Curt Sampson <cjs@cynic.net> wrote on 02/25/2005 11:28:31:
> I've actually been really suprised that JR hasn't pushed their card much
> more agressively for other purposes. It will be interesting to see if
> they ever allow their application to be ported to other Felica chips,
> such as those in telephones.
>
> I also wonder how many applications will be shared across Docomo and
> Vodafone phones.
Curt,
JR announced earlier this week that it will allow keitai users to load the
Suica application into their Felica cards from January 2006. The
announcement was made with DoCoMo before Vodafone said it had signed onto
Felica. However, Felica Networks has always said it is not tied to DoCoMo
so I expect the app will be available across networks. The only
network-specific part would be the web page coding and bill collection for
the Suica recharging function.
JR is promoting Suica as e-money in shops on JR land, such as those inside
railways stations and (I think) Bic Camera in Yurakucho but I think there
might be some legal restriction towards it moving much further. There were
legal problems in the past to do with combining Suica and Edy on a single
card, for example.
Martyn
Received on Fri Feb 25 04:56:07 2005