A Windows Phone 8 app that can control household lighting has added support for NFC tags. Oni: Light Control works with Philips Hue Connected Bulbs and allows the user to set lighting moods that can be recalled later by tapping their NFC phone to a tag. A video shows the app in action... More
Archive: News in brief
Kuwait buses test stickers
Boloro Kuwait has completed a contactless payments pilot on public transit in Kuwait City... More
Scanther offers merchant tags
US startup Scanther is raising funds on Indiegogo for a combined mobile website plus NFC tag package for independent retailers... More
Orange pushes NFC in Israel
Orange Israel is offering customers packs of three NFC stickers that work with an NFC app that is pre-installed on all the carrier’s Android NFC phones... More
Airtag adds white label wallet
Mobile shopping specialist Airtag is launching a white label version of its NFC-enabled Airpass mobile wallet at Mobile World Congress 2013... More
NXP adds PUFs to NFC
Chip maker NXP has licensed Intrinsic ID‘s Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) technology for use with its SmartMX2 smart card and secure element chips... More
Oberthur gets NFC SE certification
Oberthur Technologies has announced that its Pearl Secure Element 800k Classic embedded secure element has been certified by MasterCard for Mobile PayPass applications and by Google for Google Wallet... More
Orange offers NFC prizes
France-based mobile network operator Orange has launched the Orange NFC Awards, a competition for NFC application developers with a total of €40,000 (US$53,448) in prize money, plus a further €5,000 bonus for developers who make use of SIM-based NFC security in their app... More
Tizen 2.0 ships with NFC
Version 2.0 of the Tizen open source mobile operating system is now available and developers can download the source code and SDK from the Tizen website... More
Visa preps for UK NFC launch
Visa is making multiple efforts towards a “mainstream launch” of contactless and mobile payments in the UK in 2013, Marc O’Brien, managing director of Visa UK & Ireland has told a meeting of the Westminster eForum, Marketing Week reports... More
Fitbit adds NFC fitness tracking
Connected health and fitness specialist Fitbit has updated its Android app to include support for NFC... More
Z10 packs Inside NFC chip
A teardown of the new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone conducted by TechInsights shows that the device’s NFC functionality is provided by an Inside Secure SecuRead NFC controller and secure element module... More
Apple explores pay by watch?
Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like devices made of curved glass, reports The New York Times... More
Caen to get NFC tickets
Public transportation users in the French city of Caen will be able to use NFC phones to pay for their bus and tram tickets from June 2013... More
Bradesco tests NFC in Brazil
Mobile network operator Vivo, part of the Telefonica group, and Brazil’s Bradesco bank have begun an NFC payments pilot... More
Tagster wins NFCtags.com prize
Australian startup NFC Wireless’s Tagster product is to be showcased at the Mobile World Congress after winning a competition organised by tag maker Smartrac’s NFCtags.com online portal... More
UBI Banca begins NFC pilot
Italian bank UBI Banca has teamed up with mobile network operator Vodafone to pilot an NFC payments service in the city of Varese... More
CIBC picks Sequent for NFC
Canada’s CIBC bank has licensed the Sequent Wallet Management Platform, which was announced last week, for use in its NFC payments service... More
Nintendo to offer NFC game
Nintendo is working on a game that would involve figures or cards that contain NFC tags and make use of the Nintendo Wii U’s NFC capabilities, CEO Satoru Iwata has hinted during an earnings call... More
Toro sets up in Barcelona
Hong Kong-based NFC wallet specialist Toro has opened a European research and development centre in Barcelona, Spain... More