Sony is crowdfunding a new smartwatch called Wena Wrist that is equipped with NFC payments compatible with the Japanese Felica standard... More
Japan
Cyber Group and Sensoro roll out beacons across Greater China
Chinese chain store operator Cyber Group has launched a joint venture with beacon platform provider Sensoro to roll out Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons across Japan and the Greater China region... More
NFC Forum adds new members
The NFC Forum has added new associate, implementer and non-profit members, following the recent addition of Apple as a sponsor member... More
Billing System brings OTI NFC readers to Japan
Payment service provider Billing System is to offer On Track Innovations’ (OTI) suite of NFC readers and devices to Japanese retailers, vending machine operators and taxi companies... More
NTT Docomo rolls out Fido biometrics platform in Japan
NTT Docomo has become the world’s first mobile network operator (MNO) to deploy Fido authentication throughout its network, allowing it to replace passwords for millions of customers across its services with a range of enhanced authentication methods including both fingerprint- and iris-based biometrics... More
Japanese carrier to secure mobile payments with iris scanning phone
Japan’s largest mobile network operator NTT Docomo has unveiled an NFC smartphone that comes equipped with an iris authentication system from Fujitsu that will let owners unlock the device and authenticate mobile payments just by looking at it... More
Nintendo sells 5.7m NFC figurines
The US and Canada accounted for 63% of a total 5.7m NFC-enabled Nintendo Amiibo figurines sold at the end of 2014, followed by Europe in second place with 23%, Japan with 11% and Australia with 3%... More
Line Pay launches in-app taxi service in Tokyo
Japanese instant messaging giant Line has launched a taxi service in Tokyo that lets users of its app summon a cab provided by Nihon Kotsu, the largest taxi limousine rental company in the country, and pay for it using Line Pay... More
KDDI releases Japan’s first Firefox OS smartphone
Japan’s KDDI has launched an LTE smartphone with NFC that runs Mozilla’s Firefox OS, the open mobile platform advocated by the Firefox browser maker. The LG Fx0 offers a 4.7-inch HD screen and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad core Snapdragon processor running Firefox OS 2.0, the latest version of Mozilla’s operating system. More
Line Pay makes debut
Line Pay, the mobile payments service unveiled in October by Tokyo-based instant messaging service Line, has made its global debut with the release of version 4.8.0 of the Line app... More
Nintendo 3DS gets NFC
A Nintendo 3DS system update has enabled the NFC capabilities built into the latest Japan-only edition of the handheld games console, Nintendo Life reports... More
Saatchi & Saatchi designs beacon loyalty rewards for Japan’s TenTen Technologies
Japanese startup TenTen Technologies is to offer retailers USB-based Bluetooth beacons that plug into POS terminals and vending machines so that rewards can be issued automatically to users of the company’s mobile app when they make a purchase... More
Japan Airlines tests battery-free beacons at 13 airports
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons that use energy harvesting technology to avoid the need to change batteries have been installed by Japan Airlines (JAL) at 13 major Japanese airports to provide users of its JAL Countdown mobile app with “real-time departure, gate and other timely information”... More
Core Jewels offers diamond rings with NFC
Tokyo-based jeweller Core Jewels is taking orders for the world’s first high-end diamond jewellery products that come equipped with NFC... More
Over 20m NFC devices now in use in Japan
There are 20.55 million NFC mobile handsets in use in Japan according to new data compiled by the Mobile NFC Association... More
Line to offer messaging payments
Instant messaging service Line has announced plans to offer mobile payments to users in Japan from later this year... More
Hailo reports on BLE payments in taxis
Pay with Hailo, a service that uses Apple’s iBeacon technology to let users of the Hailo taxi hailing app pay drivers with their smartphone, is experiencing “steady growth”, Naoise Irwin, the company’s VP of strategic initiatives, has told NFC World+ — and Hailo now plans to roll out the service across its growing international network... More
Nintendo 3DS to get NFC
Nintendo will include a built-in NFC chip in the next versions of its 3DS and 3DS XL handheld games consoles, at least in Japan, the company has revealed in its latest 3DS Direct video briefing... More
NTT Docomo picks Gemalto for NFC
NTT Docomo, Japan’s largest mobile phone carrier, is to use Gemalto’s Allynis trusted service management (TSM) service and its UpTeq SIMs for the rollout of its NFC platform... More
Nintendo adds NFC payments
Nintendo Wii U users in Japan can now use the NFC interface built into their GamePad controller to purchase games with a Suica contactless payment card... More