In Japan, cell phones can just about be used for anything such as paying for train tickets and even downloading discount brochures. Yet another venue for some cell phone swiping action is currently being tested by SoftBank Mobile, NTT Data, Hitachi, and Dutch smart chip maker Gemalto. The devices currently undergoing a test run are called "smart posters"--movie posters that come preloaded with digital goodies.

These posters use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which is a "short-range high-frequency wireless communication technology." Users would just have to swipe the posters using their phones with NFC-USIM cards to download trailers and movie stills. They can even get access codes that could be used with a compatible Hitachi HDTV to watch high-quality trailers. The technology is currently being tested on WALL-E and Tinker Bell movie posters.