Palm CEO Carl Yankowski unveiled eWallet at the Computer Electronics Show on Saturday. The new technology involves an alliance with Ingenico, Visa and Hewlett-Packard subsidiary VeriFone. Once the infrastructure and development has been completed, Palm users will be able to buy products and services via their handhelds.

Yankowski talked about the Palm becomming a wallet this year. He explained that "[Palms] will act as a debit card in your Palm with a secure IR connection which will replace a card swipe." The IR port of a Palm may soon replace a credit card.

Ingenico will manufacture the point-of-sales terminals while VeriFone will make sure that the payments are secure. The two-way infrared communication between the device and the Ingenico terminal allows a receipt to be sent directly to the Palm device. Palm will eventually allow other third-party content to be sent over when a Palm device and a terminal interact.

eWallet will be a very powerful tool. The two-way infrared beaming will enable other functions, including automatic record keeping, the collection of eCoupons and updates of loyalty programs such as airline mileage and hotel stays.

Mr. Yankowski demonstrated that the technology is not simply hype buy making several purchases himself during his presentation. Among his purchases is the Sony Aibo robotic dog.