Smart phone software provider Geoworks Inc is teaming up with the Smart Card Forum to speed the development and utilization of smart card technology for wireless devices. The Alameda, California-based company will work with the Forum, a group of companies working together to speed up the acceptance of multiple application smart card technology, combining Geowork’s smart phone capabilities with the Forum’s smart card expertise. Members of the McLean, Virginia-based Smart Card Forum include Compagnie des Machines Bull SA, Gemplus Group SA, Schlumberger Ltd, Fujitsu Plc, Hewlett-Packard Co and Microsoft Corp. Geoworks hopes it will be able to create opportunities that will enable users of wireless devices, such as mobile telephones to access smart cards so that banking and other financial transactions can be made. The company believes it will be able to create a completely new shopping experience by turning smart phones into mobile point- of-sale devices. Geoworks says that all Groupe Speciale Mobile GSM-based handsets have a slot for a Subscriber Identity Module SIM card, which is smart card dedicated so it can be used in conjunction with the GSM standard for telecommunications. Projections indicate that telephone companies will see a dramatic increase electronic cash and internet transactions with figures rising from 1996’s 250 million to some 25 billion in 2006.
