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TazTag shows off the TazPad and NFC smart monitors at CES
Posted by Seth Planck
January 25th, 2012 at 5:19 PM Filed Under Events, Galleries, Latest News, Videos
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. Of course, the fact that NFC can be read on both side of the device, its AuthenTec fingerprint scanner and its low price didn’t hurt its chances any. The fact that the TazPad was the first NFC tablet to hit the market globally also gave it a certain fame and a lot of coverage, including here on NFC Rumors.
Japan Mobile NFC Consortium adopts international NFC Forum standards
Posted by Seth Planck
December 23rd, 2011 at 11:17 AM Filed Under Latest News
Japan Mobile NFC Consortium adopts international NFC Forum standards
NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and SoftBank have created the “Japan Mobile NFC Consortium” which will help the three carriers coordinate and adopt an international NFC standard as set forward by the NFC Forum.
Japan was the first country to really embrace NFC in a big way. They chose the FeliCa protocol as the standard before the NFC Forum had put together the international technical documents of what was to become a ubiquitous set of standards for NFC. It is fair to say that Japan as a nation has the most advanced and contiguous NFC deployment and adoption on the face of the planet. However, as NFC gears up around the globe FeliCa isn’t the standard that has been chosen by most other nations. In fact, many NFC phones sold outside of Japan only have limited support for FeliCa. Everyone else is using the NFC type A and type B NFC tags and standards and now Japan has decided it makes sense to start converting to the same system everyone else is using.
Who wants a half price Verizon Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone?
Posted by Seth Planck
December 15th, 2011 at 4:22 PM Filed Under Latest News, NFC Deals
Within the space of a few hours the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon has lost half of its purchase price
We knew the Samsung Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone wouldn’t last at the premium price of $299 for very long, but even we didn’t think its price would be cut in half within a few hours of launch on Verizon. It has though, and Amazon are currently retailing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone for a very tempting $149.99. That gets you the Android Ice Cream Sandwich touting, Face Unlock biometric boasting, Android Beam slinging pure Google experience phone.
ViaForensics finds Google Wallet security vulnerability with a rooted Android phone
FeaturePosted by Seth Planck
December 14th, 2011 at 7:12 PM Filed Under Latest News
ViaForensics finds Google Wallet security vulnerability with a rooted Android NFC phone, Google plugs it tight within hours
It was bound to happen that someone would find a vulnerability in an NFC mobile wallet, however, as exploits go the Google Wallet faired pretty well. ViaForensics took a rooted Android phone that we can only assume was a Nexus S and was able to gain access to database tables which revealed some arguably sensitive data. They found that databases weren’t properly flushed after cards were deleted from the Google Wallet.
LG Prada 3.0 NFC smartphone dressed up in accessories hits catwalk?
Posted by Seth Planck
December 14th, 2011 at 1:32 PM Filed Under Latest News
LG Prada 3.0 NFC smartphone dressed up in accessories hits catwalk?
Today LG and Prada unveiled the new LG Prada 3.0, which is a relatively well specified Android smartphone. However, Engadget is reporting that they have received leaked information that has let them know that the LG Prada 3.0 is an NFC smartphone. We combed through the press release after the LG Prada 3.0 was announced and couldn’t find any mention of it rocking some NFC goodness, but that doesn’t mean that under its covers there isn’t an NFC chip and antenna lurking just waiting to be discovered.
Svelte Panasonic NFC smartphone with no name? I should coco!
Posted by Seth Planck
December 09th, 2011 at 3:04 PM Filed Under Latest News
Svelte Panasonic NFC smartphone with no name? I should coco!
Okay, okay before you start frothing at the mouth too much at the sight of this good looking Panasonic NFC smartphone you should calm yourself as we probably won’t be seeing it Stateside. However, those lucky Europeans are likely to get their hands and a “D” shaped slice of style in March. In somewhat of an odd press release Panasonic announced its plans to enter the NFC smartphone race globally starting with Europe early next year, and penned out their plans for world domination. Well, world domination may be a little strong, but healthy growth is projected.
Japan gets another Biometric NFC smartphone with new AuthenTec unit
Posted by Seth Planck
December 08th, 2011 at 2:30 PM Filed Under Latest News
Japan gets another Biometric NFC smartphone with new AuthenTec unit
Biometric sensors are due to become a big part of the security in our NFC smartphones and AuthenTec are arguably the leader in this field with their biometric fingerprint scanner units and software. In many ways, to see the future of NFC we need look no further than Japan where the technology has already hit a too-big-to-fail status. Biometric security is already used for NFC smartphones in Japan with countless units using AuthenTec biometric scanners and software.
A problem with some biometric security like facial recognition is that a simple photograph can trick sensors. Although fingerprint scanners are another component that needs to be added to an NFC smartphone, the technology is harder to deceive with common tricks.
Hands-on with the Taztag Tazpad NFC tablet at WIMA NFC USA
Posted by Seth Planck
December 06th, 2011 at 11:55 AM Filed Under Latest News
Hands-on with the Taztag Tazpad NFC tablet at WIMA NFC USA
We have been following the development of the Taztag Tazpad, which took the title as the first NFC tablet to be announced, since earlier this year. From its inception, the Tazpad NFC tablet had its work cut out for it in standing up to colossal electronics giants who would undoubtedly release competitive products.
The Tazpad has prospered, moved beyond vaporware and is now in the market for integrators and larger organizations. As NFC tablets go, the Tazpad is the only one we know of that is available today and has features that make it an attractive prospect for business based implementations. In fact, it has features not available in a single slate anywhere else. We met up with Taztag Co-Founder and International General Manager, Michel Delaux, over at WIMA, where our first question was “Do you have one with you?” Luckily enough, he did!
SmartMetric brings miniature biometric fingerprint scanning to NFC payments
Posted by Seth Planck
November 28th, 2011 at 1:08 PM Filed Under Latest News
SmartMetric brings miniature biometric fingerprint scanning to NFC payments
SmartMetric intends to bring miniaturized biometric fingerprint scanning to EMV and NFC payments. You may remember SmartMetric, the company who is suing both Visa and MasterCard. That suit was for infringing on the firm’s patents relating to biometric security based on payment cards. SmartMetric has now announced it is ready for market, but what isn’t clear from their announcement is whether the firm intends to bring that biometric technology to NFC smartphones. SmartMetric mentions mobile payments multiple times within their announcement, but never gives distinct use cases. We know from the suit filed that the firm has developed products that fit onto credit cards providing what it calls “100% verification” that provides enhanced security for payments.
NXP brings NFC payments and banking to the unbanked in India
Posted by Seth Planck
November 21st, 2011 at 7:45 PM Filed Under Latest News
NXP brings NFC payments and banking to the unbanked in India as part of the e-Shakti project
NXP Semiconductors are working with Glodyne Technoserve to bring NFC based banking and welfare facilities to rural communities for the first time. Glodyne Technoserve is the technology service provider of the Indian State Government of Bihar. NXP is using its SmartMX-based e-Shakti card to provide Bihar residents with their own identity cards, employment cards, and bank cards.
Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone for Verizon official with specs and videos
Posted by Seth Planck
November 17th, 2011 at 12:31 PM Filed Under Latest News, Videos
Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone for Verizon gets official with specs and videos
Finally, more details about the Galaxy Nexus are becoming available with a specification sheet and a multitude of videos. Interestingly, the Verizon Galaxy Nexus departs slightly from the version announced in Hong Kong earlier this month. The changes are subtle and revolve around a larger battery, which has no doubt been included because LTE is known to suck you dry of juice quicker than 3G. These differences also are related to the CDMA versus the HSPA+ version that Google showed off.
Fujitsu launches two new NFC phones with AuthenTec sensor built in
Posted by Seth Planck
November 15th, 2011 at 11:34 AM Filed Under Latest News
Fujitsu launches two new NFC phones with AuthenTec sensor built in
Fujitsu has chosen to add AuthenTec AES1750 Smart Sensor biometric fingerprint scanners to two new NFC phones. We haven’t seen many smartphones with AuthenTec’s biometric technology here in the States, but over in Japan the firm’s technology is very popular. Biometric security is expected to see massive growth over the next couple of years and Florida’s AuthenTec will likely take a nice piece of that pie. The two new NFC phones from Fujitsu are NTT DOCOMO bound and feature some impressive specifications that include fingerprint scanners.
Google confirms Nexus S will get NFC lovin Ice Cream Sandwich
Posted by Seth Planck
October 19th, 2011 at 11:21 AM Filed Under Latest News
Google confirms Nexus S will get NFC lovin Ice Cream Sandwich
Google has confirmed that the Nexus S will soon get the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade with the Android Beam NFC features. The team over at Engadget spoke to Gabe Cohen at Google who confirmed that most Gingerbread devices will get the update. So, great news – Ice Cream Sandwich will bring a whole new set of features to the Android faithful on a whole host of devices.
Matias Duarte said, “Currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S. Theoretically should work for any 2.3 device.”
Samsung Galaxy Nexus NFC phone & Ice Cream Sandwich launch event (Video)
Posted by Seth Planck
October 19th, 2011 at 10:18 AM Filed Under NFC Briefs
Samsung Galaxy Nexus NFC phone & Ice Cream Sandwich launch event (Video) Just in case you missed the ICS event last night where the Samsung Galaxy Nexus NFC phone was announced along with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), we thought we would post the video. The video features the specifications for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus [...]
AuthenTec to show off fingerprint biometric security that works for NFC too
Posted by Seth Planck
October 06th, 2011 at 4:31 PM Filed Under NFC Briefs
AuthenTec to show off fingerprint biometric security at CTIA 2011 works for NFC too AuthenTec are all about security and they think fingerprint scanners are the way to go for NFC payment security. The company has already performed the first NFC payment that required biometric data and now they are adding DRM (digital rights management) [...]
NFC news roundup
Posted by Seth Planck
September 25th, 2011 at 10:15 PM Filed Under Latest News
NFC news roundup
Its been a busy couple of weeks in NFC and odds are you have probably missed some of the good bits if you don’t hang out on NFC Rumors all day everyday. So we thought we’d catalogue some of the more interesting stories that have crept up in the last two weeks and organize a little.
Marketing
NFC marketing used to be a small category of news, but it is building. We expect that in the future it will rival NFC phones in the amount of stories that are generated by NFC marketing because it is such a diverse subject.
- First NFC digital billboard to launch in Times Square
- Kimtag research finds social networking and marketing NFC tags scans get a 22% per month bump
- Poken and Standard Register Healthcare announce NFC products and services platform pokenHEALTH
- Tapit closes exclusivity deal with JCDecaux in Australia for NFC marketing on its “outside street furniture” or what we like to call NFC billboards
- Tapit forms Australian NFC agency out of home advertising network with JCDecaux
- NFC social check-ins come of age with RewardAble marketing platform
MasterCard talks up security in NFC payments
Posted by Seth Planck
September 23rd, 2011 at 10:46 AM Filed Under Latest News
MasterCard talks up security in NFC payments
MasterCard has been talking about the security involved in NFC mobile wallets, initially with the Google Wallet and then on the grander scale of the PayPass system itself. Poll after poll has shown that consumers are worried about security when it comes to NFC payments, whether that comes in the form of an NFC mobile wallet or an EMV card. Consumers are right to be concerned about the security of a nascent payment method and they are right to seek education on safety systems that are applied to any payment forms. Peace of mind is a wonderful thing.
We have discussed before on NFC Rumors that NFC payments are probably more secure than any form of currency or payment that has come before. Does that mean NFC payments are infallible? No, but the point of security is to make it sufficiently difficult that no one would bother attempting to steal a few bucks from an account. Does it mean that consumers should be more protective of their NFC phones if they have them set up for payments? Absolutely, just as you wouldn’t leave cash laying out around strangers, the same would apply to you phone if it is the way in which you pay for goods and services. That is true if you use your phone for mobile banking also.
The fact is security with NFC payments doesn’t just fall to the card issuer or the NFC mobile wallet provider. We the consumers also have our responsibility to ensure security is kept tight. But let’s assume that you are security minded about your NFC phone and payment device. What is MasterCard doing to keep you secure, your transactions and your accounts secure on their end of things?
Consumers have smartphone security concerns but don’t install security apps as NFC payments arrive
FeaturePosted by Seth Planck
September 22nd, 2011 at 3:59 PM Filed Under Featured, Latest News
A NPD Group study suggests that consumers are not managing smartphone security as NFC payments arrive
NPD Group found that people are worried about security but do very little about it when it comes to smartphones – we wonder will it still be the same for NFC phones? Google Wallet just launched, but there are still people out there who are concerned about the security of NFC mobile wallets and NFC payments. A new report out today from the market research firm NPD Group reveals some concerning facts and figures about just how many people are taking action to protect their sensitive data housed on smartphones. The irony is that nearly 40% of all smartphone users are concerned about threats such as activity monitoring, hacking, and credit-card security, and viruses, while more than 33% are worried about harmful apps, malicious emails, and the potential for user-location tracking.
We think you will agree that there are significant amount of concerns surrounding the security of smartphones, we have also seen report after report that suggest people are also worried about NFC payments. So it is amazing that the report found that 82 percent of smartphone users have no security apps installed on their smartphones.
Biometric industry set for massive growth thanks to NFC
Posted by Seth Planck
September 13th, 2011 at 2:10 PM Filed Under Latest News
Goode Intelligence new report suggests that the biometric industry set for massive growth thanks to NFC
The biometric industry is set to grow substantially according to a new study by the research firm Goode Intelligence. We all know that NFC payments are coming. We are all expecting NFC mobile wallets to become pervasive and we all have our security concerns whether they are rational, factual or not. Trusting our financial stability and accessibility to funds to our NFC phones doesn’t come easy. That’s because psychologically one of our needs in being human is to ensure we have security. It’s a natural protection mechanism and any technology that doesn’t meet those needs is likely to have a tough time getting off the ground. In reality NFC mobile wallet payments are one of the most secure payment mechanisms we have ever had access to, but it’s new. In a world of hackers and skimmers, if you aren’t educated in more salubrious parts of society and technology, the security of how you pay for the things you need may appear to be at risk.
A way to negate many of those risks to to prevent anyone who gets hold of your NFC phone gaining access to sensitive data and biometric security offers manner in which security can be achieved. We have written a few articles on biometric security and you can find them over on the right of this post. However, here’s the quick run down of biometric security:
Visa and MasterCard getting sued over SmartMetric biometric contactless credit cards
Posted by Seth Planck
September 07th, 2011 at 4:52 PM Filed Under Latest News, Press Release
Visa and MasterCard getting sued over SmartMetric biometric contactless credit cards
We suppose suing season is not over yet when it comes to NFC and contactless technology as SmartMetric lays another suit on Visa and MasterCard in yet another patent dispute in the nascent contactless and NFC industry. This time the patent is in regards to a very novel credit card sized biometric finger scanner that also acts as a credit card that can be topped up to a computer and is insulated from your other banking details. With this card you can transfer cash, pay for bills and a whole host of other services that SmartMetric offers.
We haven’t seen Visa or MasterCard use this technology but no doubt some portion of the terrible twosome’s EMV cards come a little too close for comfort for SmartMetric. Either that, or this is probably the best marketing campaign that money can buy.
Diebold NFC ATM seeks bio-forms for biometric authentication VMWare helps
Posted by Seth Planck
September 01st, 2011 at 12:25 PM Filed Under Latest News
Diebold NFC ATM seeks bio-forms for biometric authentication VMWare helps
We may well be heading to a cashless society where popping down to the cash machine becomes a thing of the past, but that’s a few years off from happening, if it happens at all. In the meantime, while NFC finds its feet and biometrics are increasingly being partnered with contactless payment technology we should probably work on making our ATM’s capable of interacting with the new technology we are likely to find in our phones in the next couple of years. Imagine if you will, an NFC ATM with biometric authentication of board. The idea is that you would wave your phone across the ATM and then have your fingerprint scanned for further bio authentication. This not only adds more security in case someone gets hold of your phone, but further mitigates risk for financial institutions so everyone wins, don’t they? Maybe. We’ll discuss this issue in another post.
Consumers want sub $399 smartphones with NFC & biometrics
Posted by Seth Planck
August 31st, 2011 at 2:46 PM Filed Under Latest News
Juniper Research has published its next report in the Smartphone Evolution Strategies series and has found that consumers want sub $399 smartphone and features like NFC and biometrics
It’s no surprise that Samsung has launched two low cost NFC phones this week, or that Nokia launched three budget NFC phones last week, or even that BlackBerry added yet another low cost NFC phone to their portfolio of smartphone products early last week. According to Juniper Research, global shipments of smartphones are highest in the $151- $399 price range globally. These are unsubsidized prices direct from manufacturers and have seen a massive bump in market representation in the last year.
However, Juniper Research predicts that by 2016 the $151 – $399 price range will take the lion’s share of a 1 billion unit per annum smartphone market. That said, Juniper sees that the most intense competition within the smartphone category exists at the top echelons of devices that cost above $400. This leads the research company to state that the biggest opportunity for OEMs lays in the under $150 zone of smartphones from n0w through to 2016. But price isn’t everything as an increasingly savvy consumer asks for features like NFC, biometrics and 3D on smartphones.
HID Global announces next gen NFC Access Control readers and contactless smart cards
Posted by Seth Planck
August 30th, 2011 at 8:48 PM Filed Under Latest News, Press Release
HID Global announces next gen NFC Access Control readers and contactless smart cards
When you think HID you think about access control, secure ID’s and RFID. Here at NFC Rumors we can’t get into our office without waving our RFID dongle in front of a reader, and just the other day we gained access to a parking lot that required a HID smart card and used a system that took us from the lot to our hotel room in an elevator that literally opened up the doors in our room – all with the smart card authentication.
Put simply, HID Global is the 100-pound gorilla of the access control and secure ID market and it seems they are moving with the times. The word of the day from the ASSA ABLOY Group brand subsidiary is NFC and we are liking what we are seeing, and that’s not just the coffee talking!
Fujitsu launches F-09c, F-11C and F-10C NFC phones on DoCoMo
Posted by Seth Planck
August 30th, 2011 at 12:17 AM Filed Under Latest News, Press Release, Videos
Fujitsu F-09c, F-10C, F-11C waterproof NFC phones with AuthenTec biometric fingerprint sensors hits NTT DoCoMo Japan with a 16.3-megapixel camera
Fujitsu, in partnership with AuthenTec, have released a trio of new NFC phones: the F-09c, F-10C and F-11C. The bevy of NFC phone goodness comes with AuthenTec biometric fingerprint sensors and have debuted on DoCoMo Japan. However, we have seen documentation that suggests that the NFC phones are also heading to Europe after they passed through the European version of the FCC. No word as yet as to whether we could see these NFC phones Stateside, but we do know that the phones include AuthenTec’s AES1750 smart sensor for multiple touch-powered features, including one-touch security and personalization.
Samsung Nexus Prime NFC phone outed by Samsung, by mistake
RumorPosted by Seth Planck
August 27th, 2011 at 1:14 PM Filed Under Latest News, Reviews
Samsung Nexus Prime NFC phone confirmed by Samsung in cease and desist legal letter
Well, if there was any doubt left out there that the Samsung Nexus Prime, Google Android pure experience NFC phone, existed that appear to have all but melted. Rumors surrounding the existence of the Samsung Nexus Prime have been circulating for months now and with the expected launch of the next rendition of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, the likelihood of a new Google phone is high. Many rumors are just that, myths that in a Chinese whisper fashion roam from tech blog to tech blog and become bigger as they go. Even mainstream media gets involved with the speculation of mobile devices including well respected newspapers. It is up to the savvy reader to discern fact from fiction and to always treat information with a pinch of salt until multiple sources begin to backup the original rumor. Whether that be in the form of photographs of phones, phone parts or confirmation of component orders that manufacturers have received, spotting a rumor that has some backbone isn’t hard. Do you know what is better than all of the previous list in confirming a rumor? When the OEM accidentally outs itself as has happened with the Samsung Nexus Prime NFC phone.