GameStop pulls Deus Ex Human Revolution from stores after OnLive controversy

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Square who? Intuit brings its GoPayment mobile card reader to Verizon Wireless stores

Intuit and Verizon Wireless announced this morning that they will be partnering to offer Intuit’s GoPayment mobile card reader in Verizon stores, bringing the device to more than 2,300 retail locations across the US.

Aside from the obvious benefit of more widespread availability, the partnership shines some much-needed light on Intuit’s two-year-old GoPayment technology. GoPayment launched a year before the more hyped mobile payment startup Square. which has made its tiny mobile credit card reader synonymous with mobile payments.

Intuit’s GoPayment credit card reader slides into your phone or tablet’s headphone jack (yes, just like Square’s), and works together with a free app to accept payments. It opens the door for you to take payments anywhere, which could be particularly useful for small business owners. GoPayment supports iOS, Android, and BlackBerry devices. It can also synchronize with Intuit’s QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online accounting software, a major plus compared to Square.

As part of the partnership, Verizon Wireless customers will be able to get the GoPayment credit card reader for free when they activate their GoPayment account and mail in a $29.97 rebate. Intuit would have been better off figuring out another way to offer the discount to customers, since a mail-in rebate isn’t as tempting to consumers as an instant discount.

Square, on the other hand, has offered its mobile card reader for free from the start, which has likely accounted for its massive growth and hype. Square’s card reader is also sold at Apple stores for $10, but you instantly get that money back when you sign up for a Square account.

There’s no monthly or transaction fee for the basic GoPayment service, but you will get charged 2.7 percent for swiped transactions. For heavy users, Intuit also offers a $12.95 a month plan with a 1.7 percent rate for swipe transactions. Verizon Wireless users will receive two free months of the monthly plan when they sign up. GoPayment can also support up to 50 users on a single account.

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Tags: GoPayment, mobile payments, smartphones, tablets

Companies: Intuit, Square, Verizon Wireless

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Apple planned for five new stores of retail Saturday

A few weeks, we have noted that Apple has apparently been open more than 30 new stores of retail in the two months, pushing the total of the company to more than 360 at the end of September. While Apple has opened a couple of stores since then, including a new store in Glendale, California, just 500 feet of a location exist, things now seem to be getting into full swing with Apple apparently set to open at least five new stores this Saturday.

The total includes two U.S. stores and three international sites covering, oriented towards the Australia, the Canada and the Italy and represents the largest batch of openings since Apple opened seven stores on 25 September last year.

Apple I Gigli in Florence, Italy retail store (Source: iPhone Italia)
- Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall (Anchorage, Alaska): the new store will be first held Apple in Alaska.

- Place of fashion (Murray, Utah): second store Apple in Utah, the new store covers the portion of southern suburbs on the outskirts of Salt Lake City to complete the store existing business to the level of the gateway in downtown Salt Lake City.

- Southland (Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia): the new store is third location of Apple in the area of Melbourne and the twelfth overall for the Australia.

- Conestoga: Waterloo, Ontario (Canada): 20th retail store of Apple to the Canada, the new location is also remarkable for its placement in the hometown of smartphone rival Research in Motion.

- I Gigli: (Florence, Italy): the new store is sixth Apple Italy and first in the region of Florence, filling a gap between the store in Rome and a series of stores in the North of the Italy the Turin and Milan Bergamo.

The openings of new entrants as Apple continues to move forward with the construction on a number of other stores, and the renovation and expansion of some of its existing stores. The company also including began an upgrade of the plaza and glass cube at his Fifth Avenue in Manhattan flagship store. Earlier today we reported that Apple has released details on the reorganization of the cube, which will see the original design of 90 panes of glass, replaced by a new version with only 15 panels of glass.

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