The first NFC apps for Android phones are beginning to appear following Google’s launch of the NFC-friendly Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and the new NFC-enabled Nexus S handset, according to nexus404.com. First, there’s EnableTable, a customer loyalty app that lets restaurants offer discounts to customers. The U.S. developed app uses NFC to keep track of […]

Mobifyer, a division of Merchant360, announced the release of an NFC development kit for Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The development kit features Mobifyer’s mobile contactless tags, which can be encoded by the customer online to suit their particular program. Mobifyer also offers contactless key fobs, wristbands and cards. “We are in the business of increasing the […]

GAO RFID has announced the launch of its new contactless 13.56MHz RFID disc tag. According to GAO, the clear, thin tag is designed for numerous applications, including asset tracking, anti-counterfeiting, process control, factory automation systems, item identification and security. The tag, model 113415, uses a 1K Mifare chip, is compliant with the ISO 14443 standard, […]

An anonymous source has revealed that Google is working on a new mobile payment service, according to businessweek.com. Google’s new project, which may make its debut as early as this year, will leverage NFC technology to enable customers to conduct contactless transactions by passing their cell phone over a reader at the point of sale, […]

French contactless mobile services provider Connecthings has announced the deployment of NFC-enabled “Smart Mailboxes” in the 4th district of Paris. The solution uses NFC tags and QR codes to enable smart phones users to receive relevant information directly to their handset, such as time of post collection, nearby stamp vendors, postal codes and directions to […]

Signbox has announced the UK release of its new NFC-enabled illuminated advertising poster, the Enlighten. According to Signbox, Enlighten uses NFC technology that enables customers to receive data on the subject of the advertisement directly to their smart phone by simply passing the phone over an NFC logo in the corner of the poster. That […]

Alcatel-Lucent has launched a contactless payment and loyalty points program with Sanoma Magazines to help the Belgium-based publisher gain insight into the buying habits of its non-subscription customers, according to destinationcrm.com. In the pilot, customers use prepaid NFC stickers affixed to their mobile phones to buy Sanoma’s ‘HUMO’ and ‘Flair’ magazines by holding the mobile […]

Schreiner ProSecure has announced that its Contactless Payment Sticker won the first-place award for “Digital Printing” in the U.S. Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute’s (TLMI) annual international competition. Schreiner’s winning tag is an label that can be applied to cell phones or other personal items, such as key chains, bracelets or MP3 players, to conduct […]

The Association Française du Sans Contact Mobile (AFSCM), a non-profit organization aimed at advancing interoperable NFC applications, has determined that Nice’s city-wide NFC trial “cityzi” is a success, and will pave the way for future NFC roll outs across France. According to AFSCM, there has been a “quick and enthusiastic” adoption of cityzi-branded contactless services […]

Google has acquired mobile payments startup Zetawire in order to improve its support for NFC in Android phones, according to electonista.com. Google bought Toronto-based Zetawire back in August, just after the company was awarded a U.S. patent for an end-to-end mobile payments platform that allows users to pay for goods with a smart phone at […]