On call, 24/7
The use of mobile telephones at retail checkout counters will be one of the five innovations with the potential to change the way people live over the next half-decade, according to Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM.
On its new list, Big Blue also included the ability to monitor and control appliances from cell phones or Web browsers, systems to help drivers avoid traffic and accidents, information on the origin of food products, and improved medical records to help doctors treat patients.
IBM envisions consumers using a camera phone to snap a picture of someone wearing an outfit, execute a search for the product, create an image of the consumer wearing the outfit and solicit advice from friends and family.
If that sounds a little farfetched for 2012, so did the cell-phone technology IBM included on its debut “five in five” list a year ago – “mind reading” cell phones it has been developing that would use existing tracking technologies to know when to automatically divert to voice mail when an individual enters a meeting.
IBM’s latest prediction, however, is amply reinforced by actual consumer trials under way. A year ago, Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard International Inc. began trialing a “tap and go” payment system in New York City using so-called “near field communication” technology that allows devices to communicate over short distances. A similar trial is under way in London for Nokia’s new O2 Wallet device for O2 UK Ltd., which in addition to purchases allows commuters to pay for entry into the city’s Tube subway system.
NXP Semiconductors, a Philips spinout in the Netherlands, reached a deal to acquire California-based GloNav Inc., whose GPS systems might help SPX more fully integrate payment and location technologies.
Apple Inc. recently filed a patent application that would allow one to place an order via a mobile phone at a retail location such as a coffee shop, then receive an alert when the order is ready.
Add Comment
0 Comments