'Oyster phone' trial goes live

On Wednesday a consortium of companies and organisations — including O2, Nokia, Visa and Transport for London — announced a six-month trial of mobile phones with built-in Oyster card functionality.

The Oyster card, introduced to the public in 2003, has become one of the most ubiquitous examples of near-field communications (NFC), a type of RFID technology that allows short-range connectivity without physical contact. The card has been rolled out across London's entire public-transport network — trains, the Underground, buses and trams — and is now used as part of the vast majority of journeys in the city.

The idea now is to put that same functionality into mobile phones, through the insertion of an NFC chip. Ultimately, the plan is to integrate NFC technology with SIM cards, so NFC wouldn't have to be separately integrated into the handset.