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This Week in Tech: The PayPal Windows

The Next Web reported that PayPal, the popular online payment service, showcased a new service at the LeWeb convention in Paris this week.

Time for a new feature on Fueled: This Week in Killer Tech. We’ll name a piece of technology we just think is particularly awesome. This week’s entry comes courtesy of PayPal, which released one of the coolest, most futuristic looking devices we’ve seen in quite some time this week.

The Next Web reported that PayPal, the popular online payment service, showcased a new service at the LeWeb convention in Paris this week. John Lunn, director of platform integration at PayPal, explained that he was disappointed that the shops in London were useless when they closed at night. He could see what was in their windows, but couldn’t buy any products or do anything else but gaze longingly at what he couldn’t touch. So, PayPal worked with Screenreach, an England-based startup, to create a new way to window shop at any time of the day.

Shops that use PayPal windows will have a projector placed right behind the shop’s windows. People passing by the window will be able to enter a code on their smartphone. After entering it, people can browse the store’s offerings, even when the store’s closed. When pressing an item, a picture of it will project onto the store’s window, as if the actual item was right there. People can continue to browse and change their selections, and as they change their choices, the window will change with it. Once the user makes their selection, they can enter their payment information (don’t worry, the window won’t broadcast credit card numbers to the world) and the item will be shipped to them the next day. Once done shopping, the window will turn off and look just like a regular store window once again.

The window will likely be expensive for stores to own and are only available in London for now, so it’s going to be awhile until every shop in America has PayPal windows. But, damn, this is pretty cool. Projected images of items to buy at all hours of the day that change with the tap of a smartphone? That’s just awesome. We’re slowly turning into our futuristic society on the Jetsons, and we’re loving every minute of it.

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