New Apple patent may offer clues to future mobile payment solution

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
A newly-granted patent could point to how Apple will handle mobile payments if and when the company decides to enter the market.

U.S. Patent No. 8,255,323 for "Motion based payment confirmation" may seem innocuous at first glance, but the invention could very well be implemented into an NFC-driven mobile payment solution.

The '323 patent basically describes a graphical user interface for payments made on a mobile device, however the claims and embodiments strongly hint that it could be part of a comprehensive transaction system.

From the patent's abstract:
In one embodiment, an electronic device may include a graphical user interface (GUI) with one or more graphical elements that may be moved by a user to confirm or decline a payment transaction using a selected payment instrument.
The GUI operates on multi-touch gestures and input from a device's various sensors, such as the accelerometer. So-called "movable graphical elements" are used both to signal a user's intent to buy and give confirmation that a transaction has been completed.

For example, a user can select type of payment, possibly represented by a credit card or debit card graphic, and slide the element to a "confirmation position" to make a purchase. Another embodiment allows a user to move the device itself to complete a transaction. The solution is arguably safer and more elegant than simply pressing an "OK" or "Buy" button.

While the description appears banal, the accompanying embodiment examples specifically point to NFC technology as a possible basis for said payments.

Payment
Source: USPTO


From the detailed embodiments:
Close range communication with the NFC device may take place via magnetic field induction, allowing the NFC device to communicate with other NFC devices or to retrieve information from tags having radio frequency identification (RFID) circuitry. As discussed below, the NFC device may provide a manner of connecting to a shopping website and communicating with an external server.
Payment2


Apple does not yet have a mobile payment system that includes NFC technology, however the company's iOS 6 will include the Passbook app which is akin to a limited version of an eWallet. At launch, the program will be able to carry digital versions of tickets, store membership cards, and airplane boarding passes, but is not expected to support credit cards or other forms of electronic payment.

Offering a tantalizing, but hardly official clue that the company is indeed working on an eWallet solution is the following passage from the '323 patent's description:
For example, credit cards may be digitally represented within an electronic wallet or an online payment system. After movement of the graphical elements, the electronic device may transmit a confirmation message to initiate payment with the selected payment instrument.
Payment4


The iPhone maker is rumored to be investigating NFC payment systems, but its intentions remain somewhat nebulous.

Most recently, photos were published of the alleged next-generation iPhone's front assembly, appearing to show the incorporation of a mystery component some believe to be an NFC module.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11


    Ok, so the innovation is replacing a "Submit button" by a "Submit slider"... another proof of the software patent system being a complete joke...

  • Reply 2 of 11


    You don't happen to slide by mistake.

  • Reply 3 of 11
    wovelwovel Posts: 956member
    reddevil wrote: »
    Ok, so the innovation is replacing a "Submit button" by a "Submit slider"... another proof of the software patent system being a complete joke...

    I like how you clowns take one tiny little point out of a complex patent, claim it represents the entire thing, and then decry the entire patent system.

    Equally funny is how someone who clearly has no grasp of human interface feels qualified to speak on the subject.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member


    I liked "Pay $2,400 to Apple.com"  That is one very nice MacBook Air.


     


    On a side note...here we are on an Apple oriented site and the spell check thinks "MacBook" is misspelled.  image

     

  • Reply 5 of 11
    The address in the patent is a Papa John's Pizza in San Jose.

    Someone likes pizza?
  • Reply 6 of 11


    I like you fanboys how you give praise to whatever is coming from apple even when there is no reason to. The object of the patent is "Motion based payment confirmation", no more, nor less. This is all about. You are talking about a complex patent here? All complex diagrams and complex descriptions in this patent are no more than technical wrapping to describe a smartphone GUI in a mobile payment context (nothing new here) and to give the feeling that this is a "complex patent" to tech ignorants like you and the guys at the patents office. The object of the patent is trivial, simple and can be described in two lines of text, it describes just an specific implementation of how an user can validate a form. The best part is that it pretends to not to be limited  "to the particular forms disclosed.", rather "the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives within the spirit and scope of the invention". So apple now has de monopoly of using sensor data to interact with a form? What a joke. The patent system is flawed since the hyperlink patent, the "one click to buy" patent, and generally speaking since it is applied to software. The only patents that make sense are those related to industrial processes when a big amount of research and financial investment is required to obtain a commercially viable product. The role of the patent here is to promote the innovation by protecting the investment made in the research phase. On the other side, allowing to patent every "new idea" in the software domain is just a big counter-productive flaw in the patent system.

  • Reply 7 of 11

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by icoco3 View Post


    I liked "Pay $2,400 to Apple.com"  That is one very nice MacBook Air.


     


    On a side note...here we are on an Apple oriented site and the spell check thinks "MacBook" is misspelled.  image

     



    \j


     


    Close enough.

  • Reply 7 of 11
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by reddevil View Post


    I like you fanboys how you give praise to whatever is coming from apple even when there is no reason to. The object of the patent is "Motion based payment confirmation", no more, nor less. This is all about. You are talking about a complex patent here? All complex diagrams and complex descriptions in this patent are no more than technical wrapping to describe a smartphone GUI in a mobile payment context (nothing new here) and to give the feeling that this is a "complex patent" to tech ignorants like you and the guys at the patents office. The object of the patent is trivial, simple and can be described in two lines of text, it describes just an specific implementation of how an user can validate a form. The best part is that it pretends to not to be limited  "to the particular forms disclosed.", rather "the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives within the spirit and scope of the invention". So apple now has de monopoly of using sensor data to interact with a form? What a joke.



     






    Welcome the new troll....

  • Reply 9 of 11

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by reddevil View Post


    I like you fanboys how you give praise to whatever is coming from apple even when there is no reason to. The object of the patent is "Motion based payment confirmation", no more, nor less. This is all about. You are talking about a complex patent here? All complex diagrams and complex descriptions in this patent are no more than technical wrapping to describe a smartphone GUI in a mobile payment context (nothing new here) and to give the feeling that this is a "complex patent" to tech ignorants like you and the guys at the patents office. The object of the patent is trivial, simple and can be described in two lines of text, it describes just an specific implementation of how an user can validate a form. The best part is that it pretends to not to be limited  "to the particular forms disclosed.", rather "the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives within the spirit and scope of the invention". So apple now has de monopoly of using sensor data to interact with a form? What a joke.



    Not gonna use 72, but:


     


    Time to update the block list.

  • Reply 10 of 11


    Originally Posted by reddevil View Post

    I like you fanboys how you give praise to whatever is coming from apple even when there is no reason to. 


     


    So just leave. Not that big a deal.

  • Reply 11 of 11

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by icoco3 View Post


     






    Welcome the new troll....



    sssshhhh....maybe if we talk quietly they'll go back under their bridges. It's been a really rough week for them :D

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