Smart Card Laboratory Inc., an international smart card provider based in Seoul, Republic of Korea, has become the latest organization to join the membership of GlobalPlatform, the international specification body for smart card infrastructure.

Offering a range of products and solutions related to smart cards, Smart Card Laboratory will be able to track the activities of all GlobalPlatform technical committees – card, device and systems. 

ARYGON Technologies, a provider of NFC and RFID reader modules, announced the launch of its new Multi-ISO HF Desktop and OEM Reader for ISO 14443 A/B and ISO 15693/18000-3 Mode 1 based applications. The new reader utilizes existing PC/SC standard for USB and also for the RS232 interface.

Features of the new ARYGON Multi-ISO HF Reader include: 

Almost every week it seems like a new Near Field Communication pilot is announced. As more and more projects are rolled out Re:ID will keep you up to date on where they are and what they involve.

After the jump find a listing of NFC pilots and deployments that appeared in the Spring issue of Re:ID. 

A joint venture between Citigroup and SK Telecom, South Korea, which offers mobile banking and payments services in the Philippines and Hong Kong, plans to expand to six more countries by the end of the year.

Called Mobile Money, the venture founded in 2008 allows consumers to transfer funds, pay bills and, in Hong Kong, trade stocks. According to a spokesperson, Mobile Money intends to test NFC technology next year.

Read more here.  

A memorandum of understanding has been agreed between GlobalPlatform, and the Association Européenne Payez Mobile (AEPM). The two bodies will align technical advances that will assist the market in bringing mobile payment services to European citizens.

AEPM develops specifications and facilitates trials to promote and accelerate the deployment of contactless mobile payment in Europe. Its existing technology is compliant with GlobalPlatform’s UICC Configuration, a technical document that outlines a neutral environment to support the secure delivery over-the-air of mobile services to consumers. 

Zapa Technology, a Dublin, Ireland company due to launch an NFC-like ZapaTag in the next few months, has received about $3.5 million in funding from venture capital firm Delta Partners.

The infusion of capital will allow Zapa, one of the first companies in Europe to make use of NFC, to roll out a number of applications.

Read more here.  

Macrumors.com has discovered new Apple patents that may show the future of the iPhone.

Potentially in store for the device are biometrics that would recognize a users different fingerprint patterns for security and to activate different applications. “So the index finger might mean email, while the middle finger music, etc, alternatively different fingers could mean different actions, so again index finger might play music while the middle finger might stop it,” the site states.