What country invented Phone cards?
"Italy was under strong Spanish influence so their cards closely resemble the ones in Spain. Northern Italian suits used curved swords instead of straight ones and their clubs are ceremonial batons instead of cudgels. Swords and clubs also intersect unlike their Spanish counterparts. Tarot cards were invented during the early 15th century in northern Italy as a permanent suit of trumps (trionfi). Italian-suited cards are rarely found outside of Northern Italy. In the past, however, tarot cards based on those from Milan, the Tarot of Marseilles, spread to France, Switzerland, and most of central and northern Europe before being replaced"
"issuing rechargeable calling cards in the early 1990s, also obtainable over the internet, which became the most common phonecard on the market. Cards can be recharged or topped up in a variety of ways: Even though the calling card was first introduced in Italy the country that took to the calling card most was Japan, where calling cards were introduced in 1982 by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT). It was an instant hit, selling thousands a day on the subway systems in Tokyo and Osaka, various other companies began to get involved and released their own variants. In 2000, Brastel"
"the top of the cards, so that the user can see the balance of remaining units. Optical cards were produced by Landis+Gyr and Sodeco from Switzerland and were popular early phonecards in many countries with first optical phonecards successfully introduced in 1977 in Belgium. Such technology was very secure and not easily hackable but chip cards phased out the optical phone cards around the world and the last Landis+Gyr factory closed in May 2006 when optical phonecards were still in use in few countries like Austria, Israel and Egypt. The third system of stored-value phonecards is chip cards, first launched"
"on a large scale in 1986 in Germany by Deutsche Bundespost after three years of testing, and in France by France Télécom. Many other countries followed suit, including Ireland in 1990 and the UK circa 1994-1995, which phased out the old green Landis+Gyr cards in favor of the chip (smart) cards. The initial microchips were easy to hack, typically by scratching off the programming-voltage contact on the card, which rendered the phone unable to reduce the card's value after a call. But by the mid-to-late 1990s, highly secure technology aided the spread of chip phonecards worldwide. Making a prepaid or"
"Telegraph Company in 1870, and by Western Union in 1871, and on 14 October 1884 an A.W. Cooke of Boston received Patent 306,674 from the United States Patent Office for the idea of putting postage stamps into booklets. Luxembourg was the first country to issue booklets, in 1895, followed by Sweden in 1898, the United States in 1900 and Great Britain in 1904. The idea became popular and quickly spread around the world. Originally booklets were produced manually, by separating sheets into smaller panes and binding those. These are not distinguishable from the sheet stamps. Later, the popularity of booklets"
"Postal card Postal cards are postal stationery with an imprinted stamp or indicium signifying the prepayment of postage. They are sold by postal authorities. On January 26, 1869, Dr. Emanuel Herrmann of Austria described the advantages of a ""Correspondenz Karte"". By October 1, 1869 the world's first postal card was produced by Austria-Hungary. They caught on quickly. By the end of 1870, Great Britain, Finland, Switzerland and Württemberg joined the countries issuing postal cards. In the United States, they were first produced in 1873. Some of the forms taken by postal cards include the regular single card which may be"
"or any other way. Also, as the card balance is actually recorded on the card company's database, topping up can be effected in any manner that funds can be transferred to the company. Calling cards were introduced in Italy in 1977 and became especially popular in Japan when they were introduced there in 1982. These cards had a set value that could be spent and, once the credit was used, the card would be discarded. Calling cards began to gain popularity around the world and they turned into a multimillion-dollar industry. In an attempt to improve the phonecard, companies started"
"ease of use of sliding a card into a machine just as in a teller machine was countered by fears of vandalism of the machines. The first public prepaid remote memory phonecard was issued in the United States in December 1980 by Phone Line. As telecom industries around the world became deregulated, remote memory cards were issued in various countries. Remote memory phonecards can be used from any tone-mode phone and do not require special card readers. Since remote memory cards are more accessible and have lower costs, remote memory phone cards have proliferated. However, the utility of these cards"
"Telecom released the first rechargeable phone card in Japan called Brastel Card; this time the card was sold in convenience stores across Japan. As the rechargeable phone card took off, more companies began to release cards. At the moment the top companies are As international travel became cheaper and more people started to travel the international phone card became an essential part of a travelers` itinerary, previously customers would have to carry one or more cards when traveling and the cards could only be used in certain phones. Phone companies such as Pure Minutes began to release ""cardless"" phone cards,"
"in the 1980s, where it became widespread long before other countries. In 1983, France Télécom introduced the smart card for use with its Télécarte pay phone payment cards. Nine years later, the French consumer banking industry introduced the Carte Bleue, a national debit card system which used Moreno's smart card, in 1992. The invention was slower to come into widespread use in Britain and the United States: American Express did not introduce the smart card-using Blue Card until 1999 and the London transport system did not issue a smart card encrypted card until the 2000s. Moreno's smart card, and its"
"websites post phone card details through e-mail. Phone cards are available in most countries in retail stores, retail chains and commonly post offices or corner stores. In general, remote memory phonecards can be issued by any company and come in countless varieties. They can focus on calling to certain countries or regions and have specific features such as rechargeability, pinless dial, speed dial and more. Phone cards may have connection fees, taxes and maintenance fees, all influencing the rates. Since the early 2000s calling card service providers have introduced calling accounts not associated with a physical card. Calling accounts can"
"Telephone token Telephone tokens were a once widespread medium of exchange for people wanting to talk on public phones with someone before there were telephone cards to collect and use. These tokens were once widely used in Europe, Israel, Japan, and South America. Phone tokens started in Chicago, where public phones would accept only tokens. These were used in the U.S. until 1944 when they were eliminated and most of the tokens were melted down to make shell casings. The earliest-known telephone token dates from 1885, when it was produced for the PAN Telephone Company in Saint Louis, Missouri. Rather"
"mid-1990s. They have been common in Germany (Geldkarte), Austria (Quick Wertkarte), Belgium (Proton), France (Moneo), the Netherlands (Chipknip Chipper (decommissioned in 2001)), Switzerland (""Cash""), Norway (""Mondex""), Spain (""Monedero 4B""), Sweden (""Cash"", decommissioned in 2004), Finland (""Avant""), UK (""Mondex""), Denmark (""Danmønt"") and Portugal (""Porta-moedas Multibanco""). Private electronic purse systems have also been deployed such as the Marines corps (USMC) at Parris Island allowing small amount payments at the cafeteria. Since the 1990s, smart cards have been the subscriber identity modules (SIMs) used in GSM mobile-phone equipment. Mobile phones are widely used across the world, so smart cards have become very common."
"a disposable phone might assist travelers like herself. Altschul created a new company called Diceland Technologies to exploit these technologies to make the phone she planned. In November 1999 Altschul teamed up with Lee Volte. Volte had been the Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Tyco. Altschul and Volte obtained several patents for what would be the world's first disposable mobile phone. Their intellectual property also included the trademark ""Phone-Card-Phone"". The new device was a phone that was of a size similar to an existing phone card. The credit card sized device was less than five millimetres thick,"
"and was not made from plastic or metal, but from materials based on recycled paper. The phone incorporated a magnetic strip which meant that credit card companies could store identification which would allow the phone owner to make purchases. The phone was intended to sell at about twenty dollars, and the purchaser would be able to make phone calls totaling up to an hour. The phone was sold as disposable, but it could also be recycled; people who returned their used phones would receive a credit of two to three dollars. Frost & Sullivan, declared the Phone-Card-Phone to be the"
"is not prevented by a SIM lock. The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich smart card maker Giesecke & Devrient for the Finnish wireless network operator Radiolinja. A hybrid mobile phone can hold up to four SIM cards, with a phone having an IMEI per SIM Card. SIM and R-UIM cards may be mixed together to allow both GSM and CDMA networks to be accessed. From 2010 onwards, such phones became popular in emerging markets, and this was attributed to the desire to obtain the lowest on-net calling rate. Feature phones have basic software platforms. Smartphones have"
"Roland Moreno Roland Moreno (11 June 1945 – 29 April 2012) was a French inventor, engineer, humorist and author who was the inventor of the memory card. Moreno's smart card, or ""la carte à puce"" in French, was little known internationally. However, he became a national hero in France and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur in 2009. Moreno was born in Cairo, Egypt, to Egyptian Jewish parents on 11 June 1945. His original last name was Bahbout, but the family changed their surname to Moreno when they moved to France when he was very young. He attended the Montaigne and"
"grandmother in 1843, sold at auction for £22,500. Henry Cole Sir Henry Cole (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Cole is credited with devising the concept of sending greetings cards at Christmas time, introducing the world's first commercial Christmas card in 1843. Henry Cole was born in Bath the son of Captain Henry Robert Cole, then of the 1st Dragoon Guards, and his wife Lætitia Dormer. He was sent in 1817 to"
"well. Telephone token Telephone tokens were a once widespread medium of exchange for people wanting to talk on public phones with someone before there were telephone cards to collect and use. These tokens were once widely used in Europe, Israel, Japan, and South America. Phone tokens started in Chicago, where public phones would accept only tokens. These were used in the U.S. until 1944 when they were eliminated and most of the tokens were melted down to make shell casings. The earliest-known telephone token dates from 1885, when it was produced for the PAN Telephone Company in Saint Louis, Missouri."
"the further development of the physical card UICC. The first SIM card was developed in 1991 by Munich smart-card maker Giesecke & Devrient, who sold the first 300 SIM cards to the Finnish wireless network operator Radiolinja. Today, SIM cards are ubiquitous, allowing over 7 billion devices to connect to cellular networks around the world. According to the International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA), there were 5.4 billion SIM cards manufactured globally in 2016 creating over $6.5 billion in revenue for traditional SIM card vendors. The rise of cellular IoT and 5G networks is predicted to drive the growth of the"
"Lettercard In philately a lettercard or letter card is a postal stationery item consisting of a folded card with a prepaid imprinted stamp. The fact that it is folded over gives the writer twice as much room for the message compared with a postal card. The message is written on the inside and the card is then folded and sealed around the edges. The recipient tears off and discards the perforated selvages to open the card. The lettercard was first conceived by a Hungarian named Akin Karoly and introduced in Belgium in 1882. Private issues were used in Great Britain"
"physical card. Yet, such in-app top-up method will charge 2.5% as handling fee. The Octopus system was designed by Australia-based company ERG Group (now Vix Technology). The company was selected in 1994 to lead the development of the Octopus project and was responsible for the building and installation of the components of the Octopus system. Operations, maintenance and development was undertaken by Octopus Cards Limited, and in 2005, it replaced the central transaction clearing house with its own system. The Octopus card uses the Sony 13.56 MHz FeliCa radio frequency identification (RFID) chip, with Hong Kong being the world's first"
"Telephone card A telephone card, calling card or phonecard for short, is a credit card size plastic or paper card, used to pay for telephone services (often international or long distance calling). It is not necessary to have the physical card except with a stored-value system; knowledge of the access telephone number to dial and the PIN is sufficient. Standard cards which can be purchased and used without any sort of account facility give a fixed amount of credit and are discarded when used up; rechargeable cards can be topped up, or collect payment in arrears. The system for payment"
"the smaller card held in place by a few plastic links; it can easily be broken off to be used in a device that uses the smaller SIM. The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich smart card maker Giesecke & Devrient for the Finnish wireless network operator Radiolinja. Giesecke & Devrient sold the first 300 SIM cards to Elisa (ex. Radiolinja). Those cell phones that do not use a SIM card have the data programmed into their memory. This data is accessed by using a special digit sequence to access the ""NAM"" as in ""Name"" or number"
"Face card In a deck of playing cards, the term face card (US) or court card (British) is generally used to describe a card that depicts a person as opposed to the pip cards. They are also known as picture cards, or until the early 20th century, coat cards. While playing cards were invented in China, Chinese playing cards do not have a concept of face cards. When playing cards arrived in Iran, the Persians created the first face cards. In their Ganjifeh decks, each suit had ten pip cards that are outranked by a mounted vizier and a seated"
"Chinese playing cards Playing cards () were most likely invented in China during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). They were certainly in existence by the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Chinese use the word ""pái"" (), meaning ""plaque"", to refer to both playing cards and tiles. Many early sources are ambiguous if they don't specifically refer to paper ""pái"" (cards) or bone ""pái"" (tiles). In terms of game play, there is no difference; both serve to hide one face from the other players with identical backs. Card games are examples of imperfect information games as opposed to Chess or Go. Many"
"SMS, e-mail and data communication. On 31 July 1919, a Norwegian engineer named Fredrik Rosing Bull filed a patent for a ""combined sorter-recorder-tabulator of punch cards"" machine that he had developed with financing from the Norwegian insurance company Storebrand. Storebrand integrated his device into its operations in 1921. The following year Bull sold his second machine to the Danish insurer Hafnia who had learned of the technology through an article in an insurance trade magazine. At the time of Bull's death of cancer in 1925 at the age of 43, a dozen of his machines had been sold to different"
"Henry Cole Sir Henry Cole (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in 19th century in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Cole is credited with devising the concept of sending greetings cards at Christmas time, introducing the world's first commercial Christmas card in 1843. Henry Cole was born in Bath the son of Captain Henry Robert Cole, then of the 1st Dragoon Guards, and his wife Lætitia Dormer. He was sent in 1817 to Christ's Hospital, and upon leaving school in 1823"
"time lag and expense of communication with a central database, which would have been prohibitive before the 1990s. There are several ways in which the value can be encoded on the card. The earliest system used a magnetic stripe as information carrier, similar to the technology of ATMs and key cards. The first magnetic strip phonecard, manufactured by SIDA, was issued in 1976 in Italy. The next technology used optical storage. Optical phonecards get their name from optical structure embossed inside the cards. This optical structure is heated and destroyed after use of the units. Visible marks are left on"
"business cards in the shape of Rolodex cards, as a marketing idea. The Rolodex was invented in 1956, by the Danish engineer Hildaur Neilsen, the chief engineer of Arnold Neustadter's company Zephyr American, a stationery manufacturer in New York. First marketed in 1958, it was an improvement to an earlier design called the ""Wheeldex"". Zephyr American also invented, manufactured and sold the ""Autodex"", a spring-operated phone directory that automatically opened to the selected letter, ""Swivodex"", an inkwell that did not spill, ""Punchodex"", a paper hole puncher, and ""Clipodex"", an office aid that attached to a stenographer's knee. The name ""rolodex"""
"card to their customers. MVNOs first appeared in Denmark, Hong Kong, Finland and the UK. Today they exist in over 50 countries, including most of Europe, United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and parts of Asia, and account for approximately 10% of all mobile phone subscribers around the world. On some networks, the mobile phone is locked to its carrier SIM card, meaning that the phone only works with SIM cards from the specific carrier. This is more common in markets where mobile phones are heavily subsidised by the carriers, and the business model depends on the customer staying with the"
"playing cards were invented in China. Chinese playing cards, as we understand the term today, date from at least 1294, when Yen Sengzhu and Zheng Pig-Dog were apparently caught gambling in Enzhou (in modern Shandong Province). Cards entered Europe from the Islamic empire. The earliest authentic references to playing cards in Europe date from 1377. Europe changed the Islamic symbols such as scimitars and cups into graphical representations of kings, queens, knights and jesters. Different European countries adopted different suit systems. For instance, some Italian, Spanish and German decks of cards even today do not have queens. During the 15th"
"The world's first postcard was received by Theodore Hook from Fulham, London in 1840. The first pillar boxes had the distinctive Imperial cypher of Victoria Regina. Most pillar boxes produced after 1905 are made of cast iron and are cylindrical, and have served well throughout the reigns of George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II. The sending and receiving of greeting cards is an established tradition in the UK, with card sending or card display in the home being an important part of British culture. Sir Henry Cole devised the concept of sending greetings cards at Christmas time."