Vodafone Spain has announced it is conducting an NFC pilot in Madrid with Spanish rail operator Renfe, with the aim of speeding up access to train stations during peak travel times. The system was demonstrated to attendees of the mobile operator’s Move ’09 enterprise mobility event in Madrid last week. Vodafone says that a SIM based solution is being used in the pilot but no further details are available for now. More
- NFC Forum certifies Cilab for TR13.1 wireless charging testing
- ST provides insight into using NFC tags to enhance consumer experiences
- NFC Forum adds certification for NFC wireless charging
- NP Plastibell adds ultra-miniaturised ST NFC tags to pre-filled syringes
- German luggage brand leverages NFC for product authentication and customer engagement
iPhone device shows NFC add-ons can look good
A slot on device that enables NFC functionality to be added to Apple iPhones has been announced by Canadian NFC and RFID specialist Wireless Dynamics. More
Fonelabs to produce two million low-cost NFC phones in 2010
The Malaysian manufacturer’s NFC phones come with a built-in NFC antenna and controller as standard and are expected to cost under US$100 each in volume. More
New platform lets mobile operators offer payments, ticketing, loyalty services via stickers or NFC phones
Touchatag has partnered with Clear2Pay to launch a new platform that enables mobile operators to offer contactless payment, ticketing and marketing services using contactless stickers or NFC phones. More
Twinlinx NFC sticker set for commercial launch in March 2010
Twinlinx’s NFC sticker, which enables full NFC functionality to be added to any Bluetooth mobile phone, is set to go into commercial production in three months time. More
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Singapore government invests in kick starting contactless and NFC
Merchants in Singapore are being encouraged to make the switch to contactless card accepting terminals through a series of subsidies made possible by a S$16 million (US$11.5m) grant from the Singapore government. More
Twitter founder invents… a mag stripe card reader
The new venture from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has been the source of much speculation ever since tech blog Mashable posted a photograph of a new iPhone payments system that he was working on. Even we speculated that it could enable NFC transactions on the iPhone. More
Nokia exits the TSM market
Giesecke & Devrient has acquired Nokia‘s shares in Venyon, the Trusted Service Management specialist the two companies set up as a joint venture in 2006. More
59% of consumers want to use their phone to make purchases at the point of sale
The majority (59%) of consumers are interested in using their phone like they would a credit or debit card at the cash register to make a purchase, according to a new survey conducted by StrategyOne for Firethorn, a mobile commerce specialist owned by Qualcomm. More
ITIF calls on the government to kickstart the deployment of mobile contactless services in the US
The Washington think tank recommends ways in which government can help to get NFC and mobile contactless services off the ground. More
MasterCard adds contactless payments to BlackBerry phones
MasterCard Canada has teamed up with Research in Motion and BMO Bank of Montreal to test a system that combines PayPass contactless stickers with email confirmation of each transaction sent to the user’s BlackBerry smartphone. More
Orange launches open source NFC application developer toolkit
Mobile network operator Orange has developed an NFC Application Developer Toolkit and made it available as open source software. IzyNFC is designed to enable the development of mobile NFC applications based on a SIM-centric architecture and Java platform. More
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NFC mobile payments trial to go live in Dubai in next two weeks
Mobile operator Du and card issuer Dubai First have begun distributing handsets to trial participants ahead of the launch in the next two weeks of the Middle East’s first NFC mobile payments pilot. More
Irish town launches local loyalty programme using mobile stickers
The small town of Tuam in County Galway, Eire, has introduced a loyalty scheme based on Zapa Technology’s mobile contactless stickers with the aim of encouraging local people to do more of their shopping in the town. More
Mobile Distillery makes it easier to write NFC apps for multiple devices
The company’s new Celsius NFC platform enables application developers to write code once and then port it reliably to a range of NFC handsets and add-on devices. More
Vivotech launches contactless stickers and mobile loyalty platform
Vivotech has launched a new contactless sticker product and a backend loyalty system aimed at retailers and other companies looking to launch mobile contactless loyalty and couponing programmes. More
Chinese operator, banks to launch co-branded mobile payments services
A deal between Chinese bank card association China UnionPay (CUP) and mobile operator China Unicom is set to see the introduction of a series of co-branded mobile payments services. More
ABnote and Sicap partner to cut the cost of NFC services
ABnote Europe and Sicap have signed a collaboration agreement designed to cut the cost of operating NFC services. More
NFC takes centre stage in Paris
OPINION: The Cartes show in Paris this week was a hotbed of new NFC product launches, firmly putting it on the list of must-attend events for anyone looking to keep on top of developments in the NFC industry. More
The NFC Report: Make sure your products and services are included
Many thanks to all the NFC suppliers from around the world who have been in touch with us over the last couple of weeks to let us know about their products and services. If you haven’t yet been in contact with us, now is the time to email us to make sure your company is included in the suppliers section of The NFC Report. More