Archive for March 2009

OPINION: Yet another way to get around the absence of NFC handsets has been announced this week and, this time, it's a really strong contender. More

There are fourteen new opportunities on the NFCW Jobs Board this week in the US, Canada, France, the UK and India. Recruiters include Microsoft and Inside Contactless and the offers range from Director-level openings to software development vacancies. More

The smart card chip manufacturer and the French start-up are working together to bring to market the TazCard, a 6mm thick card-sized smart object with a touch screen, fingerprint sensor and NFC, USB and ZigBee interfaces that could be used for access control, ticketing, couponing and payment applications.  More

The mobile operator has put together a combined NFC handset/NFC tag package for customers that uses the tags to access WAP pages, including an option to buy ÖBB rail tickets. More

Transit ticketing supplier Cubic has partnered with Vivotech to offer its customers, who include the transit operators for London, Washington and New York/New Jersey, the ability to upgrade their ticketing systems to accept payment via contactless cards and NFC phones. More

UPDATED Consumers can simply pair the company's new 'With Me' device, expected to retail at US$25, with their existing Bluetooth phone in order to NFC-enable their handset. More

The firm's X-Series handsets incorporate an NFC chip and internal antenna plus an optional MicroSD-based secure element from Cell Idea. They are fully Mifare compatible and are expected to start at under US$100 in volume. More

The mobile operator and the bank-owned transaction processing supplier are testing a Mobile Virtual Wallet with potential applications in payments, transport, healthcare and personal identification. More

The contactless and NFC infrastructure specialist has been granted a broad patent covering the over-the-air provisioning of payments cards, loyalty cards and other non-payments cards to NFC phones — and has also secured an extra US$8.6m in funding. More

NXP and Gemalto have signed a deal that will see Gemalto taking over NXP's mobile services business unit in Sophia Antipolis. More

All customers are expected to be able to use their phones to pay for everyday items within three years in "the biggest revolution in payments since plastic cards were introduced over 40 years ago." More

The new product offering uses the Single Wire Protocol to securely link a Gemalto SIM card with an embedded secure element from Inside Contactless. More

Both suppliers have announced they are close to adding Mifare functionality to their SIM cards. More