After announcing their open-source Pi retail Point of Sale system back in July 2012, the Commonwealth Bank this week finally made their EFTPOS capable Android tablet ‘Albert’ available to businesses.
Albert is a 3G capable Android tablet which is capable of running a range of applications to which facilitate retail activities. The tablets 3G connection lets the tablet be used almost anywhere with a number of functions such as Split Bill, Cash Counter, Daily IQ, Open Tab and Community Giver pre-loaded, along with a Commonwealth bank payments app.
If you’re interested in the hardware behind the tablet, Albert is running :
- 1280×800 multi-touch screen.
- 1GB RAM and 16GB Flash Memory.
- 8MP Camera.
- EMV chip and PIN interface for contactless payments.
- NFC Reader for coupons and wallet.
- Magnetic stripe reader.
- 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and option for ethernet.
- OS is based on Android 4.0 and runs Pi
- Printer
The Commonwealth Bank released a video on Pi and Albert in action back in 2012 and as far as we can tell, it hasn’t changed:
The Commonwealth Bank is already partnering with a number of businesses to trial Pi and Albert in the real world, with David Jones and Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL, which features leading brands – Event Cinemas, QT Hotels and Resorts, Rydges Hotels and Resorts and Thredbo), while one of Australia’s leading hospitality providers, The Keystone Group (Jamie’s Italian, Chophouse, Kingsleys Steak & Crabhouse, Manly Wine, Gazebo Kings X, The Winery Surry Hills and The Loft) all signed on. With its open nature, there’s a number of businesses including Foot Locker, Mogas Regional and EasyFuel all building custom apps to work with the system.
Gary Roach, Managing Director Payments & Cash Management Services,Commonwealth Bank spoke about the potential of Albert to revolutionise the point of sale experience.
The payments landscape is rapidly evolving as Australians embrace new technology and there is a growing need for a more powerful, open platform which can adapt to changing customer needs, and provide real-time analytics and business insights. Albert has the potential to dramatically shift the way businesses take payments, offering merchants the ability to completely customise the customer experience from start to finish.
As we said back in 2012, “The concept looks pretty good to me, however as a custom system it’s success will be dependent on developers creating applications for it”. Businesses and Developers can register their interest in Pi and Albertat the Commonwealth Bank Pi website.
