Remember when we told you (oh, back in 2007) that Tokyo was testing RFID hotspots in and around its shopping districts?

Well, folks, we now have a progress report.

walk through Tokyo’s famous Ginza district may never be the same again if an experiment to bring an always-on torrent of digital information to shoppers and tourists is a success.

Working with Tokyo’s local government, the YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory has set up a hands-on feasibility study to test “ubiquitous” networks - non-net, wireless networks that beam site-specific information to a GPRS-enabled mobile or to a specialised PDA, The Guardian (UK), reports.

The trial is well underway, and covers several blocks of the Ginza shopping district as well as the underground metro and subterranean stores.

There’s more, according to publication: On designated test days, volunteers are asked to bring their GPRS mobiles or register for a white, palm-sized communications device - both of which allow users to tap into information hotspots where prepackaged audio, video and text files can be downloaded via site-specific embedded RFID, IC tags or even infrared.