The Japanese have been using cell phones for a couple years now that allow consumers to purchase any number of goods.
They do this by simply swiping their phone instead of a credit card. Cell phones embedded with smart cards are placed near a touch pad reader.
This enables it to perform the function of a credit card.
Nothing new really. But what has happened is it has caused a problem with Cell Phone Stealing.
If you get access to someone's cell phone you can easily buy whatever you want by simply swiping their phone.
This has lead to other inventions to prevent this and several companies are coming up with ways to prevent this.
LG Telecom has a biometric cell phone which features a fingerprint sensor. With the simple swipe of a finger, the sensor quickly identifies and enables authorized users to access the phone's full capabilities - while locking out thieves and stopping others from accessing the phones important files.
Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo's phone has a security key card. If owners keep the card in their bag or pocket, the phone recognizes when the card moves too far away and locks automatically to prevent use, if it's lost or stolen.
And despite its decidedly creepy photo, Japan's Oki Electric has developed an iris-recognition security system for mobile phones and plans to release it commercially in March.
What makes this technology different from other eye-scanning systems is that it can work with any camera-equipped cell phone or PDA, as long as it uses Oki's software.
It will be a very interesting to see, as it comes to the US, how consumers react to the quick purchase ability and secondly what security protection they end up using.
Maybe this will work, maybe not.
Cell Phone Swiping may go the way of the Cell Phone Mouse. or the Movie projector in a cell phone.
My opinion is that the security they create to prevent someone from using a stolen cell phone will probably be coming to all cell phones in the U.S. soon.
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