Apple has landed some more intellectual property for Passbook, its mobile wallet solution for iOS 6. This time it’s a patent directly related to shopping.
The latest is an NFC-powered shopping app that lets you make a list by scanning product codes or taking pictures. It will also pull up information you’d want to know like price, quality, ratings, etc. Then when you make your decision, you could check out electronically. It sounds a little obvious, and it actually seems similar to the Apple Store app that already exists, except this one would work at every store.
But just like the travel patent Apple recently earned, we won’t see it as a standalone product but rather another portion of Passbook. That’s not a bad thing though. With so many capabilities rolled in one, Passbook could be absolutely killer. Assuming, you know, the next iPhone actually has NFC. [USPTO via Engadget]