Japan’s second largest mobile operator, KDDI, said it would launch Japan’s first mobile NFC service late this month with the Samsung Galaxy S II–though the service will start out small because of the lack of phones that support both standard NFC and Japan's proprietary FeliCa technology, as well as Japan's nearly nonexistent infrastructure of standard contactless readers.
KDDI announced the move today, saying it would put the NFC-enabled Galaxy II smartphone on sale, but noting that most of the services would not begin to launch later in the spring or summer.
The standard NFC services would include a MasterCard PayPass credit application from Credit Saison, an airline check-in program from Japan Airlines and a loyalty program from a Japanese camera shop chain. There would also be smart posters embedded with NFC tags that users could tap to download coupons. Other NFC tag applications would deliver tourist information in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping and restaurant district and would impart animal facts at the city’s Ueno Zoo.
