Yahoo Dome to sell i-Mode FeliCa baseball tickets Mobile Phones / NTT DoCoMo Posted by zmcnulty on Jul 14, 2005 - 07:49 PM |
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First it's plane tickets, then train tickets, and now...baseball tickets! Yes, the next time you hit the Yahoo Dome (where the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks play), be sure to take your i-Mode FeliCa compatible FOMA handset as you can feel the wireless IC glory. Fukuoka Softbank Hawks Marketing announced on the 14th that "Hawks IC Ticket" will launch in late August at the Fukuoka Yahoo Dome, which can accept FeliCa data inside of mobile phones as tickets. The service can be used on i-Mode FeliCa supporting handsets, known otherwise as "Osaifu Keitai" (Translator's note: "Osaifu" means wallet, but since it's a proper name, I just left it as-is). Tickets for watching the game can be reserved on the mobile-phone version of the Softbank Hawks website, and they can be purchased using an online credit card. The ticket is then stored in the FeliCa chip, and when game day comes around, you just wave your moble phone past kiosk units that have been installed at the Yahoo Dome; this acts just like a paper ticket, and you can enter the stadium. The system development and application is being conducted by Realize Mobile Communications, part of the Softbank Group. Just before the start of the game, the number of empty seats can be confirmed before purchasing a ticket using your mobile phone...so making quick decisions about going to the game or not is possible. There is also no more cost associated with mailing tickets. For the organizers of the game, implementation of this system also means that prices or distribution of tickets can be easily adjusted depending on game day, or depending on the outcome of previous games. Furthermore, there will be a great reduction in ticket handling expenses. Although the system currently doesn't allow you to buy your friend's ticket and just hand them your phone over the entry gate so they can also enter, in the future, the system will allow information to be sent to the mobile phones of other users. Using FeliCa and QR codes, tickets can be distributed on an individual basis, and the company is also looking into creating a "sit next to" service. They are of course also looking into a service to view a seat map when purchasing a ticket. Hawks IC Ticket can be used from the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks official i-Mode site. It is accessed by going to "Sports," then "Baseball." There is no charge for usage of the service.
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0507/14/news073.html [1] Fukuoka Softbank Hawks Marketing: http://softbankhawks.co.jp/ [2] |
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This article is from TechJapan http://www.techjapan.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.techjapan.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1058 Links in this article [1] http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0507/14/news073.html [2] http://softbankhawks.co.jp/ |
