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How To Make Your Own iPhone RFID Reader
andylim writes "It's been rumoured for some time now that Apple will include RFID technology in a future iPhone. An RFID-packing iPhone could interact with various objects including opening doors and it could even be used in shops to register items at the checkout. Beating Apple to the RFID punch, last year a company called Wireless Dynamics announced an iPhone RFID accessory called the iCarte, but if you'd rather make your own reader then you'll be interested to know how a research assistant at University College London has managed to build his own RFID iPhone accessory."
The iCarte reeks of vaporware. Show me a video of it in action, show me a datasheet not riddled with buzzwords. Hell, show a tentative price or release date. How would you program it? How would you take the pay and go info off of a debit/credit card? Also, if it is so easy to take that info off of a card, how worried should consumers be about their security?
Nokia has had a few RFID phones since 2006. This is not a new invention.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
You're telling me that a small general purpose computer(albeit a deliberately locked down one) with a serial port can be connected to a variety of serial peripherals, including RFID readers? Somebody fetch the smelling salts, I feel faint.
Sarcasm aside, of course, this seems like one of those situations where the hardware is utterly uninteresting; but the applications, once the boring hardware is broadly available could well be quite interesting, and possibly in unexpected ways(though, with RFID, not necessarily the good kind of unexpected).
What sort of RFID are they trying to implement ?
If they want the iPhone to open doors and such, then simply stick an RFID chip somewhere in or on the iPhone and be done with it.
I mean, the chips are so small, the end user can do this with very little fuss. Heck if you can stick an RFID tag in your dog, cat, wallet, keyring, credit card, and even yourself, well then this is really a non newsworthy item.
If they want to read RFID tags, then that's a different matter all together.
There are many RFID standards, as well as different freqs. On top of all this, there are going to be range issues,
(I.E. you wont be able to have a huge antenna inside an iPhone) so thats going to limit your range to around 5cm for reading tags).
And then what is the average iPhone user going to use this for ?
I can think of quite a few applications for this, but I dont see businesses shelling out for iPhones to read RFID tags, when there are purpose built reaers on the market that sell for a fraction of the cost of an iPhone
An RFID reader on an iPhone, and RFID credit cards being hacked since 2008, wonder if someone will make a jailbroken only app for getting the information? Not like people think twice when they see someone playing with a iPhone in public. (while the video shows that the card pretty much needs to touch the card, the tech is getting better last I heard so the distance is getting further away and still getting the information. Plus set the program up, put your phone in your pocket and ride the bus/trains during rush hour, that would get some even with those short distances since your pretty much side by side.)
Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,