for the tech-heads...

bealtine

While not directly related to IoffL it is interesting
all the same especially if you like that sort of thing:)


Philips, Nokia join forces on NFC-enabled phone
Junko Yoshida
Nov 02, 2004 (2:40 PM)
URL: http://www.commsdesign.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=51202208

PARIS - Philips Semiconductor, Nokia and their partners rolled out a new
handset here on Tuesday (Nov. 2)based on Philips' near-field communications
technology.

Partners Samsung and Visa International joined Philips and Nokia at the
Cartes IT & Security show to show off the new NFC-capable handset, a
triband camera phone with an NFC "shell" attached to the back of the
handset. The NFC shell contains Philips Semiconductors' NFC chip, which
interfaces with NFC radio while directly communicating with a baseband
processor in the Nokia handset.

Nokia and Philips also announced here a joint project with Rhein-Main
Verkehrsverbung, the public transport authority for Frankfurt, Germany, to
use NFC-capable mobile handsets in a trial. The authority already has 5,000
customers using contactless smart cards to purchase transit tickets. Of
those 5,000, as mnay as 200 customers will use Nokia 3220 phones with a
customized NFC shell (containing both Philips' NFC chip and its smart card
chip for payment) to gain access to a local bus network.

The smart card chip customized for the trial is Philips' 8-bit
microcontroller-based Java card chip, called SmartMX, integrated with
72Kbyte electrically erasable PROM.

By using a mobile handset with an NFC shell rather than a smart card-based
plastic transit card, "Consumers don't need to pull out" a specific transit
card from among the many plastic cards in their wallets, said Nokia's Heikki
Huomo. Customers will be to turn on or off the payment capability on their
mobile handset. Electronic receipts can also be stored in the mobile phone.

Mass transit could become one the fastest-growing NFC applications. "We will
be just piggybacking on the existing infrastructure," Huomo said.

The NFC shell used in the 3220 handset will not incorporate a smart card
controller chip. Its NFC application will focus on nonpayment NFC
applications such as service discovery - connecting two Bluetooth devices
without intricate setup procedures - or sharing information between two NFC
devices.

Ten to 15 percent of mobile operators' revenues come from the downloading
ring tones or small Java-based games, according to Nokia. Despite the
abundance of services, access to them is neither easy nor intuitive for
most consumers. NFC can change that, according to Nokia.

Nokia has taken a harder look at NFC technology and said it is convinced
that "a new touch paradigm" - in which a consumer holds an NFC-capable
handset up to another NFC-based tag or object - "is a key element for
bringing relevant data and services to the masses," said Huomo.

Samsung is also planning to launch several NFC-enabled mobile handsets early
next year. Dale Sohn, vice president, overseas investment group at Samsung
Electronics, said, "Depending on a variety of mobile operators' different
revenue expectations and requirements, we are designing NFC handsets in
different form factors and with different software."

Samsung has worked with Philips Semiconductors for over a year. Sohn said
Samsung is waiting for Philips Semiconductors to launch a new NFC module by
year's end before launching NFC-capable handsets. Philips' new NFC module
will combine a modem chip with a SmartMX smart card controller chip,
according to Philips, to achieve higher integration and better security.

Cryos

The new nokia 3220 handset shell tech.. are being trialled with ticketing system in germany.