Gemalto has announced its selection by Italian telecom company Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) to support the launch of a transportation-related NFC program in Trento. The program will enable TIM customers to use their mobile phones to access public transit.

TIM-issued phones will have SIM cards embedded with Gemalto applications, enabling the remote purchase of tickets at anytime. Travelers will also be able to validate their transport pass even when the battery of their mobile phone is off.

Working with several telecom operators, Gemalto has launched transit-related NFC programs in several locations throughout Europe, including the French cities of Grenoble, Rennes and Paris. The TIM system will be the first such NFC system in Italy.  

Germany’s SCM Microsystems has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Sony Corporation to develop and supply FeliCa contactless card readers for international markets. The arrangement allows SCM to develop a line of FeliCa products targeting the enterprise, mobile and banking markets, beginning with FeliCa Physical Access Control Terminals (PACT).

FeliCa, created by Sony, is the standard for contactless payment in Japan. All SCM terminals and readers developed under the cooperation are anticipated to be ISO 14443 and FeliCa capable and fully support Near Field Communication functionality.

SCM expects to introduce the first readers in its FeliCa portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2008. Additional products to be added to the line are under discussion between the two companies.  

McDonald’s will introduce a downloadable coupon for Sony Felica-enabled phones in its Japanese restaurants. The new payment application, called the Kasazu coupon, is downloaded onto a consumer’s phone at the point-of-sale. The consumer then places their phone on a reader to make the payment or use the coupon.

McDonald’s will initially test the e-coupon in 175 stores, and then roll it out in all 3,800 outlets in Japan. Many Japanese mobile phones feature the Sony Felica technology, making Japan a good location to test the concept. McDonald’s has not announced specific plans to take the Kasazu coupon beyond Japan’s borders, but experts generally agree that international adoption of this type of transaction technology will happen soon.

The appeal of this type of technology for companies like McDonald’s stems not just from the convenience it offers its consumers, but also the targeted marketing opportunities that it presents.  

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Another CTST is in the books, this time without the emphasis on CardTech/SecurTech, the name for previous shows. It was also the first time SourceMedia and the Smart Card Alliance jointly produced the show and, according to executives from both organizations, the new format was a success.

“Fantastic,” is the way Randy Vanderhoof, Smart Card Alliance executive director, put it when asked his reaction to the show. “I personally am very pleased with how the event worked out. The conference program turned out to be a big hit with the audience. We generally got great reviews from attendees about the merger of the CTST conference and the Smart Card Alliance annual event.” That SCA annual event is normally held in the fall. This year, the alliance will move its government-focused conference, which is usually held in the spring, to the fall.

Officially, the conference was listed as CTST The Americas 2008, to incorporate both North America and Latin America, where the Smart Card Alliance also has an organization.

Collis has introduced an NFC Two-factor Asymmetrical Chip Authentication application called NFC-2ACA—or NFC two-factor asymmetrical chip authentication. The application has been developed by integrating 2ACA into the contactless payment card protocols and the Near Field Communication protocol.

Collis has developed the 2ACA application that enables third-party authentication based on standard EMV implementations. Collis has enhanced this contact chip based 2ACA authentication scheme by integrating 2ACA into the contactless payment card protocols and the NFC protocol.

A new report done by IDTechEx compares and contrasts Near Field Communication, and particularly RFID enabled mobile phones, with contactless smart cards and tickets. It emphasizes how they are forms of RFID with advantages and disadvantages and different development paths.

The researchers came to the conclusion that there will continue to be rapid growth in sales for at least ten years. This follows 800 million Chinese acquiring contactless national ID cards in four years and 47 million Japanese adopting NFC-compatible phones in three years. These were two of the fastest rollouts of electronic products in human history, the report states.

NXP and Siemens Mobility have reached an agreement to collaborate on development of NXP’s new Automotive Telematics On Board (ATOP) into a ‘single chip on-board unit’ system based on GPS and GSM. Once it is done with development and ready for the market, it is intended for use in private vehicles. ATOP can be used simply and cost-effectively as it exploits existing GPS/GSM mobile networks.

A benefit of ATOP is that it is not necessary to install an infrastructure, such as toll stations for roads, because drivers can install the on-board unit in just a few minutes, and the system will then act as a secure and easy toll collection method.

NXP Semiconductors is looking at licensing its Mifare contactless chip card technology to other semiconductor companies for use in SIM cards and NFC applications such as ticketing, payment and access management. “We are preparing a technology licensing program. This will take some time to evolve as it involves both the Mifare hardware and operating system and the crucial over the air management protocols and interfaces with Mifare4Mobile,” Heikki Huomo, vice president and general manager for the NFC business at NXP, told EE times Europe.

2010 is the year many seem to target as when near field communication will begin to take off. Until then, chipmakers may not see a lot of demand for the new microprocessors, according to EETimes.com

There are also issues with software and administrative matters surrounding NFC, the report states. There need to be more card reader subsystems, integrations tools and application software. There also needs to be software that supports backend-billing services.

EETimes.com will release a full report in May. A preliminary report is available here.  

The NFC Forum, a Wakefield, Mass.-based non-profit advocating the use of near field communication technology, announced the winners of its Touching the Future: NFC Forum Global Competition.

In the competition, developers in a commercial track vied for the honor of having their solutions named “The Best NFC Service of the Year 2008,” while a Research Track recognized “The Most Innovative NFC Research Project of the Year 2008.”

The first-place winner in the Commercial Track is VingCard Elsafe of Norway for its “Signature RFID by VingCard - Electronic Lock for Hotels.” This product enables hotel guests with NFC-enabled phones to bypass the check-in process and unlock their hotel rooms using the phones.