Sony Corp. and NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Monday they will jointly develop integrated circuit chip technology that will allow mobile phone users to pay for groceries and train fares using their handsets.
Handsets embedded with smart wallet features of this kind will be available by mid-2004, they said.
By joining hands, Sony, developer of the FeliCa smart card, and NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile phone operator in Japan, hope to establish de facto standards in the area of electronic money, which is expected to replace cash for many daily transactions.