The mobile phone, guilty of crowding pocket space worldwide, is taking on the functionality of its pocket dwelling neighbor, the wallet. Japanese phone carriers, long known as early adaptor evangelists, are incorporating pre-pay smart card technologies that allow individuals to charge their mobile handsets with money from a bank account that can be deducted from their phone towards purchases like groceries, movie tickets, and transportation wherever a compatible reader exists. One such company, Edy, allows its users to hold upto $450 dollars at a time on a cell phone.

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The Philoneist Says: Spacious pockets are good. Complex interfaces are not. The right blend of functionalty and ease of use could make this feature quickly take off. I'm perplexed as to why there is such a large push for VOD content as the next big U.S. cell phone feature when mobile wallet capabilities seem more practical on an everyday basis. Though security is paramount, users could easily keep track of all their large purchases as well as small transactions that don't warrant the proceedure of credit card use.

Photo Credit: MSNBC