Taiwan Mobile, MasterCard test mobile payments
692001
InfoWorld - Taiwan Mobile Co. Ltd. and MasterCard International Inc. have already started testing a mobile phone payment system in Taiwan, but competition to lure users will catch fire when the mobile phone operator&#39;s larger rival opens its trials with Visa.
351432
Business & money: The resilience of coins and notes as a favoured way of paying will be put to the test again, following the launch of contactless payment cards in London.
512158
InfoWorld - Mobile payments and banking are now moving into the United States through some big names, but the speedy checkout system is slow to put in place.
551455
A handheld device that recognises the way a finger sweeps across the screen has been developed by Taiwanese phone maker HTC.
125477
(InfoWorld) - A Taiwanese research institute has produced a new global memory card standard, the miCard (Multiple Interface card) designed to work in smaller consumer gadgets such as digital cameras, mobile phones, as well as any device with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) plug, which are common on PCs. The purpose of the card is to make transferring pictures, songs, and other data between gadgets and PCs easier. The card won the stamp of approval from the MultiMedia Card Association (MMCA) on Thursday, and is expected to be available globally starting from the third quarter. Users will not only benefit from the versatility of the card, but also its speed. The miCard will transfer data at 480Mbps, and throughput will improve over time. The miCards due out in the third quarter will be able to store 8GB of information, but the maximum capacity is expected to top out around 2,048GB. The compatibility with both USB and MMC slots means most users won't need separate card readers anymore. MMC cards fit most consumer electronics, while USB connections are built into a wide range of IT hardware, including laptops, desktops, printers and home entertainment gear. So far, 12 Taiwanese companies have signed on to manufacture the miCard, according to its inventor, the Industrial Technology Research Institute. Officials expect local companies to save $40 million in licensing fees thanks to the card, in addition to profiting from sales. Taiwanese companies will not have to pay royalties to make miCards or related technology. The companies already committed to making miCards include A-Data Technology, Asustek Computer, BenQ, Carry Computer Eng. Co., C-One Technology, DBTel, Power Digital Card Co.,Â and RiCHIP. The specifications for the cards will be made available in June.ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
411546
Some German bus commuters will soon be able to use their mobile phones as electronic wallets when a new trial of the technology called Near Field Communications (NFC) gets underway.
253255
The latest technology is on display in Taiwan at the Computex trade show. Mobile products are everywhere--here's what our roving correspondents found.
758772
The low-cost airline will offer mobile access to passengers, for a price. Fees to "mirror" roaming charges.
181539
'Gpay' would support payments from vending machines and retailers by text message or SMS.
96324
Global mobile phone makers including Taiwan&#39;s High Tech Computer Corp. are already testing new processors from Qualcomm Inc. with which the chip manufacturer hopes to challenge Intel Corp. in the market for ultramobile PCs and mobile devices.
570408
BusinessWeek Online - Once a month, 24-year-old Jane Manarang drops by the McDonald's  in her busy Manila neighborhood. But she's not there for a burger and fries. Instead, she is stopping by to cash an electronic check. Her husband, a teller at Forex International in Hong Kong, sends a portion of his salary to Manarang using a new mobile-phone-based cash remittance service called Smart Padala. His Hong Kong remittance company sends a text message to Jane's phone, crediting the money to her account. ...
633318
The cheque will never be in the post again Anam Mobile and TR2 Communications have launched a service allowing cash payments over SMS, but you'll have to wait until network operators implement it before chucking the cheques.â¦
403815
Vodafone Group, Europe's largest mobile phone operator, is testing several network systems from Chinese manufacturers with the intention of purchasing equipment within the next few years.
422564
Softbank Corp (9984.T), Japan's smallest  mobile phone carrier, said on Monday it would not charge  monthly fees for three years to students signing up to the  carrier for the first time. Softbank, which is trying to grab  market share in a saturated market, outstripped bigger rivals  NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T) and KDDI Corp (9433.T) in netting new  users in December for the eighth straight month.
464645
Company tests new service that will let Nokia phones be used in stores that accept Mastercard's PayPass contactless payment cards.
424749
(InfoWorld) - Mobile payments and banking are now moving into the United States through some big names, but the speedy checkout system is slow to put in place. VisaÂ and Wells FargoÂ have finished the first phase of a trial of in-person mobile coupons, payment by phone, and over-the-air account management, the companies said Wednesday. They ran that test inside Wells Fargo's Customer Experience Research Lab, and the next step, starting in the next few months, will involve 30 to 50 Wells Fargo employees in the real world. Only after that second phase will the partners sign up actual consumers for a test. That third phase, involving 300 to 500 holders of Wells Fargo Visa cards, is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year. Some U.S. consumers, including Wells Fargo customers, are already using their mobile phones for banking tasks such as checking account information and transferring funds. In-person payments by mobile phone, already popular in Japan and strongly backed by Finland's Nokia, have taken longer to reach the United States. The payments require a specially equipped phone and a payment device located in a store, restaurant, stadium, or transit turnstile. Wells Fargo and Visa, like Nokia, plan to use NFC (near field communications), though a different system is used by pioneer NTT DoCoMoÂ in Japan. NFC is based on RFID and can communicate over a few centimeters, or users can just tap the phone against the payment device. At the heart of the system is downloadable client software developed by Visa, which is already in use in South Korea, according to Peter Ho, a vice president and product manager at Wells Fargo. The trials by Visa and Wells Fargo go beyond just tap payments. In the second phase of testing, the Wells Fargo employees will be able to receive, store, and redeem mobile coupons; monitor their credit or debit account activity; and manage their funds on the phone. They will make NFC payments at merchants equipped for Visa's payWave system, which today lets consumers wave their Visa cards in front of a secure reader. It's the first system in the United States to combine mobile banking and payments, Ho said. "The customer is going to expect to be able to do both," Ho said. The consumer experience only needs to be fine-tuned, and Wells Fargo and Visa are enthusiastic about the technology, according to Ho. It's the business model that needs to be worked out, he said. For one thing, no mobile operator yet offers an NFC handset to its subscribers, the typical way U.S. consumers get their phones, he said. The two partners are talking with carriers and with providers of mobile payment infrastructure to set up a system that's attractive to all, he said. Ho would not speculate when all those pieces will come together in a commercial service. Competing technologies are holding back phone payments, according to In-Stat analyst David Chamberlain. Everyone involved wants to know they won't be stranded with a system others aren't using. In addition to NFC, some companies are advocating the use of text messages or barcodes generated on the phone, Chamberlain said. The best thing Visa could do would be to convince one of its own competitors to also use NFC, he said.
663115
Early tests will cover in-person mobile coupons, payment by phone, and over-the-air account management.