Mobile World Congress NFC rumors leaking left, right and center

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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. Yep, those in the know. They tell us what they can, but often have to leave out some details so they don’t identify themselves with specific knowledge that only a few know. So, think what will you of the rumors, and let’s just see which ones come to pass.

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Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone launches 15th Dec? We’re so over this!

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Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone launches 15th Dec? We’re so over this!

Bored of hearing the next projected date of when the Galaxy Nexus NFC smartphone will hit Verizon? We feel you. It all seemed exciting and fun at the backend of October when Google made the announcement with Samsung, but the subject has since become one of torture. Will it have NFC? How much will it cost? What size is the display? When will Verizon release it? Why is Verizon fighting with Google over Google Wallet? When will it launch? When will it release? How much will it cost? When will Verizon finally let it loose to the market?

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AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II rocking NFC after custom ROM

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AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II rocking NFC after custom ROM

As you may well know the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II has dormant NFC capabilities. They are only dormant because AT&T has had NFC locked off at the software level and that has frustrated many NFC fans in the States. All because of Isis, yada yada yada… We knew custom ROMs were available, but we had never thought to write a post about it until some of the UPM RFID team let us know they had managed to enable NFC in their Samsung Galaxy S II on AT&T. We still think it’s crazy that an NFC tag firm like UPM RFID had to go through installing a custom ROM in the first place to use an NFC smartphone, but that’s another discussion for another day. So, if you are one of the unfortunate souls who have an AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II know that you can enable NFC on your phone by following some instructions and downloading a couple of pieces of software.

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White NFC smartphones hitting in time for the holidays

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White NFC smartphones hitting in time for the holidays

A new fad of white NFC smartphones seems to be hitting for the holidays. Of course, all have taken cues from Apple’s white iPhone, but this new push on white smartphones seems to pick on NFC smartphones for reasons that escape us. Nevertheless, more choice is more choice and some of the white NFC phones that are about to be launched do look pretty nice.

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NFC turns on Xmas lights in Cambridge UK with celebrities help

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NFC turns on Xmas lights in Cambridge UK with celebrities help

Hit the UK, head east until you get to East Anglia then swoop up a little until you hit Cambridge – if you get there by 17.00 GMT on Sunday, you will see Christmas lights being switched on using an NFC smartphone and app. Not only that, but you will see the Christmas lights being turned on by one Sheila Ferguson from the Three Degrees. It’s not everyday you see that, right? It may not be everyday you want to see that, or if you are more tender years, you maybe saying “Who?”

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Amazon BlackFriday deal busts NFC smartphones down to 1 cent

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Amazon BlackFriday deal busts NFC smartphones down to 1 cent

Amazon has busted all smartphones it stocks for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, including a few NFC smartphones, down to a penny up until Cyber Monday. So, if you have wanted that NFC Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 4G that rocks LTE or a BlackBerry Bold 9930 ready for BlackBerry Tag when it is released soon, now may be the time to make the jump. All deals require an eligible upgrade or a new line of service and you have to, of course, sign on with a 2 year contract. Amazon is even paying you $100 if you take a mobile hotspot as part of your agreement, as long as the phone you chose supports the feature. So, if you play your cards right you could find yourself being paid $100 for getting the NFC smartphone of your choice.

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Nokia N9 NFC smartphone comes to US after all for $649.99

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Nokia N9 NFC smartphone comes to US after all for $649.99 It was a blow when we learned that the Nokia N9 would give the US a miss. However, Amazon has the 16 GB black version NFC smartphone in stock for $649.99 off contract. Of course, third parties over at Amazon also have the 64GB [...]

Source: Amazon

Via: The Nokia Blog

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BlackBerry London NFC smartphone BBX handset?

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BlackBerry London NFC smartphone BBX handset?

An image and some specs have surfaced supposedly showing the BlackBerry London BBX NFC smartphone which could be the first hero phone that will usher in RIM’s QNX based OS. The image shows a different design mantra from BlackBerry showing what appears to be similar to the Porsche Design P9981, which didn’t win too many fans. This NFC smartphone that has the code name of BlackBerry London is said to be released in June next year and could represent the Canadian firm’s effort to gain back market share.

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Samsung announces Secu-NFC Chip, combines NFC IC with Secure Element

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Samsung announces Secu-NFC Chip, combines NFC IC with Secure Element

It’s a busy week at CARTES and Samsung just outed its new Secu-NFC Chip, which will no doubt cause some stirring within the industry. The new Samsung Secu-NFC Chip combines an NFC controller and a secure element into one unit allowing various advantages over current ICs. The secure element is the storage area in an NFC phone where personal and sensitive data is securely stored. That storage area isn’t directly accessible through your NFC phone’s operating system and secure elements generally have tamper proof features that ensure the memory locks up if someone attempts to access personal information without proper authentication. What makes Samsung’s announcement notable is that their new SENHRN1, or Secu-NFC Chip, combines both the NFC chip and secure element into one efficient chip.

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Samsung Galaxy S II NFC phone $50 at Radio Shack on Black Friday

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AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II NFC phone $50 at Radio Shack on Black Friday Radio Shack have published their Black Friday deals and they include the original Samsung Galaxy S II NFC phone for $50 with a new two year contract or an upgrade. So, if you have been longing for a Samsung Galaxy S [...]

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HTC Amaze NFC Android phone heading to AT&T

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HTC Amaze NFC Android phone heading to AT&T

NFC Rumors has learned that AT&T is planning to add the HTC Amaze to its growing list of NFC capable smartphones within the next few weeks. The HTC Amaze has already been on T-Mobile since October 10th, and it now appears that AT&T wants in on some of the well specified HTC Amaze action for its own network. However, like every other NFC smartphone that goes on Ma’ Bell, it is not clear at this point whether NFC will be enabled at the time of launch. AT&T has disabled Near Field Communication chips in every NFC phone so far, but rumors are suggesting the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus may be changing things over at the number two MNO.

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HTC Edge quad-core NFC phone coming March or April

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HTC Edge quad-core NFC phone coming March or April

Images and specifications for the HTC Edge quad-core NFC smartphone have leaked online, and if the rumors are true this new phone will be a beast. We have been waiting for quad-core super phones for well over a year now and it looks as if it will be HTC that delivers in the form of the HTC Edge. There has now been a plethora of NFC smartphones announced and as of yet, most are rocking Android. The HTC Edge could well represent the next bump in usability for smartphones, and from what we are hearing, the quad-core wonder phone will support NFC from the get go. In fact, if the rumors are correct the specifications for the HTC Edge set a new premium standard for smartphones that even the rumored Samsung Galaxy S III does not compete with.

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PayPal Android app finally gets P2P NFC payments

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PayPal Android app finally gets P2P NFC payments

For months PayPal has been talking NFC payments down. PayPal in August then announced the upgrade to their Android PayPal app that added P2P NFC payments functionality. Since then, there has been nary a word about it until the app update hit the Nexus S the day before yesterday. The crew over at the internet bank have finally released the update that enables NFC P2P payments using PayPal.

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Samsung rumored to be developing new NFC products, NFC payments?

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Samsung rumored to be building new NFC products, NFC payments?

Samsung is building its own NFC chips and is developing new products, NFC Rumors has learned. It seems like we head off for a few days and the NFC environment goes crazy. We came back to an inbox full of news and, of course, rumors from some of our best sources. We all know that Samsung is slinging NFC into most phones they release from here on out. It is a great win for NFC and a greater win for the consumer that one of the most powerful phone manufacturers is enabling its devices on mass for the consumer. However, what you may not have known, and what we didn’t know until recently, is that Samsung isn’t stopping its NFC tirade there. They are said to be implementing NFC in products that are not phones. From what we have been told, it sounds like NFC payments. Let us tell you why.

Samsung NFC devices and services that use card emulation like NFC payments

Our sources take a risk by sharing information with NFC Rumors and we always appreciate it. However, sometimes because of the nature of the information they have to share they have to hold some back. This is the case with this NFC rumor. Too much information exposes them and often their jobs can be at stake when sharing what they share, so we can give our readers a heads up on what’s coming. We, of course, asked what this new mystery NFC service was and hit somewhat of a brick wall. However, both of our sources confirmed that the new products and services that Samsung are working on revolve around card emulation. Off the top of our heads, that makes these likely candidates – NFC payments, transportation or access control.

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AT&T being forced to enable NFC in Samsung Galaxy S II

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AT&T being forced to enable NFC in Samsung Galaxy S II with Ice Cream Sandwich update

AT&T didn’t enable NFC in the Samsung Galaxy S II, and if you are an owner you will be painfully aware of that fact. NFC Rumors has exclusively learned that AT&T is being pressured to enable NFC in the Samsung Galaxy S II because of the press and excitement among consumers about Android Beam. AT&T didn’t enable the NFC in the device for two reasons: one, they want to monetize NFC before they launch it, and secondly they didn’t want consumers using more data with NFC actions.

AT&T failed to anticipate that if an NFC phone has the service turned off and the consumer wants that feature, they will lose customers if they block the feature. AT&T haven’t announced that they will be carrying the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as yet but our sources are telling us that executives are feeling the pressure and have decided to send an update by the end of this year or early next year.

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Verizon will carry the Galaxy Nexus and NFC is to be enabled

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Verizon will carry the Galaxy Nexus and NFC is to be enabled

It’s official, Verizon will be carrying the Galaxy Nexus and NFC will be enabled, according to the press release coming out of Big Red this evening. We don’t have a date or pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as yet and we have no clue whether Google Wallet will be available for consumers. But if you have been waiting to know whether the new leader of the pack in NFC super phones was going to hit an LTE network in your neck of the woods tonight, you can rest a little easier.

Verizon will carry the Galaxy Nexus and even if it has NFC enabled, it is likely that there will be no Google Wallet

The information sent out by Verizon names Google services that will be available on the Galaxy Nexus including “Android Market, Gmail™, Google Maps™ 5.0 with 3D maps, Google Earth™, Movie Studio, YouTube™, syncing with Google Calendar™ and a redesigned Google＋ app.” Guess what’s missing? Yep, no Google Wallet.

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Nokia 800 press shots leaked still wondering about NFC

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Nokia 800 press shots leaked still wondering if it is an NFC phone to go with the Nokia Wallet we exclusively reported about last week

With all the Google news today, it’s easy to forget that Nokia is getting ready to have Nokia world and probably launch the Nokia 800. However, PocketNow got hold of press photos of the Nokia 800 and put it straight back on our radar and we are asking ourselves the same question all over again. Is the Nokia 800 an NFC phone capable of NFC payments?

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Galaxy Nexus NFC phone questions left unanswered

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Galaxy Nexus NFC phone so much said, yet so many questions left unanswered

As we are sure you are aware, last night the Samsung Galaxy Nexus NFC phone and Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) were unveiled and announced to the world. We learned a lot about the Android Beam, Face Unlock and features of the Galaxy Nexus but there were a lot of questions that people are eager to know about left unanswered. Let’s start with our favorite subject – NFC on the Galaxy Nexus.

Unanswered NFC questions about the Galaxy Nexus which is an NFC phone

First thing’s first, we didn’t find out whether the phone will ship with NFC turned on for all mobile network operators. We know that many have been blocking NFC because they fear the extra data that will be used by consumers. We exclusively learned that the reason that AT&T had the NFC turned of in the Samsung Galaxy S II was for this very reason. Will the Galaxy Nexus meet the same fate?

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Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE NFC phone to hits the States?

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Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE NFC phone to hits the States?

A welcome surprise just came about as the Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE NFC phone through the FCC. This version of the Samsung Galaxy S II HD LTE is a GSM phone, so we can pretty much guarantee that if it’s US bound it is heading to AT&T for their newly launched LTE network. Most of the details on the FCC label are unfortunately in Korean so we can’t grab too many details about this NFC phone. However, if NFC is onboard like it is with its Korean cousin, we then have the issue of AT&T disabling it at the software level as they did with the normal Samsung Galaxy S II.

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NFC Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon map leak

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NFC Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon map leak

The plot thickens with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as a Verizon MAP (minimum advertised list) is leaked showing the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich NFC phone scheduled for advertising from the 10th of November at a price of $299 with which we assume the two year ball and chain contract. However, this MAP’D device’s chart had dates beginning in July which suggests that it maybe out of date by the time it leaked.

We reported earlier today about one of our trusted sources who had communicated to us that Verizon and Google were not seeing eye to eye on Google Wallet being installed on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. We were told that this disagreement was the reason for last week’s cancelation of the Samsung “Unpacked” event. In fact, the disagreements are said to be so strong that we were told either the Samsung Galaxy Nexus would hit Verizon without Google Wallet, which is Google’s biggest investment to date, or there is the possibility that it wouldn’t hit Verizon at all.

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Smart Card Alliance and NFC Forum announces NFC Solutions Summit 2012

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Smart Card Alliance and NFC Forum announces NFC Solutions Summit 2012

The Smart Card Alliance and the NFC Forum have got together to put on the NFC Solutions Summit that will be happening in May of next year. It is currently the middle of the NFC conference season with plenty of great shows coming up in the next month or two. Looking ahead, the NFC ecosystem is likely to change in the next 8-9 months with more NFC phones, more NFC mobile wallets and more NFC marketing taking place everywhere. So who better to put on an NFC Solutions Summit than the Smart Card Alliance and the NFC Forum?

If you are an NFC geek like we are, this is probably one of those summits you won’t want to miss. The Smart Card Alliance said, “The Smart Card Alliance/ NFC Forum Summit will cover the state of the technology, developments in new NFC devices and add-ons, the status of the growing NFC ecosystem, the promise of NFC-enabled payments and other popular applications, NFC implementation, and North American and international experiences with NFC pilots and implementations.”

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Pantech Sky Vega LTE NFC smartphone unveiled in Korea

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Pantech Sky Vega LTE and NFC smartphone unveiled in Korea

The Pantech Sky Vega LTE and NFC smartphone has been unveiled in Korea. It’s not often that we see a new competitor enter the smartphone market, and it is less frequent that we see one enter the market in the hero phone category. Pantech is not a new company, it has produced phones for quite some time. But the Sky Vega LTE is different. Pantech appear to have thrown away the rule book with their Sky Vega LTE, which is an all singing, all dancing NFC phone with some impressive specifications and pleasing aesthetic design.

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Galaxy Nexus / Samsung Nexus Prime “coming sooner than you think”

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus / Samsung Nexus Prime “coming sooner than you think” We still don’t know whether it will be called the Samsung Nexus Prime or the Samsung Galaxy Nexus or even the Samsung Droid Prime on Verizon’s network. We don’t even know when it is officially going to be released but what we do know is [...]

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Samsung Galaxy S III specs & blurry image leaks NFC onboard

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Samsung Galaxy S III specs leak NFC onboard

It had to happen and now it has – we have had our first peek at the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone and the good news is that it will have NFC onboard from the get go. An anonymous tipster send the golden photograph over to the Phandroid team that supposedly shows a photograph of a presentation screen showing the Samsung Galaxy S III specifications and a few small images of the next iteration of this legendary family of phones. That image was supposedly shown to mobile network operators and large retail buyers. Before we all get too excited about this photograph, we should remember that this photograph was anonymously sent and has not been ratified in anyway. In fact, there are spelling mistakes all over the slide which may suggest it is not authentic. But without being able to confirm or deny this we suggest you take it with a pinch of salt until further details emerge. Okay, that’s the disclaimer and now feel free to get excited and imagine the Samsung Galaxy S III adorning your pocket. So, what are the Samsung Galaxy S III NFC phone specifications that have been leaked?

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T-Mobile will have NFC turned on in Samsung Galaxy S II NFC Rumors Exclusive

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T-Mobile will have NFC turned on in Samsung Galaxy S II NFC Rumors Exclusive

We have received exclusive information from a reliable source that suggests that the T-Mobile variant of the Samsung Galaxy S II will have its NFC turned on. This is great news for consumers and NFC in general, that there will be yet another NFC super phone available in the US. There were some doubts as to whether T-Mobile would enable NFC in the Samsung Galaxy S II after the company disabled NFC in the BlackBerry line up and AT&T turned off NFC on its Samsung Galaxy S II variant. We already gave an exclusive a week or so ago that T-Mobile is planning on bringing at least five and up to eight new NFC smartphones to market this year. Now we know that the Samsung Galaxy S II will rock NFC as it was intended to. Although both AT&T and T-Mobile are part of Isis, it appears that T-Mobile is taking a very different approach to NFC than AT&T, which we must say that we are relieved to see. However, that could be short lived if AT&T gets its way and is able to acquire T-Mobile. We won’t be keen on Isis while its model is based around control as it is, but credit where credit is due in regards to the Samsung Galaxy S II and NFC T-Mobile is doing the right thing for its customers.

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