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

NFC TIMES Exclusive – As QR code-based mobile payments continue to threaten take-up of NFC technology, especially in Asia, the NFC Forum industry trade group is taking action.

NFC TIMES Exclusive – While NFC tag suppliers and other NFC backers rejoiced over Apple’s recent announcement that it would support NFC tag reading with its next mobile operating system, iOS 11, early indications are that tag reading with Apple NFC devices will not be as open as with Android devices, and the user experience will not be as simple.

NFC Times Exclusive – NFC mobile transit ticketing–an application that once held much promise but has shown few results over the past decade–finally appears to be pulling out of the station, getting a boost from the growing interest in open-loop fare collection, the emergence of the “Pays” mobile payments services and increasing efforts by standards makers to solve basic interoperability problems between NFC phones and transit terminals.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – The NFC Forum has introduced a specification for an NFC tag Type 5, supporting the ISO/IEC 15693 protocol, but the trade and standards group is not supporting the protocol’s longer range.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – With the addition of U.S.-based tech giant Apple on the board of the NFC Forum industry trade and standards association, the group now counts among its members all three major device or platform players rolling out NFC payments.

NFC Times Exclusive – As the NFC Forum develops its tag Type 5 specification based on the ISO/IEC 15693 protocol, industry sources say that NFC tags using the longer-range protocol could see demand in medical, industrial, and supply chain applications, and most handsets and readers on the market can currently read the tags, although there are still concerns about interoperability and security.

NFC Times Exclusive Insight – Between two-thirds and three-quarters of U.S. consumers say they are interested in using NFC for nonpayment retail applications, according to a study funded by the NFC Forum by research firm Strategy Analytics.

NFC Times Exclusive – The NFC Forum is working on a tag Type 5 specification based on the ISO/IEC 15693 standard, NFC Forum executive director Paula Hunter has confirmed to NFC Times. She did not release a timeframe for publishing of the new specification, however.

As the NFC Forum launches a new program to attract more application developers to the NFC ecosystem, the organization told NFC Times that it is encouraged by Apple’s adoption but considers it likely that the NFC developer community will focus on Android for the near future.

The NFC Forum has added the final major component to its device certification with the addition of analog testing, but the impact of the development on handset makers’ willingness to submit their devices for certification remains to be seen.