Consumers will be able to use their mobile device to order a takeout pizza that is both made and delivered to their door entirely by robots using a fully automated, contactless system being developed in California... More
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing enters financial services amid profit push — South China Morning Post — “The new offering, which Didi introduced on Wednesday, includes mutual protection and crowdfunding products for critical illnesses, credit and lending, wealth management and auto-financing services… Didi’s foray into financial services is part of its effort to build a ‘more connected ecosystem’ with reliable and competitive services, according to a company spokesman.”
NFC Ring has made its payments ring available to order worldwide, enabling wearers to make purchases with a tap of their finger at any contactless terminal. More
The UK startup behind the Kerv NFC payments ring has teamed up with payment solutions provider PSI-Pay to enable a greater range of payment options on the device... More
US startup Spendwallet is raising funds on Indiegogo for an electronic wallet device that can store up to 20 magnetic stripe cards and will let the owner make payments at the point of sale using the company’s self-developed Magnetic Flux Emulation (MFE) technology. More
PARTNER NEWS: NXP has put its support behind two new reference platforms that will enable “innovation and rapid development” for smart wearables. The platforms target a range of internet of things (IoT) applications with open-source hardware and software, form-factor flexibility and expandable solutions for designers to adapt to changing market needs. More
Wearable payments company FitPay has launched a campaign on Kickstarter to crowdfund the production of an NFC payment smartstrap for the Pebble Time family of smartwatches. More
A US startup is raising funds on Kickstarter for its first production run of Lockett, a customisable necklace that can be tapped with an NFC phone to retrieve personal photos, videos and messages... More
Shenzhen-based wearable device maker FiiSmart has launched a campaign on ecommerce giant Alibaba’s Taobao Crowdfunding website for a smartwatch that will support Ant Financial’s mobile payment platform Alipay and allow its wearers to make payments by generating a QR-code that can then be scanned at the point-of-sale... More
Warsaw-based start-up uBirds has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a leather strap that can be fitted onto any standard watch to add a range of smartwatch-like capabilities... More
Sony is crowdfunding a new smartwatch called Wena Wrist that is equipped with NFC payments compatible with the Japanese Felica standard... More
Watch maker Pebble has smashed through a US$500,000 crowdfunding target, raising nearly $16m in a matter of days to produce its new Pebble Time smart watch with a colour display... More
Crowdfunding is being sought for an NFC-enabled smartwatch that features iris recognition technology, letting wearers identify themselves and unlock services using their unique biometric data... More
A Silicon Valley startup is seeking crowdfunding to put a minimalist wallet with two integrated NFC tags into production... More
French games developer Hanakai Studio has launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter for a role playing video game (RPG) that uses NFC-enabled rings, figurines, cards and an interactive board to allow players to interact with an on-screen world “without using any keyboard, mouse or joypad”... More
UK-based Kiroco has won the Best Innovation of The Year award at London’s Wearable Technology Conference and Expo for a range of interactive jewellery that allows a recipient to tap an NFC phone to see text, video and photo messages uploaded by the sender... More
US startup Ocho has unveiled an NFC tray that enables messages to be automatically sent to users, family members and colleagues when a key, wallet, phone or other NFC tagged object is placed on the device... More
A startup that aims to create “an ever-expanding line of wearable tech that goes beyond simple NFC” is seeking crowdfunding to produce an NFC-enabled clothing range... More
Funding is being raised on Kickstarter to commercialize an ultra-slim wall plaque that enables visitors to connect to a host’s WiFi network without having to ask for and enter a password, by just tapping their phone on entry to a home or commercial location... More
A California-based startup is seeking US$8,000 by 1 February in order to put into production nfcTack and nfcPad, two new NFC tag products that use “nano suction” pads to attach to surfaces — rather than standard adhesives that can leave marks when they are removed... More
