THE technology companies of Japan have finally given their gadget-crazed country a gizmo that can do everything. Well, almost everything.

The Fujitsu 3Dx3D released this week appears primarily to be a mobile phone. But it is clear from the manual that allowing the user to speak to other human beings is the least of its abilities. The device, which comes with a 3G broadband internet connection and fingerprint recognition for security, is a first stab at the fabled “magic wand” — a collection of technologies that supposedly negates the need for any other machines, credit cards or cash.

The phone’s alarm was set for 7.30am. At 7.29am it connected to a website that follows pop music charts, downloaded a tune and played 30 seconds of the song at No 1.

The phone, which comes at a cost of £130 with a 12-month contract, did not offer a toothbrush, but its cash chip paid for a coffee and a Danish on the way to the station.

The same Edy chip, which had been charged to its maximum of 50,000 yen (£250), links the phone to a network of shops, restaurants and other services in Japan that are pushing towards a cash-free society. The phone needs only to be brushed across a pad near the cash register for money to be deducted. Accordingly, it was possible to buy a copy of Popeye magazine without fumbling for change.

The cashless dream has been widely embraced by Japan’s biggest supermarket chains. One shopper at the Tamachi branch of Daimaru Peacock, wrestling with a heavy basket of groceries, an armful of other shopping bags and a two-year old tugging at her elbow managed to avoid delving around for her purse by using her free hand to swipe the phone past the cash register.

From next month the phone will be able to carry the details of a credit card. Below the keypad is a sensor that activates the credit card — and the rest of the phone’s many functions — only when the owner’s finger is placed over it. The same technology can also be used to turn the phone into an electronic room key at hotels.

The 3Dx3D offered plenty of diversions during my commute. It boasts a chip with the same processing power as the original PlayStation games console and can happily handle games with 3D graphics.

The camera will take digital pictures with two megapixel resolution, meaning that I could have stood in the newsagent, photographed every page of Popeye and read the magazine on the phone’s 5x4cm screen. Many Japanese do just that.

The device also doubles as a music player: it can download songs itself and store them on a flash memory card, or one can simply insert a 512 megabyte memory card capable of storing about 1,000 songs from CDs. The memory chip can also be used to store films and television shows: a half-hour episode of The Office, transferred from a DVD and stored as an MP4 file, was perfectly watchable on the small screen. Between Tokyo station and The Times office there were several posters with “barcode” images. Waved over of them, the Fujitsu immediately linked to the advertisers’ websites, where deals were on offer.

While booking a restaurant over the internet, the phone even showed me how to get there with an online map.

Chips with everything: Fujitsu 3Dx3D

• 3G broadband internet connection
• Fingerprint security recognition
• Clock alarm
• Downloads songs from internet
• Embedded cash chip to buy goods
• Games console with 3D graphics
• Music player
• Digital camera and internet browser
• Memory chip to store films and TV shows

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax