LG Prada 3.0 NFC smartphone dressed up in accessories hits catwalk?

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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.

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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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Nokia N9 NFC phone starts shipping, fails to say where

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Nokia N9 NFC phone starts shipping, fails to say where

Nokia has finally started shipping its Nokia N9 NFC smartphone around the world. In a press release today Nokia confirmed that the Nokia N9 will be in consumers’ hands imminently, but failed to say which markets would see the Nokia N9 and which carriers would be selling the first and last Nokia Meego device.

“Since we announced the Nokia N9 in June this year, the feedback that it has gotten from discerning and avid smartphone users across the world has been nothing short of fantastic,” said Ilari Nurmi, Vice President of Marketing at Nokia. “With the innovations in industrial design, user interface, and the Qt developer experience, the Nokia N9 sets the bar for how natural technology can feel, and represents the first in a number of products from Nokia that will be brought to life in similar fashion.”

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Consumers have smartphone security concerns but don’t install security apps as NFC payments arrive

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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.

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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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T-Mobile hocks NFC BlackBerry Curve 9360 for $79 September 28th

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T-Mobile will hock you a BlackBerry Curve 9360 for $79 September 28th

We have seen the BlackBerry Curve 9360 NFC phone before. Back then it was known as the BlackBerry Curve Apollo. Now the NFC phone has a carrier buddy in T-Mobile, which means you can get one for the affordable price of $79 after a $50 mail in rebate. Remember the BlackBerry Curve 9360 comes sans a touch screen so don’t get your heart broken if that’s what you wanted. However, the little BlackBerry Curve 9360 does have quite a lot going for it as you can see below in the specifications.

In the technical sense the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is an NFC phone, but don’t be surprised if when you get your new NFC pocket mate the NFC is switched off at the software level. We exclusively revealed that RIM has not fully built out and worked out the bugs in their NFC drivers as yet, but you will at least have a phone that will be NFC capable at some time in the future. If you look below in the press release, you will see no word on the NFC capabilities that the phone was originally marketed with. We have been assured by people close to the situation that the NFC chip is still there, just waiting to be woken up with a software update.

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NFC social check-ins come of age with RewardAble marketing platform

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NFC social check-ins come of age with RewardAble marketing platform

Has the NFC social check-in just come of age with RewardAble and its NFC loyalty marketing platform? Betapond has announced today that it has built an NFC social check-in platform it likes to call RewardAble. RewardAble is a social media check-in marketing platform that enables brands and retailers to grow participation through instant rewards for consumers for who check-in on Facebook or Foursquare on their NFC smartphone. Betapond is Ireland’s only Facebook Preferred Developer. RewardAble is a stand-alone subsidiary of Betapond, which was announced at a Innovation in Entertainment Showcase event in Sony Pictures Hollywood.  The company is using a viral expansion loop marketing model that rewards participants when they check-in and share their location with friends on social networks. By using NFC at check-in places, the process of taking part in the RewardAble platform is frictionless.

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Google Wallet is live but don’t get your NFC Samsung Nexus S 4G from Sprint

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Google Wallet is live but don’t get your NFC Samsung Nexus S 4G from Sprint

Yes we know, we know, the Google Wallet with Google Offers conjoined is all very exciting. All very exciting if you own a Samsung Nexus S 4G that is, especially because Google is pre-loading the Google Wallet with $10 for free! Alas the NFC wonder that is Google Wallet only works with the Samsung Nexus S 4G because that’s the only phone that is on Sprint and houses a Secure Element which is where your secure apps (like Google Wallet) live. So if you have gotten giddy at the thought of waving your NFC phone around like Harry Potter and magically making money disappear from your bank account, you will need the aforementioned phone. In the press release yesterday, Sprint recommended that you go give them $99.99 and they promised they’d send back $50 in a mail-in-rebate. We have to tell you that Sprint’s deal sucks and you can do a lot better on that Google Wallet capable phone if you take a quick look around online. What’s that? You don’t have the time? Well, it’s a good job we went and did it for you then. Before we get to the deals let’s take a quick recap of Samsung Nexus S 4G specification. We hope you are paying attention because we will be asking questions later.

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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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Orange, France getting NFC Samsung Galaxy S II in October

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Orange, France getting NFC Samsung Galaxy S II in October which will be the first NFC Android device to be sold in Europe, will head to the UK soon

Orange has scored itself the first NFC Samsung Galaxy S II in Europe and intends to deploy the legendary hero NFC phone in France next month. The NFC version of the Samsung Galaxy S II has been a long time coming to European shores, especially after it was announced that the UK would get an NFC Samsung Galaxy S II in June. The model of the NFC Samsung Galaxy S II that will hit the Orange network is not the recently upgraded Samsung Galaxy S II, and aside from NFC, it features the original specifications of the phone launched in the UK.

It’s a pity that Orange elected to not give the European that beautiful 4.5-inch Hercules screen or upgrade the processor to the 1.5GHz processor, but at least NFC payments will be an option and so will the rest of the benefits that NFC brings to hero phones. The NFC Samsung Galaxy S II will be the fourth NFC capable phone for Orange’s Citizi customers. Citizi is the brand Orange is using to deploy NFC payments and services in France. According to Orange, 150,000 French consumers have already signed up for the Citizi NFC service, which provides passes for the local urban transport, payment in the partner shops over 1000 shops, loyalty, couponing and tag reading all using NFC.

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PokenHEALTH and Standard Register Healthcare announce NFC partnership

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Poken and Standard Register Healthcare announce NFC products and services platform pokenHEALTH

Swiss based Poken and Standard Register Healthcare of Dayton, Ohio have got together to add some NFC pizzazz to healthcare in the form of pokenHEALTH. At first glance you may wonder what an NFC marketing company can do for healthcare, and we have to admit you are not alone. But when you learn the details it makes a little more sense. Standard Register Healthcare will use the system to exclusively market its healthcare services in North America, using NFC and social media engagement to educate consumers about the firm’s offerings.

“This exclusive relationship brings together Poken’s market leadership in real-world, social media with our healthcare expertise to offer clients an unprecedented way to transform events, build stronger connections with their stakeholders and truly differentiate their brand,” said Scott Wallace, Vice President of Strategic Development for Standard Register Healthcare, a business unit of Standard Register that serves 62% of U.S. hospitals.

“Together, we have the opportunity to transform events and help hospitals create connections with people that are fun and memorable,” said Stéphane Doutriaux, Founder & CEO of Poken. “Our platform caters to these needs, while providing a secure and confidential platform for continued interaction.”

Poken is known for bringing social experiences offline, and its partnership with Standard Register Healthcare plays to these strengths.

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Google Wallet is live

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Google Wallet is live on Sprint, Google Nexus S 4G owners can now get their NFC mobile wallet on

It’s official, Google Wallet has launched! We reported earlier today that Google Wallet was likely to go live today and it has. The press release winged its way out of Sprint’s HQ at nearly 4.30PM this afternoon announcing that America finally has an NFC mobile wallet, and it is Google Wallet that has got to market first. At the moment the only folks who can use the Google Wallet will be Sprint subscribers who have the Google Nexus S 4G in their pockets. More NFC phones are expected within the next couple of months, which will likely include the much rumored Google Nexus Prime and other Ice Cream Sandwich devices. They are likely to come fitted with the all important NFC antenna and secure element that is required for NFC payments.

“Sprint is thrilled to be the first U.S. carrier to offer Google Wallet,” said Fared Adib, Vice President of Product at Sprint. “Nexus S 4G is the first to receive new versions of Android software, and today’s upgrade puts the near-field communications, or NFC, chip in the phone to work so customers can have a secure virtual wallet on their phone. NFC capabilities on smartphones open the door to a new level of convenience and security.”

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Is Google Wallet launching today?

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Is Google Wallet Launching today?

On Saturday, we exclusively let you know that Google Wallet was coming within the next week. Now reports are streaming in that suggest today could be the day that we will finally see Google’s NFC mobile wallet hit the prime time and be available to anyone who carries a Samsung Nexus S. We knew the Google Wallet was coming soon, we just couldn’t get an exact date. TechCrunch revealed yesterday that a document had come into their possession that gave the magic launch date of September 19th.  NFC World Congress kicks off tomorrow and MasterCard is the main sponsor, so today would be a perfect time for us to see the Google Wallet hit the street. Let’s also not forget this last week when MasterCard had a press day where it was showing off Google Wallet and some of its other MasterCard lab projects for NFC and audio payment systems.

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen Google gearing up for its Google Wallet launch in a couple of released videos. One of those videos we brought to you the other day, and the now famous George Costanza “Costanza Wallet” one, which you can check out below. With rumors getting louder that Visa’s own NFC mobile wallet is just around the corner, it is important for Google to get Google Wallet launched. At this time, however, only Nexus S 4G owners will be able to utilize the Google Wallet.

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UPM RFID launches new NFC tags after NXP NFC tag announcement

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UPM RFID launches new NFC tags after NXP NFC tag announcement

Hot on the heels of the NXP Semiconductors NTAG203 announcement, UPM RFID has launched its new line of NFC tags that incorporate the new technology. If we were the suspicious types, we would swear that these press releases were timed to coincide with one another. UPM RFID announced this morning that they have an updated portfolio of NFC tags that embrace the NXP NTAG203 technology across their product lines. Products that utilize the new sensitive NFC tags include the UPM BullsEye, UPM Circus and UPM MiniTrack. Each of the new NFC tags plays nicely with the new NXP NTAG203 chip and offer 1300 bits /144 bytes of user memory, and we are told also offers “significantly improved performance and faster response times” when reading NFC tags with an NFC phone.

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Sprint to launch more than 5 NFC smartphones by Q1 2012 [Exclusive]

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Sprint to launch more than 5 NFC smartphones by Q1 2012

NFC Rumors has exclusively learned that Sprint is set to launch at least 5 NFC smartphones by quarter one of 2012. Considering that Sprint is the launch partner for Google Wallet, we haven’t seen that many NFC smartphones hit the Now Network as yet. So far, we have a couple of BlackBerry NFC smartphones and the now legendary Google Nexus S to choose from. At this point, the Google Nexus S is the only one of Sprint’s NFC smartphones that will even accommodate Google Wallet. We think it is fair to say that Sprint has had a slower start with NFC smartphones than we would have perhaps imagined back in May. We were surprised when Sprint decided to not get the NFC version of the Samsung Galaxy S II. That’s okay because the pace is about to pick up according to or sources.

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Nokia 700 & Nokia 701 Symbian Belle NFC phones now shipping

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Nokia 700 & Nokia 701 Symbian Belle NFC phones now shipping

Nokia announced that it has started shipping two of its new NFC phones this week. The news came from Twitter a couple of days ago and confirmed that the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 NFC phones have started shipping, although the tweet didn’t go into where the phones are being shipped to in a global sense.

“Now shipping: #Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 with #Belle! Check with your nearest retailer for more info,” is exactly what Nokia tweeted regarding the two NFC phones.

When the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 NFC phones were announced with their sibling the Nokia 600, which also boasts NFC, the company said that the 700 and 701 would be heading Stateside. We aren’t sure whether that means that the phone has an MNO deal just yet. At the announcement, Nokia also intimated that the all three Symbian Belle phones would be released during the third quarter which is now coming to an end considering we are half way through September. All we can do is curse Twitter and its 140 character limit.

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NFC development problems NXP/ Microsoft/RIM [Exclusive]

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NFC development problems NXP/ Microsoft/RIM [Exclusive]

Whispers have been getting louder all week about NXP Semiconductors, Microsoft and RIM. NFC is getting more pervasive and so are the rumors that echo around the halls of NFC Rumors HQ. There are whispers in corridors, the water cooler attracts a crowd and everything goes quiet if you enter a room. NXP, Microsoft and RIM have some issues on their hands and we have heard about them from some pretty direct sources. We have been sitting on these revelations for a few days because alone we didn’t feel they were strong enough for a post, but together they start to paint a picture of just how nascent NFC is and how uncooperative it is acting with major software and hardware giants.

We called the problems BlackBerry was having with NFC over a month ago, we speculated that a major OS company would make an announcement that it was supporting NFC, but we didn’t hear about NXP until this last week. Want to know more? Of course you do, that’s why you clicked on this post.

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Canadian BMO Bank announces PayPass NFC stickers for phones

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Canadian BMO Bank announces PayPass NFC stickers for phones

It’s a tough job being Canada’s number one credit card issuing bank, but BMO Bank of Montreal does it with a smile. It’s probably smiling because it has recently announced that it will be providing customers with NFC stickers that allow for PayPass NFC payments.

Meanwhile, here in the States, people crowd around to look at an EMV card in wonder and NFC payments are practically legendary with only the few that report that they have seen such a transaction, let alone conducted one. The Canadian bank cares about their customers backs and have collaborated with MasterCard to negate the need for loose change that could potentially result in a trip to the chiropractor. Oh, how in an NFC world it doesn’t suck to be Canadian. Well, not in healthcare, crime and quality of life either… but what’s most important is the NFC. But let’s stop lamenting and get to BMO’s NFC announcement.

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Acer launches Liquid Express NFC phone, pledges allegiance to NFC

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Acer launches Liquid Express NFC phone, pledges allegiance to NFC

The days of being geeks with a penchant for an obscure communications protocol are far behind us, and even Acer is now getting in on the act by launching the Android Liquid Express NFC phone in Europe. Yes, we can now add Acer to the growing list of companies who intend to launch an NFC phone. The Acer Liquid Express will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread to deliver its NFC love to consumers. Acer recently had a shake up in its top brass and have committed to the industrial design and aesthetically pleasing standards of Apple. The introduction of an Acer NFC phone over in Europe will only further fuel the NFC adoption that is currently taking place in countries like the UK and France all over the continent.

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Windows 8 could get Alps and Cirque’s NFC GlidePoint trackpad

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Windows 8 devices such as laptops could incorporate Cirque’s NFC GlidePoint so your trackpad is your NFC antenna. Integrated NFC trackpad solution from Cirque to support Windows 8 “Tap to Share” and “Tap to Pair” features. Microsoft announced Windows 8 this week and for us in the NFC industry the big news was that NXP [...]

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Casio jumps in with NFC device,warehouse managers celebrate

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Casio launches the RFID & NFC version of its popular, tough DT-X8 hand held terminal for warehouses

Casio has long been associated with industrial electronics and so it may come as no surprise that the company has reinvented its popular DT-X8 handheld warehouse terminal, that first launched earlier this year, to work with NFC and RFID. The read/write antenna is integrated in parallel with a laser scanner or CMOS imager and communicates with RFID tags and NFC systems in the HF-range of our old NFC friend 13.56 MHz. By adding the NFC / RFID read/write capabilities, Casio amazingly only added 5 grams to the original machine which you wouldn’t call hefty in the first place. The NFC handheld device now weights in at a svelte 285 grams, which makes it the lightest device in its class according to Casio. That lack of weight, however, does make it fragile. In fact, the NFC handheld DX-X8 boasts a drop resistance of three meters for particularly clumsy warehouse managers.

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Can PayPal rule the world without NFC?

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Can PayPal rule the world without NFC? Can PayPal survive without NFC in the offline world?

Just yesterday we reported that PayPal is embracing an NFC mobile wallet over in Sweden. Yet today in the States, PayPal has been saying that it is not supporting NFC and it thinks its non-NFC strategy is correct. We beg to differ, and this shows a complete different mantra in the US than in Europe. AllThingsD reported on how PayPal intends to go into 2012 with an NFC-less strategy and they are confident enough about this decision to laugh at competitors who are entering the payment space and their models. We can’t help but think that PayPal is a little out of touch with what is happening and have made so many non-NFC acquisitions that they now find themselves justifying those purchases by not embracing NFC.

Whether PayPal likes it or not, Visa and MasterCard are bringing NFC to consumers and merchants alike. The process of an NFC payment is more frictionless than having to input your phone number and then a PIN number into a POS terminal. The point of swiping a physical card as PayPal has outlined in its go-to market strategy has little benefit in the user experience outside of security. Google Wallet also has a similar product it calls the GCard, but that is based within the phone and uses NFC for to make payments quick and easy.

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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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First NFC digital billboard to launch in Times Square

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First NFC digital billboard to launch in Times Square

Today we see the next step in NFC marketing as Radiant Outdoor and the NFC Bootcamp put on a show in New York’s Times Square that will be a first in NFC. Yes, we are talking about the first NFC digital billboard, but you already knew that because you read the title. We knew you would because we know most of you range in age from your twenties to your late forties and sneak a peak at NFC Rumors from work and we know you can read! Welcome to the NFC fan club.

NFC marketing is taking off in a multitude of ways. We have seen collaborations, analytics that blow web based stats away and exclusive representation deals being signed.  NFC is set to change the fundamentals of marketing and any marketer who doesn’t embrace the new parody that is interactive offline / online marketing could get left behind in the next couple of years. We have said it before and we will say it again, NFC Rumors loves marketing. The only thing we like better than marketing is coffee and NFC marketing, in that order, for real. We’re not joking, honest!

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HID Global partners with BlackBerry, NFC smartphones now open doors

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HID Global partners with BlackBerry, NFC smartphones now open doors

We have covered a lot of BlackBerry NFC phone news here at NFC Rumors, but very little of it has had a practical use in the real world until today – HID Global and Research in Motion announced they have partnered to enable HID’s iCLASS digital key system on BlackBerry NFC smartphones.

“This industry first is an important milestone in the deployment of mobile access and identity solutions using NFC technology on smartphones,” said Dr. Tam Hulusi, Senior Vice President with HID Global. “We will continue to innovate in the delivery of secure identity, as NFC-enabled smartphones represent a complementary new platform that we believe will expand the access control market and our online card services business while improving user security and convenience.”

“NFC technology will enable many new and exciting capabilities for BlackBerry smartphones and we are very pleased to be working with HID Global to be the first to bring a host of secure identity and mobile access control capabilities to NFC-enabled smartphones,” said Andrew Bocking, Vice President of Handheld Software Product Management at RIM.

It was only yesterday we reported about the HID Global pilot program that has been running at Arizona State University. In that pilot, the company had enabled NFC smartphones to act as NFC keys for user access in certain University areas on campus. With the BlackBerry announcement, HID Global will be able to activate any access control system that uses the company’s iCLASS SIO.

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