HID and Sony try to unite NFC and FeliCa in phones and notebooks

16th October, 2010 by adina
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HID Global and Sony planned to unite FeliCa and NFC (near-field communication) in notebooks. The new technique is expected to work with both formats and give portables an alternative of paying for items. Signing in by only bringing a card up close, or another device, would also be possible, no matter if they were using the Japanese FeliCa or the more universal NFC. Both companies are still in the early stages of their plans and will make public details and availability next year.

Although the plan is focused on computers, phones could also be significantly impacted. FeliCa has been limited to Japanese phones and the preference on the format has been a barrier. Many companies trying to reach Japan did not afford to modify their devices to implement this feature or simply refused to do it. While still relatively young, NFC is expected to be more widely adopted.

The partnership of Sony and HID could influence the future development of hardware and encourage the use of near-field communication. For instance, all Nokia phones to be released in 2011 would use NFC, while NFC-ready iPhones are planned for the company’s next yearly update. Mobile use is largely intended for payment and users of Nokia and Apple are expected to pay for public transit, concerts or other functions by the simple gesture of swiping their phone near a reader.


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