Sony Ericsson has announced two NFC-enabled Android smartphones and NFC tags for its Xperia series, touting NFC as enabling consumers to share content, as well as “an increasing number of NFC applications.”
Of the four phones the phone maker, which will be wholly owned by Japan’s Sony Corp., announced this week for the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it is promoting NFC only in its Xperia S. Sony plans to release the phone globally during the first quarter. Another new Xperia model, the ion, to be sold exclusively by AT&T in the United States, is also expected to support NFC.
While Sony notes the Xperia S supports a “growing range of NFC applications and service,” it did not mention that the phone could support payment or mobile wallets. Since the Xperia S runs Android version 2.3, known as Gingerbread, it probably carries an NFC chip from NXP Semiconductors, which would likely support the single-wire protocol. This would enable payment and other secure applications on SIM cards. The phone also might pack an embedded secure chip.
