http://www.insidecontactless.com INSIDE CONTACTLESS ko http://www.insidecontactless.com/images/LOGO_small.jpg http://www.insidecontactless.com http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=88 2008-06-30T00:21:20
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, June 30th, 2008 – Extending its previously announced series C funding round, INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in advanced contactless microprocessor platforms, today added Samsung Ventures America to its active investor community, which now includes the world’s top three handset manufacturers. Samsung Ventures’ participation builds upon investments from Nokia Growth Partners, Motorola Ventures and other institutional investors, providing a total of nearly $42 million (€ 28 million) to allow the company to accelerate its international presence and broaden its product portfolio.
“The participation of the top three global handset manufacturers in this round of funding is a ringing endorsement of INSIDE’s leadership in the emerging near field communication (NFC) market, and gives us a strategic advantage with the key players in the industry,” said Rémy de Tonnac, CEO of INSIDE Contactless. “As the NFC market progresses, we are hopeful that these partnerships will prove invaluable in propelling us forward to power the NFC revolution and extend our leadership.”
According to a recent report from ABI Research, Near Field Communication (NFC) chipset shipments and revenue will continue to grow steadily over the next five years, with over 419 million NFC chipsets shipping in 2012, amounting to total market revenue of $406 million.
“We are optimistic about NFC technology’s ability to bring exciting new payment and other applications to mobile handsets, and INSIDE’s leadership in moving this market forward is impressive,” said Brian Kang, managing director of Samsung Ventures America. “Our investment expresses our confidence in INSIDE’s ability to continue its success not only in the contactless payment market but also in the emerging NFC technology for mobile phones.”
Samsung Ventures America now joins INSIDE’s existing investors which include Motorola Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, HID Global, Sofinnova Partners, Vertex Management, Vertex Ventures, Siparex, GIMV, EuroUS Venture, Granite Global Ventures and Visa Ventures.
Introduced in February, 2008, the INSIDE MicroRead® RF chip was selected as the winner of the GSM Association’s (GSMA) 2008 Mobile Innovation Global Award for Most Innovative Device-Centric Technology. The MicroRead chip offers the broadest range of NFC options, complying with the ISO 14443 A/B/B’ standard, ISO 15693 and ISO18092, and NFC forum specifications, allowing a MicroRead-enabled device to be used not only for all traditional NFC applications, but also for new applications such as access control, logistics and tracking, as well as a wide range of legacy RFID applications.
INSIDE, together with other industry leaders, also was instrumental in developing the ETSI NFC-related standard, with the result that INSIDE now enjoys early implementation of these standards. The MicroRead IC is the first NFC chip to be both SIM- and SE-friendly.
The unique multi-host router technology built into the MicroRead chip provides the capacity to implement any secure element, including SIM, SE or SD card, to support any business model. MicroRead’s exclusive, self-powered “battery-off” mode provides simplicity and convenience to improve the user experience by enabling transactions to take place successfully even when the host device is turned off or the battery is completely drained. The low-power card detection mode also provides a unique, battery life optimized, pop-up application mechanism to avoid the need to browse a menu or press a button to launch an NFC-based application.
The MicroRead chip has been adopted by several major handset manufacturers across the globe, and is also a key component of the GSMA’s Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative, a program that provides a single approach to enabling contactless payments using mobile phones. Mobile operators in Australia, France, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, and the U.S. have implemented the MicroRead chip in handsets used in the Pay-Buy-Mobile program.

About Samsung Ventures America

Samsung Ventures America manages US and Global investment and investment-related activities for Samsung Electronics and Samsung Venture Investment Corporation from local offices in San Jose. The investment mandate for Samsung Ventures America tracks closely to the strategic priorities of Samsung Electronics' core operating divisions, and encompasses investments in semiconductors, displays, telecommunications, and consumer electronics. Samsung Ventures America is currently actively investing in leading technology companies from a $350 million fund.

About INSIDE Contactless

INSIDE’s innovative, contactless and NFC semiconductor solutions are transforming how the world conducts transactions and information exchange. The company is the world leader in advanced contactless microprocessor platforms with 55 patents and more than 100 million products delivered worldwide. INSIDE enables bank card issuers, retailers, device manufacturers, service providers, and card brand organizations to deliver innovative consumer products and services with a high “cool factor” and outstanding user experience. INSIDE is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, Seoul, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.INSIDEcontactless.com.]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=85 2008-05-21T02:35:05
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, May 21, 2008 – In a move to meet the growing demand for smart cards in Canada, INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in advanced contactless microprocessor platforms, today strengthened its position in the market and announced that it has joined Advanced Card Technologies (ACT) Canada. Having already delivered more than five million of its intelligent MicroPass® contactless payment chips for MasterCard® PayPass™ deployments in just the past six months, INSIDE Contactless has quickly established itself as the leading provider of contactless payment technology to the Canadian market, and is now poised to deliver technology to aid in the convergence with EMV and other non-contactless applications.

“When Canada's largest quick service restaurant chain, Tim Hortons, began supporting contactless payments in its 2200-plus locations last year, the stage was set for a surge in demand for this technology, and we are committed to delivering cost-effective, high-performance solutions for this emerging market,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president of payments at INSIDE Contactless. “Canada is also in the midst of a major EMV migration, creating what we believe will be a substantial market opportunity for dual-interface cards later this year, and we are preparing to support this market as well.”

According to ACT Canada, chip and pin payment cards will be deployed in significant numbers over the next five years as credit and debit cards are converted to EMV standards, creating opportunities in a variety of markets, including transit, retail, and access.

“INSIDE Contactless has been a valued partner as a supplier of chips used in MasterCard PayPass deployments, and they continue to play an important role in helping our issuers to get to market with their PayPass programs,” said Cathleen Conforti, senior vice president, Global PayPass, MasterCard Worldwide. “The new MicroPass 4003 has been granted type approval and CAST approval and is ready for deployment in MasterCard PayPass products.”

“MasterCard PayPass is delivering a new level of convenience and security to Canadian consumers while creating a compelling value for issuers, and we expect it will gain wide acceptance in the Canadian marketplace in the year ahead,” said Kevin Stanton, president, MasterCard Canada. “We welcome INSIDE Contactless to the Canadian market, and appreciate their commitment and support of our efforts to deliver a simpler way to pay.”

“We welcome INSIDE Contactless to ACT Canada and look forward to their contributions to the rapidly emerging Canadian smart card market,” said Catherine Johnston, president and CEO of ACT Canada. “Advanced card technologies like those offered by INSIDE Contactless strengthen the Canadian smart card market by providing security, convenience and ease of use for Canadians. As infrastructure is deployed for EMV we expect Canadians will want a broad range of smart card applications.”

MicroPass is already the platform of choice for card manufacturers and issuers in the U.S. market, where more than 50 million MicroPass-powered bank cards have been deployed. With very low power requirements, MicroPass also remains the most suitable core platform for key fob and alternative form factor deployments.

The MicroPass family of intelligent payment products is designed to power open standard contactless and dual interface bank card payments in all global regions. Based upon a RISC architecture and optimized to the demanding requirements of contactless transactions, each of the MicroPass family of products feature low power consumption, fast transaction processing, and overall performance meeting the demands of issuer organizations in the bank card payments, transit, and access control markets.

About INSIDE Contactless
INSIDE’s innovative, contactless and NFC semiconductor solutions are transforming how the world conducts transactions and information exchange. The company is the world leader in advanced contactless microprocessor platforms with 55 patents and more than 100 million products delivered worldwide. INSIDE enables bank card issuers, retailers, device manufacturers, service providers, and card brand organizations to deliver innovative consumer products and services with a high “cool factor” and outstanding user experience. INSIDE is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, Seoul, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
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]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=84 2008-05-13T00:06:54
CTST 2008, ORLANDO, FL., May 13, 2008 – Affirming its position as the undisputed leader in the contactless payments market, INSIDE Contactless today announced that shipments of its revolutionary MicroPass® intelligent payment platform for contactless payment cards has surpassed 50 million units. Since it was first launched at CARTES in November of 2005, the MicroPass platform has achieved its unprecedented success by continuing to deliver superior performance, flexibility, and is now the platform of choice for certified card manufacturers around the world.
Approved by Visa, MasterCard, and Discover Network – including all required functional, analog, performance, and security requirements compliance – the award-winning MicroPass platform is the most broadly available core technology for contactless payments, powering more than 50 million bank cards from over 30 card issuers worldwide. MicroPass is used to power more certified card products than any other contactless technology, providing issuers with broad choices for card manufacturing. Its low power and high performance, combined with the industry's fastest transaction time and outstanding read distance, enables MicroPass to deliver a superior cardholder experience for a broad range of innovative uses. The new MicroPass 4000 suite builds on this success to deliver high-volume, multi-payment, and multi-application capabilities for the next generation of contactless payment applications.
“We anticipate continued strong growth in the North American contactless payments market in 2008 with more than 25 active issuance programs and value propositions to consumers, issuers, and merchants demonstrated,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president of payments for INSIDE Contactless. “Our strong market share is testament to our ability to maintain technology advantage, a unique multi-pronged marketing approach that emphasizes education, and an extensive enablement program that makes it easier for card manufacturers to adopt our technology. Looking forward, we anticipate that 2009 will be the tipping point for North American contactless payments adoption with a total market in excess of 100 million contactless chip shipments expected.”
The MicroPass intelligent payment platform is designed to power open standard contactless and dual-interface bank card payments along with other value-added applications in all global regions. Based upon a RISC architecture and optimized to the demanding requirements of contactless transactions, each of the MicroPass family of products is designed to meet the demands of issuer organizations in the bank card payments, transit, and access control markets.
“Contactless payment technology has seen steady expansion, and INSIDE is a driver behind this growth by delivering innovation to its key constituencies,” said Bob Egan, chief analyst for TowerGroup. “We expect the market to continue its evolution by supporting emerging convergence among contactless payment, transit fare collection, retail loyalty, access control and ID, and other emerging applications.”
Visa, MasterCard and American Express have all launched contactless payment initiatives, and leading banks across North America are issuing millions of contactless credit and debit cards to consumers, according to the Smart Card Alliance. Major retailers across the U.S. are installing contactless readers integrated with point-of-sale (POS) systems that can accept contactless payments. Consumers enjoy added convenience, speed and ease of use afforded by contactless payments, while issuers and merchants enjoy faster transaction times, increased spending per transaction, lower operational costs, and penetration into the cash payment market.
About INSIDE Contactless
INSIDE’s innovative contactless and NFC semiconductor solutions are transforming how the world conducts transactions and information exchange. The company is the world leader in advanced contactless microprocessor platforms with 55 patents and more than 100 million products delivered worldwide. INSIDE enables bank card issuers, retailers, co-brand partners, service providers, and card brand organizations to deliver innovative consumer products and services with a high “cool factor” and outstanding user experience. INSIDE is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, Seoul, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=83 2008-05-05T02:25:01
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, May 5, 2008 – Reflecting its dominance in the industry, INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open-standard contactless chip technologies, today revealed details of its high-profile participation in the upcoming CTST Americas 2008 Conference & Exhibition taking place May 12-15 in Orlando, Florida. In addition to showcasing its MicroPass® intelligent contactless payment platform products at the event, INSIDE Contactless is sponsoring a drawing for a trip to France, and executives from INSIDE Contactless are participating in a number of workshops, roundtables, and conference tracks.
Grand Prize Trip to France
Registered attendees will have the chance to win a one-week trip to France while learning about MicroPass features which flexibly support value-added application convergence with contactless payments. Sponsored by INSIDE Contactless, this prize includes a trip to Paris and a one-day excursion through the vineyards of France’s Champagne region.
After receiving a special contactless “Champagne Card” from an INSIDE Contactless representative in the exhibit hall or at the exhibit booth, conference attendees can take this card to the INSIDE Contactless booth #708 to see a demonstration and be entered into the drawing, which will be held on May 15 at noon in the INSIDE booth.
The Grand Prize is a 6-night/5-day trip for two to France, including roundtrip airfare, accommodations, transfers and a one-day tour of Champagne. Restrictions apply, so see promotion details on the INSIDE booth.
Conference Activities
INSIDE Contactless executives are participating in a number of speaking engagements at the conference, providing a unique opportunity for attendees to hear about the latest developments in a broad array of technology, applications, and case studies across vertical markets in payments and applications, and mobile and NFC. Speaking will be: Rémy de Tonnac, CEO; Charles Walton, EVP Payments; Brent Bowen, VP Sales and Business Development; and Didier Serra, EVP and General Manager, U.S.

Monday, May 12, 2008
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Charles Walton, speaker, Smart Card Alliance: Smart Card Technology and Payments Applications Workshop—Smart Cards and Payment Cards.

1:00 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Brent Bowen, speaker, Smart Card Alliance: Smart Card Technology and Payments Applications Workshop—Smart Card Implementation.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008
9:15 a.m.- 10:15 a.m.
Rémy de Tonnac, speaker, Executive Roundtable: The Future of Smart Cards & Digital Security—Card industry executives address meeting the needs of the market adopters (financial, government, transportation, mobile).

10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
Charles Walton, chair, Payments & Applications—Track keynote to address key market drivers and inhibitors and global payment trends.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008
10:15 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
Charles Walton, moderator, Payment Cards Issuer Roundtable—Issuers will cover a range of crucial subjects, including contactless payments, mobile payments, online payments, payment fraud and security, risk management and mitigation.

1:30 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
Didier Serra, speaker, NFC & Applications—Topics include: NFC industry experts cover issues in mobile payments, NFC applications beyond payments, lessons learned from NFC pilots, NFC applications in transit.

4:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Charles Walton, speaker, Innovation Pavilion Tech Talk—Catch the Next Wave: Where Contactless Payment is Headed: Examines how transit, loyalty, co-branding and student access control applications are converging with payment to deliver the next wave of contactless opportunities for issuers, merchants, and co-brand partners.

5:00 p.m.- 6:15 p.m.
Charles Walton, moderator, Birds-of-a-Feather Discussion Group: Contactless Payments Adoption—An open meeting organized by the SCA contactless payments council.

CTST Americas 2008 Conference & Exhibition (formerly CardTech SecurTech) is the largest event in the Americas dedicated to advanced payment, access control, and identification technology, attracting over 2500 attendees annually. The conference offers technology and case studies from applications involving payments, identification, mobile and NFC, and security, including diverse vertical markets such as healthcare, transit, government, retail, mobile commerce and others.
About INSIDE Contactless:
As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively on 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 number-one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 30 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, San Francisco, Seoul, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
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]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=82 2008-04-09T11:10:55
CARDS ASIA 2008, SINGAPORE, April 9, 2008 – Continuing to expand its scope in global contactless technology markets, INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open-standard contactless chip technologies, today reaffirmed its commitment to the Asia Pacific region, announcing product demonstrations and a speaking engagement at the upcoming Cards Asia 2008 conference and exhibition being held April 9-11 in Singapore.

INSIDE Contactless will be exhibiting at Cards Asia 2008 in Booth 4N05 in the SUNTEC Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Attendees will be able to see demonstrations of INSIDE’s contactless payment and NFC products at the booth, obtain information about all of INSIDE’s NFC and contactless payment products and discuss their needs with company representatives.

Additionally, conference attendees will be able to learn from Juliano Yoon, INSIDE’s vice president of sales for Japan and Korea, as he shares insights on the GSMA’s Pay-Buy- Mobile global mobile payment project initiative, as well as results of the end-to-end trial in Korea, the business model adopted by the project participants in the phase one of the project and what the project owners are looking to achieve in the phase two of the project. Mr. Yoon’s presentation can be heard on Thursday, April 10 at 14.45.

“The Asia Pacific region presents tremendous growth opportunities for us now as mobile operators, banks and financial institutions, transit agencies and other businesses acknowledge the efficiency, ease of use and security benefits of contactless technologies,” said Goh Say Yeow, executive vice president of sales and managing director, Asia at INSIDE Contactless. “Our market-leading Near Field Communications and contactless payment solutions are already being adopted in this region, and we are eager to build further on the traction and expand our presence here through a variety of long term partnerships and strategic initiatives.”

The INSIDE Contactless MicroRead® NFC chip is currently deployed in Asia’s first SIM-based NFC trial in Taiwan, having been selected as the preferred NFC chip for mobile carrier Far EasTone’s new Pay-Buy-Mobile “Beep ‘N Go” pilot project. The MicroRead® NFC chip was also chosen to be used in all Samsung and LG Electronics mobile phones and devices involved in Korea Telecom Freetel’s Pay-Buy-Mobile project. MicroRead was also selected by other Pay-Buy-Mobile participants in Australia, Malaysia, The Philippines and Singapore.

Outside of NFC, other INSIDE Contactless products are widely used in various projects and applications. Some of these include projects by the Malaysian INTI Group of Colleges for access control, parking, attendance tracking, e-payment and library material handling applications; by Singapore's Sentosa Island resort for contactless paper tickets to manage admissions and for purchases at the various attractions, retail and food and beverage outlets; and by Yangji Resorts in Korea for an RFID-based membership card system.
About INSIDE Contactless

As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively on 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 number-one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 25 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, San Francisco, Seoul, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.INSIDEcontactless.com.
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]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=81 2008-04-01T08:05:58
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, April 1, 2008 – As transit agencies around the world move to modernize their automatic fare collection systems, INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open-standard contactless chip technologies, today announced it is bringing the power of its MicroPass® intelligent payment platform to the transit fare collection market and increasing activity in supporting the industry to migrate towards new open standards based on secure contactless payment solutions. As a move to increase commitment to this segment, INSIDE has joined the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), an international organization that is the leading force in advancing public transportation. INSIDE company representatives will be participating in APTA’s annual Fare Collection Workshop, the premier gathering of international professionals engaged in the design, procurement and operation of automatic fare collection systems being held in Boston this week.

“The APTA conference is the perfect opportunity for us to address transit agencies’ evolving payment system requirements as they adopt new technologies to improve efficiency, security and ease of use,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president of payments for INSIDE Contactless. “INSIDE’s MicroPass payment platform is ideally suited for next-generation transit fare payment systems as the industry embraces open, standards-based systems.”

Transit agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere around the globe are eyeing open standard contactless technologies as a way to create more cost-effective, interoperable, and secure transit fare collection systems. This, in turn, has encouraged transit agencies to evolve their closed, proprietary systems in favor of open systems, while pushing for cross-industry standards that will make it easier for them to support open bank card payment applications.

Contactless payment technology is evolving to become the standard for new transit fare collection systems because it meets customer requirements for quick entry and exit, ease of use and convenience. It also delivers many operational advantages, including lower maintenance costs, lower life-cycle fare media costs, increased patronage, reduced fare evasion, and increased financial float.

“In addition to more open, standards-based and transit-specific contactless payment systems, we envision a convergence of the transit payment and financial payment markets, and already several transit systems globally are accepting contactless credit cards directly as fare media,” said Walton. “As the leading provider of contactless payment card microprocessors for both MasterCard PayPass® and Visa payWave™ cards, we have proven the security, flexibility, and openness of our products and are now in a unique position to address the requirements of the transit fare collection system market.”

The MicroPass family of intelligent payment platforms is designed to power open standard contactless and dual-interface bank card payments along with other value-added applications in all global regions. Based upon a RISC architecture and optimized to the demanding requirements of contactless transactions, each of the MicroPass family of products features low power consumption, fast transaction processing, and overall performance meeting the demands of issuer organizations in the bank card payments, transit, and access control markets. MicroPass is the platform of choice for card manufacturers and issuers in the U.S. market with more than 35 million MicroPass-powered bank cards deployed. With very low power requirements, MicroPass also remains the most suitable core platform for key fob and alternative form factor deployments.

About APTA
APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and
economical public transportation services and products. APTA members serve more than 90 percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada.

About INSIDE Contactless
As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively on 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 number-one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 25 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, San Francisco, Seoul, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
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]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=80 2008-03-25T11:49:57
The CPI MicroPass 4003 has received the MasterCard PayPass Letter of Approval and Chip Assessment Security Testing (CAST). The MicroPass 4000 product suite is built upon the award-winning and market-leading MicroPass L4-1G and L4-2G products.

“CPI constantly strives to achieve the highest level of excellence, as evidenced by this ‘first to market’ chip technology, which also incorporates the industry’s fastest transaction times and outstanding read distance,” said Bob Clarke, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “INSIDE’s certifications for its MicroPass 4003 were a tremendous help to us in obtaining final approvals from MasterCard to produce these cards, and our customers will also appreciate the superior cardholder experience made possible by the MicroPass 4003.”

“CPI is an innovative producer of high-quality plastic card products, and we congratulate them on their tremendous achievement in being first to market with MasterCard approved contactless payment cards,” said Didier Serra, GM for North America for INSIDE Contactless. “The MicroPass 4003 was specifically designed to optimally meet the high-volume, multi-payment brand and multi-application requirements of card manufacturers like CPI who are creating products for the U.S., Canadian and other contactless payment markets.”

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. INSIDE is the number one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets and other products.

About CPI Card Group
A world leader in plastic card manufacturing for over 20 years, CPI offers a single source for plastic cards from foil cards and holograms, to translucent and smart cards. CPI’s production sites include Littleton, Colorado; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and North Las Vegas, Nevada. CPI Card Group produces high-quality, general-purpose, magnetic stripe and smart cards for many applications. Certified to produce contactless products, our facility specializes in distinctive cards and we offer the largest production capacity in North America.
###]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=79 2008-03-17T05:20:21
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, March 17, 2008 – INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open standard contactless chip technologies, today announced that the next-generation MicroPass® 4003 contactless payment microprocessor is ready for deployment in MasterCard® PayPass™ products. Designed to optimally meet the high-volume, multi-payment brand and multi-application requirements of the U.S., Canadian and other contactless payment markets, the MicroPass 4003 intelligent payment platform enables card manufacturers to rapidly deliver MasterCard PayPass approved products into the market.

“INSIDE has achieved tremendous success over the past year in deploying the MicroPass intelligent hardware platform, quickly becoming the number-one global provider of MasterCard PayPass chip platforms,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president of payments for INSIDE Contactless. “The approval we have received for the new 4003 reflects our commitment to continuing to deliver cutting-edge contactless platforms for MasterCard PayPass.”

According to Walton, INSIDE achieved more than 12 million deliveries of the INSIDE MicroPass L4-2G, the predecessor to the 4003, to card manufacturers in 2007 for PayPass issuance in the US, Canada, Philippines, and Australia.

INSIDE Contactless continues to improve the security capabilities of its intelligent hardware platforms, and the MicroPass 4003 incorporates significant new security enhancements developed in cooperation with MasterCard in conjunction with its CAST compliance.

This fact, combined with INSIDE’s completion of digital and functional testing and type approval for PayPass, enables card manufacturers to more easily obtain final approvals from MasterCard for manufacturing PayPass cards powered by the MicroPass 4003. Further, a packaging configuration of MicroPass 4003 with an INSIDE-designed half-size antenna has been pre-approved for use by MasterCard-qualified card manufacturers with a reduced set of tests.

According to INSIDE Contactless, the MicroPass 4003 continues to offer multiple payment brands and multiple application support, as well as the industry’s fastest transaction time and outstanding read distance to deliver the most reliable cardholder experience.

“We are very pleased to be able to grant the new MicroPass 4003 type approval and CAST approval,” said Cathleen Conforti, senior vice president, Global PayPass, MasterCard Worldwide. “Vendor solutions such as MicroPass are an essential part of MasterCard PayPass and play an important role in providing Tap & Go™ convenience of this new generation of payment solutions.”

MicroPass is used today to power contactless bank cards issued by more than 25 U.S. and Canadian issuers, along with cards deployed in Asia, Latin America and Europe. MicroPass is the most broadly available core technology for contactless payments with 20 card and fob products from major global and regional card manufacturers certified by the leading card brands. Contactless credit, debit and pre-paid bank cards issued with MicroPass today are able to be used at locations such as McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s, 7-Eleven, CVS, Coca-Cola vending machines, New York City and Philadelphia taxi cabs, and numerous Major League Baseball and NFL stadiums in the U.S.

The INSIDE MicroPass 4003 was designed specifically to meet multi-payment brand and multi-application requirements of the U.S., Canadian and other contactless payment markets. As an intelligent hardware platform, the native operating system incorporated into the MicroPass 4003 provides fast, secure, reliable and flexible support for one or more payment, retail/gift card, access control, transit, ID or other emerging applications. Flexible packaging options enable card manufacturers to purchase the MicroPass 4003 in multiple configurations, including wafer, module, and inlay forms for use in finished cards, key fobs, and other form factors.

INSIDE also offers the MicroPass SDK to card manufacturers, terminal manufacturers, personalization bureaus, systems integrators, and issuers with in-house application development staff. The MicroPass SDK helps developers create retailer loyalty, transit, access, and simple ID applications and incorporate those applications onto a MicroPass contactless bank payment card. These data applications provide a simple way of creating a value-added experience at the contactless point of acceptance and related access points.

Availability and Pricing
The INSIDE Contactless MicroPass 4003 contactless payment card microprocessor is available now. Please contact INSIDE for specific pricing information.

About MicroPass
MicroPass® is a family of intelligent hardware platforms designed to power open standard contactless and dual interface bank card payments in all global regions. Based upon a RISC architecture and optimized to the demanding requirements of contactless transactions, each of the MicroPass family of products features low power consumption, fast transaction processing, and overall performance meeting the demands of issuer organizations in the bank card payments, transit, and access control markets. MicroPass is the platform of choice for card manufacturers and issuers in the U.S. market with more than 35 million MicroPass-powered bank cards deployed. With very low power requirements, MicroPass also remains the most suitable core platform for key fob and alternative form factor deployments.

About INSIDE Contactless
As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively on 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 number-one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 25 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets, and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
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]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=78 2008-03-11T02:52:22
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, March 11, 2008 – Continuing to build momentum with its next-generation MicroPass® intelligent payment platform, INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open standard contactless chip technologies, today announced it is the first to market with a Visa-certified implementation of the new Streamline Online qVSDC specification supporting the global interoperability of Visa payWave. The MicroPass 4003 contactless payment card microprocessor supports the Visa Contactless V2.0.2 AC v3 specification, and also supports backward compatibility for currently deployed Visa Contactless 1.4.2 MSD contactless personalization and acquiring infrastructures.

“We are pleased to be able to support our close working relationship with Visa by bringing this new Streamline Online qVSDC implementation to market as rapidly as possible, and we are confident it will play a significant role in maintaining our leadership in the Visa payWave ecosystem,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president of payments for INSIDE Contactless. “We stand ready to support both card manufacturers and issuers during this period of migration with backward compatibility and support services to ease their transition.”

INSIDE Contactless continues to improve the security capabilities of its intelligent payment platforms, and the MicroPass 4003 incorporates the latest security enhancements. The MicroPass 4003 offers multiple payment brands and supports multiple applications, as well as providing the industry’s fastest transaction time and outstanding read distance to deliver the most reliable cardholder experience.

“We are excited about the opportunity to work with INSIDE Contactless to provide flexible contactless payment options to our customers,” said Brian Triplett, senior vice president of emerging product development at Visa Inc.

MicroPass is used today to power contactless bank cards, and is the most broadly adopted core technology for contactless payments with multiple certified card and fob products available from major global and regional card manufacturers. Contactless credit, debit, and pre-paid bank cards issued with MicroPass can be used at locations such as McDonald’s, 7-Eleven, CVS, PetCo, BJ’s, Office Depot, and in New York City and Philadelphia taxi cabs.

The INSIDE MicroPass 4003 was designed specifically to meet multi-payment brand and multi-application requirements of contactless payment markets. As an ‘intelligent payment platform’, the native operating system incorporated into the MicroPass 4003 provides fast, secure, reliable, and flexible support for Visa payWave contactless payments, along with retail/gift card, access control, transit, ID, or other emerging applications. Flexible packaging options enable manufacturers to deploy MicroPass 4003 in a variety of form factors including cards, key fobs, and stickers for mobile handsets.

INSIDE also offers the MicroPass SDK to card manufacturers, terminal manufacturers, personalization bureaus, systems integrators, and issuers with in-house application development staff. The MicroPass SDK helps developers create retailer loyalty, transit, access, and simple ID applications, and incorporate those applications onto a MicroPass contactless bank payment card. These data applications provide a simple way of creating a value-added experience at the contactless point of acceptance and related access points.

Availability and Pricing
The INSIDE Contactless MicroPass 4003 contactless payment product is available now. Please contact INSIDE for specific pricing information. A contactless payment card product from CPI Card Group is the first certified by Visa that is powered by MicroPass 4003.

About MicroPass
MicroPass® is a family of intelligent payment platforms designed to power open standard contactless and dual interface bank card payments in all global regions. Based upon a RISC architecture and optimized for the demanding requirements of contactless transactions, each of the MicroPass family of products features low power consumption, fast transaction processing, and overall performance meeting the demands of issuer organizations in the bank card payments, transit, and access control markets. MicroPass is the platform of choice for card manufacturers and issuers in the U.S. market with more than 35 million MicroPass-powered bank cards deployed. With very low power requirements, MicroPass also remains the most suitable core platform for key fob and alternative form factor deployments.

About INSIDE Contactless
As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively on contactless chip platforms, INSIDE Contactless is a market leader in Near Field Communication (NFC), contactless payment, 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 number-one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 25 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets, and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
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]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=77 2008-03-10T03:02:24
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, March 10, 2008 – INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open standard contactless chip technologies, today launched the MicroPass® 4000 contactless microprocessor family, a next-generation platform designed to bring a host of new contactless applications to mainstream markets in the U.S. and elsewhere, with two initial product offerings intended for contactless payment applications. The unprecedented price/performance and low-power operation of the MicroPass 4000 product suite heralds a new era for contactless technology to move beyond payments to a broad range of high-convenience mass-market applications, including transit fare systems, access control, loyalty programs, as well as a host of lightweight identification applications.
The INSIDE MicroPass 4000 product suite has been built upon the award-winning and market-leading MicroPass L4-1G and L4-2G products, which have been utilized by more than 25 issuers to deploy more than 35 million cards in 2006 and 2007. The MicroPass 4000 intelligent payment platform was designed to optimally meet the high-volume, multi-payment brand and multi-application requirements of the U.S., Canadian and other contactless payment markets. The MicroPass 4002 supports the Discover Zip contactless payment application, while the dual-brand MicroPass 4003 supports both MasterCard and Visa contactless payment applications. The tight integration of INSIDE’s native operating system and microprocessor hardware within the MicroPass platform, as well as the integral design, development and testing processes adopted by INSIDE, enable the rapid delivery of secure, high performance, and highly reliable products into the market. Flexible packaging options enable manufacturers to purchase MicroPass 4000 solutions in multiple configurations, including wafer, module, and inlay forms for use in card, fob, mobile handset, sticker, and ticket form factors.
“The MicroPass 4000 product suite gives INSIDE a powerful platform for future growth, providing a family of highly optimized and very scalable solutions for payment and other related application markets,” said Charles Walton, executive vice president of payments for INSIDE Contactless. “We look forward to introducing several additional MicroPass 4000 family products later this year to support more payment applications as well as non-payment applications that are very well suited to this platform.”
The MicroPass 4000 product suite shares a common architecture featuring a fast, low-power RISC microprocessor, advanced operating system, optimized hardware computing resources, and proven data management support capabilities. Each product is then configured to provide highly scalable solutions for very specific mass market applications such as contactless payments, retail/gift cards, access control, transit, ID, or other emerging uses. Designed to be embedded in plastic credit and debit cards – in standard, mini, and fob form factors – so that a wave of the card is all that it takes to make a payment, the award-winning MicroPass platform assures reliable, convenient, and secure payment for issuers and their cardholders.
“Contactless is all about optimizing cost to reach big niche markets. The approach has to combine very straightforward programming with an IC cost that makes the solution practical,” said George Peabody, director of emerging technologies, Mercator Advisory Group. "INSIDE takes a "right weight" approach that can give financial institutions and merchants the niche solutions they need without unnecessary development complexity and cost.”
INSIDE also offers the MicroPass SDK to card manufacturers, terminal manufacturers, personalization bureaus, systems integrators, and issuers with in-house application development staff. The MicroPass SDK helps developers create retailer loyalty, transit, access, and simple ID applications, and incorporate those applications onto a MicroPass-enabled contactless payment card. These data applications provide a simple way of creating a value-added experience at the contactless point of acceptance and related access points.
MicroPass is used today to power contactless bank cards issued by more than 25 U.S. and Canadian issuers, along with cards deployed in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. MicroPass is the most broadly available core technology for contactless payments, with 20 card and fob products from major global and regional card manufacturers certified by the leading card brands. Contactless credit, debit, and pre-paid bank cards issued with MicroPass are today able to be used at locations such as McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s, 7-Eleven, CVS, Coca-Cola vending machines, New York City and Philadelphia taxi cabs, and more than 20 Major League Baseball and NFL stadiums in the U.S.
Availability and Pricing
The INSIDE Contactless MicroPass 4002 and MicroPass 4003 products are available now in production quantities. Please contact INSIDE for specific pricing information. The MicroPass L4-2G product will remain available throughout 2008 as required by bank card issuers.
About INSIDE Contactless
As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively on contactless chip platforms, INSIDE Contactless is a market leader in Near Field Communication (NFC), contactless payment, 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 number-one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 25 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets, and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com

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]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=76 2008-02-18T19:06:26
“ISO 9001:2000 certification is an important milestone for our company,” said Remy de Tonnac, INSIDE’s chief executive officer. “Certification rewards the efforts of the entire company. Our quality management system will help us consolidate our leading position in the NFC and contactless payment markets and enables us to better serve clients with an efficient, enduring quality policy.”

The assessment was performed by Bureau Veritas Certification during a two-year process in which quality processes throughout the company were closely scrutinized. The goal of every quality initiative is to transform businesses processes in order to deliver an outstanding customer experience and earn high levels of customer satisfaction. Each INSIDE department’s processes are optimized for meeting ISO quality standards, and together, all departments’ processes are integrated to weave quality standards throughout all company operations. The assessment enabled the company to fine-tune its continuous improvement practices and set benchmarks to drive the company forward.

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 number one market share provider of contactless bank card applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 25 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=74 2008-02-13T23:56:05
NFC technology provides short-range, standards-based wireless connectivity. It allows consumers to perform secure, contactless payments and other transactions, access digital content, and connect electronic devices.

The licensing program administered by Via is designed to provide convenient access to essential patents necessary for the practice of NFC. These patents can be licensed on an individual, per-patent owner basis with fees applicable on a per-patent family basis (an à la carte license) or through a joint license agreement covering an unlimited number of patents with capped fees per device (a pool license).

The Incentives
All manufacturers of NFC consumer devices that execute an NFC patent license agreement no later than September 30, 2008 will be in a position to select one of the following market maker incentives for the 5-year term of the license.

Discounts
Licensees under either the à la carte licensing program or the pool license may choose to benefit from a 40 percent discount on patent license fees for all units of NFC consumer devices sold during calendar year 2008. In addition, the following discounts on subsequent yearly royalty payments will be applicable, provided that the licensee sells at least one million units of NFC consumer devices during calendar year 2009:

2009: 30 percent discount
2010: 20 percent discount
2011: 10 percent discount
2012: 5 percent discount

Royalty Cap
Alternatively, licensees may elect to take advantage of a yearly capped royalty payment of four million dollars under the à la carte licensing program or eight million dollars under the pool license, when that license becomes available.

For additional information or to request a license, please email nfclicensing@vialicensing.com or visit www.vialicensing.com.

About Via Licensing Corporation
Via Licensing Corporation develops and administers patent licensing programs on behalf of innovative technology companies and for the convenience of licensees. Via Licensing Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) and benefits from the expertise, infrastructure, and strategic business relationships that Dolby has developed in more than 35 years of licensing into the consumer electronics and personal computing markets. Via Licensing is involved in the development and operation of licensing programs for both mandated and de facto or emerging standards. For more information about Via Licensing Corporation, please visit www.vialicensing.com.

Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding the capabilities of NFC-capable products and the eventual availability of a joint patent license, are “forward-looking statements” that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, and as a result of certain risks and uncertainties actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. The following important factors, without limitation, could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: risks associated with licensing technologies through joint licensing programs; risks associated with licensing industry standards technologies; risks associated with developing proprietary technology in markets in which “open standards” are adopted; market acceptance of NFC-capable devices; rapid changes in networking technologies; risks associated with the development of markets for wireless local-area networking services; and other risks detailed in Dolby’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including the risks identified under the section captioned “Risk Factors” in its most recent Periodic Report on Form 10-Q or 10-K. Dolby disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=73 2008-02-13T00:22:09
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, BARCELONA, Spain, February 13, 2008 – INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open-standard, contactless chip technologies, today announced that its MicroRead® product was selected as the winner of the GSM Association’s (GSMA) 2008 Mobile Innovation Global Award for Most Innovative Device-Centric Technology. The prestigious award showcases INSIDE’s innovation and increases awareness among leading industry investors and mobile operators of MicroRead as a technology with the potential to revolutionize mobile services. The award was presented on February 12 at the Mobile Innovation Marketplace during the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress, the world’s premier mobile event, in Barcelona, Spain.

“The Award validates our approach to Near Field Communication and rewards many years of commitment to innovation, research and development,” said Remy de Tonnac, chief executive officer of INSIDE Contactless. “The MicroRead chip’s innovative NFC interface opens a wealth of opportunities for the whole mobile ecosystem to elevate device capabilities and new service offerings so that the consumer can enjoy a much richer mobile experience. We were honored to be chosen as a finalist and thrilled to win.”

The company’s MicroRead chip has been adopted by several major handset manufacturers across the globe. The NFC chip is also a key component of the GSMA’s Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative, a program that provides a single approach to enabling contactless payments using mobile phones. Mobile operators in Australia, France, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, and the U.S. have implemented the MicroRead chip in handsets used in the Pay-Buy-Mobile program. Thanks to the MicroRead chip’s integration capabilities, mobile operators will also be able to accelerate deployment of innovative SIM-based payment applications tailored to their various markets.

INSIDE’s third-generation MicroRead RF chip, which was introduced on February 6, 2008, provides the broadest range of Near Field Communication (NFC) options that enable numerous new contactless applications. When incorporated into cell phones, PDAs or PCs, MicroRead chips enable them to operate both like RF readers and contactless smart cards or RFID tags. Handset manufacturers, mobile operators, and third-party application developers can now offer applications that range from access control, to merchandise tracking and logistics, to revitalizing legacy Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) applications. MicroRead products are unique in that they are self-powered with a battery-off mode, and they include the company’s innovative multi-host router technology, which allows secure elements, such as SIM, SE, or SD cards to be incorporated into applications.

The 2008 Mobile Innovation Global Awards were created by the GSMA as part of its Mobile Innovation Market to encourage breakthrough technology, applications and services in the mobile industry by bringing together small and medium-sized companies developing innovative mobile products, industry investors and mobile operators.


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 applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 25 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=72 2008-02-08T10:27:15
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, February 7, 2008 – Maintaining its position as the undisputed leader and trend setter in the near field communication (NFC) market, INSIDE Contactless today introduced the latest version of its MicroRead® multi-standard NFC chip, a third-generation product that sets a new standard for ease of integration. The MicroRead suite combines third-generation silicon, a full set of host interfaces, NFC software libraries and APIs, a field-proven reference design and robust standards support into a turnkey NFC solution ideal for a broad range of applications in any cell phone, smart phone, or other mobile or consumer electronics device.

The MicroRead chip offers the broadest range of NFC options, complying with the ISO 14443 A/B/B’ standard, ISO 15693 and ISO18092, and NFC forum specifications, allowing a MicroRead-enabled device to be used not only for all traditional NFC applications, but also for new applications such as access control, logistics and tracking, as well as a wide range of legacy RFID applications. INSIDE, together with other industry leaders, also was instrumental in developing the ETSI NFC-related standard, with the result that INSIDE now enjoys early implementation of these standards.

“Our third-generation MicroRead solution is the perfect answer to the increasingly complex requirements of mobile manufacturers who can now lead the evolution of the market with a mature, proven, advanced product,” said Philippe Martineau, executive vice president of the NFC Business Line at INSIDE Contactless. “MicroRead sets the standard for easy integration with a mature solution, including a complete package of hardware, software, and standards support designed to make it easy for device makers to get their products to market more quickly.”
According to Philippe Martineau, with this chip, INSIDE is anticipating the continuing evolution of NFC, which will bring the next generation of NFC applications to market.

The MicroRead IC is the first NFC chip to be both SIM- and SE- friendly. The unique multi-host router technology built into the MicroRead chip provides the capacity to implement any secure element, including SIM, SE or SD card, to support any business model.

Also unique is the MicroRead’s self-powered “battery-off” mode, which provides simplicity and convenience to improve the user experience by enabling transactions to take place successfully even when the host device is turned off or the battery is completely drained. The low-power card detection mode also provides a unique, battery life optimized, pop-up application mechanism to avoid the need to browse a menu or press a button to launch an NFC-based application.

Availability and Pricing
The INSIDE Contactless MicroRead multi-standard NFC solution will be available in sample quantities in the second quarter of 2008. Production volumes are anticipated to be available in the third quarter of this year. Please contact INSIDE for specific pricing information.

About INSIDE Contactless
As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively on 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 applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 20 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered “powered by INSIDE” contactless products such as payment and access cards, point-of-sale terminals, NFC-enabled mobile handsets and other products. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit www.insidecontactless.com.
]]> http://www.insidecontactless.com/news/whatsNew_view.php?sq=71 2008-01-28T03:27:22
January 28th 2008, Aix en Provence: Over the next few months, 12 mobile operators will run trials of contactless mobile payment services in Australia, France, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey and the U.S. as a precursor to commercial launches. The trials form part of the GSMA’s Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative, which is designed to provide a single global approach to enabling contactless payments using a mobile phone. Consumers will be able to use their handsets to quickly, easily and securely pay for goods and services in shops, restaurants and train stations.
INSIDE Contactless’ MicroRead™ NFC chip is included in most of the handsets to be used in the trials under the Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative.

The technology implemented by INSIDE will allow the mobile operators to quickly deploy SIM based applications, thanks to a direct link between the NFC chip and the SIM card, via the standard SWP protocol.

“This is the result of several years of early investments from INSIDE Contactless, where we were able to anticipate the standards and produce the first NFC chip with SWP interface” said Philippe Martineau, EVP NFC Business Line

One of the characteristics of INSIDE’s MicroRead technology is the capacity to behave as a router in the phone rather than just a simple modem, establishing secure connections between different devices, giving phone manufacturers flexibility to address various market applications and regions.

INSIDE’s NFC chip, MicroRead can communicate with existing contactless payment systems to deliver a wide range of secure, interoperable and transparent services, such as credit and debit payments. There are 35 mobile operators representing 1.3 billion customers participating in the initiative.
Both consumers and merchants see significant benefits from using the mobile phone as a payment form factor at point of sale, according to research carried out by Serrula on behalf of the GSMA. Two-thirds of the 2,574 consumers in 17 countries surveyed said that they expect to begin using their mobile phone to pay at point of sale within two years of the service becoming available. Moreover, 50% of the 240 merchants from 10 countries surveyed see promotional opportunities in using the mobile phone as a payment device.



About microread®:
microread® is an innovative, next-generation RF single silicon chip that uses Near Field Communication (NFC) for proximity data transactions. Incorporated into cell phones, PDAs or PCs, it enables them to operate like RF readers AND contactless smart cards or RF tags. microread® is fully compliant with NFC’s specifications and includes all options of NFC. It incorporates a battery off mode that enables a transaction to occur despite the fact that the phone’s battery is off as it is a self powered chip.
About INSIDE Contacless
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 applications in the world, with more than 35 million MicroPass intelligent payment platforms delivered from launch in 2005 through 2007. These MicroPass platforms power cards from more than 20 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered contactless products such as payment & access cards, point of sale terminals, NFC enabled mobile handsets, and other products 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 www.insidecontactless.com

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