Galaxy Note has NFC onboard AT&T locks it, Ma’Bell’s Galaxy Note Fails

Posted by Seth Planck

0comments

Galaxy Note has NFC onboard AT&T locks it, Ma’Bell’s Galaxy Note Fails

Just a couple of weeks ago at CES, Samsung told NFC Rumors that the Galaxy Note did not have NFC capabilities. We took a spin around the Android OS and at the software level at least, this appeared to be confirmed. However, Samsung has now done its own tear down on the LTE device and what do we see? Yep, NFC is there. The IC can be clearly seen and the back cover sports an NFC antenna. This means Samsung was either not telling the full truth at CES or their show staff had no idea what was going on. Samsung Tomorrow reports that the specs of the torn down device exactly match the version heading to AT&T. So what gives?

read more

ISIS tries to run internationally before masters crawling domestically

Posted by Seth Planck

0comments

ISIS tries to run internationally before masters crawling domestically

ISIS has said in an interview with Bloomberg that it has held discussions to explore international opportunities for their particular NFC mobile wallet and trusted service manager services. ISIS, as you probably know by this point, is a joint venture between AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile with one aim to control NFC mobile wallets and NFC payments for member mobile network operators subscribers. ISIS hasn’t launched anything at this point, and from the rumors we are hearing from industry insiders, they haven’t been able to put together a secure NFC mobile wallet despite putting pen to paper with C-Sam (a very capable NFC mobile wallet all by itself), Gemalto, and various other payment providers who include Visa, MasterCard, AMEX and Discover.

read more

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

Posted by Seth Planck

4comments

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.

read more

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

Posted by Seth Planck

1comments

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.

read more

Verizon holds up Samsung Nexus Prime because of Google Wallet

Posted by Seth Planck

15comments

Verizon holds up Samsung Nexus Prime because of Google Wallet

Last week Google and Samsung jointly announced that they were canceling their “unpacked event” that was set to unveil the NFC-capable Samsung Nexus Prime and Ice Cream Sandwich. Rumors swirled around that the reason was a patent dispute, but our sources close to the matter are telling us a different story, which to us makes a lot more sense. As you will have gathered from the title, the issue is in fact with Verizon. Can you guess what it is?

read more

AT&T hits out at Verizon iPhone 4S and other NFC Rumors Exclusives

Posted by Seth Planck

1comments

AT&T hits out at Verizon iPhone 4S and other Ma’ Bell NFC Rumors Exclusives

We have learned that AT&T intends to start a marketing war with Verizon surrounding the iPhone 4S. Our sources close to the matter assure us that AT&T is readying ads that communicate that all iPhones are not created equal, and that their iPhone 4S will have faster data speeds than the Verizon iPhone 4S. It isn’t that the two companies haven’t gone head to head before in marketing wars, but neither have they been in cahoots before with Isis. This latest bout of sparring will no doubt create a tense atmosphere in Isis NFC payment meetings as Verizon fights back for market share. We have another post on Verizon coming up later today, so look out for that.

AT&T’s reason for shutting off NFC in phones including the Samsung Galaxy S II

If you read NFC Rumors on a regular basis you will know we keep our eyes firmly fixed on Isis mobile network operators as we feel they are doing consumers and the NFC technology a disservice in the way they are conducting themselves.

read more

AT&T doesn’t care that you want NFC turned on in Samsung Galaxy S II

Posted by Seth Planck

2comments

AT&T doesn’t care that you want NFC turned on in Samsung Galaxy S II

AT&T has elected to not have the NFC in the Samsung Galaxy S II switched on. In doing so, we look at what this means for consumers, what it means for NFC and what it in turn means for AT&T. The redeeming quality of the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II was that it has an NFC chip built in, and the mobile network operator has had the chip turned off. This raises the question – would this affect you purchasing the NFC phone when you can’t use the NFC chip you have paid for?

AT&T decided they didn’t want to go for the beautiful 4.5-inch screen that T-Mobile and Sprint opted for. They also decided their customers wouldn’t have the opportunity to benefit from that 1.5 dual-core processor that other competitors can boast. However, the one thing that the phone had over the Sprint phone was that it has an NFC chip built in which would have enabled social NFC actions, pairing with peripherals and sharing contacts. It could have also enabled payments too, but it appears because Isis is not quite ready to control your finances and market that you will not be getting any NFC goodness from the Samsung Galaxy S II at this time.

read more

AT&T does have an NFC Samsung Galaxy S II after all, Sprint does not

Posted by Seth Planck

1comments

AT&T does have an NFC Samsung Galaxy S II after all, Sprint does not

Just when the world seemed cold and harsh, the team at Engadget turned our frown upside down by discovering that the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II does have NFC support after all. We had reported sometime ago that Samsung was expected to ship models of the NFC Samsung Galaxy S II with the near field communications chip turned off and it was then up to mobile network operators to decide if and when they wanted it activated and this appears to be the case for AT&T. It was also surprising when there was nary a mention of NFC in the press releases issued yesterday for the release of the United States’ Samsung Galaxy S II. Further compounded by the fact that we saw an NFC Samsung Galaxy S II come through the FCC some time ago and things just weren’t adding up.

read more

Nokia commits to NFC in all mobile phones from now on

Posted by Seth Planck

0comments

Nokia commits to NFC in all mobile phones from now on including upcoming WP7 phones

Nokia has installed NFC chips in all of the phones the Finnish handset maker has launched this year – the Nokia C7 / Astound and the Nokia N9. Nokia just this last week also announced the Nokia 600, Nokia 700 and the Nokia 701 which all feature NFC (near field communications). So far, in the new NFC phone market Nokia, and to a lesser extent BlackBerry, have been the biggest manufacturers to embrace near field communications technology in their phones. However, Nokia has been playing with NFC for years and have been involved in multiple use case projects. The company has recently also launched its NFC-Hub website that concentrates on the marketing uses for NFC. This supported the Museum of London in enabling visitors to learn more and hear the sounds of London using NFC phones and NFC tags to provide immersive experiences. Nokia at this point is famed for now including NFC payments secure elements as they want to concentrate on NFC’s other capabilities that include content sharing, content marketing and social NFC.

read more

Samsung Epic Touch 4G aka Samsung Galaxy S II launches September on Sprint, NFC?

Posted by Seth Planck

0comments

Samsung Epic Touch 4G aka Samsung Galaxy S II launches September on Sprint, NFC?

New Samsung Epic Touch 4G name news, but nothing on NFC. Not to confuse you, but the Samsung Epic Touch 4G, which was rumored to be called the Samsung Galaxy Within, is in fact the Samsung Galaxy S II Sprint variant. Got that? Good. The by now legendary Samsung Galaxy S II phone is “today” rumored to be launched in September, just before the iPhone 4s, which could also be known as the iPhone 5, is due to hit the market. Are all the manufacturers and mobile network operators just messing with us? It is expected to take the awful naming convention of its predecessor and be crowned the Samsung Epic Touch 4G, a name by all accounts that seems to rip the sexiness out of the slate all together. Ah, but a name is not everything.

Does the Samsung Epic Touch 4G come laden with NFC?

We have had three names so far, nasty photographs with the Samsung Epic Touch 4G touting a QWERTY keyboard which turned out not to be the Samsung Galaxy S II at all, and a plethora of FCC filings. All that and we still have no idea if the Sprint version of the phone will come endowed with NFC. After all this time waiting for this phone to launch and supposing that it may not have NFC, we have to ask – is the Samsung Epic Touch 4G going to be the landslide that it would have been a few months ago? The Samsung Epic Touch 4G was first shown at CES early this year and blew everything else away, and whereas it is still a very capable phone, it may be aging before it even launches if it doesn’t come with an NFC chip inside.

read more

10 reasons why Apple should include NFC in the iPhone 4s

Posted by Seth Planck

0comments

10 reasons why Apple should include NFC in the iPhone 4s

Okay so we have 10 reasons why Apple should include NFC in the iPhone 4s, or 5, or whatever its moniker eventually tells us it’s called. As I sit here writing this post I am typing away on my iMac while I simultaneously render out some graphics on my MacBook Pro, my better half is watching a movie on our LCD hooked up to a Mac Mini and I have an iPhone sitting next to me. That doesn’t even represent all the Apple products I own but none the less I think you get the idea that I am far from an Apple hater. That said I’m not a fanboy either, but I am someone with 10 reasons why Apple should include NFC in the iPhone 4s. Are you seeing a pattern here?

read more