Slide 16.18: Mobile commerce applications (cont.)
Slide 16.20: Mobile commerce applications (cont.)
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Mobile Commerce Applications (Cont.)

Proactive Service Management
Applications collect information on user needs and then signal vendors to provide services. For example, smart sensors on an automobile relay information on component conditions to appropriate parties. A central access point (gateway) lets such information travel over wireless networks to a single location, from which it goes to specific parties.

For example, manufacturers can alert customers about levels of wear and tear in components and improve the quality of future products.

Retailing and Small-Amount Transactions
Cell phones are able to handle any number of purchases made on the fly: movie tickets, soft drinks, or Happy Meals.

The vending machine will be equipped either with the radio portion of a cell phone so that it can receive the call, or with a transceiver that works using Bluetooth, a wireless connection that allows high-speed communication among devices within a short distance of one another.  

The machine will then offer you a menu. You’ll choose, say, a Diet Pepsi for 75 cents and enter a PIN, and out will tumble your soft drink. Check a video clip.