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Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

Research in Motion has launched a new Blackberry handset with built-in NFC support, part of its lower-end Curve series. It not yet clear which telcos will introduce NFC services with the phone and when, however.

Rogers Wireless, Canada’s largest mobile operator, is gearing up for an NFC mobile-payment launch, NFC Times has learned.

Nokia has finally released its update to the Symbian operating system, which will turn on the NFC functionality in its C7 smartphone that started shipping 10 months ago.

U.S.-based Narian Technologies has announced the launch of its first set of NFC applications, targeting a range of merchant categories with services that it says will complement the payment transaction.

Google’s acquisition of Motorola's mobile phone business would boost the roll out of phones supporting NFC and the Google Wallet, though not by a huge amount and not in the short run, say observers.

U.S.-based Texas Instruments has launched its long-anticipated NFC chip, targeting a range of devices, from medical equipment to hotel door locks, but not mobile phones–at least not yet.

NXP Semiconductors' sharply lower forecast for NFC phone shipments for 2011 comes as little surprise to many, who point to delays in handset shipments and failure by many mobile operators to firm up their NFC business plans.

U.S.-based American Express, long silent on its plans for NFC, has been making its interest in the technology known of late.

Turkish operator Turkcell has announced it has launched a pilot among employees of the first nonbank-issued application for its NFC mobile wallet, enabling users to tap their phones to redeem food vouchers at restaurants and cafés.

NXP Semiconductors, the largest supplier of NFC chips, has lowered its projection for total NFC phone shipments for 2011 to 40 million or less–substantially lower than the 70 million it had been projecting.

Turkey’s largest mobile operator, Turkcell, plans to introduce more of its own branded NFC phones and will expand the services available in its mobile wallet beyond payment, the telco told NFC Times.

LG Electronics has announced its first NFC-enabled smartphone with the Optimus Net, which supports Google’s Android mobile operating system.