PARTNER NEWS: NFC World readers are invited to join ST Microelectronics’ Jim Barlow for a 20 minute webinar exploring the potential of NFC Type 5, the NFC-RFID crossover technology that gives longer range ‘vicinity’ communication with dedicated reader hardware and also allows ‘proximity’ interaction with a smartphone... More
The ultimate account security is now in your pocket — Google — “We consider security keys based on Fido standards, like our Titan Security Key, to be the strongest, most phishing-resistant method of 2SV [Two-step verification] on the market today… Now, you have one more option — and it’s already in your pocket. Starting today in beta, your phone can be your security key — it’s built into devices running Android 7.0+.”
HBO Asia x SBTG Collab brings 4 ‘Game of Thrones’ sneakers to celebrate final season — Click The City — “Each pair of Game of Thrones x SBTG customized sneakers are embedded with near field communication (NFC) chips powered by VeChain, a public blockchain platform that allows any potential collector the ability to verify the authenticity of each pair through VeChainThor blockchain. The NFC chips also contain exclusive behind-the-scenes videos of each sneaker design which can be played and viewed by anyone using the VeChain mobile app.”
PARTNER NEWS: An RFID expert at NXP has explained how UHF RFID and NFC will be key building blocks in bringing about retail’s autonomous future in an article on the company’s website. More
Apple will expand the iPhone’s NFC chip reading capabilities before the end of 2019 so that it can be used to read data stored in security chips like those used in passports, according to comments made by the UK government. More
PARTNER NEWS: Tasmania-based Old Kempton Distillery is using HID Global’s Trusted Tag technology to combat counterfeiting of its whiskies and gins — and to drive personalized and ongoing engagement with customers after they make a purchase... More
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has become the fifth university in the US to enable its students to load their campus card onto their iPhone or Apple Watch... More
Air France, KLM, EasyJet, Lufthansa and Ryanair have all begun adding support for Google Pay, enabling flyers to save their boarding passes to the service when they use an airline’s app to buy a ticket. More
Swiss mountain sports equipment brand Mammut has launched a mobile app that uses NFC to support retailers that stock its products and provide “a new way of bringing emotional and interactive product information to the consumer”... More
Garmin unveils the Marq Collection: a series of lifestyle inspired connected tool watches, crafted to champion the life you live — Garmin — “The Marq Collection uses select materials, meticulously crafted and designed with the utmost attention to quality that help guarantee performance in the most demanding of environments… Each watch is built from titanium, which is lightweight yet incredibly strong. Combined with a domed sapphire crystal for ultimate scratch resistance, this creates the solid core for all Marq watches.”
Traffic violators beware, new driving licences, registration certificates coming from October — The Times of India — “The new DLs [driving licences] and RCs [vehicle registration certificates] will have a QR code that can be read by hand-held devices to access the past records of the driver or the vehicle from the central online database… ‘Though there was a proposal to make the chip and NFC feature mandatory, the Centre decided to leave the option to the state governments,’ said an official.”
Google is to introduce an IdentityCredential API that will enable Android users to securely store identity documents such as driving licences and, ultimately, passports on their NFC mobile phone. More
Q&A: The present and future of NFC in cars with ST — ST Microelectronics — PARTNER NEWS — “A couple of years ago, engineers needed to convince decision makers to use NFC in vehicles. Then Mercedes adopted our ST25R reader in their E-Class models. Now, decision makers want a reader because keyless entry and smartphone pairing are all the rage.”
Hyundai Motor Group is enabling drivers to access their car and start the engine using a smartphone app and NFC instead of a physical key. The technology is set to be available on new Hyundai and Kia cars which go into production later this year. More
The NFC Forum has released a new candidate specification that makes it easy for mobile payments services based on QR codes to add NFC functionality, giving “payment service providers and consumers the opportunity to take advantage of the simple and secure NFC-based payment solutions already in use worldwide.” More
Beatie Wolfe’s ‘intelligent’ Raw Space album features songs embedded in business cards — Dezeen — “Musician Beatie Wolfe has collaborated with eight graphic designers to create an album of cards that listeners tap against a smartphone to play… Scanning one of the business card-sized boards using a NFC reader app reveals an individual page for the track, which is complete with lyrics, the music video, photos, song notes and information about the card itself.”
NXP drives convenience in Chinese Access Market with ‘RocketXS’ — NXP — PARTNER NEWS — “The RocketXS solution allows a quick and reliable unlocking via fingerprint, Bluetooth Low Energy and NFC. It also takes convenience and security to the next level as all NFC cards in a user’s wallet (phone) can be set as a door key. This means that the real key is hidden and only the user himself knows which one is right and thus increases the difficulty of break-ins and hacking.”
A transparent ink ‘fingerprint’ which can be sprayed onto products and read by a smartphone to combat counterfeiting has been developed by researchers at the University of Copenhagen. The system, from the University of Copenhagen’s Nano-Science Center, is based on physical unclonable function (PUF) technology. More
PARTNER NEWS: Tappy Technologies has launched a platform which enables traditional brands to turn their watches easily into secure, contactless payment devices. Tappy’s Wearable Token Services Platform lets consumers link the details of their debit or credit card to their watch and use it to make payments wherever their card would be accepted worldwide. More
NFC World partners Antelop Solutions, Dejamobile, NXP, Rambus, STMicroelectronics and Tappy Technologies will be in Barcelona for MWC19 from Monday 25 to Thursday 28 February. Here’s what you can expect to see and where you can find them during the show… More
