According to a new report from a well connected source, Apple is working on a brand new exciting app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
What does it do, you ask? You’ll be pleasantly surprised, that’s for sure. Read on…
Here’s from Mark Gurman, writing for 9to5Mac:
Apple is working on a new in-house application for iOS called “Organize.”
The application is said to be a virtual pocket, and the app’s purpose is to be able to replicate a person’s pocket and store things such as coupons, travel information, credit card info and more.
The author isn’t so sure whether this app, currently being worked on, will get some love at WWDC next Monday, if it’s a future iOS app, an integral part of iOS feature set “or something scrapped all together”.
Playing a guessing game, Gurman details that Apple “will be using the neat camera-based scanning software for the scanning in of business cards and receipts”.
Upon scanning, you’d use that to “provide virtual items that get used when shopping and travelling”
The teen blogging phenom goes on to speculate that “this application will eventually tie into the rumored Apple wallet/NFC service at some point in the future”.
He could be on to something here, especially taking into account countless NFC rumors related to a future iPhone that have yet to materialize, however.
Be that as it may, Organize sounds a lot like the Apple-patented iWallet thing, depicted below.
But Apple could have a far more intelligent solution in the cards, one that won’t necessarily rely on using a special chip to handle wireless payments.
I like an idea Mike Elgan recently proposed in his article over at Cult of Mac, titled Inside Apple’s Secret Plan to Kill the Cash Register.
In Layman’s terms, instead of using an NFC chip in future iPhones, Apple could simply tap Bluetooth 4.0 technology for iWallet, the most important benefit here being that Bluetooth 4.0 is already found on latest iOS devices.
“It’s already in your pocket”, John Brownlee explained in another post at Cult of Mac.
So. theoretically speaking, all Apple needs to do to make iWallet a reality is ship an app.
Elgan explains:
Look at how payment works at your local Apple Store. You walk in, flag down a Genius, you tell him what you want, he swipes your card on his iPhone and you walk right out the door.
You don’t wait in line at a register. There’s no till. It’s all done wherever. That’s how Apple believes retail shopping should be done.
So, retailers could just replace their cash registers with Bluetooth 4.0 equipped Macs, iPads, iPod Touches and iPhones to support this functionality instead of going through card issuers.
The genius of this plan? It’s already deployed. There’s no need to find room in every iPhone for an extra chip, or wait for other companies to get their act together about NFC and actually get it into stores.
Because Apple has been deploying Bluetooth 4.0 equipped devices since mid-2011, all Apple really needs to do to suddenly become a mobile payment company is go on stage at WWDC next month, officially announced iOS 6 and then say:”BAM! iWallet! It’s here… and your iPhone 4S is already capable of it!”
Makes sense, if you ask me.
What do you guys think?