Cloud based point-of-sale (POS) systems that use smart devices will be released by the NEC Corporation in September 2012. The company said that retailers will be able to launch these cloud POS services the day that a contract is signed. A wide variety of applications can be downloaded from the cloud, such as NEC's shop management (settlement, sales and analysis management), payment (e-money) and CRM (membership, point, coupon management) offerings. The apps will be able to be used on smart devices including NEC's "LifeTouch" tablets and smartphones. A conventional POS system, which typically uses pos rolls , can provide challenges including the cost and time to install the systems and the need for customisation and system updates. NEC claims to have addressed these issues by using its POS system know how and e-money payment technologies to enable smart devices to provide the same kinds of store management and transaction functions as specialised POS systems.
Source: http://www.telecomtiger.com/Technology_fullstory.aspx?passfrom=Technology&storyid=14962&section=S210