The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication technology, is looking for innovative NFC solutions in their competition named Touching the Future: NFC Forum Global Competition. In the competition, developers in a commercial track vie for the honor of having their solutions named “The Best NFC Service of the Year 2008,” while a research track recognizes “The Most Innovative NFC Research Project of the Year 2008.” Focusing on the theme “Innovation at Your Fingertips,” the competition is intended to promote the development and deployment of innovative and exemplary NFC services. Entries will be judged on their innovation, commercial potential and usability, as well as quality of design and implementation.

Call For Entries–Touching the Future: NFC Forum Global Competition

WAKEFIELD, Mass., December 17, 2007–The NFC Forum (http://www.nfc-forum.org) , a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, today announced a call for entries for Touching the Future: NFC Forum Global Competition. In the competition, developers in a commercial track vie for the honor of having their solutions named “The Best NFC Service of the Year 2008,” while a research track recognizes “The Most Innovative NFC Research Project of the Year 2008.”

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a standards-based, short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables simple and safe two-way interactions among electronic devices. NFC technology allows consumers to perform contactless transactions, access digital content and connect devices with the simplicity of a single touch. NFC technology provides global interoperability of contactless identification and interconnection technologies.

Focusing on the theme “Innovation at Your Fingertips,” the competition is intended to promote the development and deployment of innovative and exemplary NFC services. Entries will be judged on their innovation, commercial potential and usability, as well as quality of design and implementation. The competition’s Organizing Committee is now accepting submissions; all final proposals must be received by February 15, 2008. Twenty finalists will be judged on April 29, 2008 at the NFC Developers Summit, held in Monaco during the WIMA event (http://www.wima.mc). The winners will be selected by a jury composed of professionals and experts from sponsoring companies. Entry fees are $150 per submission for commercial entrants, and $50 per submission for research entrants. Entry forms and competition details are available now from http://www.nfc-forum.org/competition.

“One of the most exciting things about NFC technology is how organizations are applying it to the broadest range of applications in new and imaginative ways,” said Christophe Duverne, chairman of the NFC Forum. “This competition recognizes the top innovators in the world while supporting networking in the NFC community to exchange ideas and create new business models.”

The competition is divided into two tracks: a Commercial Track for NFC services based on a business case; and a Research Track open to university students and research institutions.

Commercial Track submissions require a business case and prototype; entries will be evaluated on how successfully and innovatively their solutions meet the needs of key vertical market segments. Research Track submissions require a prototype and will be judged on creativity and innovativeness. The Pre-selection Committee will evaluate each entry, and 20 finalists will be announced on March 17, 2008. Each team of finalists will be asked to deliver a presentation and live demonstration at the WIMA event on April 29, 2008, after which the jury will vote to select first-, second- and third-place winners for each track.

Further details about the competition can be found at http://www.nfc-forum.org/competition.

Gold sponsors of the competition are NFC Forum members Nokia, Over-C and SCM Microsystems. Silver sponsors are NFC Forum members Inside Contactless, Innovision Research &Technology plc, Stollman E+V GmbH and WIMA. Sponsorship is open to both NFC Forum members and non-members. Sponsors may not enter the competition. Organizations interested in sponsoring the competition may contact sponsorship@nfc-forum.org.

Questions about the competition may be sent to competition@nfc-forum.org.

About Near Field Communication Technology

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a standards-based, short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables simple and safe two-way interactions among electronic devices. NFC technology allows consumers to perform contactless transactions, access digital content and connect devices with the simplicity of a single touch.

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology provides global interoperability of contactless identification and interconnection technologies. NFC operates in the 13.56 MHz frequency range, over a typical distance of a few centimeters. The underlying layers of NFC technology are based on ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards. NFC technology is supported by the world’s leading communication device manufacturers, semiconductor producers, network operators, IT and services companies, and financial services organizations. NFC is compatible with hundreds of millions of contactless cards and readers already deployed worldwide.

About the NFC Forum

The NFC Forum, http://www.nfc-forum.org, was launched as a non-profit industry association in 2004 by leading mobile communications, semiconductor and consumer electronics companies. The Forum’s mission is to advance the use of Near Field Communication technology by developing specifications, ensuring interoperability among devices and services, and educating the market about NFC technology. The Forum’s 145+ global member companies currently are developing specifications for a modular NFC device architecture, and protocols for interoperable data exchange and device-independent service delivery, device discovery, and device capability.

The NFC Forum’s Sponsor members, which hold seats on the Board of Directors, include leading players in key industries around the world. The Sponsor members are: HP, MasterCard International, Microsoft Corp., NEC, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Inc., NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, Renesas Technology, Samsung, Sony Corporation, and Visa International.

About Nokia

Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks.

About Over-C

Over-C is the leading Near Field Communication software company focused on the management of tag events, from tag scan through the back office. Over-C’s hosted solutions help companies get the right data to the right person at the right time. For more information on how your company can be Safe in the Knowledge, visit the Over-C Web site: http://www.over-c.com.

About SCM Microsystems, Inc.

SCM Microsystems is a leading supplier of solutions that open the Digital World by enabling people to conveniently access digital content and services. The company develops, markets and sells the industry’s broadest range of smart card reader technology for secure PC, network and physical access and digital media readers for transfer of digital content to OEM customers in the government, financial, enterprise, consumer electronics and photographic equipment markets worldwide. Global headquarters are in Ismaning, Germany. For additional information, visit the SCM Microsystems web site at http://www.scmmicro.com .

About Inside Contactless

As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively upon contactless chip platforms, INSIDE Contactless is a market leader in Near Field Communication (NFC), contactless payments, and access control. Innovation in contactless technology has led to more than 55 patents granted to INSIDE, including several essential NFC technology patents. INSIDE is the #1 market share provider of contactless bank card technology in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. MicroPass, the 2007 Sesames “Best Hardware” award winner, powers cards issued by more than 20 global bank card issuers. Globally, more than 25 key partners, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered contactless products such as payment &access cards, point of sale terminals, and NFC enabled mobile handsets which are ‘powered by INSIDE’. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit http://www.insidecontactless.com .

About Innovision Research &Technology plc

Innovision Research &Technology plc, is leading the next generation of NFC/RFID solutions. As the leading fabless developer of short-range data communication semiconductor and system solutions, with particular focus on NFC/RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and ultra low-cost Integrated Circuit (IC) and RF electronic design, IRT is pushing cost performance to enable clients to get maximum utility for minimum cost. The company develops innovative semiconductor technologies, ICs, RF systems (HF/UHF) and complete end product applications for mass volume commercialisation and then licenses customers for its incorporation into their own products. At the heart of the emerging Near Field Communication (NFC) market, Innovision R&T designs and develops NFC/RFID IC solutions for the global mobile handset and consumer device sectors. Products include Topaz, mandated by the NFC Forum as the NFC number one tag type format, Jewel for mass transit ticketing applications, and io, the world’s smallest standards compatible Near-Field RFID reader. Headquartered in the UK, Innovision R&T was listed in 2001 on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: INN). Visit: http://www.innovision-group.com/ for further details.

About Stollman E+V GmbH

Stollmann, http://www.stollmann.de, based in Hamburg, Germany, is one of the leading developers and suppliers of standard products and licensed products for communications technologies such as NFC, Bluetooth, xDSL, GPRS, and ISDN. Stollmann’s team of 40 specialists develops protocol stacks, reference designs, and modules. Stollmann provides a NFC upper layer stack and JSR-257 API for mobile phones, PDAs and smart phones, a NFC upper layer stack and NFC API for embedded devices and a NFC evaluation kit, featuring an easy-to-use interface, USB reader, and NFC tags, all complying with the most recent NFC Forum standards. The evaluation kit lets you test-drive standardized near field communication with contactless chip cards and RFID tags. Stollmann has developed the first peer-to-peer mode stack compliant to the NFC Forum specification. It allows to interconnect two NFC-enabled devices for active data transfer. Target applications are mobile payment, ticketing, access control, simple configuration.

About WIMA

WIMA is a Conference and Exhibition based in Monaco presenting the European NFC Developers Summit (Grimaldi Forum, 28 – 30 April 2008) and hosting the Touching the Future: NFC Forum Global Competition Finals &Awards Ceremony (April 29 2008). WIMA is the European NFC industry event bringing together developers, systems integrators, device manufactures and service providers ready to realise the potential of NFC and the multiple business opportunities available with the ever expanding outreach of NFC services into the ecosystem. Presentations and exhibits will explore some of the top NFC application areas highlighting what the devices can do today and will do in the future, what you need to know about NFC technology and how to develop NFC applications. For further information, please contact: Joanna Merchie, j.merchie@wima.mc, +377 93 10 40 57, or see http://www.wima-nfc.com.