"Cha-ching" is no longer the only sound that payments can make. LISNR has been working since 2012 to transmit payments at the POS via sound waves — and CEO Rodney Williams claims it's faster than using an EMV chip card, just as secure and even more reliable than near field communication (NFC). Find out why Williams is convinced that sound is the future of retail POS.  Read More...

The Apple Watch is doing relatively well for a wearable, second only to the fitness-focused Xiaomi as Fitbit falls out of vogue. But critics are divided over Apple's move to untether the generation 3 Watch from the iPhone by giving it an internal LTE modem. Some say the Apple Watch is getting closer to its original goal of replacing the handset, while others doubt such a thing could ever happen. Here are the pros and cons of the next-gen Apple Watch — what do you think?  Read More...

Confectionery Companies: The Other Unintended Casualty Of Self-Checkout

Grocery stores said goodbye to the gauntlet of temptations when they switched from cashiers to self-checkout lanes starting in 1992. But those impulse buys were a huge part of business for confectionery companies like Hershey, which says it has lost billions in sales since then. Here's how Hershey has weathered the change, and why other gum and candy companies haven't been so lucky.  Read More...