RFID Fitted Throughout Tokyo Ginza Shopping Center

Liam Cromar writes "In one of several RFID trials being held in Japan, the famous Ginza shopping area in Tokyo has been blanketed with around 10,000 RFID tags and other beacons. The trial got underway earlier this month, and general trials should start on January 21st 2007. Four languages, including English, will be supported by the service, which uses hand-held RFID terminals to get information about shops in the centre, including special offers and restaurant menus."

Do they know what RFID is for?

[partenon]

With this you can just push a button and find the where you want to go even if you're drunk!

This is the *worst* use of RFID I've ever read about :-) OK, the entire solution is interesting, but does this guy (probably from marketing) knows the uses of a RFID tag?

Doesn't seem feasible to me

[Salvance]

I don't see how this would ever work. Hardly anyone would be willing to pay for the ability to carry around a little 3 1/2" shopping buddy, and the shopping center would lose their shirt if they just handed them out (since many people would probably walk off with them). Seems like beeming info to shopper' cellphones would be a much more marketable (and profitable) endeavour.

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Re:If It'll Find Me an Eglish Menu...

[Anonymous Coward]

Find a restaurant that has a food display outside, pick one that looks good, and write down its name. Show that to the waiter/waitress. You can show the slip of paper to your friend later to find out just what the heck it was you had ;)

Re:The right tool for the job?

[Antique Geekmeister]

There's a big difference between tracking people in a voluntary fashion with a wrist bracelet, or giving ordinary people access to the RFID information of the contents of stores, than using it against their will via a national ID card or even a passport where they didn't ask for it and they have no access whatsoever to the data: only the federal government has access to the data, with all the risks and demonstrated incompetence the passport RFID project has demonstrated, and where the risks of forgery are much more demonstrable.