NXP Semiconductors, a former unit of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands that is helping China's Lenovo Group to develop new handsets, is working to apply near-field communication (NFC) technology in mobile telephones so they can serve as electronic keys, wallets and passports.
The short-range wireless technology works within 20cm through magnetic field induction in the 13.56 MHz radio frequency. Similar technologies are used in the Octopus smart card used in Hong Kong to pay for transport and retail purchases.
'Handsets equipped with NFC chips can be used as smart wallets while the payment data is stored in the telephone network,' said Ton van Kampen, NXP vice-president of business development for mobile and personal.
'Many people have a handset but may not have a banking account, so there is a business opportunity if a handset can be developed into an e-banking device through NFC technology.'
The NFC chips were used recently in trials of an e-payment system on the mainland and a transport system in Europe, Mr Kampen said.
NXP, which owns 28 per cent of Hong Kong-listed Advance Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp, co-founded the NFC Forum in 2004 with Sony Corp of Japan and Nokia of Finland. The forum now has more than 80 members, including 14 mobile network operators, which together represent 40 per cent of the global mobile market.
Last month, NXP was chosen by Lenovo Mobile Communication Technology, a subsidiary of Lenovo, to design a 2.75 generation handset using the enhanced data GSM environment standard as an advance on the general packet radio service standard widely used in 2.5G handsets.
