PARTNER NEWS: NXP has announced a toolkit designed to make it easy for iOS 11 developers to take advantage of the NFC tag reading capabilities that are now supported by iPhones and unlock “the potential to now connect billions of consumer and industrial products to the Internet of Things (IoT)”... More
Nest expands into home security with first security system designed to be easy on residents, tough on intruders — Nest — “Nest Tag is a convenient fob that can attach to a keychain, allowing you to easily arm and disarm Nest Secure without a passcode. Nest Tags are easy to share with family members and trusted people who regularly enter the home, like dog walkers.”
NFC Forum adds NFC tag certification to certification program — NFC Forum — “Tag/inlay, NFC reader and handset manufacturers for the first time will be able to test and verify the performance and interoperability of all the key components in the NFC ecosystem. Certification will help ensure that NFC tags, readers and handsets provide consistent, compelling and connected user experiences.”
iOS 11 is now available to download — The Verge — “Today, Apple pushed out the final version of iOS 11, its latest mobile operating system release. Most iPhone and iPad units made in the last few years should be capable of downloading it now if you head over to the Settings panel and check for a software update under the General tab. For those who have been part of either the developer or public beta process, you’ll likely already have the finalized iOS 11 and shouldn’t need to do anything.”
Nike and NBA introduce new statement edition uniform, first on-court hooded jacket and the first NBA Connected Jersey, the future of fan apparel — Nike — “Using new NikeConnect technology, each adult-sized Nike NBA Connected Jersey will have an embedded NFC chip that will launch real-time team and player content such as pregame arrival footage, highlight packages and top players’ favorite music playlists — all on the jersey owner’s mobile device. Throughout the season, a wealth of exclusive offers and experiences will bring fans closer to the game they love.”
Why have we removed Westpac Tap & Pay? — Westpac — “We have removed Westpac Tap & Pay as more customers are choosing to use Android Pay and Samsung Pay for their additional features. We recommend you add your eligible Mastercard or Visa card to Android Pay or Samsung Pay so you can continue to quickly and securely pay with your smartphone at millions of stores worldwide.”
Introducing Tez, a mobile payments and commerce app from Google — Google — “Cash Mode is built using our proprietary AQR (Audio QR) technology, which is similar to QR codes but more convenient and more secure. And unlike NFC, it works on almost any smartphone in India, whether Android or iOS.”
Pay with your iPhone in UAE before end of the year — Gulf News — “The American tech giant confirmed on Wednesday that Apple Pay is scheduled to roll out in the UAE before the end of the year and will be made available to debit and credit card customers of Emirates NBD, Mashreq, HSBC, RakBank, Standard Chartered and Emirates Islamic.”
Apple has revealed that it will ship iOS 11 on 19 September 2017, bringing with it the ability for iPhones to read NFC tags for the first time... More
New interactive technology to trace your food from field to fork — Soil Association — “Using three types of labels and identifiers; barcode, QR code and NFC tags, shoppers simply scan or hover their smart phones to find out the unique journey behind their food. This includes information about its origin, ingredients, and any special attributes such as organic, gluten-free, dairy-free etc. Photos of the product’s creation, as well as farmer or producer profiles can be viewed too.”
PARTNER NEWS: Mobile chipset giant MediaTek has integrated STMicroelectronics’ NFC technology into its mobile platforms, creating “a complete solution for handset developers to design next-generation smartphones capable of supporting tightly integrated NFC mobile services”... More
GlobalPlatform publishes on-device NFC service management specification — GlobalPlatform — “GlobalPlatform Managing Entity Specification has been published, completing a ‘stack’ of complementary software standards from ETSI and the NFC Forum that ensures multiple mobile contactless services successfully coexist within a device and will operate as intended, regardless of the hosting environment selected by the service provider.”
More than half of consumers around the world (52%) now say they know which types of mobile payment services are available to them today, but the percentage varies widely between individual countries and across different regions and consumers in emerging markets are significantly more aware of their options than those in the developed world... More
eMarketer releases latest estimates for US proximity mobile payments — eMarketer — “eMarketer estimates the value of US proximity mobile payment transactions will total US$49.29 billion in 2017, up 78.1% from last year… The average annual spend per proximity mobile payment user in the US will reach US$1,026 in 2017, surpassing US$1,000 for the first time. That figure will continue to grow through 2021, when it will reach US$2,646.”
Garmin has unveiled a GPS-enabled smartwatch that includes an NFC contactless payments service called Garmin Pay which supports cards from both Visa and Mastercard and enables the wearer to “make secure payments from the watch, no phone or wallet required.”... More
Samsung challenges Apple Watch with its new Gear Sport smartwatch — Yahoo Finance — “Like the Gear S3, the Gear Sport also includes NFC wireless capabilities to allow for Samsung Pay transactions. You can use the watch as a remote control for Samsung’s GearVR virtual-reality headset.”
NXP and Changan Automobile to cooperate on infotainment and future vehicle technologies — NXP — PARTNER NEWS — Changan Automobile is one of China’s largest car manufacturers and the first Chinese company to achieve long-distance self-driving… Changan will apply NXP’s vehicle-to-x (V2X) communication, near field communication (NFC) identification, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and joint R&D to further transform automobiles into mobile information hubs.”
Two hundred small businesses are to participate in a pilot that lets them accept contactless payments using just a mobile app on their NFC smartphones... More
Fitness wearable maker Fitbit has launched Ionic, a smartwatch that will combine health and fitness functions with the ability to make contactless Visa, Mastercard and American Express payments as well as payments using the wearer’s Starbucks Card account... More
British consumers used their mobile phones to spend more than £370m (US$477m) in stores equipped with contactless payments terminals during the first half of 2017, an increase of 336% on the amount spent during the first half of 2016, transaction data analysis conducted by payments processor Worldpay has found... More