Swedish mobile payments provider Accumulate has signed an agreement with Chinese IT provider Potevio to jointly develop and deploy mobile financial and authentication services to the Chinese market. According to the partners, future projects will include an undisclosed “unique NFC solution” that will be commercially deployed by summer 2012, a solution for secure payment of […]

A new survey from advertising firm CBS Outdoor shows that mobile marketing is gaining in popularity in Europe, with QR codes leading the pack. Out of 9,000 European consumers surveyed, 40% said that they are aware of QR codes, with 13% having scanned a QR-enabled advertisement at least once. By comparison, only 13% of respondents […]

Once the stuff of sci-fi and spy flicks, facial recognition technology has evolved into a concrete reality touching nearly everyone on the planet. The technology figures prominently in post-9/11 security. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, 93 countries now issue passports containing the bearer’s biometric facial data. A number of U.S. states use facial […]

Two teams of NFC developers have been awarded kick-starter funds after being named winners at Isobar and O2’s “Isobar Create London,” a 34-hour challenge which brought together more than 65 international developers and designers at the Shoreditch Studios in London this weekend. Team Rollercoaster, comprised of students from the London School of Communication Arts, won […]

Global sales of NFC-enabled handsets increased ten-fold in 2011 to 30 million units, according to a new research report by Berg Insight. Berg’s report predicts that the NFC handset market will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 87.8%, boosting annual shipments to 700 million units in 2016. According to senior […]

On Track Innovations has filed a lawsuit alleging that T-Mobile USA sells NFC-enabled phones that infringe OTI’s U.S. Patent No. 6,045,043. The patent in question, “Contact/Contactless Data Transaction Card,” was awarded to OTI back in April 2000 and describes a semiconductor data transaction device “having contact and contactless modes of operation,” according to PTO Direct. […]

Microsoft has filed a U.S. patent for a logo that marks a device as NFC-enabled, according to NFC World. The “Tap and Do” logo (pictured, courtesy of NFC World) will be included on computers and other hardware that feature NFC connectivity, as well as on NFC-enabled computer software. The announcement makes good on Microsoft’s promise […]

Mobey Forum, a bank-led organization for the advancement of mobile commerce, has welcomed its first non-banking Full Member – northern European payment solutions provider Nets. Mobey Forum has also announced that it has opened full membership to all supervised payment institutions. “In order to effectively drive the evolution of the mobile financial services ecosystem Mobey […]

Identive Group has revealed a new open-standards based solution that enables users to access secure buildings with the tap of a smart phone. According to Identive, the solution integrates the PLAID government-grade access authentication protocol with the secure processor within an NFC-enabled smart phone. When used with Identive’s new line of TouchSecure readers, the NFC […]

Portugal Telecom has launched an internal pilot of “tmn wallet,” a new mobile payments service that combines NFC technology, QR codes and text messages into one single platform. Some 11,000 Portugal Telecom employees can now use tmn wallet service to purchase products in vending machines, catering spaces and custom food delivery services using just their […]