A team of researchers from universities in the UK and China have developed a way to use standard machine embroidering equipment to add NFC capabilities to items of clothing so that the technology continues to work reliably even when the fabric is stretched out of shape by the wearer... More
Lojas Americanas, Brazil’s largest retailer, has opened the first of a series of Ame Go convenience stores that use a combination of smart shelf sensors, overhead cameras and QR-enabled entry and exit barriers to remove the need to install physical checkout stations... More
Trentino Trasporti, the transportation operator for the Italian city of Trento, is to be the first to pilot a new transit ticketing concept that uses sensors placed on trains to calculate and charge passengers for fares by automatically detecting when they get on and off a particular service... More
New logistics technologies introduced at DHL Global Chicago hub — Healthcare Packaging — “Using near field communication (NFC) technology, sensors log in-transit ambient environmental temperature conditions during shipping, functioning at temperatures between -40 and +60 degrees Celsius. The sensors allow uploading of temperature data directly to the DHL mobile app and LifeTrack web portal, making them cost effective and easy to use without the need for specific scanners or devices… DHL has seen a 40% increase in operational capabilities using these scanners.”
ABN Amro to launch Forcefield — ABN Amro — “The platform can communicate with physical trade inventories through the Internet of Things, sensors and near field communication chips. As a result, the inventories, which are often collateral for loans, can be monitored very effectively, which will lead to more secure physical handling processes and a reduction of costs.”
Wearable patch measures sweat in extreme environments — Physics World — “The wearable device, which does not need a battery or wireless technology, can collect real-time data on sweat loss, sweat rate, chloride concentration and skin temperature. This data can then be read by tapping it with a smartphone equipped with near field communications technology.”
Smart fabrics made possible by new metal deposition technique — Imperial College London — “Imperial researchers have devised a way to deposit metals onto fabrics and used it to insert sensors and batteries into these materials… The technique could be used to incorporate batteries, wireless technologies and sensors into fabrics like paper and cotton textiles… For example, they created silver coil antennas on paper, which can be used for data and power transmission in wireless devices such as Oyster cards and contactless payment systems.”
PARTNER NEWS: Combining convenience with security is the key to unlocking the next wave of NFC payments innovations, Sebastien Clamagirand, general manager of NXP’s payment and identification business, has told NFC World in an interview at the Trustech show in Cannes... More
STMicroelectronics has released an evaluation board that lets developers design and prototype solutions that combine NFC tag reading, energy harvesting and security with environmental monitoring sensors to track and protect a wide range of sensitive products throughout the supply chain, in stores and in the home... More
Beauty giant L’Oréal has launched an NFC-enabled sun safety sensor that measures the wearers exposure to UV light and comes with a companion app that iPhone users can use to tap their sensor to get advice tailored to their skin tone and skin type... More
The ultimate ‘smell test’: Device sends rotten food warning to smartphones — American Chemical Society — “The scientists created a nanostructured, conductive, polymer-based gas sensor that can detect substances called biogenic amines (BAs), which give decomposing meat its bad odor. They embedded these sensors into NFCs placed next to meats. After the meats had been stored for 24 hours at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the researchers found that the sensors successfully detected significant amounts of BAs. The sensors then switched on the NFCs so they could transmit this information to a nearby smartphone.”
Why your smartphone may soon start scanning your veins — Edith Cowan University — “The new technology involves a single sensor that combines image data (vein) and minutiae-based data (fingerprint) to improve recognition exponentially. These different extraction approaches add complexity for anyone attempting to duplicate the system.”
Mobile network operator Deutsche Telekom has signed a deal with the city of Bonn to install a network of sensors that will alert drivers to available parking spots and enable them to pay for their space using their mobile phone... 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
Qualcomm and Vivo show off under-display fingerprint tech — ZDNet — “The US chip giant said the new solution, Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors, can be integrated underneath Oled displays and dunked in water. It also said the function works under metal and glass… Apple’s next iPhone is also rumoured to have the fingerprint sensor under the display.”
A biometric ring could replace your passwords, cards and keys — Engadget — “With a fingerprint sensor on the inside, it can confirm that you’re the authorized user. Then, you slide on the ring, and an onboard IR optical sensor makes sure the device is still on your finger. As long as you have not taken it off, you can authorize transactions with a tap of your hand… Token transmits the authentication signal over NFC in most situations.”
Visitors and employees at the newly opened Pleinair Casino in Marseilles, France will soon be given a biometric smart card equipped with a fingerprint sensor that will enable them to gain access to privileged areas and make payments across the venue... More
Feds look to experimental light-field cameras to ID drivers at the border — The Verge — “Developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the request of US Customs and Border Patrol… The system draws on light-field sensor arrays to mitigate the glass barrier, allowing cameras to focus past the reflections on the windshield to the faces of the drivers and passengers.”
PARTNER NEWS: Customers of French bank Crédit Agricole can now make host card emulation (HCE) based mobile payments using a new version of the bank’s mobile app ‘Ma Carte’ and Paylib, an online payment acceptance brand supported by France’s main banks... More
Samsung has responded to the group of hackers from the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) who managed to defeat the iris recognition system on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones, saying that the hackers’ claims could “only have been made under a rare combination of circumstances”. More
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