Some smart cards could also soon feature Java-specific microprocessor cores, which is the basic technology of the chip. Sun Microsystems is currently working with Visa and Siemens Semiconductors, a supplier of electronic components for automotive, communications, consumer electronics, data processing, and embedded, control, and memory applications. Siemens's 16-bit core will offer Java code and will be optimized to execute Java applications on the Java Card platform. The technology is expected to be available in mid-1998. Siemens plans to license the technology to other semiconductor vendors.
Smart cards are already popular in Europe but are practically unknown in the United States.
Both Visa and Mastercard have conducted numerous trials around the country, including many colleges and universities. By the end of 1998, New York-based Jupiter Communications projects smart cards to account for just over 10 percent of all online purchasing, or 35,000 transactions, growing to 26 percent by the end of the year 2000. Find out how.