News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: New online NFC store • eBay buys hyperlocal ads firm • Connecthings launches reader/writer app • Google’s Groupon rival hits Portland • Chase offers chip and pin in US • Visa and Gap working on real-time mobile discounts • Nokia to transfer Symbian jobs • and a brace of research reports… More
News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: NFC football shirts • EMVCo’s new specs • Contactless business cards • Expo visitors win with NFC • One in five smartphones to have NFC by 2014 • Smartphone users ‘uninterested in location-based services’ • Visa’s Australian NFC trial ends • and more… More
Nokia’s new E6 and X7 models do not include NFC chips, the company has told NFC World, confirming concerns that it would retreat from its plan to include the technology in all new Symbian phones. More
Business software firm Oracle has been conducting experiments with NFC and has found it “too time consuming” to use at the point of sale, the firm’s David Dorf has reported... More
Visa Europe will invest €100 million a year in commercially launching mobile payments and developing its e-commerce services, the firm’s chief executive has confirmed... More
Chip maker NXP is not in takeover talks, its chief executive has said, although he would consider an offer like the one Texas Instruments made for National Semiconductor, Reuters reports... More
Global payments network Mastercard has announced a plan to make contactless payments a way of life in Australia and New Zealand over the next four years... More
Trade association SIMalliance has unveiled a specification for a standardised API which will improve the security of mobile phones and tablet computers, reducing the threat of identity theft... More
‘The acquisition… is a major step in our strategic development notably aimed at accelerating the adoption of contactless NFC technology,’ says the French firm’s CEO. More
The chief chip architect of wireless platform and semiconductor maker ST-Ericsson has said the company will integrate NFC capabilities in its platforms alongside other connectivity functions, ITProPortal reports... More
‘We see this as a strategic and transformative opportunity for Vivotech,’ says company CEO Mick Mullagh, who has plans for an IPO in 2012. Ingenico, meanwhile, is yet to officially announce an acquisition plan but is reported to already be in discussions to buy the business. More
The internet giant is one of 32 new members of the NFC standards organisation. Other well known names to join the association include car maker Daimler and electronics giant Hitachi. More
Software giant Microsoft could be introducing NFC capabilities to Windows mobile phones as soon as this year, according to Bloomberg:... More
The digital security giant has become the first company to receive certification from the payments network, paving the way for the commercial deployment of mobile payments based on MasterCard’s PayPass technology. More
NFC testing specialist Fime has achieved NFC Forum accreditation for its test laboratory in France... More
NFC and contactless specialist Vivotech is planning an initial public offering (IPO) as early as 2012, CEO Mick Mullagh has told Bloomberg Business Week... More
With everyone from Apple, Google and PayPal to mobile operators, coupon issuers and social networks set to need access to contactless POS terminals to bring their NFC plans to market, Verifone’s Paul Rasori tells NFC World how these new players could gain access to merchants’ points-of-sale — and who should foot the bill. More
Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and Volkswagen have joined Nokia, Samsung and others as founder members of the Car Connectivity Consortium with the aim of developing common standards for connectivity between handsets and vehicles. More
Research in Motion is meeting with resistance from mobile network operators over its plans to offer NFC services via near field communication chips embedded in forthcoming BlackBerry handsets, the Wall Street Journal reports... More
Don Kingsborough, founder of prepaid payments specialist Blackhawk Network, has joined PayPal as the online payments giant moves further towards the world of offline shopping... More