Cell phones are multitasking in Japan

TOKYO — Mobile phones just keep getting more versatile in Japan.

With cellular phone in hand, Japanese consumers can purchase from vending machines, buy train tickets, order a bowl of noodles, trade stock, bid at online auctions and change channels on a TV set.

Just this month, in several metropolitan areas, users with the latest video-capable mobile phones could start watching seven television channels on their screens for free.

What's more, the latest phones are able to digitally record television programs.

"You can record 30 minutes of programming," said Taisei Hirai, a 39-year-old mulling a model of a mobile phone at a big Tokyo electronics store, his family beside him.

Consumers buy 45 million cell phones a year in Japan, and newer models are laden with all kinds of functions, including navigation tools, video cameras, digital music players and a multitude of e-wallet features that limit the need for cash and credit cards.

But what makes Japan the leader in creative uses of mobile technology is the variety of applications.

It's not unusual, for example, to see pedestrians sidle up to concert posters and use their mobile phones to read small bar codes. Their mobiles process the bar codes, automatically taking them to Web sites for more information. Viewing their mobiles, users can see prices, pick out seats and buy tickets.

Magazine ads, publicity fliers and bus stops often have bar codes that allow mobile users to arrive at Web sites to make purchases or see information.

"You're reading a catalog in the bathtub, and you say, 'Oh, I want to buy this.' And you read the bar code," said Jeffrey Funk, a commentator on the Japanese mobile phone market and professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

Last summer, Japan began to allow off-track and on-site betting on horse races from cellular phones.

Gazing into his cell phone screen near the paddock of Tokyo's Nakayama racetrack, Hiroyuki Takahashi said he was checking data about a thoroughbred online before placing a bet on his phone.

"I can find the most recent odds on the phone," Takahashi said, visiting the Web site of the Japan Racing Association.

Fans don't lose their precious seats in the stands or waste time at teller windows. Winnings are deposited automatically into their bank accounts.