Cell Phone in your Wallet: Japan introduces Wallet Phone
Japan is usually the leader in new technology but having been there last year, I have to say, some of their gadgets are strange to say the least.
One of the most popular phones is apparently the Wallet Phone, an ingenius device which brings together the two most common things guys stick into their jeans pockets.
Among the wireless innovations Japan hopes to peddle is the wallet phone. The technology relies on a tiny computer chip called FeliCa, embedded in each cell phone, which communicates with a reader-device at stores, train stations and vending machines for cashless payments.
In Japan, wallet phones have been available since 2004, introduced by top mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo. Most recent handset models here have the wallet function.
The ‘wallet phone’ is exactly what it sounds like, except it’s not really a wallet where you can store stray coins and your driver’s license. When you see ‘wallet’, think money; the phone has a tiny computer chip called FeliCa that allows the owner to buy products and services with just a wave near a reader-device at a store register or vending machine. Similar innovations do exist in the US, such as the Visa payWave that doesn’t require any swiping of a credit card. But Japan’s product is a wallet and a phone; and the fact that it’s a phone makes it ten times cooler.
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