英國推出購物手錶可支付15英鎊以下商品

Today sees the UK launch of a range of hi-tech watches that can pay for a double-shot espresso, a newspaper or a host of other small purchases with a flick of the wrist.

They contain a chip similar to a mobile phone's SIM card that allows you to settle up by tapping the watch on a special terminal at the till.

The "watch2pay" gadgets follow the successful introduction of Quick Tap, a similar system that allows payments using mobile phones, earlier this year.

Available in eight colours, the watches cost £99 and can be used at 70,000 shops in the UK, including chains such as Pret A Manger, Subway, and McDonald's, as well as various independent cafes and newsagents.

Rather than debiting your bank account, they can only spend the money you have topped it up with online – and if the watch is lost or stolen, your account can be cancelled on the phone or over the web.

At first they will only be able to make payments of up to £15, but this limit may be extended depending on their popularity.

A spokesman said: "We think it will be popular because it takes out the fumble factor – you don't have to rummage through your pockets to find it."

Some experts believe that cash could become obsolete within a few years, as so-called "tap and go" technology becomes more widespread and more people use their phones to make purchases, leaving their notes and coins behind.據英國《每日郵報》11月29日報道，英國推出了一系列高科技手錶，只需動動手腕，即可用它購買一杯雙份意式濃縮咖啡，一份報紙或是其他許多小件商品。

這種手錶中的芯片與手機的SIM卡類似，只需要在收銀臺的一種特殊終端上觸碰一下手錶，就可以結賬了。

這種叫做“watch2pay”的小裝置效仿了Quick Tap(快速點擊)的成功引進，Quick Tap是一種類似的系統，今年早些時候推出，可以讓用戶使用手機結賬。

這一系列手錶共有八種顏色可供選擇，售價爲99英鎊，可以在英國七萬家商店使用，包括一些大型連鎖店，比如百特文治，賽百味和麥當勞，以及許多獨立經營的咖啡館和報刊經銷點。

用這種手錶付賬時，並不是從你的銀行賬戶扣費，而是消耗你在網上給手錶充的值——如果手錶丟失或者被盜，你可以打電話或者上網註銷賬戶。

目前這款手錶最高只能支付15英鎊的商品，但相信隨着它的日漸流行，這一限額將會被提高。

相關發言人表示：“我們認爲它會流行起來的，因爲它避免了胡亂摸索——你根本不需要在口袋中到處翻找。”

一些專家認爲，未來幾年內現金可能會過時，所謂的“點即通”科技則會使用得更加廣泛，越來越多的人選擇使用手機購物，而紙幣和硬幣卻被拋諸腦後。