Registered: Nov 2001
Location:
Posts: 4

smartcard and visor

Hello!

I 'm searching in vain a visor module to read smartcard . I mean a module which could read not only magnetic device but microprocessor cards.

has anybody a hint on that.. (sorry for my poor english)

Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 383

If you mean Smart Media http://www.memplug.com

I do not really understand what you mean but a link with some info on these smartcards would help.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

My question would be why? What would a SmartCard and/or a magnetic stripe reader be able to do on a Visor?

__________________

God bless America, my home sweet home...

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Arlington, TX
Posts: 334

There is not a module that I know about. For those that don't know,
a smartcard is used in the digital satellite receivers and holds the
programming info. Would be nice
to program one directly on the Visor.

__________________
Rick

www.visorsolutions.com

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 832

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkEagle
My question would be why? What would a SmartCard and/or a magnetic stripe reader be able to do on a Visor?

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location:
Posts: 4

smartcard

shady....!!
not all i try to make it clear..
i live in france (europe) as physician , i use daily smartcart to transmit to health insurance our bill... i use a PC and a smartcard reader at office but when i am out of my office it is impossible to carry my PC with me , it would be nice if visor could memorise some data and then i synchronyse them back at my office


i hope i am a littre clearer

sorry ,not to be a smuggler
thank

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 832

Re: smartcard

quote:

---

Originally posted by joachim13
shady....!!
not all i try to make it clear..
i live in france (europe) as physician , i use daily smartcart to transmit to health insurance our bill... i use a PC and a smartcard reader at office but when i am out of my office it is impossible to carry my PC with me , it would be nice if visor could memorise some data and then i synchronyse them back at my office


i hope i am a littre clearer

sorry ,not to be a smuggler
thank

---

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Not so sunny, San Diego, CA
Posts: 51

NOT SMARTMEDIA Already!!

Joachim,
If memory serves, France has a national healthcare system, and everybody has a national ID card, which you would need to scan when providing services outside of the office, no? This makes sense as a good use of a module..

Unfortunately, no-one makes such a beast for the Springboard (smartcards are few & far between in the States). I think there are a few industrial PDAs that have card scanners (mostly for credit cards, though).. Your best bet is to contact the manufacturer of your office SmartCard reader and see if they have any ideas on a portable solution...

Of course, the next problem is, what are the Privacy Information issues of carrying around multiple patient's information in your PDA, considering they are notorious for being stolen and have poor security/encryption...

I'd reccomend looking for another solution rather than using your Visor for this.. Good luck!

__________________
"It's hard to find my guiding light with this lantern in the way..." Diogenes

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK
Posts: 92

Smartcards aren't the same as SmartMedia - the latter is just a memory thing. Smartcards are a whole platform, used for an awful lot of things.

As already mentioned by someone else, they're used in some national health systems - I think Germany as well as France - to hold a patient's records, so they can be called up wherever the card is presented. And they're also used in both physical and electronic access systems, eg locks or TV decoders.

GSM SIM cards are also just smartcards for a specific application - the first generation had th esame credit card form factor, and even now many SIMs will be delivered that size, leaving the user to push out the chip and a little bit of plastic if their phone uses the smaller factor more common in modern phones.

You'll also find smartcards used in payment systems, like the Mondex electronic cash system trialled in Swindon a few years ago (http://www.mondex.com/). The Netherlands and Belgium have payment systems using smartcards too, called respectively Chip-Knip and Bancontact Mister Cash, if I remember correctly.

And if you have a french credit card (and some others now - the French were early adopters) it is a smart card. Pay by card in a Paris restaurant, and you'll usually be asked to key your PIN into a portable reader brought to the table. No slips for people to take, no signatures to be copied...

Unfortunately, the credit card form factor is just a little too big for a flush springboard. But it could be a potentially very useful application, similar to the 'wallets' envisioned by Mondex.

In that system, say you run a market stall, and want to accept payments from people with an e-cash card. You'd just tap the amount on the screen of your Visor, then slot the customer's card into the reader. The cost is removed from the balance on their card, and when you put your own card in the reader, it's transferred to yours.

Given the number of things smartcards are used for, certainly in Europe, perhaps it's only a matter of time before someone comes up with a Visor module.

Those who really want to know more could try http://www.smartcardforum.org or one of the many other sites covering the area.

Nigel.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 22

Hand'IT reader

I know very little on this subject but visorcentral has this in its product page:

http://www.visorcentral.com/content...heet-78-45-.htm

It says it is a smart card reader from Hand'IT.
Is this what you are talking about?

The website for this product is in here:

http://www.insidefr.com/products/HandIt.htm

I hope this helps.

Last edited by spock on 11-13-2001 at 02:05 AM

Registered: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 2

Magnetic Card Reader

A company call Tokenworks http://www.tokenworks.com introduced a 3-track magnetic card reader module that also has 2 Meg of Flash memory.

The press release is at
http://www.handspring.com/company/p...l_2132002.jhtml