Ticketing company to use iOS 6 Passbook at Columbus Zoo, other attractions
Another name has joined the list of companies that will support Apple's new Passbook application in iOS 6: attraction ticketing provider Accesso.
Accesso announced in a press release highlighted by Coaster Buzz that it will be one of the first travel industry suppliers to support Passbook. Customers will be able to import ticket purchases from attractions including the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, as well as 11 Cedar Fair Entertainment theme parks.
"Mobile commerce has become a vital sales strategy for theme parks and other attraction venues, not to mention a guest expectation," said Steve Brown, chief executive of Accesso. "We know iPhone users will be eager to leverage this dynamic new technology so we worked aggressively to integrate with the new operating system well in advance so that our clients and their guests can begin leveraging Apple's new Passbook feature from day one."
Passbook is one of the hallmark features of iOS 6, which is set to be launched on Wednesday, and will also come preinstalled on the new iPhone 5 that will debut in 9 countries this Friday. The application will act as a sort of digital wallet, collecting store cards, discount coupons, airplane boarding passes, movie tickets, and tickets to sporting events, among other items.
Apple has not provided a detailed list of companies that will support Passbook, but a number of companies have been shown in demonstrations of iOS 6. Last week at the iPhone 5 unveiling, Apple revealed that Delta, Starwood Hotels and Ticketmaster are on board.
Also expected to support Passbook are American Airlines, United Airlines, Amtrak, W Hotels, Target, Starbucks, Sephora, and Apple's own retail stores.
Accesso announced in a press release highlighted by Coaster Buzz that it will be one of the first travel industry suppliers to support Passbook. Customers will be able to import ticket purchases from attractions including the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, as well as 11 Cedar Fair Entertainment theme parks.
"Mobile commerce has become a vital sales strategy for theme parks and other attraction venues, not to mention a guest expectation," said Steve Brown, chief executive of Accesso. "We know iPhone users will be eager to leverage this dynamic new technology so we worked aggressively to integrate with the new operating system well in advance so that our clients and their guests can begin leveraging Apple's new Passbook feature from day one."
Passbook is one of the hallmark features of iOS 6, which is set to be launched on Wednesday, and will also come preinstalled on the new iPhone 5 that will debut in 9 countries this Friday. The application will act as a sort of digital wallet, collecting store cards, discount coupons, airplane boarding passes, movie tickets, and tickets to sporting events, among other items.
Apple has not provided a detailed list of companies that will support Passbook, but a number of companies have been shown in demonstrations of iOS 6. Last week at the iPhone 5 unveiling, Apple revealed that Delta, Starwood Hotels and Ticketmaster are on board.
Also expected to support Passbook are American Airlines, United Airlines, Amtrak, W Hotels, Target, Starbucks, Sephora, and Apple's own retail stores.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
With seemingly every company flocking to Passbook, NFC appears virtually irrelevant.
'every' company is a huge exaggeration at this time. There are 1000s of companies that could possibly use the service but only perhaps 30 that we've heard of. And until places like Metro Services dump their 'tap' cards or at least offer a scanning not tap solution there will still be a place for NFC or at least RFID services.
I mean, seriously... You guys don't even have debit cards, or email money-transfers. NFC seems awfully far away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
With seemingly every company flocking to Passbook, NFC appears virtually irrelevant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbook
The beginning of a revolution...
Exactly what I was thinking! Passbook is Apple's answer to NFC. And I believe Passbook will end up being much more popular than NFC.
Passbook really just eliminates the steps of
1. Finding the email with your ticket/gift card/coupon attached
2. Opening the pdf attachment, and
3. Either saving a screenshot or just showing it to the cashier/ticket person
Seems very convenient and creates a simpler solution to mobile ticketing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheHecta
Passbook really just eliminates the steps of
1. Finding the email with your ticket/gift card/coupon attached
2. Opening the pdf attachment, and
3. Either saving a screenshot or just showing it to the cashier/ticket person
Seems very convenient and creates a simpler solution to mobile ticketing.
And uses 'exisiting' scanners which is a very very very big deal.
IMO this could be huge when tied in with location AND reminder services.
Apple could be 'wagging the dog' with passport.
Just out of curiousity, I wonder what Apple's cut is with this service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by benice
Passbook would be better with NFC in it. Why? Because it doesn't replace it.
I agree adding an NFC chip would only make Passbook better but how big is an NFC chip? How expensive?
Quote:
Originally Posted by benice
Passbook would be better with NFC in it. Why? Because it doesn't replace it. Those of us in places with widespread NFC know that scanning a radio signal is much faster than reading a barcode which is old tech. It seems that the reluctance of parts of US retail and transport and banks to invest in NFC has the effect of holding passbook and the progress of its application back.
Depending on the application NFC isn't necessarily the holy grail. Barcodes are not going away anytime soon and NFC hasn't made huge inroads into the types of services that Passbook is aimed at.
Quote:
Originally Posted by benice
Passbook would be better with NFC in it. Why? Because it doesn't replace it. Those of us in places with widespread NFC know that scanning a radio signal is much faster than reading a barcode which is old tech. It seems that the reluctance of parts of US retail and transport and banks to invest in NFC has the effect of holding passbook and the progress of its application back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheHecta
I agree adding an NFC chip would only make Passbook better but how big is an NFC chip? How expensive?
Neither of you know what your talking about. NFC and Passbook have nothing in common. NFC is a problem, is hardware centric, is insecure and dangerous, and already out of date. It also has an adoption rate of ZERO.
Passbook may be brand new, but it will drive the widespread adoption of digital mobile payments. Why? Because Apple did it, and its on the iPhone. This is something people will actually use, and the scanning technology will be exceptionally easy for any business to invest in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmz
Neither of you know what your talking about. NFC and Passbook have nothing in common. NFC is a problem, is hardware centric, is insecure and dangerous, and already out of date. It also has an adoption rate of ZERO.
Passbook may be brand new, but it will drive the widespread adoption of digital mobile payments. Why? Because Apple did it, and its on the iPhone. This is something people will actually use, and the scanning technology will be exceptionally easy for any business to invest in.
Here! here!
Had planned to renew our Columbus Zoo membership at the end of the month. Now I'll get to do it with Passbook and my new iPhone 5 (scheduled for delivery this Friday).
Quote:
Originally Posted by boeyc15
And uses 'exisiting' scanners which is a very very very big deal.
This something I am curious about. I tried in the grocery store as well as Home Depot to take a picture of a product barcode and then attempted to scan it on the self checkout. It did not work in either case and the barcode was big and clear. The scanner just wasn't seeing it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheHecta
I agree adding an NFC chip would only make Passbook better but how big is an NFC chip? How expensive?
There is nothing to keep Apple from adding NFC in the future. I suspect Apples problem is the lack of security with NFC, thus the purchase of the finger print scanning company last month. NFC isn't al it is cracked up to be by some and yet it isn't an impossible security issue either, the technology just needs a little more development to work out the kinks.
As for the chip they aren't expensive at all. There are other reasons to keep NFC off the device, mainly because adoption sucks right now, Passbook technology gets completely around the adoption issue. It does bother me that people see the lack of NFC as some sort of absolute demarcation on Apples part forever keeping NFC off Apples devices. I really don't see it that way at all, Apples approach is pragmatic and adaptable to NFC in the future if it ever takes off.
Exactly right. With Passbook Apple cuts a very wide swath that frankly NFC will never cover. At least not with NFC as we know it today. Further NFC technology will be easy to add to Passbook at similar features in the future when security and other issues can be mitigated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmason1270
Depending on the application NFC isn't necessarily the holy grail. Barcodes are not going away anytime soon and NFC hasn't made huge inroads into the types of services that Passbook is aimed at.
Does anyone know when apple usually offers there software updates? I think its 10 am pst, but just curious if I should wake up early and try and update my phone before work or not.
I try to avoid those self check out scanners when ever possible. As far as I'm concerned they put to much liability on me. On the other hand I've stood in line waiting for the girl running the cash register to give up and enter a bar code number by hand many times. Barcodes are not fool proof by anymeans. Time will tell how well the feature works on iPhones.
As for scanning the bar code and then trying to read it there are numerous issues with doing that. For one all bar codes require a proper quiet zone at each end of the bar code strip. Failure to read can be the result of many things. I've spent years maintaining bar code readers and printers and it can be a real pain sometimes, where loosing one pixel in a print head will cause all sorts of grief. I would imagine Apple has some tight specs with respect to how they draw barcodes on the screen to keep the ratios right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
This something I am curious about. I tried in the grocery store as well as Home Depot to take a picture of a product barcode and then attempted to scan it on the self checkout. It did not work in either case and the barcode was big and clear. The scanner just wasn't seeing it.
As secure and convenience as NFC might be, Passbook is still arguably quicker to implement.