Category NFC

Near Field Communication (NFC) news, ideas, projects and technologies.

NFC Partnerships: MacKay Meters and UIC; Etisalat and EIDA

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MacKay Meters and UIC Join Forces for NFC-Based Payments in Parking Meter Innovative parking systems provider MacKay Meters has teamed up with Uniform Industrial Corporation for the provision of the first-ever single-space wireless parking meter that allows contactless or NFC-based payments. Currently, the MacKay Guardian(TM) SOLO accepts different forms of payment, including tokens, credit cards, [...]

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Japan’s NTT Docomo and Korea’s KT Launch Cross-Border NFC Service

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Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo Inc. and South Korean carrier KT Corporation last month entered into an agreement to develop a cross-border mobile service using near-field communication technology. This new NFC service will be used for mobile payments, promotional coupons, mass-transit ticketing, and other mobile applications in Japan and South Korea. NTT and KT, through [...]

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China’s ZTE Introduces Touch and Share Technology

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Chinese mobile phone maker ZTE Corporation has just launched Touch and Share, which is a solution that automates Bluetooth and WiFi set-up via near-field communication. Through this new NFC-based pairing solution, ZTE phone users are able to share data easily and quickly by automating WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity between NFC-enabled devices that are in close [...]

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BCNTouch Runs QR Code and NFC Treasure Hunt

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QR codes and near-field communication have been pitted against one another because of the various similarities they have in linking the offline and online world in an easy manner. Both are very flexible and both provide an extended mobile experience for smartphone users. However, while people are saying that NFC would be the death of [...]

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Microsoft Tags Now Support QR Codes, NFC

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A few months back, we reported that AT&T has given up on its proprietary datamatrix code and embraced QR codes. AT&T has been using their own codes for quite some time and we said that the need for a different code scanner, as well as having to pay to get the scanner was more of a hindrance than an advantage for AT&T.

QR codes follow a certain standard and are free to create and develop. So as a marketer, why do you need to spend time and money in coming up with a new type of code?

It seems that we were right in thinking that with the popularity of QR codes, other type of datamatrix codes would not be necessary. Even Microsoft seems to agree now that they have included a QR code scanner into their tag feature. The technology giant also announced that on top of QR codes, they will also support near-field communication technology.

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Absa to Try Out NFC in South Africa

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South Africa’s Absa Bank will be doing the live user trial of near-field communication technology in South Africa starting mid-December. This NFC live user trial is the first ever in the country.

The trial involves 500 Absa employees who will be given NFC-enabled smartphones to be able to load prepaid funds into a Mastercard Paypass mobile app and then make payments at a point-of-sale terminal via Absa ATMs or Absa Online.

 

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Near-Field Communication and QR Codes… FIGHT!

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Whenever near-field communication technology hits the headlines, it is always being compared to QR codes. This was the case when Google replaced QR codes with NFC patches for its Google Places, and also when Google announced that it was going to use NFC for its Wallet service. Recently, Nokia announced that they were more bent on using NFC for their NFC hub, and QR codes were mentioned in numerous reports as being on the way out.

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