all with different form factors and power outputs.  Our ROAMpay Swipe to date been compatible with various Motorola, Samsung, LG, and HTC devices running Android.  We are actively working on supporting some flagship products not yet supported, like the HTC MyTouch 4G on T-Mobile and the Motorola Droid 2 on Verizon.

We’ve also seen a plethora of Android devices get announced at recent consumer electronics conferences like CES and Mobile World Congress.  Many of these new generation handsets are the successors to the devices we currently support, so we are prepared to modify and test our current applications once these devices hit the market.  Here are the most notable devices to be launched before Q3, 2011, broken down by hardware manufacturer:

• Motorola
  • Droid Bionic (Verizon)
  • Atrix 4G (AT&T)
  • Xoom Tablet (Verizon)

• LG
  • Optimus Revolution (Verizon)
  • Optimus 3D Tablet
  • Optimus Black

• Samsung
  • Galaxy S 4G (T-Mobile)
  • Galaxy Infuse 4G (AT&T)
  • SCH-i520 (Verizon) (will likely launch under a different name)
  • Galaxy Tab 10.1

• HTC
  • Incredible S
  • Desire S
  • Wildfire S

Windows Phone 7 (currently unsupported)

The newcomer to the smart phone market has been slow to start, but we are seeing inquiries from customers and resellers about future player and swipe support.  In Q4 2010, the OS only had 2% of the smartphone market share and is currently being sold on T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T’s networks domestically on handsets manufactured by HTC, Samsung, LG, and Dell.

However to be noted, Nokia recently announced an industry-shifting, strategic partnership with Microsoft where Windows Phone 7 will be the primary OS.  Nokia, which has seen its global OS market share slide in recent months mostly due to rapidly growing Android adoption, says it is ready to double down on WP7, meaning the US may see an influx of Phone 7 powered Nokia smart phones beginning this year.  Symbian OS, which was once a global dominant in the smart phone market, is being gradually phased out.

HP/Palm (currently unsupported)

Palm, which was on the verge of collapse earlier last year, was bought by HP which pledged to devote significant resources to building out Palm’s most recent mobile operating system, WebOS.  Until earlier in Q1 2011, we had only seen a handful of WebOS devices, most of them being last generations, but HP recently held an event showcasing the company’s new mobile offerings.

The Palm Pre 3, the Palm Veer, and the HP TouchPad are the company’s first devices showcasing the next generation of WebOS.  The TouchPad, a 10 inch tablet PC, was very impressive to note, and HP has shown they are trying to make a statement in the rapidly growing Tablet market.  Their marketing push has included making it the official device of the 2011 Grammy Awards, giving it more visibility in one night than Palm has seen in the past year.  The press event also made clear that HP plans on moving WebOS to a variety of machines, including more tablets, netbooks, laptops, and printers.  While they have a lot of ground to make up in terms of smart phone OS market share, they shouldn’t yet be dismissed and we could very soon see the landscape becoming a give horse race with the right amount of partnerships with carriers and retail distributors.

Let ROAM worry about Mobile

One of our most important goals with getting new devices on our list is maintaining backwards compatibility.  Our aim is to support our current clients while also giving our clients the flexibility and edge of having compatibility with the latest and greatest phones on the market.  Our team of experts is constantly researching and identifying the latest phones and operating systems give our clients the widest range of hardware options.  ROAM Data worries about mobile so our clients can focus on their core business.

Who Are Square’s Real Competition?

Filed under mCommerce, Uncategorized

ROAM Data is a Boston based technology company that has become the market leader in enabling mobile commerce (mCommerce) and mobile payments.   While some in the industry compare ROAM to Square, that comparison is not apples to apples.   Yes, both companies have a credit card reader that plugs into a phone’s headphone jack, but that is where the similarities end.  The history, business model and technology of the two companies are all markedly different.  ROAM is a technology and service provider that enables a variety of mCommerce applications for large and small merchants to transact with consumers in both face-to-face and remote purchasing. ROAM does not provide merchant accounts, i.e. it is not a Merchant Service Provider (MSP).  Square is a MSP that competes with other MSPs for merchant accounts.   It built a single card acceptance application and its own audio jack swiper technology.  ROAM provides any MSP a turnkey card acceptance app with its patent pending audio jack swiper technology, but it is purely an arms dealer. The real war is between Square and other MSPs who use ROAM technologies to compete for merchants.

It is thus worthwhile to compare the technologies being used. To put it simply, Square technology is designed more for Peer-to-Peer payments, where any person can signup to use their service, the swiper is very cheap to make which sacrifices encryption and read rate, which is fine for low volume users. ROAM technology was designed for real merchants with real merchant accounts and higher transaction volumes. The reader is much more sophisticated, has full security encryption, more robust read rate, and can reach more mobile device types.  It is more expensive to manufacture but still a fraction of the cost of traditional POS technology, it is state of the art in secure mobile POS solutions.

For a deeper dive, ROAM’s reader uses a patent pending technology to power the processor using sound waves to digitize and encrypt the card track data within the card reader before transmitting that encrypted data to the device, which ultimately gets decrypted only by the PCI certified payment server.   On the other hand, Square’s card reader has neither power circuits nor processor to digitize and encrypt the swipe data, relying on the phone application to digitize and encrypt.  This means the cardholder information is in the open for any other application to capture and is therefore vulnerable to skimmers to steal cardholder data.  This method of capturing analog track data is also much more prone to read errors, and is not compatible with as many phones.  ROAM’s reader is more robust due to its physical and electronic design, resulting in much higher read rate, and it works on many more devices, (including all iOS, dozens of different Android phones and tablets, most BlackBerry devices, as well as PC’s and Netbooks).  ROAM Data won the industry’s 2010 Technology Innovation Award at the Electronic Transaction Association’s Annual Meeting.   Square’s reader design works on a smaller number of devices and is at the heart of the IP issue they are facing.

Beyond hardware, there are other differences in technology and business model, Square delivers an application as an MSP, ROAM delivers a platform and mobile service.  ROAM has built a device agnostic mobile commerce platform that can enable all sorts of applications, from card acceptance to order entry to mobile shopping, mobile offers, and mobile remittance.  ROAM owns granted and pending patents, along with rights and exclusive rights to related IP on mobile reader solutions and mCommerce platforms.  Some of the largest payment companies like Intuit, Sage, North American Bankcard, First Data, Chase Paymentech, Total Merchant Services are now leveraging ROAM technology to service their merchants.

The two companies’ founders also come from different backgrounds and pedigrees, but they do have something in common.  Square’s founder Jack Dorcey, who co-founded the enormously successful Twitter, teamed with long time friend and glasswork entrepreneur Jim McKelvey in 2009 to start Square. ROAM founder Will Graylin started 3 other high-tech companies (one security software company was sold to BEA, now part of Oracle, another was the first pocket size mobile POS company sold to Verifone). After earning two masters degrees from MIT, he teamed with co-founder and premier mobile architect Dr. Michael Arner, to start their first mobile software company in 1999, they later started ROAM Data in 2005.  Graylin and Arner have been innovating in the mobile and payment industry for 12 years.  These 4 entrepreneurs do have one thing in common; they all want to reduce the friction in commerce.

To sum it up, ROAM is not competing with Square for merchants, and is very different than Square.  It is the leading technology supplier for mCommerce solutions. How Square will do against the other MSPs in the long run remains to be seen, the good news is the battle to capture this new segment of merchants previously underserved will result in better solutions for merchants and more convenience for consumers.

To learn more about ROAM Data or to see a live demo, please contact Rob Stringer at rstringer@roamdata.com

Vote for ROAMpay in the CTIA B!G Idea Contest!

Filed under News

We’ve submitted ROAMpay (with Swipe) to the B!G Idea Contest, a competition that the CTIA Wireless Association is sponsoring where companies submit ideas for products, applications, and services that are sure to make a huge impact on the way the world interacts with their wireless devices.  The winning idea will have the opportunity to present on stage at International CTIA WIRELESS® 2011.

We need YOUR votes to get us there!

Visit our page on the B!G Idea website and vote for ROAMpay!

ROAM Data Adds Swipe Support For Over A Dozen New Android Devices

Filed under Uncategorized

Last month, we added ROAMpay Swipe support for 14 new Android devices.  We listened to your requests, and we’re proud to announce support for some of the most popular Android devices on the market, including Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G and Verizon’s Motorola Droid X.  Other notable devices we’ve added support for are T-Mobile’s HTC G2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and the Motorola Droid Pro.

You can see the full list of supported devices at our ROAM Data Device Center.

ROAM Data Launches World’s First Secure Low Cost Card Reader for BlackBerry!

Filed under Press Release

“Our goal is to bring the most convenient and secure ways for merchants to transact with their customers on virtually any computing devices.  Our team of mobile and payment experts has consistently overcome major challenges to simplify complex problems for the market, making a secure audio reader work with BlackBerry is the latest achievement we are proud of.”

ROAM Data partners with Sage Payment Solutions!

Filed under Press Release

Today we announced a partnership with Sage Payment Solutions to offer the ROAMpay Swiper to Sage’s small and midsized business (SMB) customers.

By integrating with Sage Exchange, Sage customers will be able to enjoy its’ powerful business management software products with the added versatility of being able to accept mobile payments using their cell phone. SMB’s can look forward to ROAMpay’s seamless integration with Sage accounting or enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution later this year.

“As a leading provider of business products to SMBs, Sage Payment Solutions gives their merchants the tools they need to compete in today’s economic climate,” said Will Graylin, CEO and founder of ROAM Data. “We’re proud to enhance their offerings with our secure, low-cost mobile commerce solution that lets Sage customers conveniently do business wherever and whenever, with their mobile phones, tablets, or PCs.”

You can read the full press release here

Swipe transactions with ROAMpay, now on the MyTouch 3G Slide!

Filed under News, Press Release

Great news for T-Mobile users! Their highly popular Android device, the MyTouch 3G Slide, is now fully compatible with the ROAMpay Swipe! For our complete supported device list, visit the ROAM Data Device Center

Accept Credit Cards on your iPad with the ROAMpay Swipe!

Filed under News, Press Release

The device that Apple CEO Steve Jobs infamously describes as “magical” now has a new trick up its sleeve. Our ROAMpay application along with the ROAMpay Swipe is not available for iPad through the app store! We have received a ton of requests to support this popular device and the feedback we have gotten so far has been great. ROAMpay allows you to accept transactions with both the Wi-Fi version and the Wi-Fi/3G versions of the iPad.

ROAMpay Swipe now live on the Droid Incredible

Filed under Press Release

You may have seen this device listed as “coming soon” for a while now, but the HTC Droid Incredible on Verizon is now fully supported with the ROAMpay Swiper!

To see our full list of compatible devices, head over to the ROAM Data Device Center

ROAM Data CEO Will Graylin featured on PYMNTS.com “Innovator Series Briefing Room”

Filed under News

As part of PYMNTS.com‘s Innovator Series Briefing Room, ROAM Data CEO Will Graylin sat down for an interview to discuss the topic of “Creating Killer Apps for Merchant’s Mobile Commerce.”

Graylin touches on some of his background, accomplishments and current endeavors as CEO of ROAM Data as well as his thoughts and ideas on mCommerce as a whole. Check out the full interview by clicking the link below

Creating Killer Apps for Merchants’ Mobile Commerce