Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon maker Estimote has introduced a new product category that it calls “nearables”, stickers that contain a Bluetooth Smart controller, an ARM processor and both an accelerometer and a temperature sensor... More
Internet of Things (IoT)
New IoT consortium launches
Atmel, Broadcom, Dell, Intel, Samsung and Wind River have formed the Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC), a new industry grouping that aims to improve the interoperability and define the connectivity requirements for the Internet of Things (IoT)... 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
Thinfilm shows printed NFC smart label with temperature sensor
Printed electronics specialist Thinfilm has demonstrated an NFC-enabled label that includes a temperature sensor, which can be used to track a product throughout its journey to a store and report on whether or not the item has exceeded a particular temperature threshold at any point... More
Telstra uses NFC to cut costs and improve customer service for broadband users
Australian telecommunications provider Telstra is now applying NFC tags to all its broadband modems, enabling customers to access personalised help, information and support recommendations by tapping the tag with their NFC phone... More
Worldline develops interactive fridge magnets that make it easy to add items to shopping lists
Transaction services provider Worldline has unveiled Connected Kitchen, an electronic fridge magnet aimed at online food retailers that lets consumers add everyday products to their shopping list as they use them, by scanning the product’s barcode or through a speech recognition feature... More
Smartrac to seed Internet of Things platform with 1.5bn tags a year
The company’s Smart Cosmos platform will provide an open, secure and standardized way to track the world’s objects, Smartrac CEO Clemens Joos has told NFC World, enabling system integrators, developers and consumers to connect physical objects with cloud-based descriptions that can be used to identify, authenticate and verify products, track assets and deliver a wide range of consumer applications... More
ST offers NFC kit for IoT
STMicroelectronics is introducing a kit for developers interested in using its M24SR dynamic NFC tags for internet of things applications... More
Inside updates VaultIC tag
Inside Secure has redesigned its dual-interface VaultIC 150/150D security module to include a new privacy mode which requires strong authentication to access its contents, complying with the ‘silent by design’ philosophy of the Internet of Things community... More
HID releases Trusted Tag SDK
HID Global has introduced a software developer kit (SDK) for developers to create apps that make use of the company’s Trusted Tag Services platform, launched in October 2012... More
BlackBerry launches Z10 and Q10 smartphones with NFC
“We will be a leader in connecting you to your internet of things,” says CEO Thorsten Heins as the Z10 touchscreen BlackBerry 10 phone and Q10 Qwerty phone are announced with NFC. More
Identive reports tag sales stats
Identive shipped just under 15m NFC transponders during the fourth quarter of 2012, chairman and CEO Ayman S Ashour has revealed... More
Gartner places NFC in ‘trough of disillusionment’
NFC payments are five to ten years away from mainstream adoption and on the crossover between the ‘Peak of Inflated Expectations’ and the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’, according to this year’s Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies. NFC as a whole is expected to hit the mainstream more quickly, but is still two to five years away from maturity. More
EC consults on IoT
The European Commission (EC) has started a public consultation to find out what framework is needed to unleash the potential benefits of the coming ‘internet of things’... More
Art lovers rate exhibits with NFC
Visitors to the STRP Festival in the Netherlands can use NFC phones to tag exhibits with keywords, share their experience via social media, rate individual exhibits and create a personalised poster incorporating their favourite experiences. More
Kimtag: NFC tag reading is growing 22% a month
An analysis of the UK QR code and NFC tag provider’s usage logs has found that take-up of NFC tag reading has increased by more than 170% over the last six months. More
New production process could cut cost of NFC tags to “just a few cents”
A new production process developed by a UK startup could reduce the cost of NFC tags to significantly under five cents a unit, making it practical for tags to be used in a wide array of new application areas. More
Gartner’s Hype Cycle places NFC at ‘Peak of Inflated Expectations’
The Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle is designed “to highlight the common pattern of overenthusiasm, disillusionment and eventual realism that accompanies each new technology and innovation,” says the company. More
China Unicom in bid to make Chongqing a $7bn world leader for NFC manufacturing and innovation
A strategic cooperation agreement signed by the mobile network operator and the Chongqing Municipal Government aims to turn the region into a $7bn a year world leader in NFC manufacturing by 2015. More
CES 2009: NFC competitors and enablers on display
There wasn’t much to see in the way of mainstream NFC developments at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show — but some interesting potentially competitive technologies and enabling solutions made the massive Las Vegas event worth casting an eye over. More