Dec 14 2005
Ingenico demonstrates payment by iPod
Ingenico’s research teams have developed the world’s first-ever terminal accepting a payment on an iPod. This wacky set-up uses i5100 technology and was demonstrated at the Cartes 2005 exhibition held November 15-17, 2005. While this demonstration may not be a sign of what the future holds, it evidently drew a crowd.
The demonstration hinged as much on the iPod as on Griffin’s iTrip FM transmitter which communicates with Ingenico’s i5100 terminal integrated with Atlantic Radio System’s FM data extraction module and enables users to pay for goods using their MP3 player.
At the Cartes exhibition, Ingenico demonstrated how, in a hypothetical future, travellers could book plane tickets and receive them via MP3 format by e-mail. He or she would then just need to store the MP3 receipt on an iPod before going to the airport. When preparing to board, the traveller would simply play the MP3 ticket on the iPod to send all ticket information securely and in real time to the boarding gate. Ticket information might include passport, itinerary and price data as well as pre-encoded biometric features for passenger verification at the gate. The same intuitive, user friendly payment system can also be used for gift vouchers, tickets and virtually all other forms of prepaid transaction.
Is it safe? Is it secure? Is it likely to ever be seen outside of a demonstration? I have my doubts. The most nagging question for me is, “Why did it take a month for us to hear about this?”
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