NFC news in brief

MacKay Meters has received EMV Level 1 Contactless Certification for the latest version of its Guardian Solo parking meter. "Meeting these standards clearly shows our customers that the Solo will behave consistently when accepting NFC payments and in line with the guidelines put forth by Visa, MasterCard, American Express and others through EMVCo," says chief technology officer Adrian O'Neil.

Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies has started a developer network for its AptiQmobile NFC access control platform, which was piloted at the University of San Francisco in 2012. Membership of the AptiQ Developer Network offers "access to Ingersoll Rand resources that will work closely with the developer to help them write the appropriate interface between their software and Ingersoll Rand's cloud-based AptiQmobile service," the company says.

A total of 30m NFC SIMs were shipped globally by members of the SIMalliance in 2012 — an 87% increase on 2011. The Japan/Korea region was the largest market with 21m NFC SIMs shipped, followed by Western Europe at 6m. SimAlliance members, who account for 90% of the global market, shipped a total of 4.6bn SIMs in 2012, up 6% on 2011.

Sony is to release two NFC compatible micro hi-fi systems in Europe in May 2013. The CMT-BT80WB and CMT-BT60B can be paired with smartphones and tablets using NFC to stream music via Bluetooth. The BT80WB can also use WiFi for streaming from PCs.

Global print giant RR Donnelley has introduced support for NFC tags into its range of printed products, including retail displays, product packaging, shipping labels, catalogues and magazines. "Now we offer customers single-source convenience and control as we produce their RFID and NFC tags and integrate them with other materials that we create," says president and CEO Thomas J Quinlan III.

Singapore-based mobile network operator M1 and banking group DBS have teamed up to expand the NFC payments options available to their customers. DBS' One.Tap virtual credit card was previously available only to Singtel StarHub subscribers while M1 customers were able to use either the carrier's own M1 NFC Prepaid MasterCard or an EZ-Link prepaid card application.

NBS Technologies has announced that its Xpressi Trusted Service Manager (TSM) platform has been chosen by an unnamed customer in Turkey. Installation is due to take place early this month.

Identive has launched a Japanese version of its online NFC tag store. "In addition to an array of tags in the globally accepted NFC Forum Types 1, 2 and 4, for the Japanese market Identive also offers Type 3 tags based on Sony Corporation's Felica Lite chip technology," says Identive's Dr Manfred Mueller.

Banking group BAC Credomatic is to run an NFC payments pilot in Costa Rica, El Financiero reports. The increasing use of smartphones across the country, now at 29% of users, has prompted the trial according to the bank. NFC payments for public transport are also being considered for the future.

Marketing agency Charge has taken to the city streets in north east England to promote "Don't let drink sneak up on you", an alcohol abuse awareness campaign being run by the NHS' Change 4 Life project. Passers-by were handed NFC-compatible wristbands which allowed those with an NFC phone to tap to download a drinks tracker app for their phone. Participants could also access the app by scanning QR codes on cards handed out during the campaign.

Telefónica O2 Germany is using technology from Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) in an NFC payments pilot, which began last month. G&D's TSM solution and its NFC SIMs are both being used in the O2 Wallet pilot.

Canadian mobile network operator Rogers has added three Android and four BlackBerry NFC phones to the list of devices that work with its Suretap NFC payments service. The new phones are the LG Optimus G , Samsung's Galaxy S III and Note II and the Blackberry Bold 9900, Blackberry Curve 9360, Blackberry Bold 9790 and Blackberry Z10.

NXP Semiconductors shipped 125m NFC chips for smartphones and tablets in 2012, beating previous projections. The chip maker's figures received a boost when Samsung shipped 40m Galaxy S III smartphones equipped with NXP chips in the final six months of the year. Samsung is, however, believed to be using Broadcom NFC technology in the new Galaxy S4.

Lenovo is planning to bring out a range of ThinkPad tablets or Ultrabooks with NFC payments capabilities later this year. "Processing partnerships are still in the works," Engadget reports.

Interactive sign maker Signbox has chosen Proxama's TapPoint platform to deliver smart poster campaigns using its Enlighten NFC displays. The new partnership "creates a powerful and persuasive product offer for brand custodians, retailers and campaign managers, giving them an unrivalled opportunity to enhance relationships with customers and prospects," says Mark Bartlett, managing director of Signbox.

National Australia Bank is testing a new service that uses NFC, QR codes, SMS and email to allow customers to make mobile payments in stores as well as to send and receive funds, ITNews reports. 1,000 staff are taking part in a 90-day trial of the new service, which is known internally as Kiss.

US-based RFID specialist Invengo Technology has launched a range of NFC tags and inlays. The new Invengo NTouch and NLoop inlays and tags are compliant with the ISO 14443A and NFC Forum Type 2 Tag standards and will begin shipping in volume in April.

A new Android NFC app that makes sharing files between devices quicker and easier has been added to Google Play. SuperBeam enables users to set up a connection between two devices via NFC and then transfer data between them at high speed via WiFi.

T-Mobile is to use a custom version of Tagstand's NFC Task Launcher app to power its forthcoming Tap Tag NFC service. Tagstand "says it's also working with other carriers and OEMs, including EMT (Estonia, Baltic carrier), Avea (Turkey) and Alcatel, a Hong Kong-based manufacturer which will be preloading Tagstand on devices sold to a major European-based multinational carrier," reports Techcrunch.

Tag-a-bag, an award winning lost and found baggage solution that uses luggage labels equipped with an NFC tag and a QR code, is now live and available to purchase worldwide. The launch follows the completion of a pilot test that has been running since September 2012.