Seeking to simplify and improve the way consumers interact with their mobile phones, INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in advanced open-standard contactless chip technologies, today introduced its Wave-Me™ initiative, a collection of application software, NFC tags and services for handset manufacturers and wireless operators that speed the development of NFC applications and enable consumers to more easily load these applications into their handsets and launch them with effortless gestures.
INSIDE's Wave-Me Java applet, Wave-Me Handset Pack and Over-the-Wave (OTW) side loading technology extend NFC's capabilities to provide consumers with useful out-of-the-box NFC functionality that accelerates access to services while opening the door for operators and third-party service providers to new service, branding and revenue opportunities.
The Wave-Me technologies will be on display at the INSIDE Contactless booth #2E09 in Hall 2 at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 16-19, 2009.
When installed on an NFC handset, the Wave-Me Java applet can automatically execute a complex series of keystrokes when the handset is simply "waved" near a corresponding Wave-Me™ NFC tag, eliminating awkward, time-consuming, multi-keystroke chores, like retrieving the arrival time for the next bus, and enabling consumers to retrieve, relevant, useful information with a straightforward, single-action task, like waving the phone by the "next bus" symbol at the bus stop. The Wave-Me NFC tag can be embedded in a poster at the bus stop, and contains all the data necessary for this action.
Wave-Me tags could also contain relevant phone numbers or complex URLs to send SMS messages or send and retrieve information from web sites, extending the utility of NFC to simplify and accelerate access to a wide variety of services, and thus encourage their use. Merchants and other businesses can sponsor the various Wave-Me applications, with the possibility of displaying branding information not only on the tag itself, but also on the handset screen during the use of the applet with accompanying sound or music.
"While consumers first put phones to their ears for voice service and then put phones in front of their faces to send and retrieve data, the 'third generation' of phone users' interface will be able to wave phones near tags or terminals to conduct transactions or launch applications," said Philippe Martineau, executive vice president of the NFC Business Line for INSIDE Contactless. "We are very excited by the way our Wave-Me technology gives NFC the intelligence to become a service enabler, allowing handset makers, operators and third parties to provide services out-of-the box in a way never experienced before."
INSIDE's Wave-Me Pack gives handset makers and operators an assortment of pre-preprogrammed NFC tags they can bundle with their handsets to give consumers out-of-the box access to applications and services.
INSIDE's Over-the-Wave technology offers a flexible, secure handset side-loading channel to load applications through a new and consumer friendly behavior. Complementary to over-the-air methods, OTW lets handset manufacturers, operators and service providers benefit from existing distribution channels (retail, POS, ATM, etc.) to offer consumers extra-value features, by simply waving the handset over other contactless media.