“Apple on Tuesday won a patent describing a complex shopping app that could make its way to the iPhone or iPad in the near future as part of PassBook or a similar eWallet solution,” AppleInsider reports.
“The title of Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 8,239,276 for an ‘On-the-go Shopping List’ may appear banal, but the property’s summary describes technology much more intriguing: an NFC-capable barcode-reading shopping assistant,” AppleInsider reports. “While there are existing readers on the iOS App Store that allow users to scan a variety of codes using an iDevice’s camera, including UPC and QR codes, none offer the capability of directly linking scans to purchases or stored credit card information. Apple’s ‘276 patent describes such a solution.”
AppleInsider reports, “While not a specified as an eWallet solution, the patent could make its way into Apple’s PassBook app which will make its debut in iOS 6 later this fall. As of now, PassBook is limited to storing and organizing electronic tickets, store membership cards, and airplane boarding passes, and does not link to a user’s credit card information.”
Much more, including Apple’s patent application illustrations and diagrams, in the full article here.
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Any radio signal will be intercepted and highly non-secure.
You really don’t know how NFC works, do you?
Here comes the CopyCats following da leader again!!
Sue them my Apple 🙂
2015 = AAPL = $1055
Apple should proactively add this to the current Samsung lawsuit, just to save some time …
Do any of those patents ever hold up in court? So far, protecting Apple patents seems to be a waste of time and money. I’m sure within a year, any Android smartphone will have the pretty much the same capability of doing what the iPhone is doing. Besides, don’t feature-phones in Japan already do this sort of thing since they’ve been doing NFC purchasing for years?
There is a difference between doing “this sort of thing” and doing “this thing”. That’s where the patent comes in.
This sounds much more like you are shopping, pick up the item, scan it with your iPhone, drop it in your basket, and waive your iPhone past the NFC payment center (or scan a generated bar code on the screen) on your way out. It’s self-checkout gone mobile.
Sounds good to me … Except for fruits, vegetables, bulk, and every other loose item that is sold by weight. Those will still need to be weighed at a staffed or self-checkout terminal.