NFC TimesThe premier source for news, analysis and commentary on
Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

France-based Inside Secure has announced a deal to supply its NFC technology to Intel, as the giant U.S.-based chip maker considers incorporating NFC in its products.

Inside said the agreement gives Intel access to its NFC chip technology, including hardware and software, which Inside said Intel could use to build NFC into its future chips for a range of devices. Intel also could use Inside’s standalone MicroRead and SecuRead chips for its implementations, including in mobile devices.

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker by revenue, is considering incorporating NFC in its reference designs for device makers. The licensing deal would not be exclusive, and Intel is working with at least one other NFC chip company, NFC Times has learned.

Inside’s chief operating officer Charlie Walton told NFC Times the agreement covers Intel’s long-term use of Inside’s NFC technology and is not just a temporary licensing deal for Intel to try out the technology.

“It runs out over time; it evolves from use of dies, our core chips, to use of our core technology,” Walton said. “We’ve been very broad in the rights we’re providing to them.” He added that Intel sees the “importance of NFC to their customers in the future.”

An Intel spokeswoman said the chip maker has been “watching very closely” the interest NFC is attracting among device makers and, therefore, is licensing the Inside technology, as it considers putting NFC into some of its reference designs.

“We can say NFC is a promising technology, and I think everyone agrees it will enhance (consumer) usage models across the range of devices,” the spokeswoman told NFC Times.

She confirmed Intel is working with at least one other NFC vendor.

Both Walton and the Intel spokeswoman declined to say which chips or devices Intel would target with NFC.

But an industry analyst said Intel is likely to include NFC in a reference design for mobile phones next year.

While the giant chip maker has long been dominant in the PC market, Intel has been gearing up to make a move into the smartphone and tablet markets. It also supplies chips for servers, industrial and medical equipment and car entertainment systems among other markets.

Intel could also add NFC technology to its wireless chipsets, which combine such technologies as WiFi and Bluetooth. Intel probably wouldn’t incorporate NFC into these so-called connectivity chips until 2013 or later, said the analyst.

“Intel is still figuring out the best approach to fanning it out across their product portfolio, including PCs, tablets, and embedded platforms,” he said. “If they see quick uptake, they may include it in the respective reference designs, but I think their preference is to integrate it into their connectivity chipsets longer term.”

The NFC Forum last week announced Intel had upgraded its membership to take a seat on the board of the standards and trade association, alongside other chip suppliers, NXP Semiconductors, Sony, Broadcom, Renesas Electronics, Samsung Electronics and STMicroelectronics, as well as Inside. Such other companies as Nokia, Visa, MasterCard Worldwide, Microsoft and NTT DoCoMo also have seats on the board.

As part of the NFC Forum announcement, Intel said in a statement that it believes NFC has “great potential” to improve the experience of users “via simplified and secure device interaction.”

Last month, Intel announced it would be working with MasterCard Worldwide to build NFC technology into the planned Intel-backed line of laptop computers called Ultrabooks.

The multiyear deal with MasterCard is intended to incorporate NFC technology, including contactless or NFC readers, into the new category of slim, light laptops packing Intel chips starting next year. Other Intel-powered PCs and devices supporting online payment would follow.

Inside in early 2009 announced that it was working with wireless chipset maker Qualcomm on reference designs for chips for 3G phones incorporating NFC, though none of the chips have apparently made it to market. Qualcomm also invested in Inside.