CultureMap Video

Uncovering the hidden Houston: Five stories of the city that will surprise you

Clasping firmly on the handle of a rusty machete, Caballero has his nemesis, who murdered his brother, pinned to the ground. Will this Lone Star hero claim his revenge and take a swing at his enemy's throat? Or will he spare his life and risk being hunted down through the Texas forest?

The suspense . . .

This week, the titillating drama of Caballero is one of the top videos on Houston's Voice, a digital channel of locals for locals.

In this best-of countdown segment, our staff writer and savvy Houston explorer Whitney Radley returns to the CultureMap studio to keep viewers updated on the hottest new contribution and the top overall content on the growing social network.

Among them, a delicious look at Kubo's Sushi Bar & Grill, the tunes of a young rapper-cum-entrepreneur, the personality traits that rock stars share and haute couture that whets the stylish appetite of guys and gals. To explore the complete videos, click on the links below.

Top five overall videos:

Kubo's Sushi Bar & Grill by Houston Eats TV
Caballero (Full Cut) by NAC Film Theory
"We So Caked Up" by The Real Infinity
A Salute to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison: Her Life and Legacy by VISION Production Group
Find Your Inner Rock Star! by Steele Media Services

Top three new videos:

Citizenship Week Profile: Ruhi Ozgel by 713News
Danny Nguyen Debuts Fall Collection by 713News
HISD Fine Arts-Inertia Dance Company-Westside H.S. by HISD-TV News and Information

Editor's note: Hidden Houston, an interactive multimedia series, aims to reveal the many things that are unique about the Bayou City and its surrounding areas.

No Wallet Required

Texas grocer H-E-B finally rolls out digital tap-to-pay services

H-E-B Buffalo Heights Houston

Photo courtesy of H-E-B

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Texas' favorite grocery store has some good news for shoppers who have a habit of forgetting their wallets. H-E-B is starting a phased rollout for digital tap-to-pay services, starting in San Antonio before spreading to the rest of the chain's stores.

The rollout began Monday, October 7. A release says it'll take "about a week" to spread to all stores in the region before making it ways across Texas. Although it is not known which stores will add the service on what date, the rollout includes all H-E-B stores, including Mi Tienda, H-E-B's Mexican grocery store that has locations in Houston.

With tap to pay, shoppers will finally be able to use smartphone-based systems such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay, as well as tapping a physical card.

Payments can be made with those apps, or "digital wallets," at cash registers and self-checkout lanes, as well as restaurants and pharmacies within H-E-B stores. They won't be accepted right away at H-E-B fuel pumps, but customers can use them to pay for gas if they bring their phones to the fuel station payment window.

This isn't exactly cutting-edge technology; Google Wallet launched in 2011, leading the market, and was followed by Apple Pay in 2014. But it's not ubiquitous either. In 2023, a poll by Forbes Advisor found that barely more than half of respondents used digital wallets more than traditional forms of payment.

H-E-B is on a bit of a payment revolutionizing kick, also launching a debit card in 2022 and a partnership in August of 2024 with the H-E-B-owned delivery service Favor for its fastest order fulfillment yet. Central Market and Joe V’s Smart Shop, two other H-E-B brands, also recently launched tap to pay.

“At H-E-B, we’re always exploring a broad range of technologies to enhance how customers shop and pay for products,” H-E-B vice president Ashwin Nathan said in a statement. “This has been one of the most requested services we have received from our customers and partners, and we are excited to now make this popular technology available at all our H-E-B locations.”

More information about H-E-B is available at heb.com.

h-e-b grocery technology

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