Apple iTravel patent win is a passbook for check-in technology
Skift Take
With these patents and the looming introduction of Passbook for boarding passes and check-ins, Apple wouldn't be getting into travel transactions, but would be playing at the fringes. The world isn't ending; it's probably only getting more efficient and elegant.
The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 23 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In our first granted patent report of the day we mainly focus on a major patent relating to iTravel, Apple’s transportation check-in system.
The timing couldn’t be better for this patent as Apple recently announced that a new feature called “Passbook” was coming to iOS 6 this fall. Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior Vice President of iPhone Software, stated that Passbook would include travel services such as a boarding pass and express check-in which today’s iTravel patent covers. The Near Field Communications (NFC) aspect of the patent will also be important for Apple’s future iWallet application.
Image courtesy of Patently Apple