Apple, Fandango teaming for Siri-enabled movie ticket sales in iOS 6.1

November 5, 2012 | By Jason Ankeny

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is collaborating with movie ticketing platform Fandango to introduce Siri voice-activated ticket purchasing options with the next update of its iOS mobile operating system.

Developers testing the iOS 6.1 beta seeded by Apple last week tell 9to5Mac that the new Fandango feature requires users to simply ask their iOS device to buy tickets to the film they wish to see--sample commands in the Siri information menu include "Buy four tickets to see Toy Story 3 tonight in San Jose[, Calif.]" and "Two tickets to Tangled at the City Theater at 9pm." Siri responds by presenting consumers with applicable showtimes and theater information, as well as a Fandango-branded "'Buy Tickets" button--transactions are completed via the Fandango application for iOS, and in the event the device does not have the app installed, Siri directs the user to its App Store download page.

The iOS 6.1 beta indicates the ticketing option is currently limited to consumers in the U.S. Developers who've trialed the feature add that it is not optimized for all U.S. theater locations; Siri-compatible venues are accompanied by a small movie ticket icon.

Fandango sells tickets to more than 20,000 movie screens nationwide, also offering consumers access to reviews, celebrity interviews and trailers. Its mobile ticketing service enables consumers to purchase paperless movie passes sent to their smartphones as scannable barcodes; mobile ticket purchases now account for 30 percent of Fandango's overall sales, up 121 percent since the third-quarter of 2011.

In September, Fandango updated its iOS app to support Apple's new Passbook virtual wallet, which collects movie passes as well as transit cards, retailer loyalty punchcards and related documents. iPhone and iPod users simply add Fandango purchases directly to the Passbook app, then show their iOS device screen to the ticket taker upon arrival at their local cinema, bypassing the box office line in the process.

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