NFC news in brief

A teardown of the new Motorola Droid Razr conducted for Engadget has discovered that the smartphone includes an NXP PN544 NFC controller chip. Engadget notes, however, that "the Linux driver is present, but hardware appears to be missing or misconfigured."

"We're doing a trial with Google Wallet and it's great for those consumers who don't have cash but want to buy a Coke," Coca-Cola SVP Wendy Clark told attendees at Ad:tech in New York this week, Mobile Commerce Daily reports. "We're experimenting with this.... The combination of mobile commerce and location technology moves our business from the point of sale to the point of thirst," she explained. "If we know where you are and that you are thirsty we can move you to the nearest outlet to quench that thirst."

Clear2Pay has released its MPA Test Solution test tool, used to confirm that new mobile payment applications comply with industry standards. The tool runs a set of scenarios to verify mobile application user interfaces and over-the-air communications with mobile gateways. Companies seeking certification for mobile applications can submit an output file from the tool as proof of compliance, simplifying the certification process.

Starbucks is now accepting mobile payments from customers in Canada, reports The Globe and Mail. The coffee chain has processed more than 20 million mobile payments since launching its barcode-based payment app in the US in January, and some 65% of Starbucks' customers in Canada and the US have smartphones.

American Express is to invest US$100 million in digital commerce startups over the next several years. A new Silicon Valley office will fund innovative technologies in loyalty and rewards, mobile and online payments, fee-based services, security and fraud detection, and data analysis. Investments will vary in size but will focus on early-stage startups.

Samsung Electronics has joined the Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance, becoming the seventh company to join the association developing the Cipurse open standard for secure transit fare collection. Dojun Rhee of Samsung explained that the chipmaker expects "to play an important role in facilitating adoption of the new standard to smart card and NFC-based transportation payment eco-systems."

Nokia has released a software update that switches on NFC tag reading functionality in its MeeGo-based N9 handset. Once the PR1.1 update is loaded on the phone, the company says, it will "instantly interact with NFC tags".

MasterCard has certified secure labeling specialist Schreiner ProSecure's NFC-Sticker for use in contactless payments. The sticker is preloaded with Mastercard software and can be applied to the back of any mobile phone and then used as a contactless credit card anywhere MasterCard PayPass is accepted. The Global Vendor Certification Program (GVCP) certification confirms the company has the required security infrastructure and complies with the necessary standards throughout the entire production process.

South African mobile solution provider Qmuzik Technologies is to resell, implement and support Vivotech's NFC trusted service manager (TSM) software suite throughout Africa. "Qmuzik's broad African footprint and local expertise make it an ideal partner to bring Vivotech's proven NFC technology to the region," says Vivotech.

Digital marketing agency Isobar is holding an NFC Hackathon in San Francisco later this month, to coincide with the Appnation III conference. The Create 32 event will follow a similar format to the Create 48 hackathon held in Boston in September and will start at 8am on November 30. Developers, hackers, and start-ups are invited to create new NFC applications in just 32 hours before demonstrating them to a judging panel.

Starbucks has processed more than 20 million mobile payments since rolling out the application in January, according to VentureBeat. Users with the coffee chain's mobile applications can pay with their smartphones at 9,000 locations by showing an on-screen barcode at the cash register. At its recent earnings call, the company disclosed that there are now over a million smartphones with at least one registered Starbucks Card.

Japanese telco NTT Docomo is investing an additional 28.4m euros in Net Mobile AG, which it acquired in 2009, to allow the mobile content distributor to purchase a controlling stake in private German bank Bankverein Werther. Adding the bank's ecommerce and payment services will strengthen Net Mobile's — and Docomo's — payments platform in Germany, and its banking and credit licenses will allow Net Mobile to offer direct debit and credit card payments.

BlackBerry maker RIM has published a second NFC primer for developers creating NFC applications for BlackBerry smartphones. Written by Martin Woolley and John Murray from the company's developer relations team, the document explains reading and writing NFC smart tags.

NXP has confirmed that its PN65N NFC controller with embedded secure element has been picked for Google's recently launched Galaxy Nexus phone, along with the company's open source NFC middleware. The chip was also used in the Nexus S.

The chief executive of the the company that organises the Wima NFC tradeshows in Monte Carlo and in the US has been appointed as an adviser to the cabinet of Prince Albert II of Monaco. In his ten years at Monaco Mediax, David Tomatis has overseen the growth of the Monte Carlo Television Festival and the Monaco Media Forum as well as Wima.

Secure identity specialist HID Global expects its patent "Method and Apparatus for Making a Decision on a Card" to be issued shortly by the USPTO. The invention covers "the use of portable credentials in a secure access network, in which the access decision can be made within a portable credential (such as the secure element of a mobile device) using data and algorithms stored within the credential."

UK jazz funk band Jamiroquai is set to use NFC technology in its upcoming European tour. Concert-goers will be able to tap their NFC phones on smart posters inside arenas to see a video and enter a fan competition. Entertainment agency Media Junction's Neil Cartwright explains "NFC is a powerful technology when marketing artists because the process is straightforward and the rewards are instant for fans."

Canadian airline WestJet is to test contactless and NFC payments for in-flight purchases, American Banker reports. Technology from GuestLogix and MasterCard will boost transaction security in the air, where online authorisations are impractical. "Airlines have come to recognize there is a wide array of merchandise they can sell onboard, including items like wine and apparel they can have delivered to passengers' homes when they land," says GuestLogix.

More than 1.2 billion NFC chips will ship annually by 2015, according to a new forecast from In-Stat. "As the costs of NFC chips decline, and NFC radios are combined with other chip functions, the cost to integrate NFC into handsets will be outweighed by the benefits," says analyst Allen Nogee. "The growth of combo chips will also allow NFC radios to piggyback on technology that already has significant penetration in the market."

French digital agencies Nexence and United Spirit have unveiled MyCheckExperience, a service for event organisers wishing to connect a social media aspect with their real world events. Attendees who register on the organiser's Facebook page can then use QR codes, RFID bracelets or NFC phones to feed pictures taken by roaming event staff back to their Facebook walls.