The Sesames Awards were gives out at the start of the 2014 CARTES Secure Connexions conference in Paris. The only company to win more than one award was Syniverse in the Retail/Loyalty and Trusted Internet/Authentication categories.

Near field communication is in the spotlight right now as an payments technology but it also has untold potentials. A rapid growth will drive a shift from mobile payments to adventurous, interactive marketing and authentication services. If NFC is included in a device, using it can be simple, requiring no modification to devices or downloading apps. Embedding tags enables consumers to interact with nearly any item or document in new ways. These “Internet of Things” applications include tapping a smart poster for an interactive brand experience, authenticating the value of a luxury item or verifying the presence of a health care provider.

Attendees to the Smart Card Alliance Government Conference will hear industry leaders speaking on PIV credentials, updates on the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, developments in mobile identity programs and evolving NIST standards; HID Global announced that it has been named a partner in the Samsung Enterprise Alliance Program; Thursby Software Systems released its two-factor authentication agent and secure browser for the Android operating system.

News from ASIS: HID Global released the HID Mobile Access solution, which delivers a secure and convenient way to open doors and gates while introducing a simple secure identity management process. Quantum Secure’s new SAFE for Secure Cloud is designed to provide small and medium-sized business users with a cost-effective physical identity access management solution that can increase security across multiple business operations.

Vodafone partnered with HID Global to pilot emerging mobile access solution, enabling employees to physically access the workplace using their smart phones.

NIST awards Mitre Corp. cybersecurity center contract; Gemalto has been selected by China Mobile for multi-tenant SIMs; Secure Network Systems announces FICAM accreditation; GlobalPlatform expands its support for the mobile services community with device compliance program; the FIDO Alliance announced that the Alibaba Group has joined the FIDO Alliance.

Nok Nok Labs, a founding member of the FIDO Alliance, announced that Alipay will use the company’s authentication suite to enable secure online payments via the fingerprint sensor technology in the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Apple is locking down the NFC capabilities on the new iPhones so it can only be used for Apple Pay. Is Apple follows similar patterns, identity vendors will have to wait at least a year to get access to the short-range communication protocol.

The latest set of iPhones will include near field communication and consumers will be able to pay by using the Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the handset. The Apple Watch, a new wearable from the computing giant, will also have NFC and enable payments.

Morpho announced the commercial launch of a contactless four-finger scanner; TSA’s PreCheck programs enrolls 500K travelers; Gemalto announced its selection by NTT DOCOMO INC. for NFC services; Datacard announced that in one year, more than 40 million driver licenses have been issued globally using its solutions; HID released its EDGE EVO Solo IP-enabled solution that brings intelligence and decision-making to the door; AMAG certifies Quantum Secure.