Five tech firsts for Olympics

The London 2012 Olympic Games will see several technologies making an appearance for the first time in the event’s history, in areas like communications infrastructure, media and the sporting activities themselves.

 

Here are five technologies making their debut at the Games, and what they will mean for athletes and spectators alike.

Pay phone

 

The London Games will be the first to make use of a mobile contactless payment application, being offered by official sponsors, Visa and Samsung. Near-field communications technology has been built into Samsung’s Galaxy S III phone – the “official phone of the Olympics” – which allows users to wave their phones in front of a contactless reader to make a purchase. The app also displays transaction history and account balance, providing customers with greater visibility into what they’re spending and how much money they have left.

The phone, if associated with a Visa card, can be used to pay for items up to the value of £20 anywhere that accepts contactless payments, for any purchases within the Olympic areas. It’s estimated there will be about 140 000 contactless terminals in the country by the time the Games roll around.