Three of the four carriers of Research In Motion’s recently announced BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 are offering the handsets without NFC technology, according to FierceWireless. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon failed to mention NFC in their press releases announcing the launch of the new handset—Sprint was the only one— yet all four carriers have demonstrated interest in […]

Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility should throw the company’s Mobile Wallet plans into hyper-drive, according to On Wall Street. Thanks to the acquisition, Google will not have to rely solely on the Sprint Nexus S to carry its Mobile Wallet service. Now the company will be able to design, manufacture and sell its […]

Telefónica Germany, Telekom and Vodafone have announced the formation of a new NFC payments joint venture under the ‘mpass’ brand. Already used by subscribers for paying their bills via mobile phone, the mpass service will soon be expanded to enable mobile users on all of Germany’s networks to perform contactless transactions at the point of […]

The Museum of London is teaming up with Nokia to equip its exhibits with NFC technology, according to Noknok.tv. The new design will allow visitors to swipe their NFC-enabled handsets near special tags from Nokia to receive pictures, links and other downloadable info about a given exhibit, rather than wear the guided tour headset. “NFC […]

Conrad Harvey, the IT head of Australian supermarket chain Coles, says he is hesitant to go forward with a major NFC payments trial due to concerns over security, reports ZDNet Australia. Speaking at a CEDA event in Sydney, Harvey said, “There’s an exciting opportunity in changing the way we can further interact with customers using […]

Research firm Gartner has placed NFC payments at the peak of the ‘Inflated Expectations’ curve in its 2011 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle. According to Gartner, The Hype Cycle graph has been used since 1995 to highlight the common pattern of “over-enthusiasm, disillusionment and eventual realism” that accompanies each new technology and innovation. “Themes from this […]

ABI Research has released a new report predicting that 85% of point-of-sale terminals worldwide will be contactless-enabled by 2016 — up from just 10% in 2010. In “Cellular-enabled POS Terminals, ATMs, and Vending Machinesm,” ABI attributes the growth to the proliferation of contactless cards, “rapid” adoption of NFC-enabled cell phones, and the introduction of major […]

The Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary, one of Europe’s largest music festivals, has introduced a cashless payment system using contactless payment cards and NFC technology. Concertgoers are now be able to make tap-and-go payments within the venue using preloaded contactless “Festivalcards,” operated by Metapay. According to Sziget, some 1,200 payment terminals at the festival are […]

HTC Corp. has signed a deal with China UnionPay, China’s only credit card network, to launch a new NFC-enabled smart phone for mobile banking, according to Focus Taiwan. The 4-inch, Android-powered HTC “Stunning” will allow UnionPay customers to pay their bills from their phones as well as make contactless payments at the point of sale. […]

Subway is preparing to launch NFC payment terminals in 24,000 restaurants across the U.S., according to Mobile Commerce News. The terminals, which are slated to hit stores this fall, will enable customers to pay for their meals with a tap of their NFC-enabled smart phone. As one of the first retailers to join Google’s Mobile […]