Japan will start an aggressive push to market abroad its mobile technology, especially its popular "wallet phone," a Ministry of Internet Affairs official said.

According to Masayuki Ito, the latest initiative spearheaded by the government with an industry group of Japanese carriers and manufacturers is an effort to help Japan catch up in wooing global users.

Among the wireless innovations Japan hopes to sell is the wallet phone. The technology relies on a tiny computer chip called FeliCa, embedded in each cell phone, which communicates with a reader-device at stores, train stations and vending machines for cashless payments.

FeliCa was developed by Japanese electronics and entertainment company Sony Corp. While the technology is more common in smart cards, popular in Singapore and parts of Europe, Japan hopes to market it overseas for cell phones.

Although Japan boasts some of the most sophisticated cell phones in the world, delivering high-speed internet connections, digital TV broadcasts and video downloads, the nation has failed to make its handsets, wireless technology and mobile services hits outside of Japan.

Source:AP News