RFID-enabled wristbands will allow anyone ACL Fest to hook up a credit card and pay for items without cash or a credit card. Credit: Front Gate Tickets
Ready for your cell phone to survive Austin City Limits Festival?
In this week's Digital Savant column, in the Tuesday print edition of the American-Statesman and on MyStatesman.com, I discuss the ways you can make your phone and other gadgets last longer and connect online more easily at ACL Fest, which runs this weekend and Oct. 10-12.
The Samsung Galaxy Experience will return to Austin City Limits Fest, allowing festgoers to try out Samsung Products, swap out batteries on devices, win prizes and charge up phones and tablets as they did at ACL Fest 2013. Credit: Samsung
Here’s an excerpt from the column:
ACL Fest is one of a handful of festivals this year where Front Gate Tickets is giving ticket buyers a cashless option to buy food, beverages, merchandise or anything else for sale at the fest. Each three-day or single-day wristband is equipped with a non-emitting RFID transmitter. Attendees are being asked to register their wristband (either off-site in advance, via mobile device or at a kiosk at the fest).
During registration, you can link a credit card and set a four-digit PIN number. Using the wristband and PIN, anything you buy will be charged to your credit card and you'll be emailed a receipt.
Maura Gibson, president of Front Gate, said the cashless system was used at Lollapalooza this year and exceeded expectations, with about a third of purchases being made using it.
And a note about connectivity: every year the major wireless carrier boost capacity around Zilker Park to accommodate all those mobile devices at the fest. This year, AT&T is bringing in two “MegaCOWs” (cell-sites on wheels) and increasing the number of Wi-Fi spots at Zilker. It should amount to about four times more network coverage than last year. Will it be enough? We shall see!
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