Tourists visiting ski resorts in the Italian Dolomites this winter will be provided with NFC-enabled phones for use in a range of applications as part of the Stolpan consortium’s first field trial. Phones and terminals from multiple suppliers will be used. More
Travel and ticketing
O2 Academy music venues to provide test beds for NFC
Mobile operator O2 has signed a deal which will see eleven major music venues across the UK rebranded as an ‘O2 Academy’. O2 will offer customers a series of benefits such as priority access to tickets and will use the venues to test a range of NFC-based services. More
NXP announces Mifare4Mobile API spec, adds Mifare Plus and expands licensing deal with Renesas
Mifare4Mobile specifications will be released within months, making it easier for Mifare-based transit ticketing and other applications to be provided via a ticket holder’s mobile phone. More
Air New Zealand issues 100,000 smart stickers to frequent flyers
The airline has provided each of its most frequent domestic travellers with contactless stickers from OTI that can be attached to the back of their mobile phone and act as a permanent and reusable boarding pass. More
Malaysia to get commercial NFC launch in January?
After a successful trial involving NFC-based retail and transit payments, Malaysia’s Maxis Communications and Maybank are reported to be planning a commercial launch in January 2009 More
TfL reports to London Assembly on future of Oyster
Transport for London now looks pretty set on its plan to replace its prepaid Oyster contactless card system with a bank-card compatible solution. Both contactless bank cards and NFC are options being considered and TfL will definitely outsource delivery of the new system to the private sector More
Oulu, the little city with big ideas
If you’ve been keeping an eye on NFC you’ll have noticed that a lot of innovative experimentation is taking place in the Finnish town of Oulu. And if you’ve been wondering why a place you’ve otherwise never heard of is at the forefront of testing NFC concepts, an article in Computing magazine now has the explanation you’ve been looking for… More
Mobile ticketing to reach 410m users by 2013
Within five years 410 million people will be mobile ticketing users says Juniper Research. Bar code reading issues, lack of reader infrastructure and the availability of NFC handsets means that most of the forecast users will be using their phone to store a ticket they bought elsewhere rather than using their phone to make the purchase. NFC will only reach its tipping point in 2011-2013… More