Inside Secure supports new Kovio RF Barcode ready NFC tags

Inside Secure supports new Kovio RF Barcode ready NFC tags

Inside Secure has announced that it now supports the Kovio RF Barcode ready NFC tags in its Open NFC protocol stack. Okay, that may be a bit of a clunky headline, so allow us to explain why this is big news and what it means for the adoption of NFC on the whole. The overall goal of NFC tags has been to allow them to become very cost effective, especially for retail usage. The concept that has been flying around over the last few years has been printed NFC tags that use printed silicon to achieve mass market penetration at a fraction of the cost of conventional NFC tags.

Kovio has undoubtedly been the most successful at reaching this lofty goal in NFC. Now Kovio has a partnership with Inside Secure, who is the second largest NFC focused semiconductor company globally, to help it proliferate its wares and build support for its NFC tag platform.

Kovio could now benefit from the Inside Secure, Intel deal

Last year Kovio got a funding boost from Tyco to further develop and sell its printed silicon NFC barcode tags to the masses. Another signal of success becomes apparent when you consider Intel chose Inside Secure for its NFC technology.

“We have worked closely with Kovio to ensure that our MicroRead and SecuRead NFC hardware and our Open NFC protocol stack are fully capable of communicating with wireless tags based on the Kovio RF Barcode technology, and we are excited by the possibilities this collaboration can bring to retailers and brands everywhere,” said Didier Serra, Executive Vice President and General Manager for North America for INSIDE Secure. “Over the coming year, INSIDE and Kovio will be engaging with major retailers, brands and wireless operators on ways to deploy this solution to enable a new communication medium for interacting with consumers at the point of sale and create new opportunities in brand marketing and advertising at the item level.”

What the Inside Secure support for Kovio RF Barcode NFC tags means to retailers and marketers.

NFC is set to allow personal, contextual messaging on everyday goods and services. That conversation is set to start with engagement at the point-of-sale. A rough example could be this – consider a supermarket where you have shared that buying milk is important to you. So, based on your NFC device (that identifies you) that supermarket could always discount your gallon of milk to ensure you use their store. While you are there you would probably pick up different goods. If all you have to do is read an NFC barcode to make this discount happen and then pay with your NFC smartphone and mobile wallet the process becomes frictionless.

Another example would be to give all new customers to an apparel store a discount. If your NFC smartphone has never been used in that store before, by simply scanning the NFC barcode you could qualify for a discount. Creating offers and giving discounts based on consumers’ behavior at the personal level is set to impact the way we purchase goods and interact with brands. Loyalty programs and coupons can also be initiated through this method as well as social media.

The fact that Inside Secure is supporting the Kovio NFC / RF Barcodes in its MicroRead and SecuRead NFC IC’s and secure elements means that the capabilities will be available to millions of consumers. This will probably include Intel Ultrabooks and tablets that will use Inside Secure for NFC capabilities. Another benefit of this alliance to Kovio is that Inside Secure offers its Open NFC protocol stack which also allows developers to get on board and build applications and other devices to support this new ecosystem.

“The affordability and service model enabled by the Kovio RF Barcode tag offers a breakthrough opportunity for retailers and brands to connect the online and physical worlds, creating a direct and instantaneous communication medium for them to interact with consumers at points of sale and use,” said Amir Mashkoori, president and CEO of Kovio. “Through our work with INSIDE, consumers, brands and retailers will soon have a broad range of smartphones and other mobile devices they can use to revolutionize the shopping experience.”

For the Kovio barcodes to become ubiquitous NXP, Broadcom and Qualcomm will also need to support the NFC tags. Let’s hope that the other major players offer similar support. For now we can expect to see retailers taking on NFC tags in the form of the Kovio RF barcodes in the near future that can be used with NFC smartphones that use Inside Secure NFC technology. Now let’s see what Google Wallet and Isis do with this collaboration between Inside Secure and Kovio.