Archive for February 28th, 2007

Samsung i718 appears

While it shouldn’t be long before the i600 is available in the UK another device from Samsung has appeared on the web. This time it’s the Samsung i718.

The i718 is a rather beautiful looking, thin device but when you look beneath the surface it might start to loose it’s appeal. To begin with there is no 3G or HSDPA, no WiFi and strangely, at a time when everyone else is moving to WM6 this device is said to be WM5! That said, the specification could well be different in the released version.

Samsung i718 Specification:

Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i718, Ultra Messaging, Samsung Windows Mobile blog]

Pay for burgers with your mobile?

Just when you thought you had heard just about every use for a mobile phone along comes another scheme!

Visitors to fast food outlets in Japan will soon be able to pay for their burgers with their mobile phones as Japanese mobile phone operator DoCoMo is teaming up with McDonalds to offer electronic payments and special promotions for mobile users.

Using mobile phones to pay for goods is a massive growth area as operators look for new ways to make money.

Japanese mobile owners are already leading the way, paying for food and train tickets via their handsets.

In the UK, YourRail is working with Chiltern Railways to offer commuters the chance to buy tickets with their mobile phones.

Users buy their ticket on the internet and it is delivered to their mobile phone in the form of a barcode. Gates are currently being installed at Marylebone station which will scan phones.

In Japan, DoCoMo set up a service which allows customers to use their handsets as a credit card.

I agree that this is a pretty good idea but I’m not sure that I like the idea that my mobile service provider would know so much about me and my spending habits.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): DoCoMo, McDonalds, YourRail, mobile payments, Tracy & Matt]