GlobalPlatform launches its compliance trademark

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GlobalPlatform launches its compliance trademark

Global Platform has announced the launch of its compliance trademark to ensure the creation and maintenance of an interoperable, sustainable and trusted end-to-end environment for managing applications on secure chip technology. If you come to NFC Rumors on a somewhat regular basis, you will know that we yarn on about security, Secure Elements and standards like those put forward by organizations like the NFC Forum. Global Platform is the cross industry, not-for-profit association which identifies, develops and publishes specifications that facilitate the secure and interoperable deployment and management of multiple embedded applications on secure chip technology. GlobalPlatform are the organization that put forward the technical specifications to ensure that the secure element in your Google Nexus S is secure, or an NFC SIM or NFC USIM is tamper-proof.

NFC has started to reach a tipping point where mainstream usage is all but assured. Secure Elements are expected to be used globally across finance, mobile/telecom, government, healthcare, retail and transit industries. In the future, GlobalPlatform’s trademark will also be applicable to card products issued by banks and governments.

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KT launches iCarte NFC iPhone case in Korea

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KT launches iCarte NFC iPhone case in Korea, backs it up with the Olleh Touch NFC mobile wallet

The iPhone 5 may or may not get NFC this fall, but that won’t stop Koreans making NFC payments with an iPhone because KT has launched an iPhone 4 NFC iCarte 420k case. Not only has KT launched a near field communication enabled case for the iPhone 4, but it has done so with the approval of Apple under the “Made for iPhone” accreditation. The iPhone 4 case was developed by Canadian firm Wireless Dynamics Inc., and enables the use of transport cards and credit cards using near field communication while protecting the iPhone in its secondary function as a case.

Hyunmi Yang, Executive Vice President of Integrated Customer Strategy BU at KT said, “As NFC-enabled smart phone was launched recently, iPhone users are showing increasing needs for NFC services. So we became the 1st mobile carrier in the world to deliver NFC services to iPhone users by launching the NFC case.” She added, “As a global leader of NFC services, KT plans to provide more convenient and differentiated NFC services to its customers.”

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Samsung SHV-E120L NFC phone outed, dropping down in Korea this month

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Samsung SHV-E120L NFC phone outed, dropping down in Korea this month

Another day, another NFC phone rears its head and this time it’s the Samsung SHV-E120L that has caught our eye. The team over at PocketNow spotted a post on a Korean website with specifications for the Samsung SHV-E120L NFC phone a couple of days ago. This new phone eerily echoes the specs of the LG LU6200 NFC phone and appears to be geared up to compete on a mano-y-mano basis. Samsung is finally embracing NFC in more and more models and the Samsung SHV-E120L is no exception. As more and more handset manufacturers are committing to NFC phones Samsung appears to becoming more competitive in every market segment and doesn’t look like it’s about to give any advantage away to competitors.

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LG LU6200 NFC phone to be LG’s hero NFC smartphone?

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LG LU6200 NFC phone to be LG’s hero NFC smartphone?

Haven’t heard of the LG U+, which is also known as the LG LU6200, NFC phone? Nor had we until a few days ago, but it is impressive to say the least. LG hasn’t really lived up to its smartphone prowess lately and the NFC phones that the company has announced have been geared more towards budget conscious consumers. Meanwhile, arch rival Samsung trots out hero phone after hero phone to the point it has started to threaten Apple in a big way. That could change very soon, in LG’s homeland Korea anyway. The team at Engadget came across a new NFC phone known as the LG LU6200 on the Korean website MovePlayer. If the LG LU6200 NFC phone shown on this little Korean website is half true, it will look as if Korea will soon have an LG LU6200 NFC wonder phone on its hands. Today more photos have been accidentally on purpose “leaked” which you can see below.

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SK Telecom announces worlds first NFC on USIM SIM cards, adds NFC to phones

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SK Telecom announces worlds first NFC on USIM SIM cards, adds NFC to phones

SK Telecom has announced that it developed the world’s first USIM card equipped with an NFC chip, and it’s being calling “NFC on USIM“. If you aren’t familiar with USIM cards, they basically look and act like a traditional SIM card that your GSM mobile carrier supports in mobile phones. SK Telecom’s new USIM card allows a non-NFC smartphone to become an NFC-enabled if it has the right software. The problem with most smartphones in consumers’ pockets today is that they do not have NFC chips or antennas built into them, so they can’t interact with NFC tags or use any of the other cool functions that NFC facilitates, like peer-to-peer or emulation. SK Telecom are set to change that with their USIM card and potentially enable millions of smartphones with NFC capabilities, and that has to be a good thing.

So, if you have a smartphone and want NFC payments or to be able to collect coupons or to swap contact details, an NFC on USIM solution is heading your way. SK Telecom expect to commercialize NFC on USIM in October 2011 for enterprise customers and will open NFC on USIM- related Application Programming Interface (API) to outside developers to boost the development of diverse NFC-based services. So, in other words, by the first quarter of next year you may well be able to give your smartphone some NFC love if your carrier supports it.

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Kimtag finds Social Network NFC tags scans get a 22% per month bump [Updated]

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Kimtag research finds social networking and marketing NFC tags scans get a 22% per month bump

Kimtag provides a free and valuable service – it helps people generate NFC tags and QR codes and then gives those same people statistics on the hits they get from those tags and codes. The service is a no fuss, no muss, simple and yet valuable service that is free to use. They also sell NFC tags so you can get everything you need in one place. Because Kimtag loves its statistics, it monitors them on an aggregated and meta perspective. After following 10,000 of its uses, it has seen a massive uplift in scans of those NFC tags. The research was carried out over a six month period and saw the growth in people scanning NFC tags and visiting what Kimtag calls its connection page, which would be the target page where the NFC tag pushes users.

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UPM RFID gets its NFC tags to the Korean market

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The NFC tag giant UPM RFID has struck up a partnership with RFID Systems to provide NFC tags in the Korean market

UPM RFID today announced yet another partnership as its continues its crusade to bring NFC tags to the world. The announcement today sees the Finnish company teaming up RFID Systems, a leading inlay and tag consulting and converting firm based in Seoul, Korea. The company also provides services such as RFID project design and implementation, and runs its own NFC shopping mall for consumers, application/solution developers, carriers, retailers and event companies

RFID Systems have set up their very own NFC Store, profoundly called NFC TagStore. It can be found at nfcstore.co.kr. RFID Systems are now stocking what’s said to be an extensive selection of NFC tags from UPM RFID and a variety of off-the-shelf NFC applications. We are really starting to think some companies involved in NFC need some branding help with their company names. The idea behind the preprinted NFC tags that NFC Store intends to sell  is that they help consumers adapt NFC for everyday use. The NFC store also offers NFC smart posters and cards so Korean marketers should head over and check the NFC store out also. UPM RFID feel that there has been an unmet demand in the Korean market up until this point and that the partnership will in part help meet that need.

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588 million using NFC payments and services by 2015

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Research and Markets and ARChart predicts 588 million will be using NFC payments and services by 2015

Research and Markets have released their latest NFC study that looks at digital money and the convergence of contactless card and mobile payments. NFC is picking up pace and people are undoubtedly becoming more aware of the technology and certain aspects of how their lives can be impacted. Our last post indicated how ubiquitous NFC is becoming in the minds of the general public and how the benefits are finally starting to outweigh the security concerns. NFC, however, is still a nascent technology in terms of real world deployment, and which business models will finally prevail and where the gaps in the market still need some meta views of the current industry.

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Samsung trots out three new Bada NFC Wave smartphones

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Samsung announces three Bada NFC smartphones, the Samsung Wave M and the Samsung Wave Y and the Samsung Wave 3

Samsung today announced the Samsung Wave M, Samsung Wave Y and the Samsung Wave 3 – two of which are NFC phones and one is a maybe. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Samsung, and in the run up the the IFA show next week, Sammy is showing no signs of slowing down. Samsung today announced the three NFC phones we had been expecting for sometime featuring the new Bada 2.0 mobile OS smartphones which we featured last week. All three phones are NFC enabled (optional) all three phones have the innovative WiFi Direct, voice recognition and multitasking. Samsung identifies the NFC capabilities being useful for mobile payment and transport pass-card recharge.

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Radio Shack getting ready to accept Google Wallet NFC payments

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Radio Shack getting ready to accept Google Wallet NFC payments

Doesn’t it seem like forever ago that Google Wallet was meant to be in our hands? Google said that they were only weeks away from launching their Google Wallet app that allows us consumers to pay for goods and services with our phones and it now appears that Radio Shack, who was announced as one of the Google Wallet launch partners has posted a page specifying that it will be ready to roll with NFC payments as from September 1st. Well, the leaked internal memo that Engadget got its hands on at least suggests that some Shacks will get the NFC payment upgrades by then at least.

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Google’s Samsung Nexus Prime launching in October?

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Google’s Samsung Nexus Prime launching in October? Maybe Halloween for this Ice Cream Sandwich monster

A new report from Korean-language Electronic Times has been talking about the Samsung Nexus Prime. We’ve been waiting to get this old graphic out and dust it off again. New rumors have surfaced that again suggest the Samsung Nexus Prime is coming adorned with Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The new vibrations on the web suggest that the Samsung Nexus Prime, which will be Google’s next pure Android experience NFC superphone, will hit mobile networks by the end of October around Halloween, which is somewhat apt for the monster NFC phone. If the rumors are correct, the Samsung Nexus Prime will be the first Ice Cream Sandwich pure Google experience phone.

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Samsung City Player entry level NFC phone

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Samsung City Player entry level NFC phone, revenge of the Tocco, return of the Star Part II

Samsung is introducing another entry level NFC phone to its lineup, so without further ado meet the awkwardly named Samsung City Player. Just when you thought the adventures of the Samsung Tocco were over and it was safe to come out from under the stairs, its reincarnation jumps onto the scene. However, this all new and improved version of the Tocco Icon doesn’t run on Android or any other OS you may have heard of. The Samsung City Player is powered by the MIDP 2.1 platform with a Dolphin browser. We’re not sure why this stripped down OS was chosen but the Samsung City Player is a budget NFC phone after all. We wouldn’t have been so surprised to have seen a Bada touting NFC phone come out of the Korean manufacturer and we have a sneaky feeling we may see a phone that uses that OS in the not too distant future called the S5750 Wave 575. You can check out that phone on our Global NFC phones list page.

Samsung City Player NFC phone specs

There aren’t any hardcore specifications available at the moment for the Samsung City Player. We do know it has a TouchWiz 3.0 interface and it will be available in black and white flavors. The phone has already available in France since June, and we can suppose based on the price of the Samsung Tocco Icon in the UK that it may cost around £100 ($163) but no official pricing is available as yet. Below is what we do have so far in the specifications department.

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NFC Samsung Galaxy S II rumors roundup

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NFC Samsung Galaxy S II rumors roundup

You can tell the launch of the NFC Samsung Galaxy S II is getting close here in the US because the fervor is rising and the rumors are flying around quicker than ever. Let’s start with AT&T. We previously reported that AT&T had a version of the Samsung Galaxy S II that came with a QWERTY slider and it turns out that isn’t the Galaxy S II. That phone will be heading to AT&T, but it isn’t going to carry the Samsung Galaxy S II moniker. We have very few other details about the phone apart from the strange fact that the images show that it is running honeycomb, so we are not sure what that is all about. However, there is going to be an NFC Samsung Galaxy S II launching here in the States!

NFC Samsung Galaxy S II on AT&T

After the biggest questions in the universe, such as “Why?” and, is the universe infinite? One of the biggest questions faced by human kind has been will there be an NFC Samsung Galaxy S II launching outside of Korea? And we have an answer to that question now, which is a resounding yes.

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Apple, NFC, iPhone 5, iPad 3, rumors, blah, blah, and more blah

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Apple, NFC, iPhone 5, iPad 3, rumors, blah, blah, and more blah

Apple, NFC, iPad 3, iPhone 5…is it just us, or is it getting a little repetitive? Ever heard the phrase “there’s nothing to fear but fear itself?” We suggest it gets changed to “there’s nothing to Apple, but Apple itself” because at the end of the day all the speculation is just that, until we hear from Mr. Jobs. The frenzy field that emanates from Cupertino may block out the sun if it gets any more hyped, and the mastery of Apple is that it is generated because the company keeps quiet and plays dead until its ready to roll over and offer us a treat.

In a week where a bomber killed innocent people in Norway, the US is about to go broke, and Amy Winehouse passed away, we still found time for what seems to be a billion Apple rumors. Because that’s what’s important, right? Well, that and Rupert Murdoch getting a pie in his face because his media empire has been found to be sleazy. (Spoiler alert: Perhaps aside from the BBC and a few others, all mega media conglomerates are sleazy. It’s like gravity, it just is that way.)

We ourselves have written a myriad of articles on the business case for NFC in the iPad 3 and iPhone 5.

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NFC phones get a boost as smartphone sales set to top 1 billion in 2016

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NFC phones get a boost as smartphone sales set to top 1 billion in 2016

NFC phones could be set for more adoption if smartphone figures out this week are representative of potential growth in the marketplace. According to new research out this week, smartphone sales are set to explode over the next few years. Data house IMS Research released a new report that focuses on the growth of smartphones globally and foresees the massive growth that we have seen so far as a mere drop in the old proverbial bucket. The firm projects that sales of smartphones in 2011 will exceed 420 million devices and represent 28% of the market share of all handsets sold. This represents huge growth in the smartphone market and only bodes well for  NFC phones, which can utilize the extra power and capabilities for payment applications and more. IMS Research predicts that annual sales will surpass one billion devices by the end of 2016, accounting for one of every two mobile handsets sold.

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