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Cell phones as Credit Cards
ante_up writes "We should have known this was coming. Business Week reported that Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. (DCM ) is vamping up their cell phone technology. First they added a debit card facility and now are expanding to full credit card capability. What else can you add to a cell phone?"
How about using cell phones as entry tickets to a Cricket match. From TFA:
The first match of the India-Australia cricket Test series in Bangalore next month will have hi-tech ticketing with the launch of 'Mobile-Ticketing,' a new service that enables cricket fans across the world to book the tickets online. But thats half the fun, since the tickets would be delivered directly to their mobile phones. the service is managed by Spice . The service delives the ticket as a special barcode which can then be scanned by a barcode reader. Sounds simple. Wired reported a similar story a while back.
More details here.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Oh my god, this already exists in Spain: Mobipay, Paybox. Little success, by the way.
I've been waiting for *years* for a cell phone manufacturer to do the OBVIOUS and add a remote control function to a cell phone. Surely this happened 5 years ago, and I've just been missing them ever since, right? The keypad is aleady there! How much can an IR LED add to the cost of the cellphone?
I've always got my cellphone with me, but I'm always trying to figure out where I left the remote. Plus, I'd never need to buy obscure AAA batteries for the darn remote again, 'cause the cell phone's battery is rechargeable!
Whoever designed level 61 in Frozen Bubble is a sadistic bastard.
Its not new; I did this same thing for a company 2 years ago, I still have the proof-of-concept code. The progarm could handle Debit, Credit, Gasoline, EBS, and Gift Cards. The solution was a combination of WAP, PERL, and Web Services. The message transaction protocol is ISO-8583 for the VISA folks. The boss liked the idea of a merchant that could still process sales transactions when the lights went out. My boss's main concern was transitting card data in the clear. Now its got me thinking, WAP and openSSL? An interesting idea...
"... What else can you add to a cell phone?"
How about the ability to complete a phone call?
About a year ago, I upgraded my ancient Startac to the latest model offered by Verizon. I quickly discovered two locations in my town where the new phone failed to place a call, yet the Startac manages to do so. I visit these two places often, so I returned the new phone. I am using the Startac again.
I asked several Verizon reps which of their phones offers the best RF performance. Each rep stated that all of the new phones are the same.
I cannot accept that a shitty camera and an irritating ringtone are more important features than a good radio.