Although I think mobile TV and other consuming applications and offerings won't fly until it's cost effective for consumers, using your cell phone to make transactions is viable. Visa launched a mobile payment platform designed to support contactless payments, coupons and other m-commerce applications.

The platform "is designed to foster collaboration between the financial services and mobile telecommunications sectors," the company said, and consists of a suite of technology tools, applications and security standards. An initial version supports direct marketing and over-the-air personalization services; Visa said upgraded versions will come to market later this year that will support remote payments and person-to-person transfers.

VISA is not alone, banks and credit card companies are struggling to gain traction in the nascent space against PayPal Inc. and a host of pure-play startups including Obopay, MobileLime, Secure Wireless Transfers Corp. and ClairMail Inc.

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