Jiepang, a location-based service provider in China, has announced it is testing NFC technology in its SoLoMo (social-local-mobile) service.
Jiepang says the trial, which will use UPM BullsEye and UPM MiniBlock NFC tags, is part of a larger business strategy to take SoLoMo beyond social networking and mobile marketing promotions to provide contactless payments and other offerings.
Compatible with the iPhone, Android and other mobile devices, SoLoMo enables users to announce their arrival at different venues, share photos and comments with friends, sync data with social networking profiles and collect virtual badges and rewards by visiting retailers’ special-event pages.
So far the company has signed marketing partnerships with more than 300 global companies such as IKEA, Nike, Louis Vuitton, McDonald’s and Starbucks.
According to Jiepang, there are currently 1 million SoLoMo users in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Earlier this year Jiepang gave out 1,500 key chains and mobile phone stickers with UPM’s NFC tags to attendees at Beijing’s third annual Strawberry Music Festival held April 30-May 2. The company provided a live demonstration of NFC technology and encouraged participants to check in at booths for five different restaurant bars to obtain virtual badges and discounts.
That trial was followed by a demo with Nokia at the @Smartphone Apps Expo Asia in Hong Kong on June 17-19, 2011. The company is now preparing for a larger-scale mobile commerce trial. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/nfcnews-4.gif)
