– The bookseller Barnes & Noble is taking the drive to do more of its trade online one step further: it’s launching a mobile version of its Internet bookshop, dubbed Storefront. One potential limitation in its reach, however, is that it is only available on Blackberry smartphones; there have been no plans announced yet to extend it to other handsets. Features of the service will include full descriptions and images of all products (these range from books to toys and music); a mobile shopping cart for secure transactions; and calendar and address book integration for reminders and special events. The service has been developed with m-commerce service provider Digby. release
— The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a new global standard to enable checking in for flights using a mobile phone. Passengers will be able to receive a barcode via MMS or SMS link, which they will present to a scanner, instead of a ticket, to check-in for flights. The service has been held up in the past because of differing standards for different regions. The new standard will be based on the dominant formats in Europe and North America, Aztec and Datamatrix, and Japan, which uses QR. IATA is aiming to have 100 percent bar-coded boarding passes by 2010, which it estimates could save the airline industry $500 million annually. release
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