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Admission Tickets as Text Messages
lee1 writes to tell us that InfoWorld is reporting that Smartmachine and their partner Skidata have developed a new way to allow customers to purchase and receive tickets to events. The new ticketing system allows users to "have a ticket sent to their mobile phone via SMS (Short Message Service) in the form of a 2D (two-dimensional) bar code. At the gate, they slide their mobile phone display showing the bar code by a bar code reader." The new technology also claims to help combat the counterfeit, pilferage, and repeat use that can be such a problem for paper tickets.
themselves! And to add value to the consumer, they will (automatically) sign you up for text messages about upcoming events that may be (but probably aren't) of interest to you! Sorry for the cynicism, but I haven't found ticketing agencies to be all that honest (e.g. Fandango signed me up for a subscription to a 3rd party children's website because I clicked on an ad for a few bucks off my purchase. I read the ad and closed it; it wasn't anything I was interested in because I didn't have kids. Unbeknownst to me, Fandango had sent my credit card information to this site and signed me up!)
I sure hope they have taken into account for SMS delay, SMS MIA, deleted SMS, lost mobile phone, hacked/guessed barcode and whatnot. In short, is there a Plan B when someone lost this eTicket, or a cracker guessed/keygened a barcode and used it before the real owner did?
Paperless ticketing, while important, will only cause monetary loss, imagine if a country is crazy enough to adapt paperless voting where voters don't get a "vote receipt" in case something or someone messed up the results.
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
I've seen the same system in use for public transport tickets in Helsinki. People send an sms to some number, and the fare is deducted from their phone bill. As a proof of purchase the get a text message, which can be shown to the conductor on ticket controls..
How will I save my ticket stub for my collection? Ticket stubs are badges of honor among certain fans.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
So you buy the ticket on your cell phone, have to bring the phone to the theater with you, and then the first thing they tell you when you sit down is "Please turn off your cell phone"?
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
The Koreans have been doing this for years. To promote it they gave you a discount if you used the cell phone technique.
It makes a lot of sense. It's convenient to order the tickets, also via cell phone, and then you don't have to wait in line. And everyone there has a cell phone.
Funfact: In South Korea when you buy a movie ticket, you can buy a particular seat, like at a sports game.
This is the first interesting thing I've seen a mobile phone do in a long time!
Most linux users don't know this, but the man pages were named after Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris fsck'ing hates noobs!
Now people will have a REASON for bringing their cell phones to a movie...*Grumble*
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
I bet this reader will be in the box office, which means its no better than me calling/webbing in my reservations and picking up my tickets. Plus that method doesn't require I have an accursed mobile phone.
Hey man- there's some bad RAM going around out there. Be careful.
Given that almost every mobile phone company has either in their TOS, or in disclaimers, that they cannot guarantee the arrival of text messages, I don't see how this could work reliably. Arguments could constantly be made that "the message never came", etc.
Also, there are still a lot of people without cell phones, or with older ones that won't display high-res enough graphics for the bar codes to be scanned.
Bad idea jeans, IMHO.
http://www.babysmasher.com
http://www.openingbands.com
What happens if you accidentally delete the message (some phones delete messages if you remove the battery or whatever)? Can they resend it to you, or are you SOL?
P.S. You can order seats here in Greece too, in large multiplexes.
Send email from the afterlife! Write your e-will at Dead Man's Switch.
Eh, they better have a plan B. I see this as a real source of potential problems. Who takes responsibility for errors? Trouble with the delivery of the message, trouble with the phone, and how are they sure that this system cant be duped either. For where there is a will there is a way.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
Dang... we've been using that in israel for movies for years. Just a number in text message, though, no barcode. They type it in and check that the credit card you have with you matches the card that that ticket number is registered under and you're in.
Right, cause no one can figure out how to get a phone to draw a bar code except this company...
They can counterfeit a barcode on a ticket to get into Madison Square Garden. They can most certainly figure out how to draw the image on a phone's screen.
Developers: We can use your help.
Now we can further separate the technocracy from the unwashed masses who don't have cell phones or know how to use them. Holding the population in thrall is becoming easier every day...
Let's see now, allowing the FBI to go to the library to see what books you've been reading is BAD, but a system that allows practically anybody to track what movies, concerts, sporting events, etc. you go to is GOOD?!? (And I have no doubt that this data will be available to anyone willing to pay for it, as much of your cell phone records already are!)
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
"The new technology also claims to help combat the counterfeit, pilferage, and repeat use that can be such a problem for paper tickets."
Print the barcode on the ticket and then tickets are just as secure as this scheme. If a virtual ticket on a mobile phone is good enough, so is a thermal prinout from the even more common thermal printers that are almost everywhere these days.
Shouldn't the title be "Text Messages as Admission Tickets"?
as long as i dont have to pay the ticketmaster gouging fee!!
-DB
A plan B is definitely required. Imagine being denied admittance due to the cell phone battery being dead.
...the problems of legitimate paying customers whose credit cards will be charged but who will be unable to gain admission because their cell phone is unexpectedly incompatible, has a display that for whatever reason isn't readable, battery goes dead while waiting in line, whatever...
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
You are aware of the security loop hole for WMF, in which case the 3rd party tool was the one to beat you. Regarding this, do you think that open source will solve this problem or create more problem/s? I guess you are also aware that if you can't solve the problem you created, than people from far East has a traditional custom of throwing rotten eggs and tomatos.
camera on your phone to take a picture of the screen, .....ohh wait
maybe they could enable some sort of screen cap for phones os
...by an NSA agent.
In Tallinn Estonia we have quite similar system working already for some time now. No cellphones used though but the ticket admission over internet is possible. After paying, you will be presented with ticket on your web browser, which you just have to print out and take it to the movie theater, where the barcode reader is used to validate the ticket. There is a big warning though, that the first person with given barcode will get to the theater and all other attempts to enter will fail, so keep your ticket secret. Anyway, it works quite nicely (at least I have managed to get to see all the movies where I've bought the ticket over the internet :) ) The main benefit is no waiting in the lines. Actually they should sell the web tickets bit cheaper as there is no paper expenses for the theater, but they just make bigger profit by keeping the prices the same.
How does this combat counterfieting, pilfering and repeat usage? Are they saying a txt message is harder to generate than a realistic looking ticket?? Or a cell phone is harder to steal? Or that they're going to rip your cell phone in half once you pass through the gate? I can see some convenience advantages but I really don't understand that statement.
The one advantage to a paper ticket is that you don't have to buy anything extra and you can save the stub for your collection.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
We have the problem of forged tickets and stuff to be sure but I think the bigger deal is saving labor.
You show your screen to a scanner and you can cut the number of ticket takers to half. All they have to do is make sure you showed your screen to the scanner.
The next step would be that your ticket becomes a bluetooth transmission. Combined with automated turnstiles, we can cut those pesky ticket takers right out of the equation.
Having said the above, there are places where forgery is indeed rampant; ski hills for instance. There you have the same number of people checking your lift ticket and they have scanners. So, sometimes, forgery is a problem but I bet that most of the deal is to eliminate jobs, most of the time.
Good thing I'm a geek with no interest in sports, no social life and good downstream. Otherwise this might actually affect me!
Just have users confirm they got it by replying. If they do not, the ticket is voided after a period of time and they are not charged.
So what if you're a Luddite who use his cell phone only as a phone? Heck, I'm still waiting for the paperless office.
http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/0 1/18/1548205
Do you get to this magical land through a wardrobe closet somewhere in England?
It's my understanding that the legislation did mandate positioning but didn't say you had to do it at the phone end, just that you had to do it. Some provider (probably more than one) has a system that just based on triangulation can find you within a couple meters. Thus, they don't NEED to put anything in your cellphone to find you.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else like they might be doing this just to combat scalping of tickets?
I wonder how long it'll be before they simply have your RFID tag (or the RFID tag of your consumer loyalty card, or whatever) and you'll just be able to walk through the fast entry lane (either having prepurchased, or automatically getting a seat assignment upon entry).
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
They used the same for Red Bull railstorm - a snowboarding event in London - I won the ticket, then couldn't make it - so I gave it to a friend - it's designed to not be possible to transfer, but given 5 minutes, a bit of ingenuity, and some sticky backed plastic the ticket was happily on his phone, and he got in without issue. M
Let's program our cell-phone to display random barcodes at a fast rate. Put it in front of the barcode reader and wait for a few seconds. If we show enough barcode options, and I assume the barcode reader works fast, we might be able to fall on a valid one.
How many digits are there in a barcode?
This should take a sizeable chunk out of the ticket scalping business.
You can probably forward the barcode image to another phone, but the company knows the original purchaser's number, which would be bound to a physical address if I'm not mistaken. All you'd need is someone to blow the whistle...
Are you sure they send SMS? Short Message Service is used to send just plain text, while MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) is used to send images as well as music and other nice stuff. I'm not sure you can compose a bar code with an SMS message!
You insensitive clod!
the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur - A.N. White
Surely ticketmaster will add a charge for this "convience" feature. Nevermind it saves them costs or anything. And for the naysayers questioning the security, compatibility of phones, quickness of messages coming through, privacy, etc: I read this to be OPTIONAL, in addition the normal methods of buying tickets. You can still walk up to the box office, pay in cash, and get your tickets. If you don't have a compatible phone, you're SOL, order it online or via the mail. You don't HAVE to use this service. Obviously those with compatible phones will be able to use it. My old phone couldn't download ringtones - I didn't bitch because they were offered but I couldn't partake. I ultimately got a new phone. You probably aren't going to go to the box office, pay, then get a text message with your ticket. I could see it for on the way to the venue, or maybe even while waiting in line. But I'd be sure to prepare for it early enough just to be safe. Just my $.02.
Youve got to admit there is good value on skipping a line and buying a ticket on the comfort of your place. Here in Brazil the situation is even worse: I simply cannot see a good movie without buying a ticket a day or two beforehand. So I've got tired of watching movies on SUNDAY MORNINGS... Ticketmaster gave me freedom of choice! Then again, 8 bucks is really expensive... I actually pay R$3,00 for this service, aproximatelly one dollar.
FTA:
The tickets would be delivered directly to their mobile phones. At the venue, they only need to place their phones on the sensor installed at the gates for entering the stadium. Spice Telecom and Karnataka State Cricket Association, after their "successful" and ongoing joint venture of Future Strokes, have again come together to launch the Mobile Ticketing in association with ConvergeLabs, a Spice Telecom release said.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
I've had ringtones that I purchased and didn't come through and that's only $3 (but I was still rightfully irritated I still got charged). Won't it be great when you buy your 80 dollar ticket to see the band of the week and it gets lost in technoland?
Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
Once the ticket is data (ie an SMS message) why can't it just be forwarded to all your friends?
Too bad there's someone working for Ticket Master here with Mod points!
is reserved.. as not many are comfortable giving their cell numbers..
Because the ticket is no longer valid once you scan it in?
They didn't invent this.
http://www.zippline.com/
Just make sure your mobile number isn't on someone's no-buy list. Otherwise you may have to "borrow" your "friend's" phone to get into the event.
Proof by very large bribes. QED.
Why isn't that I can't come up with something like this?
[%] Cingular Ringtones
There is a company called Mobile-sense http://www.mobile-sense.com/ which is doing a very similar thing and the coolest thing is it has a mobile wallet with which you can pay for other services and transfer money.
Have been using it for few months and it is catching-up.
Can't quite remember which one, but probably the Koneisto electronic music festival back in 2002 or so (waaay ahead of you, in other words). The barcode was an image in an SMS. As an alternative you could print the ticket from a website at home, as I recall.
Step 1 : You sign up for the service
Step 2 : You call a toll ladden phone # and order your MMS ticket Step 3 : You receive your MMS ticket for exactly the same price as if you would have bothered an official ticket sellerIf you are missing an option to order your ticket via a web site free of charge you are probably not alone.
Those blitzes of brilliance with which marketing bozos can come up with truely mystify me at times.
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
Couldn't someone that receives the SMS just forward
it on to someone else?? Then BOTH of them have the
same bar-code on their phones. First one to the
ticket gate gets in!
So what's stopping someone from forwarding the message to another phone. I'm sure everyone's heard of the scam at concerts, ballgames etc. where with e-tickets you'd just print another copy and have both people go in at the same time. Sure a pain to coordinate, but if it works, it works.
How exactly does one render a 2D barcode in a text message? Surely the article heading was meant to be "Admission Tickets as MMS" or "Admission Tickets as SMS".
They do a similar thing here in the UK with Buy one Get one Free tickets (Orange Wednesdays!) at the cinema. Every person gets a unique code (when requested) which is typed in the by the operator and obviously checked at a server somewhere.
I think it would be relatively hard to crack, for a start each bar-code is likely to be unique, and you will only get one chance (maybe two or three) at inputting it before anyone gets suspicious. It's quick and convenient for quite a lot of people and reduces touting (only slightly) and fake tickets.
The only draw back I can see is that there are many phones of all shapes and sizes/resolutions which will mean the bar-code is going to be a bit different each time. Perhaps its only marginal, but I can see the readers making mistakes with some phones. Personally I would suggest using unique numbers instead of bar-codes - I guess it's not as quick.
One more thing, I don't understand why there is such a big fuss about privacy/tracking issues. Ticketing agencies are separate from mobile companies, just like ticketing agencies are separate from local postal services. So there shouldn't be any massive difference in the collection of data over the current systems. Postal services probably have worse mailing success rates also.
What they really need is a second barcode I can scan for a full refund if I walk out in the first half-hour because the movie is complete crap. Or the sound system is hosed. Or the theatre is populated by talking idiots. Or any of the other myriad reasons people don't like wagering $20 trying to get a little entertainment at a movie these days.
Now the scalpers will just have a bag of prepaid phones that you buy with the text message on it. So the cost of buying scalped tickets will go up.
Pilferage? Great now instead of losing a ticket, I lose my cellphone which has my contacts, calendars, and messages in it.
Well I guess they won't be able to turn me away for having a cameraphone anymore!
A: Obviously mms since its a picture.
l e-ticket/mobile-ticket-testbillett.htm
l e-ticket.htm
s
B: It looks a bit like the white ants on a (analog) tv screen, when its not tuned to a channel. Its a bitfield with crypto/checksum.
The system is in use at the swiss federal railyway.
you will find a sample image here on this page:
http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/billette/mobi
you can also buy your ticket online and print it. This looks then a little more elaborate:
https://www.sbb.ch/mct/wi/shop/testticket_en.pdf
Some background info:
http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/billette/mobi
I find this quite a well thought-thru system. Personally I don't use it as I have a railpass, but even that one can be printed online.
Wikipedia also has some reference to these "QR-Codes" and abuses them for real-world hyperlinks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_internet_of_thing
You are TOO skeptical. It works, here in Europe, and has been tested. Here, howerer, is pretty much GSM/Nokia monopol. But Siemens, SonyEriccson,etc shows Noika compatible graphics messages too. So it's preetty reliable. Anyway when you subscribe for ticket, You register in their database with your phone number automatically. And even if sms gets lost, which is highly unliekely, (I havent lost any sms for years) you still can ask them to doublecheck their database.
There's usually a big crowd of people around these venues a few hours before the show starts... Many of whom are happily chatting away on their cell phones. You know they probably haven't run their phone through the system yet. I bet now you'll see people sprinting by yanking phones out of people's hands while they're talking... and then disapearing off into the crowd. Sort of like the purse snatchers you always see in movies.
....
... click.
This actually started becoming a problem in the UK. My girlfriend and I were talking while she was headed towards the underground... and suddenly I hear
"Heeeeyy!!!"
Of course I laughed my ass off when I learned what had happened... But frankly, I'm surprised this type of theft isn't already on the rise.
Now put an IMMEDIATE $$ value on that phone, since the SMS messages are stored on the phone itself... and these become pretty tempting targets. Even reporting it stolen to the phone company won't save you as SMS messages, once recieved, are stored on the phone itself. You could still get the bar-code to show up and get into the theater.
Hrrrrm.... now that I think about it.... *polts plan to start a SIM card scalping ring...*
what if my mobile goes dead, because the battery is empty? (happens to me all the time, i just forget to charge the damn thing)
You can already use this in Australia as well... I mean, yeash... my company was going to use this as a ticketing system for music venues over a year ago... I don't know whether it was the lot you linked to... but this article claiming these guys came up with it is just crud.
This was invented (and patented) in NZ about 5 years ago. I knew one of the people working on it. He told me you have to use a CCD camera to scan the barcode, rather than a basic barcode scanner, to avoid problems with reflections off of the phone.
The article is light on details, I wonder if the system is different or if there is some collaboration going on.
I hate every story about the newest way to do X with technology, so if I seem bitter... now you know why.
First off, this isn't *just* using SMS, not every phone will be able to do it. You also need GPRS or 3G technology. Then, you have to take into account that SMS messages aren't instantaneous. In fact, I've done a test that took up to half an hour before (to a phone sitting next to me). Also, I've sent messages that never got delivered... I'd hate ordering an $80 ticket, and then not getting it.
Next, you're assuming the phone's display is accurate enough to display the bar code. I don't know 'bout you, but I've got friends with phone that have a bad display. Even new phones I've seen the displays go funky on. (No, I can't describe it, just loss of resolution, etc). Now, what's acceptable to human eyes may *not* work for a bar-code scanner.
As for the security side, how does this prevent fraud? They nevere say. In my mind, I think it'd be easy, as you could forward the message to all your friends, and each take a quarter of the game to watch. Or just hand off phones. What's that? The paper is easier to forge? Nope, all you have to do is take your existing knowledge of how to fake the barcode and then send it to your phone. In my mind this makes it *easier* to get more then one person per ticket, as you never have to be seen handing off the ticket. You can't be caught with proof of a forgery, as if anyone questions you, you could just delete it.
Not to mention the fact that you have to have your bank details logged with a website. Everyone that uses this service will be very vulnerable if that *one* site ever gets hacked. Phishing trip anyone? You could either just SMS random phone numbers, in hopes of getting someone to log into your site, or just target that site. Not hard at all.
Finally, to anyone who's used some web service, and had to pay a service fee, what will it cost? Hell, even ticketmaster has a surcharge on things you order completely online, and is one main reason I've stopped going to concerts. You've gotta factor in the cost of the message (either in your service plan, or extra) as well as the $5-$10 the event coordinator's are gonna charge to use this. All so you don't need a slip of paper?
When will people lerarn that digital does not equal security?! You want security, you hire guards, and take it off the internet. You want convienance, you gotta lose some security.
Want to find other gamers to play board and role playing game
This is what they should do:
When the software sends out the barcode to each customer, it randomly picks one of 40 or 50 (maybe less) different styles of barcodes (filtering the high-resolution ones for the low-res phones-which would have to be requested by user...maybe on the original text message) and storing the style, along with the number, making it much harder to reproduce the correct style AND number.
That could even be done with a small vb.net program... it'd probably take only a half hour to get a working prototype~
Rirelobql xabjf gung EBG-13 vf gur yrnfg frpher rapelcgvba rire, ohg jbhyq lbh jnfgr lbhe gvzr npghnyyl qrpelcgvat vg???
And, it's a two-fold thing for their marketing department. They now have your mobile phone number so they can call you and sell you more (insert product here).
Much has been made of devices to block cell phone transmissions, etc. The problems with these devices are, of course, obvious - it blocks emergency calls, could interfere with the theatres' own equipment, they're expensive, may break some regulations, etc.
Would it be possible - in the future, of course - to create a device that automatically put a cell phone into silent mode upon entering a room? Obviously this wouldn't be a simple matter of creating a device - phones would have to be designed to be compatible with this.
In a theatre, these could be placed next to the doors so that patrons phones were automatically "silenced" as soon as they walk in. Perhaps such a device could work through bluetooth? Most cell phone disturbances in the theatre are, in my experience, not the result of people actually making calls but people who simply forget to turn their phone off (not difficult to do).
Yes, there would be a lot of security issues with a device like this that can change phone settings remotely without the consent of the user, but is something like this possible? Would people go for it?
I've always thought this would be a great way to reduce scalping. When you sell someone a ticket, don't print the actual seat information on the ticket, but instead print a hash of some sort (I thought of this like 20 years ago, so I didn't really think of barcodes). If you want to verify the seat, you can take it to any ticketmaster outlet and scan it, which will tell you what seat it's for, but won't give you any kind of official-looking printout.
So if you want to scalp the ticket, you have to actually bring it to a ticket counter with your buyer so they can verify it's what you're selling it as.
Also, obviously, eliminates counterfeiting, duplicate tickets, etc. (presuming you can't simply accidentally stumble on the right hash for a ticket, in which case you then have to be sure you get there before the real ticket holder).
Naturally, though, this won't work as well today. Hell, I'm not even sure where the nearest ticketmaster is anymore.
(yes, I got sick of camping out all night at the student union only to have the first 5 people buy 10 tickets each, to scalp, such that by the time it got to me, at #6, all the floor seats were taken).
So, what happens when you want to buy two tickets to an event? Do I have to have two transactions and give them the cellphone numbers of everyone?
It kind of ruins the element of surprise as well. "Hey, guess what, I got tickets for that concert you really wanted to go to!" "I know, I got the message already."
Z.
-- Under/Overrated is meta-moderation, and therefore is Redundant.
Ticket stubs will never go away. After I walk out of a movie, the only thing that actually makes me feel like I bought something is the fact that I have my half of the ticket stub. Especially if it wasn't a very good movie and I feel like I just wasted my time and money. What will I do with the electronic one, print it out? Yeah, that's sentimental.
But then again, I haven't gone to see a rip-off $10 movie in years.
-dave
6th Street Radio @ddombrowsky
I think that Near Field Communication (NFC) would be a more secure way of implementing a similar system, and there are phones that can use NFC already. Each NFC tag has a unique ID, which (as far as i'm aware) cannot be changed, so unless someone steals the phone they can't use the ticket.
and you've got the next step in selling movie tickets. Especially when the web is more readily accessibly from standard cell phones.
'mmmmmmmmm.... forbidden donut'
SMS is text-only. You can't send a (graphical) barcode over SMS.
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) permits graphics.
In addition to Smartmachine and Skidata, are the cell phone providers also going to get in on the gravy train?
Too many pigs at the trough.
So.. a two-dimensional barcode, as opposed to those holographic three-dimensional bar codes that we're all used to? I think it may be safe to say that all bar codes are two-dimensional.
Orange in the UK have been running something like this for ages. Text some stuff, and you get a code that lets you have 2 tickets for one. Orange Wednesdays.
Get your own free personal location tracker
I currently work for a ticketing company in Australia,
We recently did a gig where Vodaphone were using this technology, as cool as it is, we all noticed it was also remarkably unreliable.
Out of the 60 people on his list... He had to do 30 manual lookups because 'It couldn't read the codes properly'. Unfortunately I'm not sure if it was the custom phone covers, cracked screens or just simple incompatabilities with the phone screens. So until they can over come all the variables involved in getting atleast a 95% success rate which is very important especially when you have 10,000 people standing in line then I think this concept/technology will be a gymick for a long time.
This isn't the first application of mobile ticketing using 2D SMS barcodes, see eg: http://www.ts.com/en/Our_Company/News/Showmans_Sho w.htm
Bar codes seem like techo-glitz rather than the most practical solution,
plus creates equipment limitations on customers.
Why not just use the credit card used for purchase as the "ticket"? The
confirmation code for the credit card transaction is the e-ticket ID.
Alternatively, use a driver's license or other ID. Just swipe the card,
and possibly check the physical card. Radio linked portable equipment with
card reader, keypad, and receipt printer already exists.
One could buy an e-ticket by phone, SMS, https, etc-- it doesn't matter.
If all electronics fails, a non bar code also works with a faxed paper list and pen to cross off admissions. Someone too cheap to buy the scanners
can use the fax method.
Yes, there is the possibilty of credit card fraud, but no other than normal
usage. Adding a smartcard chip to the credit card would be the best technical
solution to fraud by copying the card numbers.
At the CeBIT Australia conference last year they had the option to have a barcode sent to your mobile phone that was scanned on entry. It worked quite well, I managed to receive the barcode on my Sony Ericsson T610 the problem was the barcode scanner had a hardtime picking it up of the screen and so they needed to enter in the number manually. Apparently they had to do this for just about everyone. A quick search found that CeBIT is not the only place that has been using this technology.
Bangaloreans have been using this technology for sometime now. Spice Telecom subscribers can get tickets to cricket matches sent as SMS. They used the technology from Converge Labs which appears to be identical to the one mentioned in the article.
I can't beleive this is newsworthy. I thought people would have been doing this already.
A company I was working for in 2001 was trialing and developing this exact kind of thing, our primary problem was traditional handset screens were difficult to accurately scan with barcode readers.
If this keeps up I won't be able to go anywhere. I don't have a mobile phone because I enjoy the peace of being out of touch. I don't have a credit card, and still wouldn't use it online if I did. If this trend keeps up I will have to stay home as I won't be able to get tickets to events. What ever happend to real money? And real physical goods when you buy something, instead of spending your money on something with no real existence, such as virtual tickets, or worse, music downloads (my pet hate)? Actually having something in the hand is always best. A paper ticket, an actual music cd, anything. Electronic existence is too fragile and short-lived.
And the swiss federal train company is doing that for a few months as well. If you want to see how the ticket looks like, you also have the product page.
BTW, it's not an SMS, but a MMS (image).
#include "coucou.h"
fyi, the reason you get charged more to print the ticket yourself is that well over 50% of all customer support calls involve problems with the customer trying (and failing) to print their own ticket. the customer has lots of chances to run into trouble, from pdf support to being out of ink, to paper jams. the fee is to offset the higher support cost.