Exxon And Timex Release The Speedpass watch

introverted writes "Exxon and Timex have released a Speedpass-enabled watch. From the article, this sounds like a regular Timex watch with an RFID chip in it. According to a radio news story, you can not only use the watch to buy gas, but at some locations in Chicago you can also use it at McDonald's. The watch is available from Timex. This was first mentioned on Slashdot in March last year."

Comments

News?

[elvum]

Swatch have been making them for years.

Hi ...

[B3ryllium]

I'll have a filet-o-fish meal and a side order of invasion-of-privacy, please. :)

Re:Hi ...

[Politburo]

And I'll have a dose of common sense. Don't want your privacy 'invaded', don't buy the damn watch, don't use speedpass, don't use ez-pass, don't use credit cards, don't use a bank account. My message to all of you knee jerk "invasion of privacy" people is this: don't stop those of us (who clearly don't care for privacy) who want to use these products from using them. If you don't want to make things easier, you don't have to.

Re:Hi ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, it's our constitutional right to complain about the products we have willingly purchased without any forethought of consequences.

Gas + Food

[Washizu]

"you can not only use the watch to buy gas, but at some locations in Chicago you can also use it at McDonald's"

Hello, I'll take premium fuel for my car and sub-standard fuel for my body.

And Super Size it.

Y'know, I don't think...

[GTRacer]

...this is gonna work. Many of my local Mac D's installed the receivers for GM's version of Speedpass, and handed out informational flyers about setting up the accounts and using the fobs.

A month later, all of them has taken down the receivers and nary a word was said. I think the central problem in this one example is that nobody wants to hand 10 bucks to a holding company to buy burgers on 49-cent Wednesday.

We want to use our debit cards like we do almost everywhere else.

GTRacer
- 1077, same as a cheese pizza and a soda...

I need an RFID transceiver

[coinreturn]

I want to pass an RFID receiver over everybody's watches (especially at gas stations), collect the RFID, and then transmit it every time I need some gas. Cool - free gas, MacDonalds, etc.

Re:I need an RFID transceiver

[*weasel]

you mean like public/private key pairs for RFID transmission? if they didn't already do something like this, I'd be fairly surprised.

of course people have no qualms with handing their credit card to any kid in a smock, and swiping a credit card number from their machines is no-tech/no-cost/no-brained compared to an RFID receiver.

then there's the lack of an increase in car-theft that followed the proliferation of rf key fobs to lock/unlock car doors.

perhaps the hard cap of people willing to commit meat-space crimes has already been reached - regardless of the level of technology? particularly when they can still easily perform the same type of theft without even knowing what rfid is?

aside from all that, credit card theft leaves the burden of proof on the bank - not me. it's their money that's in limbo while the issue is up in the air. with debit, theft can result in the money being gone from my account until they can resolve the issue. a much more worrying situation. particularly considering the average speed of bank investigations when it's your money on the line.

so while i would be extremely hesitant to tie an rf payment fob to a debit card, i'm open to the idea of tying it to a credit card probably even without strong encryption.

of course i'm already hesitant to use debit cards for the same reason. particularly since i've yet to find a vendor who actually requires the pin to be entered. though admittedly i don't use it much.

Excellent,

[Quasar1999]

So now I can ask someone if they have the time beside a drivethru at mcdonalds, and have them pay for my meal! Sweet!

Time and money.

[wondafucka]

One of my friends and I were theorizing a money system where your total cost of existance (rent, food, hookers) was summed up and divided by a cost per second. I forget the exact numbers but somewhere around the poverty level is around 3 cents a minute. We were horrified at the implications and applications. (You can only enter The Demiplex Residencies of the New United Anglophyles if you have a time money index of 20 cents a minute or higher).

It's kind of cool (not really) how when we were little we saw visions of distopia and laughed. Now we see the building blocks being built before our eyes.

I sure hope they build tinfoil hats with "speedpasses" so I don't have to take mine off to get a cheeseburger.

I've had mine for almost a year...

[jpellino]

It's been a Mobil item for some time. Exxon is now equipping their stations faster and should catch up with Mobil-branded places.
The RF chip is in the band, not the watch.
I swapped the Timex watch body for a decent Casio
The watch works much better at the POS terminals inside the stations/stores, where the key tags have always had mediocre luck.
They both work well on the pumps.

Re:I've had mine for almost a year...

[LinuxHam]

I have 2 keychain fobs and 2 window transponders. The window transponders work about 1 out of every 10-20 tries. The keychain fob works great for me in the Northeast b/c, when it so damn cold out, its nice to just hold your keys inside your fist up against a "Place Speedpass Here" sign instead of taking off your gloves to fark with your wallet and credit card. The trick to get it to work inside is to pinch it between your thumb and index finger but rest your index finger's nail on the reader. Yes, radiate the RFID right through your fingertip. Works like a charm for me.

But, boy is it nice when it's about 3 below, and the pump is ready to go by the time you get out of your car. Privacy, shimvacy, its effin' freezing out! I only wish they, and more, places would take EZ Pass.. especially parking garages. Sometimes I just want to drive without stopping or rolling my windows down, is that too much to ask?

Great Geek Watches?

[Cpt_Kirks]

What are some of the current great geek watches?

There are: watches with simple computer functions, watches with atomic clock radio recievers, watches with digital cameras, watches with IR remotes, watches with calculator/basic PIM functions, watches that run on Mars time and pager watches.

Any others? What is your fav?

It's nice, but

[Tibor the Hun]

does it support Ogg? because if it doesn't support Ogg, who's gonna buy it?

Hacking for fun and profit?

[pesc]

How long until (1) someone makes a device to read others RFID chips (without them noticing), and (2) can create RFID tags with programmable IDs?

Really, how is the security / authentication implemented here?

Re:bad idea

[Sc00ter]

Just like they can buy gas with your CC if they steal your wallet. Oh that's right, there's fraud protection on that credit card, and since your speedpass is usually linked to it, you have the same protection. Just call and get it canceled.

Re:This is great news.

[valkraider]

So just have one kid who carries all the watches to school, and the others ditch. The watch carrier could be rotated so everyone gets a chance to ditch...

Now, if we imbed the RFID chip in their skull, then it might work... With enough science, technology, and BigBrother (TM) we can get kids to go to school.

Or we could just pay attention to our kids, and make our schools interesting enough that kids want to go, and get parents to stop ignoring their kids as soon as they can use the bathroom on their own....

Hmm, looks like science and technology will win this one, eh?

Get a life. No privacy issue here.

[Kombat]

I love it when moderators mod posts as "Trolls" when they disagree or don't understand. The parent poster had a perfectly valid point. How is this an invasion of privacy? It's nothing more than a credit card you don't have to swipe or sign for. I've been using a Speedpass for my cars' gas for about 5 years now (Esso has 'em in Canada), and let me tell you, it's damn convenient. It's even faster than debit.

Pull up to the pump. Exit car. Wave Speedpass over receiver. While it is authorizing, take off your gas cap, lift the nozzle, and select your fuel type. By then, the authorization's gone through and you're already pumping. When full, replace nozzle. By the time you screw the gas cap back on, the receipt is ready. Get back in car and drive off. And if you don't want to wait for your receipt, no worries, it doesn't have your credit card number on it anyway.

Debit might sound like not much more hassle, but remember: I'm in Canada. It gets damn cold up here in the winter. I can pay with Speedpass and pump my gas without ever having to remove my gloves or mitts. Not so with debit. Try taking out your wallet, removing and swiping your card, then punching a bunch of buttons with mitts on in -35 degree weather. Aside from being slower, it's just plain not possible.

People who shriek about "privacy" regarding these types of benign things have either never used them, or are just whoring for karma. There is no privacy issue. They're basically just a credit card you don't have to sign for.

If you lose the tag, cancel the credit card. Same as if you'd lost the card itself. Since the Speedpass tags are almost always with your car keys anyway, if you lost your tag, then you probably lost your car keys too, and you've got more things to worry about than privacy. Like, say for example, canceling that credit card and finding your car!

Do you still need an SSN?

[billh]

Years ago, when speedpass first came out, I filled out an application, but declined to put my SSN on it. If I link it to a credit card, why should you have my SSN?

Needless to say, I never heard back, and I don't intend to ever get one if the SSN is required. Or maybe I'll just make one up and see what happens.

For those who don't know - it is not a credit device, it is a billing device. It links to an existing credit card. They may have expanded to granting credit, but it was not part of the deal when I tried to sign up.

Re:Get a life. No privacy issue here.

[LinuxHam]

Minor nit. Another multi-year Speedpass user here, and we were typing at the same time about using it in the cold. Nit: If you lose the fob, don't cancel the credit card! Just call Speedpass customer service and cancel the fob. That way, you can still get gas with your card until the replacement fob arrives..

I'm surprised how many people have said, "just cancel the card" here. Its not THAT tightly bound to the card. I had mine bound to a check card a year before they approved it. Also, they call you when they detect unusual activity. I had to fill up every 2 days for 2 weeks, so they called to see if everything was ok.

I-PASS watch?

[dexter riley]

I can't wait until they create a watch that works with the I-PASS system. You know, the little box that automagically pays your toll as you drive past the toll gates at 20 mph? If I only had an I-PASS watch, I could just stick my arm out while I drive past the scanner like this and AAAAAGH MY HAND!!! THE BLOOD!!! OH GOD THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!!! AAAGGGHH!!!

Compared to credit cards --

[conan_albrecht]

how is this different in security? Everyone is doing the standard "invasion of privacy" and "lack of security" response here. I'll agree it lessens privacy a little more (as if it could go any lower), but is it any less secure than anything else.

Consider, for example, the following:
1. We give our credit cards to a less-than minimum wage employee each time we pay for a meal at a restaraunt. The credit card leaves our sight for several minutes.
2. We give our credit card with no signature over the phone and internet all the time.
3. Does anyone match the signature on the credit card with the signature you provide anyway? I've seen it done in some cities, but here in the West people normally give you the card back before you even sign.
4. This could go on, but the point is made.

Credit cards work because the companies cover the losses (for the most part). It's cheaper to cover losses than to prevent them. These watches and whatever else comes in the future will probably work the same.

Nothing's changed here, people. Move along...

Universal ID

[WindBourne]

With Pat. Act II, we no longer need SSNs or universal IDs. Now the government can locate us quickly via the use of corporate DBs. I am guessing that in the future if you do not have one of these marvelous devices, then the government will simply focus on your movements in the traffic cams.

Yeah, yeah. No doubt several of you will post something about tin foil hats and all, but then you obviously do not read your history.

First they came for the jew, but I did nothing....

RFID's a security risk? Come on....

[4ginandtonics]

http://www.ti.com/tiris/docs/news/news_releases/ 90 s/rel04-05-99.shtml


"RFID systems feature a digital signature encryption protocol that has a challenge/response authentication to ensure complete consumer protection.

This technique makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible to duplicate the transponder (tag), or the secret encryption key. And, even if the key were duplicated, it would only be valid for one tank of gas, making it a very expensive tank of gasoline for a would-be criminal. "

My take is that it's more secure than the credit cards in my pocket. So what's the problem then?

You don't have to sign for a credit card

[gosand]

People who shriek about "privacy" regarding these types of benign things have either never used them, or are just whoring for karma. There is no privacy issue. They're basically just a credit card you don't have to sign for.

Not to mention the fact that you don't technically have to sign for a credit card either. Do you sign anything when you pay at the pump with your credit card?

(sound of crickets)

Yeah, that's what I thought. Even on purchases, you don't always have to sign. What do you sign when you make an internet transaction? If you go to a store, they technically don't have to make you sign something if it is under a certain dollar amount (can't remember offhand what it is).

Personally, I don't use a Speedpass because I don't always go to Mobil. If I had one, I would probably always go to them, and I refuse to be controlled by their clever, evil marketing ideas. :-)

More and more...

[dentar]

... I keep wanting to go back to using CASH for everything.