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IN LITTLE under two decades, the mobile phone has evolved from a voice-only handset with a brick-sized battery, into a text, email and web communicator, game station, camera, video conferencing tool and radio rolled into one – all in a package small enough to slip into your pocket or purse.

So what’s next? According to NTT DoCoMo, the biggest network in cellphone-crazy Japan, phones are going to replace the wad of ID and credit cards we have to carry around.

This month, DoCoMo introduced four cellphones with what it calls “mobile wallet” (m-wallet) capability built in. Gone are the days of…

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