Sony Ericsson Goes With NXP for NFC Technology
It’s not an exciting device announcement, folks, but we just got a quick glimpse into the future of Sony Ericsson’s products. NXP has announced that Sony Ericsson has selected them for embedded NFC technology in the future. If you don’t remember, NXP produces the same chip found inside the Nexus S. It’s an intelligent chip with security features for applications of all types. It’ll be fully compatible with Google Wallet, Google’s mobile payment service set to come out soon.
Sony Ericsson got off to a slow start on Android, but they have caught up in a big way and are looking to surpass the competition with future devices. They have quickly become the fastest growing manufacturer in terms of popularity around the world, and now they’re poised to strengthen their position in mobile more than they already have with today’s deal.
It may be some time before we hear of devices with this technology inside as Sony Ericsson still has a stable of Xperia devices to bring out, but at least we know they’ll be bringing the goods soon enough. Read on for full press details.
Sony Ericsson selects NXP’s NFC Solution for its Android-based Smartphones
NFC enables mobile entertainment experiences
Today NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) announced that its world leading near field communication (NFC) technology has been selected by Sony Ericsson for inclusion in its Android-based smartphones. Sony Ericsson, a leading, global mobile handset manufacturer focused on communications and entertainment, will use NFC to further enhance its consumers’ mobile experiences, creating a portfolio of smartphones that enable mobile transactions. Using simple touch gestures, consumers will be able to make purchases or connect to a point of sale (POS) terminal, ticketing terminal or location-based promotional tag simply and securely with their NFC-enabled smartphones.
NXP provides complete embedded, secure NFC solutions and recently announced that its NFC software is open source on the Android platform and enables the Google Wallet application. Sony Ericsson intends to use the NXP PN65 NFC solution in their Android-based smartphones, which includes the NFC radio controller, the embedded secure element and NFC software. The embedded secure element enables NFC to be used for mobile transactions. Building on NXP’s extensive background in secure identification, the PN65 uses advanced cryptography to offer the highest level of security for transactions, with the technology already being extensively used in contactless banking cards, e-passports, e-ID cards and secure access systems.
“Building on Sony Ericsson’s leadership in Android and mobile gaming, the integration of near field communication into our Android-based Xperia™ portfolio is another step in delivering the most entertaining smartphones,” said Jan Uddenfeldt, Chief Technology Officer at Sony Ericsson. “NFC offers our consumers the ability to broaden their communication experience beyond the phone, and we are poised to drive the development of new, exciting and creative entertainment experiences.”
“This latest move from Sony Ericsson is another proof point of the strong momentum and potential of NFC,” said Rick Clemmer, president and CEO, NXP Semiconductors. “Based on continued strong customer endorsements we have the opportunity to increase the sales of our NFC products 2-4 times as a percentage of total NXP revenue in the second half of 2011 from the approximately one percent it represents today. NFC offers a game-changing opportunity for mobile phone manufacturers to provide creative and innovative smartphones to their customers.”
NFC is a market proven technology co-invented by NXP in 2002. In 2004 NXP co-founded the NFC Forum to lead the collaboration with all industry stakeholders and help standardize the technology. NFC technology evolved from a combination of contactless identification (RFID) and interconnection technologies. Ranked as the number one contactless IC vendor by ABI Research for three years in a row, NXP is the global leader in NFC solutions, field proven in over 150 NFC trials and landmark commercial deployments worldwide.