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No Contactless Payment System In Next iPhone
RedEaredSlider writes "Citing fears over a lack of an industry standard, Apple has ditched plans to include near field communication technology in its next iPhone, The Independent reports. The technology, which allows users to make payments simply by waving their devices over special readers, is widely believed to be the next major step in both cell phone and payment technologies. Apple's decision to avoid it is a significant blow to its adoption."
Can't have something in the device that would add 1 mm to the thickness!
Extra Extra! Apple may or may not be including something that has been previously rumored in their next iPhone! Won't somebody think of the children??
Apple hasn't figured a away to get fee's from sellers and customers yet.
Has this become the official iPhone gossip site?
Every too often an article like this comes which has no substance. It's not news for nerds, it doesn't matter.
Apple's decision to avoid it is a significant opportunity for Android phones. Apple is learning the wrong lessons from Microsoft.
Whereas I applaud Apple's continued success in the mobile arena, I doubt that its 'refusal' to implement NFC is that major a blow. You see, the tech world has learned to move on with or without Apple.
But do not be surprised is Apple is continuously testing and improving this 'rejected' tech to later 'implement'.
Do you think folks at Samsung, HTC and the rest are that sleepless over Apple's decision? I doubt.
Google doesn't seem to be having problems with the concept and is pushing it (with manufacturers' buy-in) into current Android phones now. Perhaps Apple is having the "not invented here" syndrome??
From the article: "But Apple isn't completely abandoning the idea of mobile payments. Instead, the company plans to implement its own contactless payment technology,"
Oh! So Apple just wants to find another revenue stream from their own proprietary "solution"..... got it! It has nothing to do with "industry standards", it has to do with trying to create and force a "standard".
Right now I'm very resistant to any sort of NFC device - too many "security" decisions seem to be driven by vendors who keep their heads intentionally planted in the sand. These folks seem to think we live in a world where the bad guys would never overpower a remote reader, where gathered data is then only transmitted over secure wireless networks, and where design decisions never trump best security practices.
And no - I don't have any RFID-enabled credit cards.
#DeleteChrome
And by "Citing fears over a lack of an industry standard", they mean that they don't want to follow Google's lead with their NFC enabled phone, so instead they are working secretely with Nokia to come out with a competing standard, screwing over consumers who just want something that works -- much like the DVD-RAM/Blu-Ray debacle where no one could decide on a standard so early adopters had to pick one and hope they picked the industry leader.
All I see is people complaining about this. But isn't this a good thing? Didn't anyone read the first few words in the summary, "Citing fears over a lack of an industry standard"?
One of the biggest things people complain about with Microsoft (and other companies as well, including even Apple sometimes) is that they invent their own "standards" (or implement standards in ways that aren't in fact standard) and ruin the possibility of interoperability with products from other companies. That generates no end of woe. Isn't it the geek's dream to have IT companies adhere to industry standards?
And here a company is actually paying attention to industry standards! But this is Apple. Slashdotters are going to complain. If they did the exact opposite and invented their own thing, Slashdotters would complain as well.
Isn't Android the market leader right now? With Apple pretty much splitting 2nd place with RIM?
It would seem to me that having this roll out in devices belonging to #1 would only strengthen their position.
Or does the RDF extend to markets everywhere? Will businesses avoid implementing it due to the runner up not having it?
I'm genuinely curious. Not trying to troll.
No sig for you!!
Prediction: if there's no accepted standard within a year, Apple will create one. Further prediction: Slashdotters will universally hate it. The remaining 99.999% of the world will love it.
Ah, what an relief for ATM-skimmers: no contact required, ISO standard doesn't yet specify any protection against man-in-the-middle. Even if it would be so, the communication is small in size and one can easily jam the receiver and force the attempt of the same transaction enough numbers of time to have a good base for a cryptographic attack... especially since part of the encrypted information is known (the total of the docket).
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
The contactless payment system was introduced in Japan in 2004 by DoCoMo and Sony.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication#Standards
Just because Apple say there isn't a standard doesn't mean you have to blindly believe them.
About time the iDrones started using the grey matter between their ears and thinking for themselves again.
Its got ISO certification and everything, and the support of most manufacturers in the industry.
I'm not sure what part of it Apple consider to be not a standard....?
oh wait...they want to build their own incompatible system, and they want to profit from it. business as usual for Apple.
complaining about lack of industry standard and then proposing to create your own standard that will only work with your own devices...kind of hypocritical isn't it?
This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
but surely we can, you know, turn it off when not in use. or have it manually activated at time of purchase.
and Apple aren't avoiding it on those grounds, they are avoiding it because they want to do their own incompatible system that they can profit from.
time for you to give the if-its-not-apple-i-dont-like-it reflex a rest sir.
This seemed like a reasonable sig at the time.
The NFC industry suffers from two bigs issues.
1. Huge installed base. There's already lots and lots of installed contactless systems : while many are supposed to follow standards, the standards are unfortunately not good enough to make sure that a NFC phone that would work in London would also work in Amsterdam.
2. Unclear business model. NFC involves too many powerful stakeholders : SIM card manufacturers, mobile phone manufacturers, service providers (banks, transportation operators), mobile telcos ... They all want a vut of the action: making them all agree on a clear business model is very difficult.
I hoped that the combined pressure and will of mighy Google and Apple would finally move things forward. Looks like the complexity of NFC defeated another big corp.
Nobox: Only simple products.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication#Standards [wikipedia.org]
Just because Apple say there isn't a standard doesn't mean you have to blindly believe them.
Then explain to us the "standard" process for something simple like.. securely purchasing a bottle of coke with a NFC device.
Innnnnn.. Canada.
No, Mexico.
1. Bits are sent over the air from one NFC device to a receiver located at ???.
2. ???
3. Drink bottle of coke.
Negotiations are still ongoing, but so far Apple has not been able to convince enough shops to give Apple a 30% cut of their revenue.
The whole point of the contactless payment systems is you wave your phone over something and it's paid for.
I never understood the whole point of contactless payment, in that I'm already burning 30 minutes driving there, an hour walking around, at least ten minutes standing in line, perhaps ten hours of labor at work to pay for it, and thats all OK, but 2 seconds to pull out my wallet, WELLLLLL thats just an insurmountable obstacle, what do you expect me to climb mt Everest here, that's crazy talk, gimme a contactless system or I'll never shop here again?
The other mystery I never understood is I always have a backup plan. My visa card got stolen or declined or whatever (actually happened to me once in the 90s) thats no problemo I got a mastercard right here, and an american express too. And cash. And a check card. Furthermore I will not bore you with the details but I "need" to use certain cards at certain places because one gives the most cash back at the gas station, the other gives the most cash back at the convenience store, and the other is a "shared" card for shared family expenses such as food store. So a contactless system for me will have to hold multiple accounts and I'll have to F around with some manner of menu system to select which I want/need to use and hope I get it right each time. Of course it would be a hell of a lot faster and easier to pull out my wallet and whip out the correct card.
Finally I don't understand this whole "I don't want to carry a wallet only my cellphone" thing. First of all until they put drivers licenses on contactless it would be illegal for me to be outside of my house without my wallet for all practical concerns, because how would I get there other than driving without a license? Next, assuming you're somehow legally outside without ID, in some states (although not mine) if you're the wrong skin color and you have no ID, the cops will put you thru absolute hell up to and including attempts at deportation ... or you could just carry your wallet. I could go to the bar without my wallet, thats fantastic, err uh, well actually I don't care, but I can't anyway because they'll want to card me, so I guess I'm bringing my wallet.
It does seem like a very expensive solution in search of a problem.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
I can simply hold up my wallet with my credit card in it to pay for things.
I detect the presence of singular. How does it work when you've got 3 contactless CC (the "main" the "backup" and the "shared family") and a bank issued debit/credit and a RFID drivers license and a RFID library card and one RF "door key" card for work and another RF "door key" card for the daycare front door? My wife has a couple merchant cards (Target card, etc). Then there's the RFID passport which I normally do not carry and a possibly contactless debit card linked to the cash account at my brokerage which I usually do not carry.
How does it "know" to bill my CC that has 1% interest instead of overdrawing my checking account? My guess is, if a protocol is ever set up to handle this, it'll be to maximize bank fees and interest charges, not minimize.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger