nfcrumors

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SITA Lab and Orange get together to trial NFC at airport models

SITA Lab and Orange have recently got together to look further into the use cases for NFC for passengers, airlines and the security at airports. The thought of giving an NFC ticket at the airport is not a new concept. However, apart from a couple of airlines trialling NFC with stickers and apps, we are yet to see anything truly ubiquitous and usable for users across the globe.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-30-2012/sita-lab-orange-trial-nfc-airport/#ixzz1kzGy3A5z

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Fukumi opens bricks and mortar NFC tag store with UPM RFID in Tokyo

The Fukumi Corporation has opened the world's first physical bricks and mortar NFC store in Tokyo. It was bound to happen and it probably isn't too surprising that it happened in Tokyo, and that UPM RFID were involved. We all know that the humble NFC tag has a huge future ahead of it, embedded in products and for home users to write to and create some fancy actions that simply make life a little easier.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-30-2012/fukumi-opens-bricks-mortar-nfc/#ixzz1kxgImteY

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Freescale and Inside bring some NFC magic to utility meters in reference design

Freescale Semiconductor and INSIDE Secure has announced  a secure prepaid electricity / utility meter reference design with NFC baked straight in. The new product is aimed at OEMs so they can quickly and cost effectively deploy NFC utility meters to market. Using NFC in utility meters is a very obvious use case  and a vast market to be tackled.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-27-2012/inside-secure-nfc-utility-meter/#ixzz1kxet7zWd

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Nintendo Wii U controller to rock NFC to enhance gaming

NFC got another boost today as Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, announced that the Wii U controller would feature NFC "function". The Wii U controller is set to be compatible with both FeliCa for its home audience and MIFARE for the rest of the world.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-27-2012/nintendo-wii-controller-rock-nfc/#ixzz1kgJMMJYy

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Sequent launches CCS and brings NFC capabilities to apps

Sequent Software has long held a position in the NFC industry for writing software and enabling NFC services for large corporate entities such as AT&T, Visa and VivoTech.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-26-2012/sequent-launches-breakthrough-nfc-nfc/#ixzz1kaW6xrF0

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NFC to speed up currency exchange due to added security according to Currencies Direct

Currency Exchange can be expensive and take a lot of time, but the question being asked is whether NFC mobile wallets will speed up that process. Currencies Direct, a UK based non-bank currency exchange firm, think it will and they don't mind saying why. We here at NFC Rumors have focused on a somewhat related part of the NFC payments ecosystem called remittancepayments. This is where migrant workers or even just friends can send money from one another via their NFC smartphones by using a mobile wallet.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-25-2012/nfc-speed-currency-exchange-currencies/#ixzz1kXSURnpS

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MasterCard Commonwealth Bank and Hoyts partner for ordering and paying for snacks in Australian cinemas using NFC

MasterCard, Commonwealth Bank, and Hoyts cinemas have partnered to bring a new facility for cinema goers that allows an app, NFC tag or QR code to be used to order and pay for food or snacks in Sydney theaters. Australia has embraced NFC and smartphones quickly and, in fact, Google stats show that smartphone penetration in Oz outpaces everywhere else globally.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-25-2012/ordering-paying-nfc-cinema/#ixzz1kVvAmhja

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TazTag shows off the TazPad and NFC smart monitors at CES

It was last year at CES that a startup French firm called TazTag first showed of its TazPad NFC tablet concept. It wasn't the firm's first foray into NFC and, in fact, they were known in Europe for kiosks that supported NFC interactions and transactions. Since then, the TazPad production NFC tablet, with a helpful sprinkling of ZigBee, has been deployed to integrators and the orders just keep coming in according to executives at the firm.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-25-2012/taztag-shows-tazpad-nfc-smart/#ixzz1kVuZErhE

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Duly Note[d]: Something the Galaxy Note failed to "note"

The rumors were answered at CES about the newSamsung Galaxy Note LTE for AT&T. Thesmartphone-meets-tablet device, or"superphone", definitely created something to talk about. The two-in-one is available in carbon blue and ceramic white with AT&T. The highly talked about  5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED touchscreen display crushes its competitors (HTC Titan and Nexus S) in size and appearance. The touch of 4G LTE is an added bonus especially for the U.S. market.

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BlackBerry NFC tag issues appear to be a thing of the past

NFC tag issues have plagued the beleaguered BlackBerry NFC smartphones for some months now. You have probably heard the news that the Co-CEO's over at RIM have stepped down from the firm today. Something that is ironical with that announcement is that BlackBerry issues with NFC appear to be a thing of the past and people are doing some great things with NFC tags these days, but we'll get to that in a bit.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-23-2012/blackberry-nfc-tag-issues/#ixzz1kJajksG6

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OpenWays launches NFC hotel key without SWP carrier costs with a little help from Nokia and NXP which can be added to existing hotel locks

OpenWays isn't the first time we have seen an NFC hotel key system. If you remember VingCard, an ASSA ABLOY company launched a pilot in Stockholm last year. However, the emerging mobile network operator joint ventures and associated costs to firms that want to provision secure data over networks to secure elements has become costly at best.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-23-2012/openways-launches-nfc-hotel-keys/#ixzz1kJRaJPKz

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Mobile World Congress NFC rumors leaking left, right and center

Mobile World Congress is coming up this next month, and rumors are rife over here at NFC Rumors about all kinds of announcements that are likely to be made. We have been so busy with our CES coverage that we have just been stacking them up, but we know you love some good rumors from industry insiders, so we thought we would let some fly. As usual our NFC rumors come from individuals on the inside of the industry.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-20-2012/mobile-world-congress-nfc-rumors/#ixzz1k2YFOVCL

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Yale demos NFC door locks solutions at CES for Android, iOS and BB

We have reported on Yale and their NFC door locks before. However, we have now seen the locks in action and have far more details about how Yale (an ASSA ABLOY company) plans to bring their solutions to market. The Yale NFC door locks are an exciting prospect because they represent quality products for access control that are built for consumers.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-20-2012/yale-demos-nfc-door-locks-solutions/#ixzz1k2SFlV9n

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Narian shows off NFC retail experience solutions at NRF show

Yes, the NRF show has just finished up and Narian Technologies was on the floor showing off its full suite of non-payment NFC services that help retailers maximize profits cost effectively. If you are an NFC enthusiast and haven't heard of Narian Technologies we only have one thing to say to you - Have you been living under a rock for the last year or so? Narian is far older than a year old though, and led by industry expert, Einar Rosenberg.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-19-2012/narian-shows-nfc-retail-solutions/#ixzz1k0w7vCsb

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Narian shows off NFC retail experience solutions at NRF show

Narian shows off NFC retail experience solutions at NRF show

Yes, the NRF show has just finished up and Narian Technologies was on the floor showing off its full suite of non-payment NFC services that help retailers maximize profits cost effectively. If you are an NFC enthusiast and haven't heard of Narian Technologies we only have one thing to say to you - Have you been living under a rock for the last year or so? Narian is far older than a year old though, and led by industry expert, Einar Rosenberg. When Narian isn't helping the top names in NFC develop new products, services or simply giving consulting services, the firm is hard at work developing and deploying its own full suite of retail services that use NFC to prevent lost sales and maximize profit in retail situations.

Einar Rosenberg has long been known as an expert in NFC related technologies and projects and has years of experience and products behind him. So, when it comes to Narian's own products and services you may already have the idea that the firm has put all of its know-how into creating something that is not only frictionless but that also helps retail businesses work more efficiently and ultimately make more profit.

"Retailers love the value proposition we are offering," Rosenberg said.

If we had to simplify everything that the Narian platform does we would simply say it's a must have set of tools for retailers who put their customer experiences first and know that if they exceed customer expectations the profit will follow and loyalty will be gained. NFC is an enabler and alone doesn't do too much at all. However, when NFC is added to back end platforms, innovative creative and runs on a back end that records meaningful analytics NFC becomes a very attractive prospect for retailers. There are a myriad of companies developing NFC based retail services, which includes ShelfX and Proximiant who both have very solid offerings that use NFC for POS, receipts, offers and NFC payments in-store.

Narian NFC services focus on retail experiences

However, Narian's approach is a little different. Narian is focused on accountability of staff members in helping customers. Its system also works towards helping customers get the information they need to purchase products. The scope of Narian's system is very robust and quite frankly too large to fully describe in one post. However, Narian sent us over its latest set of SlideShare presentations that go quite a way to giving a brief overview of some of the services the firm offers. We say some of the services because Narian Technologies is like a rabbit hole. They have developed more retail based services than we can count, and they are just the ones we know about.

Retail is one focus, but restaurants, bars and many other businesses that have customer facing situations would probably benefit from the Narian Technologies suite of services. Because the platform is so customizable it fits with any brand, with any look and even gives merchants their very own app that can be branded.

Narian retail services presentation

Out of the presentations that Narian sent us over the above information probably best described the length and breadth of the firm's NFC based services.

The 5 questions retailers should ask themselves in 2012

5 easy steps to setup your nfc apps & tags with Narian's NFC based platform

Narian solving 10,000 years of retailers key problems

Big changes are set to happen within retail in the next few years and the most progressive firms will likely use NFC based platforms and systems. There are a growing amount of NFC smartphones in the market today and by the end of this year that figure is set to jump to millions of potential customers that have the ability to interact with NFC tags. Narian has partnered with UPM RFID, or Smartrac as they will soon be known, to provide custom printed materials for stores that contain NFC tags. We covered Narian's app last year, which you can find here, here and here.

"Retailers all thought that all they could do with NFC tags is Social/Multimedia or Coupons, but they all saw a much greater return and innovation out of our unique apps that save time and create efficiency for their work force," Rosenberg told NFC Rumors.

Einar Rosenberg also said, "Visitors to both the UPM RFID & NXP booth at NFC didn’t realize that the growth went from a few hundred thousand NFC phones in the US to about 5 million from October to January.  Roughly three months, and we went crazy big with NFC.  Right now, NFC phones are either the #1 or #2 or both top selling phones on Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T for the months of November and December. So they all thought NFC wasn’t for another year or that it was just mobile payments, but the real numbers shocked and excited most every retailer we met."

If you are looking around for a solution that can add better customer service and a mechanism for higher profits in your retail empire we think that Narian Technologies should certainly be on your list of solutions to check out. We expect to see the Narian system deployed in multiple high profile stores this year as more and more NFC smartphones hit the market and Isis MNOs start allowing NFC services to be used and for the technology to be switched on in consumers' devices.

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WDC Helsinki 2012 launches NFC apps and UPM RFID NFC tag smart posters

NFC is being used more and more in large scale events and WDC Helsinki 2012 is no exception. The World Design Capital (WDC) is chosen every two years and this time around Helsinki has been chosen along with other Finnish cities Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti. 

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-19-2012/wdc-helsinki-2012-launches-nfc-nfc/#ixzz1jvka8jdY

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Open NFC stack supports Android Ice Cream Sandwich

INSIDE Secure has had a busy week in supporting NFC based systems which now includes Android 4.0, or as we like to call it Ice Cream Sandwich, in its Open NFC stack. Google elected sometime ago to develop NFC based solutions with NXP, and so NXP chips and secure elements are supported straight off the bat.

This post was originally written by NFC Rumors. http://www.nfcrumors.com/01-19-2012/open-nfc-stack-supports-android/#ixzz1jvLZ81pz