Sharp Phone for NTT DoCoMo Doubles as Car Key Fob

It’s obvious enough that the mobile phone world is all about convergence these days, because we just don’t want to carry around that much stuff in our pockets anymore. Cell phones are working to replace our MP3 players, digital cameras, and PDAs, and this latest offering from Sharp aims to replace your car key fob as well.

The new Sharp phone will be sold through NTT DoCoMo in Japan and it effectively takes on the functionality that you’d normally find in your car’s remote. You can use your phone to effectively lock, unlock, and start your car using the buttons on the face of the handset. Sharp didn’t reinvent the wheel here, because it just implemented existing Intelligent Key technology from Nissan.

In Japan, you can use your phone as your e-wallet too, so effectively all you need in your pocket is your mobile phone. That certainly clears out a lot of clutter.