News Briefs

Near Intelligence Inc.  launched Near.com, a new website with improved navigation and a better mobile experience that enhances user experiences and streamlines interactions.

This new website sports a bold new look and is carefully crafted to deliver a seamless and intuitive browsing experience organized around audiences and use cases – including McDonald’s.   

New  features

• Improved Infrastructure: Visitors to the new site will experience enhanced functionality, reliability, and scalability, enabling a seamless user experience, reduced downtime, and the ability to handle increased traffic. The improved infrastructure provides a solid foundation for a more robust website, ensuring optimized functionality and improved overall visitor performance.
• Robust Search Functionality: Near.com’s advanced search capabilities are universal across the whole site, enabling users to quickly find relevant information, industry insights, products and offerings, and customer case studies.
• Content Hub: The website features a content hub that showcases 30 pages of new content based on research and SEO approach, with a focus on top personas and use cases, as well as new and updated content including information on Near and its solutions, informative blogs, industry insights, whitepapers, eBooks, and compelling customer stories. Users can stay up to date with trends, company news, gain valuable knowledge, and engage with thought-provoking content.
• Seamless Mobile Experience: Near.com is fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices, ensuring a seamless browsing experience across various screen sizes. Users can access the website effortlessly on their smartphones or tablets, enjoying the same rich features and functionalities.
• Optimized Content Modules: Newly designed modules have been added to the site, highlighting fresh content and events, as well as a hello bar, showcasing key announcements, a homepage bar, and other, more flexible placements for an optimized user experience.

Shiji, a global hospitality technology innovator, has partnered with IPORT, an award-winning manufacturer known for enhancing the usability of iPads and iPhones, to introduce an all-in-one software solution for hotel restaurants. This collaboration will provide hoteliers with a seamless combination of a tablet and payment device to maximize their F&B operations.

The integrated iOS and payment device solution simplifies guest service for hotel restaurant servers, providing them with an effortless tool to cater to their guests' needs. As a certified Apple partner, Shiji and IPORT guarantee exceptional performance and reliability. Hoteliers can choose from multiple device options, including iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and iPhone, ensuring flexibility and compatibility with their operations.

“IPORT products are built around modularity and flexibility that empower our hospitality customers to do more with the iOS platform. We are thrilled to partner with a leading iPad and iPhone cloud PMS and POS platform provider like Shiji,” said Chris Lawson, Head of Partnerships, IPORT. “We look forward to innovating with Shiji in disrupting legacy, monolithic providers who have limited the industry from harnessing the power of iOS and mobility. The future is bright, and the possibilities are endless with IPORT, iOS, and Shiji.”

"The partnership with IPORT is a significant milestone for Shiji in our commitment to provide innovative technology solutions for the hospitality industry," said Ryan King, Senior Vice President of Shiji in the Americas. "By combining our expertise with IPORT’s hardware solutions, we empower hoteliers to streamline restaurant operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences. This collaboration represents another step forward in our dedication to driving success in the Americas, and globally."

The tablet and payment device solution seamlessly integrates with multiple payment gateways, allowing hoteliers to choose the system that best suits their needs. By simplifying the payment process, it reduces operational complexities, minimizes errors, and saves valuable time and resources for hoteliers.

Steak n Shake will offer PopID Check In and PopPay on its self-ordering kiosks in select locations in the Orlando market, with plans to expand to more than 300 corporate locations. PopID Check In is an opt-in service that enables consumers to scan their face to automatically sign into their loyalty reward account and see their past orders, making the ordering process as convenient as possible. When a guest checks in with PopID, they also have the option to use PopPay to automatically complete their payment.

• 57% of respondents say enabling new payment options is a  top business driver impacting POS upgrade decisions, according to HT’s2 2023 POS Software Trends Report.

“Our partnership with PopID is a key part of our effort to provide guests with a fast and seamless ordering experience," said Keith Correia, Chief Information Officer. "When using PopID Check In, a guest does not need to use their phone or take out their wallet as part of the ordering process. They will automatically be checked in for loyalty rewards, and they can choose to make an automated payment with PopPay. A guest can even see their past orders and quickly reorder their favorite menu items. Ordering at Steak n Shake has never been easier or more convenient.”

In addition to enhancing the guest experience and improving order throughput, PopPay helps to reduce fraud and offers lower payment processing fees.

Cvent, a meetings, events and hospitality technology provider, and Choice Hotels International announced the global rollout of Cvent Instant Book™ across Choice’s portfolio of franchised hotels. The new direct booking integration, available later in Q3, offers a simplified booking experience for meeting planners to easily find and book guest room blocks online at Choice Hotels properties, streamlining what can traditionally be a cumbersome, manual process. Hotels joining the Choice distribution engine after the acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas will gain access to Cvent Instant Book soon.

Planners can search, compare real-time rates & availability, and book rooms at Choice Hotels' properties with just a few simple clicks, bypassing the request for proposal (RFP) process that is typically required for larger, more complex events. Embedding the technology into Choice Hotels booking platform also enables hoteliers to increase their visibility and attract more group business by showcasing their properties to Cvent's extensive global network of event planners.

"We’re proud to work with Choice Hotels International to further expand our Cvent Instant Book experience,” said Jim Abramson, Cvent Vice President of Product Management. "This new functionality reflects our shared vision of making booking and managing meetings & events easier – for both planners and hoteliers alike. By embracing innovative technology like Cvent Instant Book, Choice Hotels is prioritizing the customer experience, and now, each of their property owners can easily tap into our extensive global network of 110,000 meeting and event organizers who trust Cvent to find the right venue and power their events."

"We are excited to work with Cvent to further bolster our simplified booking options for meeting planners around the world," said Abhijit Patel, Vice President, Global Distribution and Commercial Strategy. "Our integration with Cvent highlights our commitment to providing our customers with the technology and functionalities they use most, and we will continue to expand our offerings to best showcase our hotels and attract group business to our properties."

As a longtime Cvent customer, this announcement expands Choice’s use of Cvent technology to power their group and corporate travel business and reach a global planner audience. All Choice properties are listed on the Cvent Supplier Network, one of the one of the world’s largest venue-sourcing platforms where planners go to find and book meeting and event venues. In addition, Choice will continue their strategic Cvent Business Travel partnership.

To see this new Choice Hotels Instant Book experience live, visit the Cvent Supplier Network and log in to search and book Choice hotels around the world.

NCR Corporation unveiled the names for the two companies that will form after its planned separation, expected in Q4 2023. Selecting company names is a key milestone in NCR’s previously announced plan to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies.

The digital commerce business will be renamed NCR Voyix; ATM business to be named NCR Atleos.

Constituents surveyed encouraged the company to retain the NCR name in some way. "Atleos," for an atlas or map, speaks to the company’s focus on expanding transactions and access worldwide. "At" also nods to the company’s past and present history with automated tellers, which combined with “eos,” or the dawn of a new era, speaks to NCR’s drive to scale ATM as a Service (ATMaaS), interactive tellers and future innovations.

NCR conducted a thorough naming process with global consultancy Interbrand that included surveys, research and the engagement of thousands of stakeholders including employees, customers, investors and industry analysts.

“We took the responsibility of renaming a company with more than 130 years of history very seriously,” said CMO Jennifer Personette. “The strength of both brands, which build on our existing positive brand value, is evident in the recent momentum of the business and customer feedback. I am also proud that we chose names through a process that included feedback from 12,000 employees who expressed their pride in NCR.”

Previously, the company’s Board of Directors announced that current NCR Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tim Oliver is designated as CEO of NCR Atleos and David Wilkinson, executive vice president and president of NCR Commerce, is designated to lead NCR Voyix.

Actility, a provider of IoT network infrastructure, announced the acquisition of Acklio, a provider of SCHC (Static Context Header Compression) technology for LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) networks.

This acquisition will further strengthen Actility’s position as the leading provider of end-to-end IoT solutions and will enable the company to offer a broader range of IP-based IoT applications over LPWAN networks.

Acklio’s SCHC technology is a key enabler for IP-based IoT over LPWAN networks. SCHC compresses the IP header, which significantly reduces the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the network. This makes it possible to run IP-based applications over LPWAN networks, which are typically characterized by low data rates and long battery life.

The acquisition of Acklio will allow Actility to offer a wider range of IP-based IoT applications over LPWAN networks. These applications include:

• Smart metering: several meter vendors already adopted Acklio SCHC technology to connect standards-based DLMS/COSEM meters to LoRaWAN and NB-IoT network.
• Smart industry: protocols such as ModBus/TCP can be carried transparently and efficiently over LoRaWAN networks using SCHC header compression.
• Smart buildings: KNX/IP and other leading IP protocols for building automation which do not have yet efficient long-range RF transport layers can immediately be deployed over LoRaWAN campus IoT networks without any modification.
• Electric vehicle charging: the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) has become the de-facto standard for smart charge point control, but it is difficult to deploy IP networks in underground parking lots. LoRaWAN networks are a perfect solution and SCHC provides the required adaptation layer for OCPP.

Actility is also committed to keeping Acklio’s SCHC technology open and licensable to all industry players. This will help to accelerate the adoption of IP-based IoT over LPWAN networks, and to create a more open and interoperable IoT ecosystem. With SCHC, the notion of Internet of Everything truly becomes a reality.