KDDI Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. said Friday they have jointly developed a mobile phone equipped with an integrated circuit card that allows handsets to double as a train ticket or electronic money.
The new handset is based on the CDMA 1X third-generation mobile phone for KDDI's au mobile phone service, the two companies said.
KDDI has followed rival mobile phone service provider NTT DoCoMo Inc. in adopting Sony Corp.'s contactless IC card technology, known as FeliCa, for integration with mobile phones.
FeliCa is used in East Japan Railway Co.'s Suica system and the Edy electronic money service.
KDDI and Hitachi said feasibility tests are under way in a tieup with East Japan Railway. They hope to make it possible for one IC card to be used for transport fare payments, personal identification, and electronic money and ticketing operations.