Windows 10 will support the next version of the Fast Identification Online (Fido) Alliance technical specifications, Microsoft has announced, allowing users to unlock their devices using biometric authentication instead of passwords... More
Microsoft
NXP sues Marvell over Xbox NFC chips
NXP Semiconductors has filed a patent infringement suit against rival chip maker Marvell, claiming that the NFC chips supplied by Marvell to Microsoft for use in the Xbox One video gaming console infringe four of its patents... More
Google in talks to buy Softcard to combat Apple Pay?
Google is responding to the successful launch of Apple Pay by going on the mobile payments acquisition trail, according to industry rumours — and US carrier-owned NFC venture Softcard, which laid off 60 staff last week, could be a key target... More
Starbucks to accept Microsoft Band wearable payments
Starbucks is to begin accepting payments from customers wearing the new Microsoft Band smart bracelet... More
Bill Gates talks Apple Pay, NFC, Bitcoin and mobile money
“Apple Pay is a great example of how a cell phone that identifies its user in a pretty strong way lets you make a transaction that should be very, very inexpensive,” Microsoft founder Bill Gates has told Bloomberg TV... More
Microsoft publishes WP8.1 NFC guide
Microsoft has published a guide to developing UICC-based card emulation apps for WP8.1 devices... More
Xbox to get mobile purchasing
Starting with the next Xbox One update, expected to arrive in August 2014, “you will be able to buy games and add-on content from your mobile device,” The Next Web reports... More
Microsoft joins IoT alliance
Microsoft has joined the AllSeen Alliance, an association formed in December 2013 with the aim of creating a set of open standards for the Internet of Things (IoT)... More
Windows Phone to get motion interface?
Microsoft is to add “Kinect-like features” to Windows Phone devices later this year, “sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans” have told The Verge... More
Burger chain gets mobile payments
Customers of Finnish hamburger chain Hesburger can today pay for food, connect their loyalty card and redeem offers using Swedish mobile wallet app SEQR... More
NXP offers prizes to NFC devs
NXP has teamed up with Microsoft, Lenovo and Identive to run an NFC Windows Application Contest... More
Windows Phone users to get more NFC controls
Windows Phone 8.1 will increase the level of control users have over NFC payment cards provisioned to their NFC SIM when it ships in mid-2014, according to a series of leaked screenshots, as well as provide a way for users to speed up NFC tag interaction times... More
Spanish bus drivers to check tickets using NFC host card emulation
“HCE is a game-changing technology for NFC,” says technology provider Aditium’s Ibai Iturricha. “With HCE we have the chance to develop the whole solution without having to rely on any other party… With the entry of HCE we are free.” More
Xbox One ships with NFC chip
Microsoft’s new Xbox One entertainment system includes support for NFC functionality, via a Marvell Avastar 88W8897 combo chip that also incorporates Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi, an iFixit teardown of the new console has revealed... More
BA pilots NFC bag tags
British Airways has begun testing a reusable digital luggage tag that contains an e-ink display and can be updated via NFC with new flight information each time a passenger travels... More
Dublin Business School adds NFC kiosk
Dublin Business School (DBS) has installed a triple-screen kiosk with NFC to allow students to access timetable information with their contactless ID cards... More
Microsoft to close Tag platform
Microsoft is to close its QR-like Tag programme, handing over the reins to barcode specialist ScanBuy... More
Windows 8.1 expands NFC pairing
Windows 8.1 will include support for NFC-based pairing with printers and Miracast projectors, Microsoft has revealed... More
Avanade unveils interactive shopping with NFC, augmented reality and Kinect motion sensing
The Microsoft- and Accenture-owned IT company’s new solution allows consumers to select items promoted on interactive screens and then “drag and drop” them into their mobile phone using simple hand gestures, to collect detailed information about a product or add it to a shopping basket. More
Domino’s Pizza launches NFC offers in the UK
The takeaway pizza chain’s new Windows Phone 8 app allows customers to receive rewards by tapping their phone to NFC tags embedded in promotional material placed at the counter. More