Near Field Communication at 3GSM World Congress

With the NFC-enabled Samsung SGH-X700 mobile phones, the participants can conduct various transactions throughout the Congress, including secure payment and exhibition and conference access, simply with the swipe of their mobile phones.

One of the most important new mobile communications technologies to be showcased at 3GSM, NFC is the most promising new wireless technology to hit the market in recent years. NFC is seeing significant market traction with major commercial trials currently running in France, Germany, Taiwan and the United States. The large demonstration at 3GSM by Philips, co-inventor of the NFC technology, Samsung and Telefonica Moviles Espana, gives the mobile industry's most influential players the chance to experience the convenience themselves.

"Contactless payment is proving to be one of the most compelling applications of NFC technology because consumers immediately see the benefits. Who doesn't like the idea of spending less time waiting in line to make purchases, or carrying fewer items with them when they go out? NFC also benefits retailers who can serve more customers and see fewer people walk away from long lines," said Frans van Houten, CEO, Philips Semiconductors. "We're pleased to partner with Samsung and Telefonica Moviles on the 3GSM demonstration to give 200 people the opportunity to experience the convenience and simplicity of NFC. With consumers, handset makers, operators -- all the key players in the value chain -- recognizing the full potential of NFC, we expect market adoption will skyrocket over the next 12 months."

According to Gartner research vice president Stan Bruederle, in addition to being well suited for contactless payments using your mobile phone, NFC can be used for simply establishing secure wireless connectivity connections with your mobile phone and other devices using wireless universal serial bus (USB), Bluetooth, and other connectivity technologies.

"We see NFC as an important new option that consumers will be requesting as part of their new services," stated Juan Luis Mirabet, consumer general manager of Telefonica Moviles Espana. "It extends the ways in which mobile phones can be used, and we're pleased to have the opportunity to meet existing and emerging consumer demands by providing new applications and services, as well as enabling a truly mobile lifestyle where they can connect anytime, anywhere."

The applications that the 200 attendees can enjoy with their NFC-enabled Samsung phones include:

• Secure contactless payment: Paying for items has never been easier. Each phone comes equipped with e-money that can be spent at a specially equipped kiosk at the Philips booth. By using the touch-screen kiosk, users can easily select and pay for their choice of CDs, DVDs and books using the NFC-enabled phone. After the transaction, the money is deducted from the purse and a message pops up on the phone screen indicating the balance account.
• Exhibition and conference access: When users wish to access the conference or exhibit area, they simply pass their NFC-enabled phone in front of the entrance booth just by holding their NFC phone close to the PDAs being used at all entrances for access. The PDA reads the phone, confirms the validity of the badge, and in an instant, the transaction occurs and the authorized attendee can enter the conference.
• Other applications and services that are part of the demonstration include on-site registration, information exchange with the lead retrieval system, an electronic business card with the user's personal registration data stored on the phone and the opportunity to win prizes.

About NFC

Jointly developed by Philips and Sony, NFC is a combination of contactless identification and interconnection technologies that enables wireless short-range communication between mobile devices, consumer electronics, PCs and smart objects. NFC offers a simple, touch-based solution that allows consumers to exchange information and to access content and services in an intuitive way.

Combining the functions of a contactless reader, a contactless card and peer-to-peer functionality on a single chip, NFC opens up a myriad of new opportunities to our consumer lifestyles. It is an open interface platform that allows fast and automatic set-up of wireless networks, which also works as a virtual connector for existing cellular, Bluetooth and wireless 802.11 devices.

NFC is compatible with Sony's FeliCa(TM) card and the broadly established contactless smart card infrastructure based on ISO 14443 A, which is used in Philips' MIFARE(R) technology.

To drive development and adoption of NFC, Philips, Sony and Nokia established the NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association which promotes implementation and standardization of NFC technology to ensure interoperability between devices and services. The NFC Forum has currently more than 70 members around the globe including MasterCard International, Matsushita Electronic Industrial Co, Ltd, (Panasonic), Microsoft, Motorola, NEC Corporation, Renesas Technology Corp., Samsung, Texas Instruments and Visa International.