INSIDE Secure supplies Intel with NFC tech and secure elements

INSIDE Secure supplies Intel with NFC tech and secure elements

Intel has selected INSIDE Secure to supply it with its NFC technology as it moves further into the Near Field Communication industry. In the last few months, Intel has come from being absent in NFC to looking like a main proponent of the nascent technology. It was just last week that they upped their membership status in the NFC Forum to the top level of Sponsor and pulled up a chair at the big table of directors. It was around two months ago that we saw a tablet sporting an NFC logo at an Intel industry event also. One thing for sure is that Intel plans to add ubiquity to NFC, and in doing so will educate consumers about the technology on a mass scale.

The announcement that Intel has made an agreement with INSIDE Secure certainly is great news for the French company who recently announced  its new SecuRead product line and showed off an NFC system for authenticating luxury goods.

“NFC is gaining traction in many markets as one of the most convenient ways to use consumer electronic devices for payments and retail commerce transactions, for access to facilities and information, and a host of other applications,” said Aicha Evans, Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Mobile Wireless Group. “We look forward to working with INSIDE to develop and bring to market a range of exciting connectivity solutions for mainstream consumer products that incorporate NFC features.”

The Intel Mobile Wireless Group intends to use MicroRead, SecuRead and Open NFC products

The agreement will see INSIDE Secure provide Intel’s Mobile Wireless Group with the firm’s MicroRead, SecuRead and Open NFC products. This doesn’t mean we are likely to see Intel NFC smartphones, but it does mean we are likely to see more Intel chips in smartphones in the upcoming year from a whole host of OEMs.

“We are very excited to have this opportunity to work alongside Intel in the development of scalable NFC solutions for the industry,” said Charles Walton, Chief Operating Officer for INSIDE Secure. “Working with an industry leader like Intel will play a significant role in the mainstream rollout of NFC.”

Intel is expected to deploy NFC in tablets, PCs and laptops also. The impact of Intel’s impact on the NFC industry is set to be profound, and lets us know that by this time next year many products containing Intel chips will also likely sport NFC.

“A third-generation product that sets a new standard for ease of integration, the MicroRead NFC controller offers a broad range of NFC options and provides the capacity to support multiple secure element types, including SIM, SE or SD card, to support multiple business models. SecuRead integrates INSIDE’s award-winning MicroRead NFC controller with a high-performance secure element and a GlobalPlatform-compliant Java Card.”

We expect the ability to manage multiple secure elements to be a huge factor in the next year. NXP, Broadcom and INSIDE Secure all support the feature, however, the amount of secure elements handed by the NFC chip will not be the only consideration. The memory size of a particular secure element is also set to be a major factor this next year. INSIDE Secure tech can be found in the TazPad and we can now expect NFC ICs and secure elements in an Intel product heading your way.