US start-up RealtyBeacon is making it possible for real estate agents to deliver details about a property for sale to potential buyers as they drive by, by adding Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to their ‘For Sale’ boards... More
Bluetooth
Credit Mutuel to test mobile wallet
French bank Credit Mutuel-CIC is to pilot a mobile wallet in the Boulogne-Billancourt area of Paris from May 17, Les Echos reports, enabling consumers to make payments via NFC or QR in around 100 stores... More
Ingenic unveils developer board for wearable devices with NFC
Chinese embedded CPU provider Ingenic Semiconductor has unveiled a MIPS-based developer board that can be used to create wearable, healthcare and industrial devices that include a wide range of environmental sensors and wireless communications interfaces. More
Famoco’s NFC tablet finds a home on buses
Lisbon-based contactless ticketing provider Card4B is to offer Famoco’s FX 100 Android NFC tablet to public transportation operators for ticket validation applications on board buses and other services and, later, for topping up travel passes in retail outlets. More
NFC onesie gets SXSW outing
A prototype “onesie” jumpsuit has been developed that enables the location of the wearer to be tracked and can communicate using built-in NFC, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. More
MeaWallet to launch mobile payments platform that supports NFC, BLE and QR
MeaWallet, a white label solution that supports mobile payments via NFC, Bluetooth LE, host card emulation (HCE), QR and more, is to be launched in May this year, enabling retailers, banks, MNOs and service providers to support a wide range of options for making mobile purchases in stores ... More
New Mini gets NFC key cap option
Buyers of the new Mini F56 will be able to customize the design of their car key by choosing an official aftermarket ‘key cap’ that supports NFC and will be available from Mini dealers worldwide... More
NXP demos Qi with NFC
NXP is demonstrating two reference designs that combine Qi wireless charging and NFC functionality at MWC 14... More
Yota adds NFC to its dual display phone
Russian phone maker Yota Devices is to offer a new version of its YotaPhone, a handset that comes with two displays — this time a 5-inch full HD Amoled screen at the front plus a 4.7-inch always-on, full-touch control electronic paper display to the rear... More
Huawei unveils NFC wearable
Huawei has unveiled a smart wristband that can be paired with a user’s smartphone via NFC at MWC 2014... More
Nokia offers NFC Treasure Tags
Nokia has introduced bright plastic tags that can be attached to a Lumia smartphone owner’s keys, bag, wallet and other valuables and emit “a loud tone” when they become separated from the phone... More
NFC to account for 30% of mobile tickets
More than 34 billion tickets will be delivered to mobile devices over the next five years, according to a new ABI Research forecast, with QR codes making up 48% of the total and NFC accounting for 30%... More
2014 “will be the year of NFC” says new AFSCM president
Three French banks will launch national NFC services in partnership with carriers this year, the new president of the association responsible for bringing NFC to market in France has told NFC World — but transforming consumers into active and frequent users will be critical to success. More
W3C publishes draft NFC API
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published a draft specification for an NFC API that will provide web developers with a standard way to access the NFC functionality on an NFC-enabled device... More
Royal Bank of Canada launches NFC payments in the cloud
Royal Bank of Canada has introduced an NFC mobile payments service that stores customers’ card details in the cloud... More
Cetrix launches OEM NFC phones and tablets
Malta-based mobile device maker Cetrix has launched two smartphones and two tablets equipped with NFC, with minimum order quantities of between 100 and 3,000 units... More
Lesswire offers NFC for cars
Wireless connectivity specialist Lesswire has introduced a module for vehicles that combines NFC, 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity... More
Apple patent combines NFC, Bluetooth and WiFi for mobile payments
A newly published Apple patent application uses a secure element in a mobile phone to store cardholder data, NFC to initiate a transaction and Bluetooth or WiFi to complete the processing of a transaction and return coupons and other information to the customer’s device... More
Toughphone adds rugged handset
Phone maker The Toughphone has launched an NFC-enabled rugged smartphone with a ‘push to talk’ application that allows voice communications to be made instantly over the network’s data connection, like a walkie talkie... More
Pomp offers C6 NFC smartphone
Chinese phone maker Pomp has launched the Pomp C6, an NFC smartphone running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on a 1.5GHz quad core processor with 2GB RAM... More