Technology in Focus features analysis of recent technology news articles, by the consultants in Technology Group, IDA. This is the top pick of the month from a list of 10-20 news analysis compiled monthly.
Near Field Communication Set for Full-Scale Trial, 20 Oct 2005
by Ngin Hoon Tong, Consultant, Technology Direction
NFC is a combination of contactless identification and interconnection technologies that enable convenient short-range communication between devices. NFC operates in the 13.56MHz frequency range, over a distance of typically a few centimetres. It is standardised in ISO 18092 and ISO 21481, ECMA (340, 352, and 356) and ETSI TS 102 190.
In countries where mobile services are more advanced, there is a trend towards making mobile phones a way of life. For example in Japan, NTT DoCoMo and Sony has launched the i-mode FeliCa service that allows one to use their mobile phones to do:
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Mobile payment and transactions. Includes travel ticketing, event ticketing, payment of public transport and other forms of micro-payment.
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Peer-to-peer communications. Includes sharing of music, pictures and contact information among friends, synchronisation of calendar and opens up new possibilities for gaming.
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Access Information on the move. Allows the downloading of information or links from the web.
Today, DoCoMo's customers can use their FeliCa mobile phones as e-money, tickets, membership cards, points service cards and other services at about 13,000 shops and 2,700 vending machines across Japan. As of Feb 2005, sales of i-mode FeliCa handsets have hit the two-millionth mark.
Beside DoCoMo's i-mode FeliCa service in Japan, countries that have announced NFC payment trials include Germany and Taiwan.
Nokia, Philips together with Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV), public transport authority for Frankfurt's greater area, have started a joint project to trial a Near Field Communication (NFC) ticketing solution that uses mobile phones to access an existing contactless smart card ticketing infrastructure. The trial enables RMV's current customers to use Nokia 3220 phones equipped by tailored Nokia NFC shell covers to gain access to a local bus network in Hanau, a city near Frankfurt. As a result, travellers can enjoy a convenient and secure solution designed around their needs to buy, store and use tickets with their Nokia 3220 mobile phones. The ticketing solution was demonstrated at the CARTES IT & SECURITY trade show in Paris (2-4 November 2004).
Philips Electronics and BenQ have introduced a prototype Near Field Communication (NFC) phone that will allow Taipei residents to make secure payments for rides on the city's Mass Transit Rail. The trial, which begins Sep 1 this year, will involve 40 participants from the public who can register to be part of the pilot at the Taipei Smart Card Corporation's Web site. Philips is also working with electronics and telecommunication players under Taiwan's Proximity Mobile Transaction Service Alliance, to implement a contactless NFC interface in the country's retail and banking environments. The Alliance is an initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affair's Committee of Communication Industry Development.
The future of NFC looks promising and we believe commercial deployment will happen in the early part of 2007. According to ABI Research, shipment of NFC-capable handsets is projected to increase from 50 million units in 2006 to 200 million units by 2009.
An NFC Forum has also been set-up by Nokia, Sony and Philips in Mar 2005, an indication that this technology has reached sufficient maturity. Today, they have around 50 members including MasterCard, VISA, Microsoft, Motorola, Samsung, Renesas and Texas Instruments.
Some words about the writer
Hoon Tong is a consultant with the Technology Group tasked with the responsibility of identifying and driving the adoption of emerging technologies in Singapore. He is currently developing a long-term perspective roadmap on info-communication technologies.
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