I actually wanted to introduce a new section at my blog here, it would have been called ‘mobile ideas’. But sometimes your idea is just too simple and you realize you can’t be the only one thinking about it. My idea was Oyster Mobile. For non-Londoners: an Oyster Card is a card used for payments in public transport, used when entering and exiting the tube stations of London. You pay by touching an ‘oyster’, which is shown in the picture, with your card. The technology behind this is called Near Field Communication, which basically means that there are two chips and a wireless signal which is received when the chips are near each other. This technology can also be used for payments with your mobile phone. You can simply provide a phone with an NFC chip and connect it to an application on your phone to make payments. This was my initial idea, a bad one, I should have known they were already doing this in Japan and Korea (didn’t even check, but they must be) and I’ve read that succesful tests have been run here in London already as well. After the introduction of Oyster Mobile, you could only imagine the possibilities this will open for loyalty programs and supermarket checkouts.
But above all, it really bothers me that Dutch commuters have already been waiting for several years for the Dutch Oyster Card (OV Chip Card) to come along. A technique which is used in London for ages, and is even considered to be outdated by some people, has still not been fully put in practice in The Netherlands. Meanwhile the Dutch government has already spend millions on research and tests and provided all the train and metro stations with big automatic gates, which are continually open for several years because now one has a card to use it.
Photo credits to rashbre
That’s all, want more like this?
- The story behind Google Switch
- How online brands stay away from mobile and give operators even more power
- Finding your big idea is like finding true love
Peter Evers is currently employed as Business Development Manager at yoMedia, where he is responsible for conceptualizing mobile applications and sales. He has extensive experience in the mobile advertising market, having worked at the mobile advertising department of leading Dutch ad network WebAds, as well as having led on mobile sales at the leading UK ad network Unanimis. |
Tags: London, NFC, OV Chip Card, Oyster card, Oyster Mobile, Thoughts, tube
4 Responses
Leave a Reply
-
Next: Mobile Idea: Texting with my sponsored child
Previous: How to monetize a mobile service? - space
‘Mobile Ideas’ ?
Where do I sign up?
Ha, right here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/petereversnet
But if they’re too good I might just keep them for myself 
Brilliant blog, with some nice insight into the future of advertising. Good continuation of the lunch-time lectures about mobile!
Super-Duper site! Will come back again – taking you feeds also, Thanks.