Retail Embedded Software Updated

An update has shipped for Microsoft’s specialized OS for point-of-sale (POS) terminals, retail kiosks, self-checkout systems and similar devices. Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS) is an edition of Windows XP Embedded specifically designed for retail. It enables manufacturers to create customized OS builds that include support for POS peripherals (such as card readers for reading credit and membership cards) while excluding Windows components not relevant to retail, which reduces OS memory requirements and can limit security and reliability problems. The new version supports new types of POS devices and could simplify and open up POS application programming on Windows.

Specifically, WEPOS 1.1 supports version 1.9 of the Unified Point of Service (UPOS) specification, a standard API for interoperability among POS terminals and their peripherals. New features in UPOS 1.9 include APIs for updating device firmware, an improved power management API for battery-powered POS devices, and support for Electronic Money Devices, a type of card reader common in Japan for authorizing electronic funds transfers. WEPOS 1.1 also adds support for a variety of other devices, including coin dispensers and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) devices.