Local tech firm hopes to leverage on NFC as it goes mainstream

LOCAL tech firm John Harith Technology Sdn Bhd is hoping to reap what it has sown in the past few years with the emergence of near-field communications (NFC) technology in the mainstream market.

With many new smartphones due for release this year to be equipped with NFC technology, John Harith is looking to take advantage of this opportunity by leveraging on the numerous fadio frequency identification (RFID) projects it has embarked on at the iCentre.

"If my predictions are correct, NFC will become mainstream this year and onwards, as many new smartphones are expected to come out with NFC features," said John Lim, the firm's general manager.

Currently, NFC-enabled smartphones in the market include the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus S.

Other manufacturers are also set to follow suit with their own NFC-enabled smartphones this year, with a possibility of NFC-equipped iPhones by the second half of 2012.

"It seems that the market is ready for NFC this year, and we are certainly ready for this technology as well since we are already developing the backbone and the engine for the application of NFC in the past couple of years," he told The Brunei Times in an interview last week.

Lim revealed that NFC-equipped smartphones are essential for his company as it makes them the primary device to work with the firm's upcoming RFID solutions such as point-of-sales (POS), vehicle tracking, logistics/asset tracking and document control.

The development of RFID applications and solutions were the result of an agreement signed between the firm and the Authority for Info-Communications Technology Industry (AITI) in 2010.

The local firm was also recently awarded a pilot project to develop a halal traceability and supply chain management system for the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA), which will also utilise NFC technology.

Lim explained that NFC technology, which is derived from RFID technology, will allow mobile phones to collect data from another device or an NFC tag at close range as an alternative solution for business transactions and other uses.

"In many ways, the technology will act as a contactless payment card that is integrated into a smartphone, so consumers can establish a connection by simply touching their mobile phones onto an NFC tag at shopping counters, making it a good choice for secure transactions," Lim explained.

NFC technology can turn smartphones into wallets, and consumers will no longer have to use credit cards or withdraw cash from ATM machines, making it a quicker, simpler and safer process at the counter.

"NFC technology is going to be the next big thing, and it will change the way consumers shop in Brunei and around the world," said Lim.

The Brunei Times