Why Rumors of Apple Adding RFID to the Next iPhone Is a Big Deal
3:28 pm, November 10th, 2009, Leander Kahney
The Touch project built a prototype RFID-equipped iPhone that used proximity to physical objects to trigger media playback: http://www.nearfield.org/2009/04/iphone-rfid-nfc
If rumors that Apple is adding an RFID reader to the iPhone are true, it’s huge!
An RFID reader would turn the iPhone into an e-wallet — allowing you to pay for everything, from a cup of coffee to a subway ride. It could also turn the iPhone into an ID card, a security access system and an electronic ticketing device.
It’s could also function as an easy and secure online shopping system that doesn’t require you to enter your credit card number.
Your iPhone could unlock your car, pick up e-coupons at the local mall, and pay for all your supermarket groceries just by laying it on top of the checkout.
Imagine if such a system was enabled on your iPhone. It would supplant your wallet — if enough retailers adopted the system, of course.
In Japan, such electronic payment systems are growing in popularity; the vast majority of Japanese cell phones have e-wallet capabilities. Sony, one of the leading companies behind e-wallets, is building its FeliCa system into all sorts of products, from the latest LCD TVs, to Vaio computers and the PlayStation.
Called ‘Osaifu‘ (wallet), the system has myriad uses, from an electronic keycard to a ticketing for Japan Airlines. MacDonalds in Tokyo uses it as a payment and loyalty program.
“You launch the McDonalds app, search for a coupon and input your order, and place your phone on a device that will take order and then to another device to make the payment,” said Japanaese journalist Nobiyuki Hayashi, who uses the system regularly.
The McDonalds sytem is used by about half-a-million users, Hayashi says. Hayashi also uses his Osaifu mobile to pay for groceries at a store that has no cashiers whatsoever. After scanning his groceries, he places his phone on a special RFID reading pad, and his purchases are paid for.
Apple has filed several patents related to RFID, including using RFID to find and connect to WiFi networks, and a touchscreen RFID tag reader.
“Apple has built some prototypes of the next gen iPhone with an RFID reader built [in],” said the leader of the Near Field Communications Group on LinkedIn.
Apple, of course, would have to persuade a critcal mass of partners to support the system. At present, e-wallet systems have a chicken/egg problem, even though companies like Nokia have been pushing such systems for years.
Of course, Apple could use e-payments in its own stores, and probably wouldn’t have any trouble persuading companies like Disney and maybe Starbucks (which has partnered with Apple int he past) to join the program.
Apple could easily create a payment system linked to iTunes.
In Japan, the e-wallet has become indispensable.
“I use cash everyday,” says Hayashi, “but I can live without it in Tokyo.”
Posted by Leander Kahney in Apple, Rumors, iPhone | Comment on this article
The concept is all nice but what about when you lose your phone?
iNailuY, on November 10th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I wish everyhting’d go digital already.
Ther are a myriad of ways to defeat fraud [loss, theft, unauthorizatio, etc.]
I don’t care if Big Brother knows I bought a peach at 3 in the morning.
CaryMG, on November 10th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
ANd what occurs when you lose your phone ?
Reader, on November 10th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
@Reader and @iNailuY Many of these e-wallet systems have a remote kill switch. Send a command by HTML or email and your accounts are temporarily suspended.
Leander Kahney, on November 10th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Hmm. Isn’t the READER the thing you’d wave your phone in front of, rather than what’s inside the phone?
If they put the reader into the phone, then you’d be waving something in front of the phone instead of the other way around, right?
Or am I being pedantic? Terminology makes this confusing.
Gene, on November 10th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Software developers have already proved they cannot be trusted to not harvest info from the iPhone through third party apps, now you may have all your details and info available in one place so it could be hack and harvested.
Then there is the big question, do you really want your entire life stored on device, owned by one company, maintained by one company with software written by one company? So you may already have all your info on your PC, but you also carry a wallet/purse with cards from different banks, a drivers license from a government office, a club membership card, a local public transport travel card. These are separate pieces of info, if you lose your travel card, you don’t lose the ability to use you drivers license or get money from your bank.
Your phone get nicked, smashed or otherwise put out of action you have to get it replaced pronto AND get all the info back available to it…which leads me to the other point. The info will not be safe on the phone, it will need to be stored “off-site” away from the phone so it can be quickly retrieved in the event of an accident, whose going to be put in charge or looking after say 5MB of your most sensitive and personal data, stuff that defines you as an individual? Too many company’s have security so poor they make 14 year old IT students look like experts, you really want to trust some of them with what is essentially your life to date?
Alright my points a bit alarmist, not very well thought through, but questions need to be asked. Too much blind faith being simply put in tech without questions being asked.
Fuzzypig, on November 10th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I agree with the earlier comment about “Reader”. I don’t want to belabor the point, and maybe you are correct, but could you please explain how an iPhone that is a a reader is going to be read by the other reader, unless it also simulated an rfid chip itself. If that is the case, then it seems an important thing to explain in your article.
Michael Burns, on November 10th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
@Michael Burns:
It does both, acts as an RFID tag and RFID reader and can in fact establish two-way communications with other NFC devices (acting something like bluetooth, but with much lower power requirements).
Michael, on November 10th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Apple needs something to differentiate the iPhone. At first, it was the best smartphone, way ahead of everyone. Now it has a merely average feature set.
I hope that Apple invents capabilities for the cellular phone that nobody outside Apple has yet conceived. If the iPhone 4 is not a major release, with as-yet unheard of features, it will be overrun by the current and upcoming surge of Android phones. OTOH, if it can yet again raise the bar, the entire industry will benefit.
iGenius, on November 11th, 2009 at 10:23 am
To behonest I very much doubt the greatness of RFID. while RFID is great to track medical supplies or the freshness of food in the supermarket using it for critical systems like money flow or health services is highly problematic for RFID is known to be rather insecure ( http://wp.me/p7TqF-83 )
While I’m very much like the ease of “the digital”, I really dislike this very “news”.
@iGenius: Why would you want for Apple to invent something completely knew? 1.) the iPhone will *not* get overrun if they don’t as the recent news about the droid shows. 2.) shouldn’t they better concentrate on creating a perfect smartphone and not on creating something that is “ums verrecken anders”?
martin, on November 14th, 2009 at 9:18 am
sorry
*new
ums verrecken anders ~DAAC different at all costs
martin, on November 14th, 2009 at 9:20 am