Latest NFC phone news and rumours • 19 Sept 2011

The latest NFC phone rumours and announcements, including: France to get NFC Galaxy S II, with rest of Europe to follow • iPhone speculation • A trio of NFC BlackBerrys • Casio’s DT-X8 rugged terminal • Acer NFC handset could be first of many • Korea gets high-end LG NFC phone • Intel shows off Android tablet design that features NFC

NFC rumours

Here we round up the latest NFC handset rumours and announcements. For a definitive list of currently available, officially announced and rumoured devices please see our NFC phones list.

  • Orange will retail the NFC-enabled version of the Samsung Galaxy S II in France from October 2011, and plans to introduce the device across Europe soon afterwards. The device will use SIM-based NFC to work with France’s Cityzi mobile payments service.
  • iPhone speculation continues to build, with the NYT’s Bits blog citing “people with knowledge of the inner workings of Apple’s next-generation iPhones” saying that either the iPhone 5 or iPhone 6 will include a new Qualcomm NFC chip — NYT Bits blog
  • The BlackBerry Bold 9790, codenamed ‘Bellagio’, is expected to arrive as soon as October and will have NFC on board — BGR
  • Further down the line, a radically designed stainless steel handset referred to as the BlackBerry Bold 9980 or R47 also packs NFC and can be seen in this video.
  • Finally for RIM, in line with co-CEO Jim Balsillie’s statement at the Mobile World Congress in February 2011 that “Many, if not most,” BlackBerry devices will have NFC this year, the BlackBerry Curve 9380 ‘Orlando’ — a touchscreen phone with NFC — is expected ‘sooner rather than later’ — BGR
  • Casio has introduced the DT-X8, an NFC-enabled rugged handheld terminal designed for business use.
  • Acer is to launch the E320 Liquid Express entry-level smartphone in France — and is reported to be building NFC into all its future smartphones.
  • The LG LU6200 is a high-end Android smartphone with a 4.5-inch HD screen, LTE and NFC. The handset is expected to be available in South Korea from 26 September — Move Player
  • Intel’s Red Ridge reference design for a tablet that runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb may feature NFC, says a report which explains that an NFC logo was spotted on the back of a prototype shown to the press at a briefing last week — TG Daily

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