Apple Takes iTunes to Other Kinds of Payments

Apple introduced a new feature for the iPhone in its Apple Store app. The feature, called EasyPay, allows people to take a picture of the bar code of a product with the phone’s camera and then buy the product on the spot, using their iTunes account.

Previously, the app could be used to research products and order them, but the products had to be picked up from an employee in the store. For now, use of iTunes as a traveling wallet is modest; you can use it to buy the cheaper accessories in an Apple store. The phone’s location tracker has to be on, too, so Apple can verify that you are in one of its stores. The effectiveness of the product is impressive, however.