INSIDE Contactless’s MicroRead platform has been selected as the preferred NFC chip for mobile carrier Far EasTone’s new Pay-Buy Mobile testing project. The pilot, named Beep ‘N Go, will involve a panel of 200 local users by the end of 2007, and is set to anticipate real-size commercial rollout in early 2008. INSIDE’s MicroRead’s SIM friendly solution for NFC payments connects the NFC chip to the SIM card using the industry standard SWP protocol, which was a strong prerequisite in the Beep’N Go project. Additionally, MicroRead’s “battery off” mode enables the NFC and SIM power supplies to be generated from the antenna RF field, to ensure that contactless transactions can be made, even if the handset’s battery is flat.

Blackboard appears to be taking a major step toward incorporating advanced ID technologies into their campus card program following this morning’s announcement with Sony. Under the partnership, Sony will “engage” Blackboard to build support for Sony’s FeliCa contactless technology and the Near Field Contactless (NFC) standard into the Blackboard platform.

This will be interesting to watch because while FeliCa is a dominant contactless technology in Asia (250 million chips issued), it has not made strong inroads into the North American market to date. Will this give Sony the inroad they have been seeking? And … because NFC, is an open standard, it could provide the resulting platform with a cross-vendor solution that enables payment and access transactions with cards or mobile phones. Stay tuned to CR80News to keep up with this developing story.

SNCF, a French railway, and Orange have announced that they are experimenting with contactless services by mobile phones to aid passengers’ travel. Over a two-month period, 50 subscribing passengers will test a prototype contactless telephone integrating NFC (Near Field Communication) technology in the SIM card and providing access to various services, including transport ticketing, payment of purchases, timetable information and car-park access. They will also be able to buy and receive their coupon on line. The railway company also plans to install posters in stations allowing for travelers to receive direct information on the next trains arrival and departure times, according to the cellular-news article.

Check out this video about the NFC Forum that was recorded last year at the NFC Europe 2006 Conference. Paula Berger is interviewed by Talking About IT.

New forecasts from Juniper Research show that around 52 million consumers will adopt new mobile technologies such as NFC (Near Field Communication) and other physical mobile payment methods to pay for everyday goods and services by 2011. The new study predicts that by 2011, around 12% of the total mobile phones in circulation will offer support for contactless payment, specifically NFC - equating to nearly 470 million NFC-enabled handsets worldwide.

Kyocera Wireless Corp. (KWC), a global manufacturer of CDMA wireless phones and devices, and INSIDE Contactless announced a global collaboration to integrate INSIDE Contactless’ cutting-edge NFC solution for mobile payments in select prototype Kyocera mobile phones. As part of the collaboration, KWC will build NFC-enabled prototype mobile phones enhanced with INSIDE’s microread®, allowing the technology to be used in various banking pilot projects and initial adoption globally.

SCM Microsystems has joined the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum, a non-profit industry association advancing the use of NFC technology, as a Principal member. “SCM Microsystems is pleased to join other industry leaders in the NFC Forum to further the adoption of NFC technology,” said Felix Marx, chief executive officer of SCM Microsystems.

Netherlands-based Gemalto is the recipient of the 2007 Frost & Sullivan European Product Innovation Award in the field of mobile contactless technologies for its development of smart card web server (SCWS) technology. The SCWS offers a common platform for all mobile operators to organize and present their services to the subscriber, regardless of location (network or local). Basically, SCWS allows for brands to identify themselves while paying with a mobile phone: ”While payment companies such as Visa and MasterCard spend millions of dollars annually in advertising their brand, their brand logo cannot be made visible while making a payment transaction with the near field communication (NFC) phone as the mobile phone does not itself contain the logo of the bank,” notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Rashmi Sundararajan. “This problem has been overcome by an innovative ‘Web server on the SIM’ developed by Gemalto; every time a transaction occurs, the color logo of the financial service provider is displayed on the phone screen.”

By the end of this year the Rhine Main Transport Association (RMV) will equip all bus and tram/train stops within the city of Frankfurt-on-the-Main and in its airport with ConTags, functioning as Near Field Communication (NFC) transmitters. Frankfurt-on-the-Main will be the first metropolis of the Federal Republic to benefit from such a system. The tags transmit schedule information to any mobile phone equipped to receive such messages. Users can also use the system to purchase the type of ticket he or she wants through an on-screen menu, which is then sent to his or her mobile phone via the Internet. Using the system still appears to be one of the largest concerns. “Manufacturers of handsets would have to introduce the NFC option into a broad range of models and beat the advertising drum for it,” said Peter Vollmer, the press officer of the RMV, to heise online.

Just six weeks after announcing a partnership trial of Near Field Communication services in Singapore, EZ-Link and StarHub have completed a series of internal trials and have begun the first public trial. They have distributed handsets for a 6-month trial to a group of pre-selected customers who were selected from over 2,600 applicants. The phones contain two independent chips, one used for contactless payment and the second, which is an NFC-enabled chip. It lets participants download promotional materials or useful information such as bus route details via GPRS from smart tags embedded in selected posters using NFC. The trial allows for users to simulate using their phone for all purposes NFC enables, but does not actually use NFC to make any payments.