<s>
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
or	O
UPOS	B-Application
is	O
a	O
world	O
wide	O
vendor	O
-	O
and	O
retailer-driven	O
Open	O
Standard	O
's	O
initiative	O
under	O
the	O
National	O
Retail	O
Federation	O
,	O
Association	O
of	O
Retail	O
Technology	O
Standards	O
(	O
NRF-ARTS	O
)	O
to	O
provide	O
vendor-neutral	O
software	O
application	O
interfaces	O
(	O
APIs	B-General_Concept
)	O
for	O
numerous	O
(	O
as	O
of	O
2011	O
,	O
thirty-six	O
)	O
point	O
of	O
sale	O
(	O
POS	O
)	O
peripherals	O
(	O
POS	O
printer	O
,	O
cash	O
drawer	O
,	O
magnetic	O
stripe	O
reader	O
,	O
bar	O
code	O
scanner	O
,	O
line	O
displays	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
is	O
an	O
abstraction	O
standard	O
that	O
contains	O
appendices	O
which	O
provide	O
specific	O
platform	O
implementation	O
information	O
for	O
Microsoft	O
.NET	B-Application
and	O
Java	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developed	O
by	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
joint	O
retailer	O
and	O
industry	O
technical	O
experts	O
following	O
published	O
policies	O
and	O
procedures	O
,	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
consistent	O
and	O
exact	O
framework	O
for	O
programming	O
point	O
of	O
sale	O
devices	O
that	O
is	O
platform-independent	O
and	O
vendor-neutral	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recent	O
efforts	O
(	O
2010-2011	O
)	O
by	O
the	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
committee	O
include	O
provisions	O
for	O
local	O
and	O
remote	O
POS	O
peripheral	O
support	O
through	O
a	O
supplemental	O
Web	O
Services	O
for	O
point	O
of	O
service	O
(	O
WS-POS	O
1.1	O
)	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
an	O
increasing	O
focus	O
on	O
using	O
XML	O
language	O
commands	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
POS	O
devices	O
can	O
be	O
seen	O
in	O
the	O
XML-POS	O
Appendix	O
in	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
Version	O
1.13	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
standard	O
is	O
managed	O
by	O
Association	O
for	O
Retail	O
Technology	O
Standards	O
(	O
ARTS	O
)	O
through	O
two	O
committees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Membership	O
in	O
NRF-ARTS	O
is	O
not	O
required	O
to	O
download	O
and	O
use	O
the	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technical	O
committee	O
,	O
composed	O
of	O
both	O
vendors	O
and	O
retailers	O
,	O
modifies	O
the	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
specification	O
based	O
on	O
guidance	O
of	O
the	O
Administrative	O
Committee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OPOS	B-Library
and	O
JavaPOS	B-Application
implementation	O
groups	O
modify	O
or	O
enhance	O
their	O
actual	O
program	O
implementations	O
to	O
conform	O
to	O
the	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
technical	O
committee	O
periodically	O
audits	O
the	O
specific	O
implementations	O
to	O
ensure	O
the	O
various	O
groups	O
conform	O
to	O
the	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2003	O
,	O
a	O
.NET	B-Application
implementation	O
was	O
proposed	O
,	O
to	O
the	O
technical	O
committee	O
and	O
subsequently	O
accepted	O
into	O
the	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
for	O
not	O
keeping	O
up	O
with	O
the	O
current	O
revisions	O
(	O
1.13	O
)	O
to	O
the	O
UPOS	B-Application
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
POS	O
for	O
.NET	B-Application
version	O
1.12	O
is	O
not	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
current	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
4.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
On	O
December	O
13	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
POS	O
for	O
.NET	B-Application
1.14	O
CTP	O
via	O
Microsoft	O
Connect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
POS	O
for	O
.NET	B-Application
1.14	O
is	O
intended	O
to	O
conform	O
to	O
UPOS	B-Application
1.14	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
public	O
release	O
of	O
POS	O
for	O
.NET	B-Application
is	O
expected	O
in	O
Spring	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
effort	O
is	O
underway	O
to	O
create	O
an	O
updated	O
UnifiedPOS	B-Application
2.0	O
standard	O
which	O
will	O
add	O
many	O
enhanced	O
features	O
and	O
functions	O
to	O
support	O
newer	O
programming	O
paradigms	O
and	O
remote	O
XML	O
POS	O
peripheral	O
installation	O
scenarios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
2017	O
,	O
the	O
Object	B-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
Group	I-Architecture
has	O
assumed	O
responsibility	O
for	O
the	O
UnifiedPos	B-Application
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
UPOS	B-Application
claims	O
support	O
for	O
36	O
device	O
types	O
,	O
in	O
practice	O
most	O
retailers	O
will	O
not	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
many	O
of	O
these	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
few	O
,	O
if	O
any	O
,	O
UPOS	B-Application
service	O
objects	O
that	O
support	O
biometric	O
or	O
RFID	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
