Apple First?: RFID “Swiper” iPhones in the Works

RFID Tag Used at a Store

Radio-Frequency Identification (“RFID”) tags have been common for years in store security. A product is tagged with a code like the one on the right which can trigger an alarm from a store security system that reads the RFID tag. Many have predicted that RFID readers would come to cellphones in 2010 and it looks like the iPhone could be first.

According to a variety of web sources (including the Christian Science Monitor), the next generation of iPhones will have RFID readers.  Einar Rosenberg, who administers the Near Field Communications LinkedIN group, shared this with the group:

“A highly reliable source has informed me that Apple has built some prototypes of the next gen iPhone with an RFID reader built in and they have seen it in action. So its not full NFC but its a start for real service discovery and I’m told that the reaction was very positive that we can expect this in the next gen iPhone.”

RFID readers in cellphones will enable much more than the QR Code that I wrote about earlier this week.  An RFID-equipped phone could, for example, purchase products labeled with the RFID tag (like the tag in this post’s header –but this post isn’t for sale!).  You would simply move the phone near the RFID tag and, perhaps, enter a PIN code on the phone.  Voila, the product would be purchased.  Another example floating around includes movie kiosks.  Simply waving the phone near a tag could allow the purchase of movie tickets.

Below is an example of an RFID application that is somewhat unexpected.

iPhone RFID: object-based media from timo on Vimeo.

Other manufacturers have RFID capable phones in the works but Apple has some patents in this area relating to RFID and touchscreen devices, the exact details of which are unclear. Nonetheless, with this rumored message on LinkedIN and Apple’s history as an innovator, the iPhone could be the first with an RFID reader.

No related posts.