INSIDE Contactless, CONNECTHINGS take NFC to next level

AIX-EN-PROVENCE & PARIS, FRANCE: INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in advanced open-standard contactless chip technologies, and CONNECTHINGS, a pioneer in providing systems that deliver contextualized services and content based on location and time, today announced a partnership to give Near Field Communication (NFC) the intelligence it needs to go beyond payment and transit applications to enable a broad range of mobile services.

To accomplish this, the two companies will jointly develop, promote and commercialize the Wave-Me™ NFC services platform, an end-to-end solution carriers and third-party service providers can use to give subscribers easy access to a broad range of consumer services and applications through their mobile phones.

“When INSIDE announced its Wave-Me technologies in February of this year, we introduced our vision of a service-rich future for NFC, and the partnership we are announcing today is an important step in realizing that vision,” said Loic Hamon, Vice President Marketing NFC of INSIDE Contactless.

“Together with CONNECTHINGS, we are developing the key infrastructure elements that will give operators and service providers a powerful NFC service delivery platform and transform how people interact with and use their mobile devices.”

The two companies occupy dominant positions within their respective markets, and their combined expertise and experience create a unique force to drive the development of the Wave-Me NFC services platform and define the intelligent interfaces and protocols necessary for communication between NFC handsets, NFC tags and the platform.

INSIDE will provide its NFC technology know-how, NFC hardware, loadable application-level software for the handset, Wave-Me products, NFC tags and other patented technology. CONNECTHINGS brings knowledge from its AdTag™ server-side contextualized content management, as well as its experience with NFC tag and mobile application life cycle management and other technologies.

“This partnership with INSIDE Contactless demonstrates our commitment to distributing and commercializing NFC tags to deliver contextualized services to mobile phone users and to managing tags and application life cycle,” said Laetitia Gazel-Anthoine, founder and chief executive officer of CONNECTHINGS.

“We share INSIDE’s vision of consumers using their mobile phones to scan tags to quickly gain access to value added and contextual services, and look forward to working with INSIDE on the creation of this NFC services platform.”

Wave-Me-enabled handsets will allow people to access relevant, profile-based services with a simple gesture. When “waved” near a corresponding Wave-Me NFC tag, the Wave-Me technology automatically simulates a complex series of keystrokes, eliminating awkward, time-consuming, multi-keystroke chores. Wave-Me tags could also contain relevant phone numbers or complex URLs to send SMS messages or send and retrieve information from web sites.

Merchants and other businesses will be able to sponsor Wave-Me applications, with the possibility of displaying branding information not only on the tag, but also on the handset screen with accompanying sound or music.

Museums and cities will be able to provide Wave-Me applications to their visitors, with the possibility of using NFC tags deployed in their environment to access services. These tags will provide quick access not only to a multimedia guide but also to added-value features like annotation and content sharing. INSIDE and CONNECTHINGS plan to demonstrate the Wave-Me NFC services platform later this year.

NFC Forum intros New 'Implementer' membership level

WAKEFIELD, USA: The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, today announced a new membership level called "Implementer" designed to further the NFC ecosystem and broaden the organization's global reach.

Implementer membership is targeted at companies directly implementing NFC solutions in the field worldwide. It complements existing NFC Forum membership levels which are primarily targeted at technical specification development.

As more commercial NFC applications are developed and deployed, Implementer membership provides a platform for companies that work with NFC on a daily basis.

Available at an annual cost of US$5000, the Implementer level entitles members to an array of benefits, including participation in NFC Forum marketing events and Plugfests, access to member resources, discounts and input to Forum marketing efforts. Implementer membership is the most affordable level of NFC Forum membership available to for-profit companies.

"No one knows more about customer needs and best practices than the companies that deliver NFC solutions around the world every day," said Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "The Implementer level brings NFC Forum membership within reach of these organizations, and as we work together to build the future of NFC, their knowledge and expertise should prove to be very valuable."

Implementer members are entitled to:

* Access to the NFC Forum members-only website (excluding Technical and Compliance Committee areas);
* Attend Plenary meetings;
* Attend and participate in Marketing Committee Working Group and Task Force meetings;
* Review pre-release drafts of specifications during the Committee review period;
* Participate at member rates in NFC Forum marketing-related events;
* Participate in NFC Forum members-only Plugfests; and
* Receive member discounts on product certification.

In addition to the Implementer level, the NFC Forum offers for-profit companies the following membership levels at the annual fees indicated: Associate (US$10,000), Principal (US$25,000) and Sponsor (US$50,000).

Non-Profit membership is available to not-for-profit institutions for an annual fee of US$1000. The NFC Forum recently enhanced benefits for all existing membership levels.