MasterCard PayPass Card Evolves Into Phone

Nokia phone enabled with MasterCard PayPass - Image Credit: TechShout

MasterCard PayPass Card Evolves Into Phone

The evolution of “Speed Passing” RFID technology is making its way on many fronts.

Many sports franchise venues are beginning to place systems at their PoS cashpoints that accept MasterCard’s RFID enabled PayPass Card.

In an article found in the latest edition of “Contactless News” –

MasterCard Worldwide announced that three arenas, home to three National Hockey League (NHL), two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an array of special events are accepting MasterCard PayPass, a contactless payment option. Now fans can pay for concessions using MasterCard PayPass, which delivers speed and convenience at the register when making purchases.
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Fans will now be able to catch more of their team’s action during the season’s home stretch and crucial playoff run. Consumers purchasing concessions need only tap their PayPass-enabled card or device on specially-equipped terminals. In addition, no signature or PIN is required to complete the transaction for purchases under $25. Sports fans in Chicago who also attend baseball or football games will already be familiar with the technology, as it was deployed at Soldier Field, U.S. Cellular Field and Wrigley Field prior to the 2006 seasons (in addition to thousands of other merchants throughout the U.S.).
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Also, Nokia wants to turn the phone you carry into a "Speed Pass" machine. With this announcement, a fan may not even have to carry a credit card anymore. Nokia and MasterCard PayPass have been negotiating with many of the major mobile telecom service providers to transform how people can pay for goods and services.

When this plan is implemented, Fans and other consumers will not have to carry a card anymore --- just wave a RFID MasterCard PayPass chip enabled phone over the reader at the PoS cashpoint, and off you go.

Excerpts from Reuters via Tech Shout -

Image Credit: TechShout

Nokia, Mobile Telecom Carriers Team Up on Mobile Wallet Plan
TechShout - Friday, April 27th, 2007

Nokia and several mobile telecom carriers have all teamed-up for a global initiative that will transform mobile phones into wallets, a wireless telecoms interest group announced on Wednesday.

Through this novel plan, consumers will be able to use a phone as a wallet or as an access card simply by waving it over a wireless reader - and in some cases punching a PIN number into the phone - similar to how travelers in Tokyo and London access public transport.

Kai Oistamo, head of Nokia’s main cell phones unit, told Reuters, “The phone becomes a wallet, after that you can pay with it just like you pay with your bank cards.”
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Nokia, along with two other leading cell phone makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, will set in a wireless chip into its phones.

This project also has MasterCard – the world’s biggest payment card company, which is cheaper and much faster than other wireless payment experiments, like those using SMS text messages.
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Trials with the new standard will begin in October. the Reuters report further said.
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Jointly with chip makers NXP and Sony, which kicked off the contactless chip called Near Field Communication (NFC), companies plan a global standard for electronic wallets in cell phones.

In Japan, mobile phones are already widely used as electronic wallets, where over 12.6 million consumers already have their credit cards embedded in a chip in cell phones.

Mifare, developed by NXP, formerly known as Philips Semiconductors and Felica built by Sony are two of the most widely used formats used for access cards for buildings and public transport as well as cell phones which double as electronic wallets.

In a statement, Mifare and Felica said, “By combining this secure chip with an NFC chip, a universal contactless IC (integrated circuit) platform can be created for mobile phones.”
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Mobile? Browser? ... Mowser For Mobility Web Browsing

MOWSER Logo - Image Credit: Mowser.com

Mobile? Browser? ... Mowser For Mobility Web Browsing

The concept of Web 2.0 (the web as used by mobile devices) requires different tools and a better way to see web pages that were originally designed for use on computer displays and have them translate to be easier to understand on the small mobility displays found on smartphones and web enabled PDA's.

We have observed here at Symblogogy about the "designed from the ground up" efforts at web page display through the efforts of .mobi. Here is a web browser designed to take standard web pages and have them become mobility display compatible.

Mowser refers to this process as "Content Adaption" (additional background PDF).

A Google search on the word - Mowser - highlights that initial work on Mowser was done as a research project by Greg Bernhardt, Sean McDermott, and Bun Tan, under the supervision of Prof. Anupam Joshi.

This from CNET's Webware -

Mowser mobilizes any Web page
By Rafe Needleman – April 19, 2007, 3:25 PM PDT

If you[r] phone has a rotten Web browser, bookmark Mowser and use it as the front-end to the Web on your mobile. Mowser transcodes any page into a Web-friendly format, stripping out large graphics and splitting a Web page up into smaller pages that a phone can handle. It's also RSS-aware: If there's an RSS feed on a page you visit, it will provide a link for it, and transcode the feed into a format your phone can easily display.

Original web page display - Image Credit: Mowser.com

The service has built-in bookmarks for major sites that are already mobile-friendly (which it does not transcode) and it has keywords for popular searches. For example, if you type "wi" followed by a search term, you'll get the Mowser-compacted version of the Wikipedia page for that term.

Web page display through Mowser browser - Image Credit: Mowser.com

My only issue with the Mowser transcoder is that, in my tests, it often displayed a site's left-hand navigation before or in the middle of content, requiring me to skip forward several pages just to see a top story.

But even so, it beats the stuffing out the built-in browser on most phones.

The site's creator, Russell Beattie, has recorded a video tour of the service.
Reference Here>>

Global Positioning “Goes To Ground”

How the client works: 1) Wireless device receives signals from Wi-Fi sites in range 2) Skyhook software compares these signals to its database of geographically known locations 3) Location data is used to direct safety services, provide driving directions and local information etc. Image Credit: Skyhook Wireless

Global Positioning “Goes To Ground”

In a “complex technology made simple” scenario, one does not need specialized GPS Satellites and the systems that pick up their signals in order to determine a specific location in most cities in the United States.

All one needs is a computer (or Wi-Fi PDA phone), some software that detects and factors in known Wi-Fi hot spots and … BINGO, wherever one goes, there one is here on the Oblate Spheriod.

This from Skyhook Wireless Inc. website -


At a time when the number of mobile devices is increasing into the billions, the connectivity and processing power of these devices is also increasing greatly. This is providing business with productivity gains and enabling consumers greater freedom in how they interact. Additionally, adoption of 802.11 (Wi-Fi) technology by consumers and industry has proceeded more quickly than the most aggressive predictions. Today, more than 10 million Wi-Fi access points have been deployed in both public and private networks resulting in a ubiquitous cloud of radio signals in the metropolitan areas of the United States.
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Skyhook Wireless provides a software-only positioning system that leverages a nationwide database of known Wi-Fi access points to calculate the precise location of any Wi-Fi enabled device.

The demand for location-based services has been stifled by the lack of an affordable and reliable positioning system for highly populated areas of the country. The Wi-Fi Positioning System from Skyhook Wireless brings accurate positioning capabilities in real world situations to tens of millions of existing devices.

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Technology

The Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS) from Skyhook Wireless is the first outdoor positioning network to utilize Wi-Fi rather than GPS or cell tower systems to determine location. Building on the explosive growth of Wi-Fi, WPS includes a nationwide network of access points used to accurately pinpoint a user’s position.

WPS is designed for the millions of laptop, tablet PC, PDA and Smartphone owners that have Wi-Fi capabilities and would like to generate driving directions, utilize proximity systems, implement vehicle/asset tracking and communicate location information to friends and coworkers. With WPS, users can easily take advantage of location-based services that are already widely available, without having to purchase additional hardware.

WPS can also complement other location technology, because unlike traditional systems, WPS has no line of sight requirements, is accurate to within twenty meters and can be used indoors or outdoors to determine location in seconds. WPS is compatible with 802.11 devices, integrates with all GPS designed applications and covers metro areas of the United States.
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Location Client

The WPS Location Client contains intelligence, which when coupled with the Location Database, calculates a precise location. The client works by scanning the airwaves for 802.11 signals then comparing observed access points against a known database of access point locations. The client features a patent-pending location algorithm that calculates real-time position, speed, and heading. The client also includes advanced filtering and database optimization techniques to continually improve the overall system. WPS can operate on any device that supports 802.11. It can be configured to operate like a virtual GPS device so that any GPS enabled application can begin to use WPS immediately. The client also includes an SDK to allow third party application developers to more tightly integrate location capabilities into their location-based service.

Location Database

The Wi-Fi Positioning System features a location database that contains the world's most comprehensive listing of geo-located Wi-Fi access points. The Location Database is continuously updated with new regions of the country and with new data from existing coverage areas. Employing patent-pending techniques, the Location Database computes the precise location of each access point using hundreds of observed readings. The Database also determines the propagation characteristics for each access point based on its unique local environment. Each access point can perform differently depending on its location within a building, the position of other buildings on a street, the physical topography of the area and a host of other environmental variables. All of these factors are taken into consideration by the WPS location algorithms. With this level of sophistication, WPS is able to produce reliable and accurate readings throughout our coverage areas.

Device Centric

With the device centric model, the database and client are both installed on an individual device. The Location Database is compressed using a patent-pending algorithm resulting in a minimal storage requirement for the device. Positioning is calculated on the device and is then communicated to other applications (e.g. mapping) via a set of API's. With this model, no network connectivity is required which is preferable for many applications. Data on the device is refreshed on a regular basis and can be segmented (e.g. by city, state, region) based on individual customer needs.

Network Centric

With the network centric model the Location Database resides on the Skyhook Wireless servers and only the thin location client resides on the Wi-Fi enabled device. This configuration is optimal for toolbars or other applications that assume a network connection. The Skyhook server can communicate the location back to the client over the network or to another server based application such as a fleet monitoring system.

Coverage map by Google - Link
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System Requirements
· Skype version 1.2 and above
· Windows XP
· 802.11 adapter
· Call from Skyhook Coverage area
Installation Instructions
· Download Skype E911 Plug-in
· Extract to a temporary directory
· Run setup.exe (make sure your Wi-Fi adapter is enabled during installation)
· The installation will also install the Skype COM API. Be sure to follow all the instructions
· The last screen will ask you to start the plug-in

How to Operate

By default the Skype E911 plug-in will be configured to start whenever Windows starts. You should see the target icon in the taskbar. When you place a call using Skype, the E911 plug-in will initiate once the receiver of the call has picked up the call. You will see a message from the taskbar letting you know that your current location has been calculated and sent to the other party. The other party on the call will receive a chat message (below) that includes the nearest street address to your current location plus a link to Google Maps to see your current location plotted on a map. The same process will occur when you receive a call as well.

Image Credit: Skyhook Wireless

Reference Here>>

At Symblogogy, we ask if Wi-Fi signals are good, why not other fixed position broadcast signals?

This excerpt from a press release issued by Boeing Engineering, Operations & Technology –

Boeing-Led Team Developing Surface Navigation Concept for DARPA
Boeing Press Release - ST. LOUIS, April 18, 2007

How would U.S. ground troops navigate precisely and effectively if signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) were not available? Boeing [NYSE: BA] and an industry team are getting the chance to tackle that problem under a concept development contract awarded recently by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The objective of the Robust Surface Navigation (RSN) program is to develop technologies that can exploit various "signals of opportunity" -- electronic waves emanating from satellites, cell phone towers and even television transmission towers -- to provide precise location and navigation information to ground troops when GPS signals are being electronically jammed or blocked by natural or man-made obstacles, such as foliage or buildings.

"The challenge is to develop an integrated system that can use all available signals -- not just GPS -- to provide accurate navigation information through one small receiver, thereby eliminating the need for an expensive, fixed infrastructure," said Bart Ferrell, Boeing Phantom Works program manager for Precision Navigation Programs.

The Boeing-led Robust Surface Navigation team is beginning its 15-month Phase 1 concept development contract.
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(ht:SlashDot)

It's Springtime For Symbology - Everything Is Coming Up Color

"Google BarCode" - "One of the 10 things Google should develop!" - Google Watch 1) Walk into a store (grocery, clothes, computer) 2) Take a picture of the barcode of an item 3) Get Froogle Local Search results of which nearby stores carry the same item more cheaply. - Google BarCode would even add in the cost of time and gas and only show those products which were lower overall. - In a twist on the system, merchants would be automatically informed if you located cheaper products and could then bid for your business by offering you an electronic coupon, a discount on the product in their store if you bought it in the next, say, half hour. Image Credit: Google Watch

It's Springtime For Symbology - Everything Is Coming Up Color

In a press release issued at the beginning of this week, Microsoft announced that it has reached a licensing agreement with a Swiss agency charged with administering the ISAN numbering system. What makes this announcement unique is that this agency plans on using a new twist on the old, tried and true, bar - space - bar methodology of automatic identification … a barcode in color! What this will do is add another dimension to the process of scanning the barcode that allows for greater information to be stored and greater security to be achieved.

The barcode technology that Microsoft Research has developed is known as “high color capacity barcode format”, or HCCB. This is not the first application of adding the element of color to a symbology … but it is the first time someone has placed color on a standard barcode format to deepen the ability of the barcode to store and secure information … while presumably keeping the integrity of the barcode to be scanned by linear laser scanners.

The only way to get the full benefit of the addition of color is to read the symbology with an imager/camera. Technologically, lasers can not discern color in that they are only able to read a standard barcode via a timeline analog approach (bar, space, bar, space) ... then convert the signal to digital in order to decode the barcode.

Excerpts from IT Jungle -

Microsoft Breaks the Color Barrier for Barcode
by Alex Woodie - The Windows Observer - Published: April 18, 2007

In the last 25 years, the IT industry has seen various improvements in labeling technology, starting with simple two-dimensional barcodes, more advanced three-dimensional barcodes, and, finally, radio frequency identification (RFID), the "barcode killer." Now, Microsoft is trying to infuse new life into the tired black-and-white barcoding scheme with a new colorized barcode format.
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"The capability of these new bar codes to store more data in a smaller space should provide a rich resource for the industry and consumers alike," says Gavin Jancke, director of engineering for Microsoft Research. "The new code offers several advantages over existing black and white bar codes most people are accustomed to seeing on product packages, enabling new consumer experiences, more visual appeal where aesthetics are important, and the ability to incorporate advanced security features."

On Monday, Microsoft announced that the International Standard Audiovisual Number International Agency (ISAN-IA), the Swiss agency charged with administering the ISAN numbering system, has licensed HCCB technology and plans to incorporate it into an authentication system for weeding out legitimate motion pictures, video games, broadcasts, and digital video recordings from forgeries.

In addition to authentication, HCCB has other uses. As the technology improves, Microsoft envisions barcodes being displayed on TV or computer screens, on movie posters or DVD or CD cases, or on magazine ads or billboards. To get more info, consumers would scan these color barcodes with their camera-equipped cell phones or Web cams.
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New security features can also be incorporated into the color barcode. Microsoft cites a company called DatatraceDNA that plans to use HCCB to build anti-counterfeiting security protection features that could be added during the manufacturing process of most products. The company refers to this process as Digital Nanoparticle Authentication, or DNA.

Patrick Attallah, CEO of ISAN-IA, says HCCP will allow media publishers to provide counterfeit protection and a means for providing additional interactive services to consumers. "The capabilities enabled by this combination of bar code technology and supporting software are important for everyone," he says.
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Additional Colorized Symbology Reference Posts:

3D Barcode - Auto ID "CUBED"

QR Based PM Code - The Best 3D Symbology Ever, Really!

The Mobile Web Becomes Right Sized

Inn at Craig Farm's phone site - Image Credit: Patrick Conlon

The Mobile Web Becomes Right Sized

As the mobility age becomes more of age, it was only a matter of time that the visual side, the display side of the web, started to deliver content for the small format screens like the ones found in ones pocket.

The cellphone world is beginning to catch on to the fact that pushing buttons to communicate (texting) is tedious at best, so now it is rapidly becoming automated with camera imagers and codes … but where does that take one?

Generally, to a website that is tailored to a computer screen. Scrolling and adjusting the format just sends one back to pushing buttons and tapping screens. Visually, the process is still a nightmare at best. Text is okay but graphics are all over the map.

The match-up between the site and the screen is just around the corner.

Company efforts are dedicating themselves to mobile sized web development for mobile phone users. At Symblogogy, with nearly 75% of cellphones in the field having web access capability, we say it’s about time that the mobile web becomes right sized.

This from The Wall Street Journal Online –

Mini Web Sites Target Users of Mobile Phones
New Kits Give Firms A Cellular Presence; Boon for Concertgoers?
By AMOL SHARMA - April 5, 2007 - WSJOnline

Johannes Tromp says the Web site for his South Carolina bed-and-breakfast generates good business. But last fall, he found a way to reach even more potential customers: He made a version of the site for cellphones.

Mr. Tromp signed up for a mobile Web address with the newly available suffix "dot-mobi" and used a self-starter kit from a company called Roundpoint Ltd. to build www.kilburnie.mobi, the mobile site for his Inn at Craig Farm. He says he's gotten a surprisingly good response, with 30 to 40 new calls per month from interested travelers who heard of his inn by accessing the cellphone site.

"For people to find me, I have to make myself available any way I can," says Mr. Tromp, a Dutch native who was general manager of the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center before moving south for a career in hospitality.

As technology allows consumers to access the Internet with their cellphones, many big companies have launched mobile versions of their Web sites, including big media brands like MTV and ESPN and news sites like USA Today and The Weather Channel. But such projects can be costly and complex and until recently have been out of reach of small businesses.

Now new low-cost tools and services are making it easier to jump onto the mobile Web. Internet registrars such as GoDaddy.com Inc. and Network Solutions, who have helped millions of small businesses set up traditional dot-com sites, are now also beginning to roll out all-inclusive packages that help companies register and build mobile Web sites. And mobile-content specialists like the United Kingdom's Bango Ltd. have their own mobile kits that help companies get a basic Web presence on cellphones.

One way to promote a musician - Image Credit: Fli Digital

The wireless Internet is just beginning to take shape. Most consumers aren't nearly as comfortable with mobile Web surfing as they are with trolling the Web on PCs. Entering URLs can be difficult on many cellphones, and there's a limited amount of content that is well-formatted for a small screen. Cellphone networks are getting faster but still lag behind landlines significantly in broadband speeds.
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Many small companies are planning to build mobile Web sites. Thousands are using dot-mobi domain names, which are administered by mTLD Ltd., whose backers include cellphone companies such as Nokia Corp. and Vodafone Group PLC as well as Internet service providers like those of Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The company, which gets a cut of registration fees, hopes that dot-mobi will become the de facto domain for mobile sites, much like dot-com is for the regular Internet.

Dublin-based mTLD says a separate mobile-specific domain is the only way to assure users that the site they will visit will be designed appropriately for a phone, with minimal graphics and verbiage and a format fit for a tiny screen. It has issued guidelines on how to develop appropriate mobile sites, and plans to charge content developers $250 to $300 to certify that they can build sites within dot-mobi standards.
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Dot-mobi isn't the only alternative. Sites that end in dot-com or dot-net can also be designed so they show mobile-specific content when consumers access them through a mobile device. In fact, that is how most major media brands and other companies have built cellphone sites to date.

Internet registrars, who have made a living on small businesses and already offer a variety of tools to help them build basic Web sites, are taking advantage of the new opportunity in mobile.

For example, Harry Boadwee used GoDaddy to set up www.travelosa.mobi, a mobile Web site that provides information for travelers such as flight cancellations, weather and car-rental information. Registering the domain for a year cost him $12 . GoDaddy also provided Mr. Boadwee with site-development tools offered through a partnership with mTLD. Mr. Boadwee developed the site himself using those tools.

Network Solutions, which hosts the Web sites of 3.5 million small businesses, plans to begin selling dot-mobi addresses soon, along with a suite of tools with templates to build simple mobile Web sites. The company already has a tool that lets businesses automatically convert their existing Web sites into mobile versions -- stripping out unneeded verbiage and graphics -- but company executives say they encourage companies to build a mobile site from scratch.

In March, Bango rolled out Bango2Go, which offers small businesses hosting and mobile Web development as well as software that lets companies track who is visiting their site and bill customers for purchases. Bango's introductory package is $1,000, plus ongoing maintenance fees that will usually be a few hundred dollars. For bigger companies who want a more elaborate site with more content, the Bango fee is about $5,000.

Bango has already helped huge brands like News Corp. and World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. build their mobile Web portals, but its new product is aimed at smaller players such as Basin Street Records, a small independent music label in New Orleans.

The label's founder, Mark Samuels, is using Bango and Web-site designer Fli Digital Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y., to develop cellphone Web sites for the nine artists he works with, beginning with jazz trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, whose new mobile Web page is ruffins.wap.com. Mr. Samuels says mobile sites will give concertgoers the ability to download ringtones or album art or even sign up for newsletters. All a fan needs is access to the mobile Web.
Reference Here>>

Symbology Development Growth Gets MSM Attention

The pattern on a building in Tokyo is filled with information that can be read by a properly programmed cellphone with a camera. The technology can also be used for many other things, like buying airline tickets. Image Credit: Ko Sasaki for The New York Times

Symbology Development Growth Gets MSM Attention

Yes, that’s right, the Main Stream Media (MSM) here in North America is finally taking notice that cellphones and symbologies make good bedfellows (New York Times – “New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Cellphone” – April,1 2007).

Ok, so they think, improperly so, that all symbologies are “Bar Codes” but the concept is clear – camera enabled cellphones are NOT phones with cameras … they are imagers with a way to link oneself with information either in the phone itself with decoding software, or to the internet via an automated software hyperlink function.

Again, all of this functionality is available now and has been a staple in the cellphone users world in Japan, Korea, The Philippines, and in many places throughout Europe.

As with anything else, the question comes down “monetization” … in other words, how do businesses make money through this proposition while giving the consumer what it wants?

Also, there are many types of symbologies, each designed to achieve a desired effect for the user of the program that is tied to the symbology that the phone is scanning.

Excerpts from The New York Times -

New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Cellphone
By LOUISE STORY - The New York Times - Published: April 1, 2007

It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign. With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house.

Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet.

In their new incarnation, cellphones become a sort of digital remote control, as one CBS executive put it. With a wave, the phone can read encoded information on everyday objects and translate that into videos, pictures or text files on its screen.

“The cellphone is the natural tool to combine the physical world with the digital world,” that executive, Cyriac Roeding, the head of mobile-phone applications for CBS, said the other day.

In Japan, McDonald’s customers can already point their cellphones at the wrapping on their hamburgers and get nutrition information on their screens. Users there can also point their phones at magazine ads to receive insurance quotes, and board airplanes using their phones rather than paper tickets. And film promoters can send their movie trailers from billboards.

Advertisers say they are interested in offering similar capabilities in the United States, but cellphones in the States do not come with the necessary software. For now, consumers have to download the technology themselves.
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“Everything in the physical world has information related to it somewhere electronically, including yourself and the desk you’re sitting in,” said Chas Fritz, chief executive of NeoMedia Technologies, a company developing these cellphone capacities.

The most promising way to link cellphones with physical objects is a new generation of bar codes: square-shaped mosaics of black and white boxes that can hold much more information than traditional bar codes. The cameras on cellphones scan the codes, and then the codes are translated into videos, music or text on the phone screens.
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In Japan, the codes did not become mainstream until the largest cellphone companies started loading the code readers on all new phones a few years ago. Now, millions of people have the capability built into their phones, and businesses, in turn, are using them all over — on billboards, street signs, published materials and even food packaging.
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“There are three things you tend to carry — your keys, your wallet and your phone,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief executive of Denuo, a unit of the Publicis Groupe that focuses on emerging and future technologies. “I can see something in advertising in one place, scan it with my phone and recall it later when I am shopping. Or, imagine, I can buy it using my phone.”

About a third of the 84 million households with cellphones in the United States have phones that have cameras on them, according to Forrester Research, and that number is expected to grow as consumers replace their phones. But few people with those phones have downloaded the software to read the codes.

In Japan, some highway billboards have codes large enough for passing motorists to read them with their phones. Hospitals put them on prescriptions, allowing pharmacies to instantly scan the medical information rather than read it. Supermarkets stick them on meat and egg packaging to give expiration dates and even the names of the farmers who produced them.

One of the most popular uses in Japan has been paperless airline tickets. About 10 percent of the people who take domestic flights of All Nippon Airways now use the codes on their cellphones instead of printed tickets.
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The new technology would allow phones to read the codes from computer screens, too.

Commuters rushing out the door could scan Web sites on their computer screens with their phones to take the content with them. MySpace users could put a code on their personal pages, so that their friends can quickly transfer the profiles to their phones.
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In the Philippines, the Daily Philippines newspaper has run ads with the codes. In Britain, News Group Newspapers, the division of the News Corporation that includes newspapers like The Sun, is testing the codes along with some of its sports articles. Readers can scan the code in the newspaper and then see videos relating to the article. Similarly, Economie Matin, a magazine in France, is testing the codes.

In the United States last fall, the Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies placed the codes on concert posters. The publisher Prentice Hall is including the codes in a new marketing textbook for undergraduates so that they can get updates on case studies using the codes.

Executives at Verizon, AT&T and Sprint declined to say whether they were in discussions with the companies that make the code reading technology. Bar code companies said the carriers stood to benefit from the codes because they might encourage consumers to add Internet service plans to their accounts and spend more time on their phones.

The wireless companies have other options to help cellphones interact with the physical world.

They could, for instance, adopt image recognition software, which would allow phones to recognize anything — a Coca-Cola can, for example — and deliver related messages. Or, text messaging, currently the most common way that advertisers interact with consumers on their phones, has many advertiser applications.

Advertisers have also experimented with Bluetooth wireless devices and radio frequency identification to beam messages from billboards to consumers’ cellphones, but those technologies are more expensive than the codes.

Even if the wireless companies adopt the bar codes, they will have several formats to choose from. The most widely used ones have names like Semacode, QR Code and Qode.

Getting consumers to use new technologies like these codes takes a lot of marketing by the carriers, said David Oberholzer, associate director of content programming at Verizon Wireless. He said Verizon is just starting to profit from the work it did to create interest in text messaging.

“The consumer needs a reason to do it,” said Jim Levinger, chief executive of Nextcode, a bar code company. “They don’t just wake up and say, ‘Hey, let’s go scan some bar codes.’ ”
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Here is a short comparison graphic. The graphic is by no means complete with all of the symbology application developments that have been underway for use in the PWC/PWH marketplace. The graphic shows what the Main Stream Media missed in the telling of their "discovery".

Comparison Graphic: Highlights some of the major symbologies (as the MSM says - "bar codes") and their comparative strength for use as camera phone implementers. Image Credit: Symblogogy (based upon estimates of statistical information)



For those who have the interest and the time, one can perform a demonstration of this "Code Connection" on their own cellphones. Just follow the Demo Link at the NYTCODE (subscription may be required)!

PWC/PWH Becomes Commercially Practical

We offer fast & dependable service at reasonable rates, 7 days a week/24 hours a day. We are a local full service, professional Sewer & Drain Cleaning Company with over 30 years of service. We service chain stores, realtors, plumbers, municipalities, condos, industrial complexes as well as the general public. We are also certified to perform septic inspections and repairs under Title V. NO JOB IS TOO SMALL OR TOO BIG. Quality Workmanship. References furnished upon request. Image Credit: ROOTER-MAN

PWC/PWH Becomes Commercially Practical

What you may see here is a code that offers something a little bit different than the average code. The Trillcode, developed by LARK Computers of Romania (Yes!, Romania) allows the user of the code development tool to insert information ... and here is the kicker - graphic identification image files. That's right - LOGO's!

Trillcode beta test tool allows one to create a PWC/PWH with a logo embedded in the field. Image Credit: LARK Computers

Now, because the Trillcode allows one to place graphic identification information into the Physical World Connection/Hyperlink, the process of using the phone and "grabbing code" becomes a little more intuitive.

Hypothetically, a national franchise service enterprise can now reinforce their logo and elevate their brand awareness through the use of Trillcode cellphone connection codes.

ROOTER-MAN Logo "As Seen On TV" embedded into a Trillcode that contains contact information. Image Credit: ROOTER-MAN and Trillcode via Symblogogy

This from a press release issued by LARK Computers (March 22, 2007) -

Today Lark Computers, a Romanian company, introduced the second version of its Trillcode reader. The new release greatly enhance the maximum content length decoding ability, to reach 210 characters on medium-high-end phones. Also it is the first time when a mobile barcode reader is used to process and send order forms or play melodies. The next version of the reader application will double the currently maximum values.

Mr. Cozmin Tircob, Managing Director of Lark Computers said: "We are looking to embed an entire application inside the barcode. Our future product, currently under development, will benefit from the extended storing capacity of the Trillcode. This will give our barcode another dimension and will allow companies using the Trillcode encoder to build in minutes a customized mobile application and deploy it in a barcode."

The application can be used to briefly present the company, products, services and allow clients to order or send feedbacks from "one click away". There will be options to receive news or advertisements from the company if a network connection is available.

The Trillcode reader is available as a free download at http://www.trillcode.com/download.html and can be tested at http://www.trillcode.com/samples.html.

Also it's possible to make your own vCard code (http://www.trillcode.com/encoding.html) with picture.
END
Not above self-promotion, Symblogogy took a stab at it. If we can do it, so can you. Go to the test sites provided above and check it out for yourself.

Complex Technology Made Simple

Complex Technology Made Simple

In a second of now a two part series (first part titled "Simple Technology Made Complex") - a blender manufacturer becomes a YouTube awards nominee through taking its blender ... blending ANYTHING!

Here is an example of how one can take a complex technology and make it simple.

Complex electronic communications computers (cellphones) that, today, have the possibility of being configured with a touchscreen, camera/imager, laser barcode scanner, WiFi, Bluetooth, IRDA, Windows Mobile 5.0, MP3 Player, and satellite GPS made simple ... as in DUST!

Gives a whole new meaning to the coined expression "Physical World Connection"!

Biometric Facial Recognition In Three Dimensions

The Vision Access face reader is comprised of a real-time 3D surface scanner working in invisible near-infrared light and can be used in both identification and verification modes. Image Credit: Bioscrypt

Biometric Facial Recognition In Three Dimensions

Not just a photo, or an algorithm analyzing a simple X, Y axis, or a PIN number process ... No, not for this Japanese company. What they were really looking for is a system that delivered a sort of "DNA" as in Dynamic Name Association process.

Actual DNA takes way too long but a new type of biometric that goes way beyond simple face recognition seemed to fit the bill.

3D facial recognition system uses structured lighting to create a facial grid of 40,000 measurable data points. Image Credit: Bioscrypt

Face recognition that uses a full three dimensional mapping technique (the first ever of its type) using sub-micron mapping points offered by Bioscrypt, an enterprise access control solution provider, is capable of passive recognition with high performance results in real life environments – typically all that is needed is a glance in the direction of the reader anywhere from 3-6 feet away (video below).

This from SecureIDNews -

Bioscrypt's facial recognition selected by Japanese agency for access control
SecureIDNews Wednesday, March 21 2007

Forget ID cards, PINs or 20th century keys, just your face will do. At least that's the premise behind Bioscrypt's VisionAccess 3D Face Reader, which is being deployed by a Japanese government agency. The system will, at sub-second speed, perform multiple facial scans against a database of stored images and corresponding data, granting authorized persons access.

Bioscrypt Inc., a leading provider of enterprise access control solutions, today announced the deployment of its VisionAccess 3D Face Readers at a Japanese Government Agency located in Tokyo. Employees will be identified based on a face match only, without the need for ID cards, keys or PIN technology. In using only biometric identification, the system eliminates the risk of tokens and keys being lost, stolen or misused.

Invariance to Angles - Real-time video feed adds to the richness of 3D parameters, performing recognition with full head motion of up to 30’ degrees each direction allowing for flexibility is user positioning. Image Credit: Bioscrypt

The VisionAccess 3D Face Reader, the world's first three-dimensional facial identification/verification reader with active user feedback, was chosen by the systems integrator, Barrier Reef, as the biometric component of the physical access system to be deployed at the Tokyo based agency because of the unique combination of accuracy and speed of recognition that the system provides.

"The facial recognition units monitor the entry and exit of hundreds of people each day without failure," stated Haruo Kosugi, Director, Barrier Reef. "The agency is extremely pleased with the results and plans on expanding the program to other agencies within the next few months."

"Government agencies around the world continue to rely on Bioscrypt to provide leading edge biometric physical access control technologies to verify the identity of individuals who enter their facilities and with the recent introduction of 3D face solutions, Bioscrypt now offers a greater range of products to meet the demands of partners and end-user prospects," said Robert L. Williams, President and CEO Bioscrypt. "Barrier Reef has proven to be a valued partner for us in the Japanese market and we look forward to continued success with them going forward."

Bioscrypt's advanced 3D facial recognition system uses structured lighting to create a facial grid of 40,000 measurable data points. The system performs multiple facial scans and comparisons against a database of stored images and corresponding data, and conducts accurate identification at sub-second speeds, from which authorized persons are confirmed for access.
Reference Here>>

A typical secured space door access application demonstration:

"Look Ma, no hands!" - The advantage of biometric facial recognition in three dimensions.

Auto ID > Symbology > Biometrics > Photo Pattern Recognition

Photo Pattern Recognition Hyperlink - Image Credit : Microsoft Corporation

Auto ID > Symbology > Biometrics > Photo Pattern Recognition

What is Photo Pattern Recognition (PPR)?

PPR is the ability to render a still photograph into an algorithm discernable identification symbol that then can be used for all of the cellphone applications that are being popularized in Japan and Korea to connect people, places, and things.

This method of taking a photo to create a unique symbology/identifier was first theorized in a paper introduced at an IEEE conference in 1996. The paper proposed that this “photo signature” approach would be best applied to the field of security identification and secure/restricted entry applications – but what do engineers know?

Microsoft Research has other ideas for this “photo signature” and is in an alpha test during development. This developmental program is called Lincoln and anyone can apply to be a part of the test.

In order to participate, one needs to register and then pick a photo to use as a test to be used in a database that can be accessed by all who are in the test. Microsoft, for its part, has scanned in over 850 DVD covers so that anyone in the test would be able to take their cellphone or a Pocket PC with a camera (programmed with the Windows Mobile 5.0 OS) and with a WiFi hookup or cellphone could run a demonstration.

With the programming downloaded into the device one could snap a shot of the DVD cover, and be taken to a web location that describes the content of the DVD (movie reviews, runtime, genre, and etc.).

The test is not perfect and will not run on all Windows Mobile 5.0 devices at this time.

Excerpts from the Microsoft Research Lincoln web portal -

Image Credit: Microsoft Corporation

What Can I Use Lincoln For?

With Lincoln you could...

- Link your band's concert poster to an MP3 download
- Link a postcard to your holiday photos on flickr.com
- Link restaurant signage to an online menu
- Link a CD cover to your own review
- Link your yearbook photo to your blog

Lincoln was designed to recognize photos of printed materials. The material should contain large text, pictures or graphics.

Lincoln will not work well on photos of 3D objects such as faces, although it would work on a photo of a photo of a face (like the yearbook example above).
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Try Lincoln at Your Local Video Store Today!

To illustrate Lincoln's usefulness we've added images of over 850 DVD covers and linked them to movie reviews on Amazon.com.

That's about all the titles you're likely to find "on the wall" at the video rental store.

So feel free to take your Smartphone (and Lincoln) with you the next time you're in the mood for a movie and let the Amazon reviewers help you decide what to watch!
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How Do I Search Using Photos on Lincoln?

There are two ways to search using photos:

1) Use the Lincoln mobile client (available for download) on your Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone or Pocket PC device.

This client allows you to capture a photo and instantly search Lincoln for related content.

2) Download your photos to your computer from your phone or digital camera and use the Search feature of this web site.

Just select one of your downloaded photos and Lincoln will automatically search for related content.
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How Do I Add an Image to Lincoln?

To become an Author on Lincoln you first create an account for yourself (see opposite on this page) by simply choosing an author name and a password.

Once logged on you'll be automatically sent to the "Add Image" page. Then just select an image on your computer, provide some relevant information such as web links or comments, and you're done!

You can manage the images you have authored on the "My Images" page.
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Why Should I Add an Image to Lincoln?

When you add an image to Lincoln you automatically own the "top" link for that image.

Your link (and comment) cannot be voted to a lower ranking, so other users will always see your link first.
On traditional search engines you need to pay to secure the top slot, but on Lincoln we're giving it to you for FREE !
Reference Here>>

Excerpts of a review from Technology Review - Physical World Hyperlink through photo pattern recognition or "photo signature". Image Credit: Technology Review

Mobile Web Searches Using Pictures
A new Microsoft application lets people search the Internet on their cell phones using a camera instead of a keypad.
By Kate Greene - Technology Review - Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Searching for information on your cell phone by typing keywords can be cumbersome. But now researchers at Microsoft have developed a software prototype called Lincoln that they hope will make Web searches easier. According to Larry Zitnick, a Microsoft researcher who works on the project, phones equipped with the software could, for example, access online movie reviews by snapping pictures of movie posters or DVD covers and get product information from pictures of advertisements in magazines or on buses.

"The main thing we want to do is connect real-world objects with the Web using pictures," says Zitnick. "[Lincoln] is a way of finding information on the Web using images instead of keywords."

The software works by matching pictures taken on phones with pretagged pictures in a database. It provides the best results when the pictures are of two-dimensional objects, such as magazine ads or DVD covers, Zitnick says. (See the accompanying chart to find out how compatible certain pictures are with Lincoln.) Currently, the database contains pictures of DVD covers that link to movie reviews uploaded by Microsoft researchers. However, anyone can contribute his or her pictures and links to the database, and Zitnick hopes that people will fill it with pictures and links to anything from information about graffiti art to scavenger-hunt clues. Right now, Lincoln can only be downloaded for free using Internet Explorer 6 and 7, and it can only run on smart phones equipped with Windows Mobile 5.0 and PocketPCs.

Lincoln is part of a trend to link the physical world with information on the Web, often with the help of cell-phone cameras. Nokia researchers are developing software and hardware that automatically hyperlinks buildings, storefronts, and certain people via a cell-phone camera. (See "Hyperlinking Reality via Phones.") And a handful of companies, including Mobot, based in Lexington, MA, are exploring the marketing capabilities of such technology by connecting pictures of real-world advertisements and company logos to the Web.

According to Zitnick, there are two elements that distinguish his technology from others. First is the fact that anyone can contribute images, links, and comments to the database. The second element is the type of image-recognition system that Microsoft researchers have developed, which Zitnick believes will be able to search through millions of images quickly.

At the heart of the image-recognition engine is an algorithm that analyzes a picture and creates a signature that describes the picture succinctly, using a small amount of data. This signature consists of information that describes the relative position of the pixels and the intensity of a certain feature in a picture, such as the Mona Lisa's smile. In order to make this information easily searchable, data triplets are created from groups of three features. For instance, a triplet might contain information about a close-up of the Mona Lisa's smile, cheek, and nose.

When a picture is taken, the algorithm quickly establishes these data sets and compares them with established sets for the pictures already in the database.
Read All>>

Symblogogy tried to have a Windows Mobile 5.0 developmental Enterprize Mobility unit from Korea get on board with Lincoln for demonstration purposes and was not successful.

As Microsoft developer Richard Hughes communicated to Symblogogy - "A few other users have reported a similar issue on the HTC Universal PPC (see http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=252971).

Our best guess at this time is that it is the WM5 phone API on these devices which is returning this error due to a problem in the underlying implementation (by the OEM) of the API."

We will wait until the Lincoln developmental team is able to overcome this issue with the API.

In the meantime, register and click away - this is another dynamic ripple in the world served through symbology.

Simple Technology Made Complex

Now here is a classic example of how to take simple technology to perform a complex task.

Wait for the cellphones.

HT: Pajamas Media

It’s All About Sight & Smell At Globalshop 2007

A Classic Car Tri-Panel Display - Video Credit: ecj-Symblogogy

It’s All About Sight & Smell At Globalshop 2007

Just walk the floor of the Globalshop 2007 and have your senses be assaulted.

Long held as one of the most visually appealing tradeshows in the western hemisphere, Globalshop brings together every enterprise that involves itself with the design, display and promotion of spaces that sell merchandise and establish the brand reinforcement.

There were many companies that had the usual shelving and flooring treatments, but what would catch one’s attention quickly were the sense based adornments and attention getters. The most effective were those that plied one with interactive visual images or the waft of chocolate in the nose to turn ones head.

EPSON showed what could be done with a camera(s) and a special projector that displayed an image which reacted to the movement of a person or thing passing through a particular space. The projected interactive effect is quite astounding.

Virgin Megastores on Hollywood Boulevard tested the interactive floor image generator with great success.

“The key to this is interactivity and getting the customer to stay longer in the store,” says John French, strategic business manager for digital signage at EPSON.

Virgin Entertainment Group chief marketing officer Dave Alder, finding that buzz around a promotion that marketers covet, say the signage has created quite the “talking point” in the store.

“It’s rare today to find an entertainment store that actually entertains its customers,” he says. “Unlike many other entertainment retailers, we work hard to add value to the shopping experience by adding a true sense of fun. The digitial signage marketing initiative is a significant part of this experience.”

Ohhhhhh, but for the sense of smell. Heck, one could get fat by just standing by a booth in one place all day (the smell was of a very grand and rich chocolate).

One such booth was run by a company that would be easily described as a Musak type of company (ala Xerox for copies, and Kleenex for tissues) … but don’t tell them that, they do music and a whole lot more ONE BETTER! That “one better” is a service called SCENT.

That company is the Austin, Texas based DMX and as they say in their sales mark tagline “sight. sound. science!” - in this case, they design environmental "scentscapes."

Excerpts from the DMX website -

Did you know that the largest movie theater chains pump the scent of fresh popcorn into their lobby? When they did, their popcorn sales increased by over 35-40%.

The smell of fresh baked chocolate-chip cookies, Douglas Fir Christmas Trees, and even that soft Coco Chanel No. 5 ladies perfume that your ex-girlfriend used religiously are all very strong memory triggers. They can, and do, remind you of people, places, things and events both good and bad in your life.

Because we experience the world around us with our senses, our sense of smell is every bit as important as what we see and hear.

Just as the smell of warm apple pie could comfort you and make you hungry, so could the smell of sweaty gym socks turn your stomach. As the manager of a commercial space, these environmental factors are no longer outside the scope of your control. You can shape a person’s perception and use all the most effective tools to get people to smile when they think of you.

In a world where one may be bombarded with over 3,000 advertisements each day, why not take advantage of the one type of communication vehicle that can’t be blocked out and THE one that you know people will remember?
Reference Here>>

As DMX would be keen to say – Differentiate yourself and be remembered. Get SCENT!

Beauty And The Web 2.0 - Contest Meets mCode Symbology

Advertising image used to get customers using the new "Decode" physical world connection (PWC) service offered by Smart Communications. Image Credit: Smart Communications

Beauty And The Web 2.0 - Contest Meets mCode Symbology

Recently Smart Communications introduced a service to its customers that allowed the cellphone owner to gain automated connections in a streamlined symbology method they call Decode.

Decode, based on a symbology developed by Nextcode (mCode) is scanned and the customer is taken to a reference website, a bill paying process, or in this case ... a vote for a contestant in a beauty contest!

It is only a matter of time where we in the United States will be able to get away from cumbersome "texting" to photo scanning our vote for ... an American Idol contestant ... really; it may not be that far off.

MS Salesforce Automation Meets PWC Tickertape

Text2Paper - It looks like a timeclock from the movie "Brazil," but one gizmo is actually a mobile phone calendaring accessory created by Microsoft researchers in Cambridge, England. Image Credit: DEAN RUTZ / SEATTLE TIMES

MS Salesforce Automation Meets PWC Tickertape

It's weird, a throwback to a time where typed communications were the standard.

The Dow Jones Index stock trades were once communicated over a wire to a machine that printed out each transaction within minutes of the transaction happening.

This week, Microsoft held a "TechFest" where they unveiled projects that some of the engineers of the company showed off what they had been working on.

Excerpts from the Seattle Times -

Touring Microsoft's TechFest
Posted by Brier Dudley - The Seattle Times - 3-6-2007, 05:22 PM

Here are a few of the demonstrations I saw today at TechFest, the annual "science fair" being held this week by Microsoft's advanced research group.

The company gave press and bloggers an early peek at some of the exhibits before the full show opens up to employees Wednesday and Thursday. Microsoft also posted Webcasts of presentations and demos here.

Some of the projects are being shown for the first time at the event, and the researchers generally don't know if their work will ever end up in an actual product. Some could even end up in products made by other companies, since Microsoft is now licensing the research group's intellectual property.
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Text2Paper, the device receives and prints short SMS messages sent from phones onto clear stickers. The labels can then be pasted onto an adjacent paper calendar, on the appropriate day. The idea is that family members could send appointments, shopping lists and other info to this system, which would most likely be mounted in a kitchen. Each printout also has a bar code that can be read by camera phones, so you can take a picture of an appointment with your phone and have it automatically synced with the device's calendar.
Reference Here>>

Technology solutions are were you can find them ... even when it makes everything old, new again.

Sex And The Web 2.0 - Or, When Denim Meets QR Code

French model wearing the first web-enabled, cellphone-interactive upscale casualware denim (jeans). Image Credit: Denim Code Press Release

Sex And The Web 2.0 - Or, When Denim Meets QR Code

Never has a symbology or denim jeans material ever looked so good.

This type of branding and marketing really has a way of catching ones attention. Let us not miss what is important here though, and that is? ... you ask!

Denim Code Tag (logo) example. Image Credit: Denim Code Press Release

The use of a symbology to act as a logo and a brand identification vehicle through which one is able to access additional information, videos, and even purchase goods from ones phone. One might say, with the code on the denim, these jeans are interactive.

Scan code process graphically depicted. With the code scanned, one might be directed to video images, or even a retail purchase website. Image Credit: Denim Code Press Release Website

Denim Code is a strong example of the future "Web 2.0" world to come ... where (in theory) everyone and everything will have an identifier, a symbology, a link associated with it so that people will be able to find out more information just by taking a picture with the phone camera, and the phone reaches out to a web location somewhere and displays the information that is linked.

The Denim Code, according to Christian-François Viala, one of the founders of the brand, is based on a QR Code (Quick Read) first created by Denso WAVE in Japan (for use in automobile manufacturing).

The QR Code was designed to be read at moving speeds of up to 2 meters a second making it uniquely suited for cellphone PWC/PWH (physical world connection/physical world hyperlink) applications.

The move tolerance of the QR based Denim Code allows one to catch and decode the logo on the move. Little or no technique is required by the operator of the phone camera in order to achieve the desired decoded effect!
Reference Here>> (translation in English from French - Gizmoto France)

(ht: The Pondering Primate)

RFID “Regulation E” Payment Receipt Requirements Reviewed

Gilbarco's Contactless Payment system accepts either contactless or magnetic stripe payment. Credit card companies currently supported include: American Express, MasterCard, and VISA. Image Credit: Gilbarco Inc.

RFID “Regulation E” Payment Receipt Requirements Reviewed

Technology creep may end up becoming a threat to proof of transaction for many purchases.

The proposed dollar amount for greenlighting a transaction without a proof of purchase receipt may be small but the truth is, that number is arbitrary.

Frankly, so are the standards that govern non-signature credit card transactions, but to do away with the requirement of proof of purchase receipt at the option of the system providers and card companies appears to erode transaction accountability.

Excerpts from CR80News -

Feds may yank Regulation E's receipt requirement for small dollar transactions
Change could open floodgates for contactless and other payment cards in vending, transit, unattended locations
By Chris Corum, Editor, CR80News - February, 2007

Regulation E, the rule outlining consumer rights with regard to electronic financial transactions, can make things tough on new payment offerings – but many argue that is its mission. Electronic payment providers have to make a slew of disclosures, they have to guarantee against fraudulent usage, they have to provide periodic statements, and they have to provide receipts for transactions. But this receipt requirement may be loosening. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is considering a change that would exempt transactions under $15 from the need to provide a receipt. Big deal you say? Read on.

Here is the Fed’s summary description:

“The Board is proposing to amend Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act ... The proposed amendments would create an exception for certain small-dollar transactions from the requirement that terminal receipts be made available to consumers at the time of the transaction.”

What was some of the justification suggested for the change?

Consumers are using electronic payments where they used to use cash as the dollar value ‘threshold’ for card payments has been lowering in consumer eyes. The idea is that consumers ‘want’ to use cards to pay for things that, in the past, would have required cash. Examples include vending machines, transit tickets, parking facilities, and other small ticket items and unattended locations.

According to the proposed rule change:

“Merchants, financial institutions and payment card associations have responded to the shift in consumer preferences towards non-cash methods of payment for small-dollar transactions in various ways. Payment card associations have changed their rules to enable quicker processing of transactions for both debit and credit cards.

For example, these associations have waived the signature and personal identification number (PIN) authorization requirements for certain types of purchases under $25.

Moreover, to encourage merchant acceptance of payment cards, these associations have also reduced their debit and credit card interchange rates for certain small-dollar transactions.
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The arguments against the proposed change centered on the following themes:

Consumers need receipts to keep track of expenditures, dispute incorrect charges, and reimburse expenses with employers.

The proposed changes would benefit industry but have no real value for consumers, so this is no longer a consumer protection regulation but rather an industry expansion effort.

Arguments in favor of the change centered around the fact that this could help to open up the use of the payment cards at new locations and venues, to the benefit of the modern consumer.

Additionally, many industry comments suggest that the threshold for the receipt exception be raised from $15 to $25:

Keep the amount consistent with the payment card association’s dollar value for no-signature requirements

Keep the amount consistent with common corporate travel policies for no receipt required for expense reporting purposes.

David DeMedio, commented as a representative of USA Technologies, a leading manufacturer of payment readers for unattended devices.
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“Deploying a credit/debit payment option, with the requirement to provide a receipt, would be a major, if not insurmountable impediment to industry wide acceptance. In vending, for example, many of the makes and models of the estimated 8 million vending machines installed in the U.S. do not have the required space to accommodate the additional receipt printer and paper roll. Also, since the newly introduced contactless credit/debit readers utilize the existing, available power from the host vending machine, adding a receipt printer would now require an additional power source to power the printer.“
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“Significant servicing issues arise with offering receipts because of the unattended, distributed nature of these machines and the infrequency in which they are serviced. Malfunctioning printers, empty paper rolls and litter from discarded receipts, which could go uncorrected for the reasons above, could actually cause the consumer to have a negative experience while purchasing from the machine, thereby negating the purpose to install the printers in the first place.”

What happens next?

According to a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve, the proposed change will follow an established process. Staff will review the comments and consider them as they prepare a final recommendation. This will be presented to a Board committee for consideration and, if approved, will be presented to the Board of Governors for final consideration.

Though a timeline is not available, other proposed changes have taken as long as eighteen months from start to finish.
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Stay tuned.
Reference Here>>