“When Apple introduced Passbook in iOS 6 they billed it as a way to store all your tickets, coupons, boarding passes, loyalty programs, and other cards all in one place,” Rene Ritchie reports for iMore. “It’s hard to imagine they expected that place to one day be Microsoft Wallet, but thanks to Windows Phone 8.1 that appears to be exactly what’s happening.”
“Apple code-signs their Passbook cards, and it’s not yet clear if Microsoft is simply accepting Apple certificates or accepting any pass regardless of whether it’s signed or not,” Ritchie reports. “Apple also provides a push-notification-based service to update cards, like gate numbers on boarding passes or balance info on Starbucks cards. Windows Phone probably can’t hook into that system so, if updates are possible, there’d have to be some Microsoft-specific support from the supplier, or laborious polling process in place.”
Ritchie reports, “If there’s no official agreement going on here, it’s possible Apple would put a stop to Passbook support when they find out about it and if they can, technically or legally.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple’s Passbook already a powerful mobile commerce platform – October 19, 2013
Apple’s Passbook already 4th-most popular mobile commerce app in U.S. – September 30, 2013
Why Apple’s Passbook is growing on retailers – June 25, 2013
Dunkin’ Donuts mobile app adds support for Apple Passbook – February 28, 2013
MLB triples number of stadiums that accept mobile tickets via Apple’s Passbook – February 27, 2013
Apple’s Passbook an amazing success for developers – December 20, 2012
Major League Baseball brass shocked as 12% chose Apple’s Passbook over traditional tickets – October 10, 2012
How to add your Starbucks card to Apple’s Passbook app – October 4, 2012
How to get started with iOS 6′s most underrated new app: Passbook – September 26, 2012
This could end up being a good thing. There are still a lot of retailers holding out on Passbook as well as a lot of systems not supporting Passbook due to it being Apple only. If Apple opens it up but continues to control the standard, it may work out very nicely for them. The same for FaceTime.
I doubt MS is pulling Real Networks trick. MS and Apple probably have an agreement in place.
That would be even better… especially if they could do an agreement with Skype/FaceTime.
While Apple fans hate to recognize it, MSFT and Apple actually do work well together and have since 1983. Nothing to see here. If we start to break down code and scripts along with OS structure will end up with quite a list of collaborations.
Now that that idiot Ballmer is out of the way and Gates is marginalised as well, I expect further cooperation between Microsoft and Apple. Their fortunes have always been intertwined, but sloth and envy badly hurt the Redmond colossus in years past. Now, with Nadella at the helm, the nonsense can be set aside. Apple can team with them and other allies to attempt what really matters — stopping the monster that is Google.
Curious that SJ mentored young sergi and allowed Eric T. Mole such access and not understand what was being developed within Google. Is the whole “do no evil” mantra simply a marketing coverup, or is evil in the eye of the beholder?