Call for Entries: the First European NFC Competition, "Touching the Future".Extended Deadline for Preliminary Proposals is February 19 WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- The NFC NFC abbr. National Football Conference Forum (www.nfc-forum.org), a non-profit industry association advancing the use of near field communication (NFC) technology, and the SmartTouch project (www.smarttouch.org) have launched "Touching the Future", the first European NFC Competition. The competition's goal is to promote innovation and excellence in NFC service implementations in Europe, both present and future. Entry is open to all interested parties. Finalists will be judged on April 18, 2007 at the NFC Developers Summit, held in Monaco during the WIMA WIMA Women's International Motorcycle Association WIMA Wireless-Integrated Multiple Access WIMA Writing Instruments Manufacturers Association WIMA Work-Intensive Maintenance Action event (www.wima.mc). Entry forms and competition details are available now from www.nfc-competition.com. The extended deadline for submitting a preliminary proposal in the future category is February 19; final submission deadline is March 12. Based on a short-range wireless connectivity, NFC technology provides intuitive, simple and secure interaction between electronic devices. NFC communication is enabled simply by bringing two NFC-compatible devices within a few centimeters of one another, or by allowing the two devices literally to touch. NFC technology changes the way consumers interact with electronic devices and with their environment, enabling a truly mobile lifestyle with access to content and services. The competition's theme is "the simplicity of a touch," and selection of the 16 finalists will focus on the innovation, commercial potential and usability of the competition entrants' proposed applications, as well as the quality of their design and implementation of NFC technology. The competition is divided into two tracks, Track A for NFC services already implemented in Europe, either as full deployments or pilots; and Track B for proposals for future services. Teams of students are encouraged to enter their ideas. Submissions in Track A will be evaluated on demonstrated process and service improvements and cost savings; those in Track B will be judged on creativity, innovation, and business potential. Proposals will be screened and finally evaluated by NFC-knowledgeable teams of academics, industrial professionals and venture capitalists Venture Capitalist An investor who provides capital to either start-up ventures or support small companies who wish to expand but do not have access to public funding. Notes: Venture capitalists usually expect higher returns for the additional risks taken. . Questions about the competition may be sent to the Organizing Committee, oc@nfc-competition.com. The Touching the Future competition was founded by Nokia and is sponsored by the NFC Forum and the SmartTouch project. Additional sponsors include Innovision Research & Technology, NXP NXP Next Experience (formerly Philips Semiconductors) and VTT VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus (Finnish: Technical Research Centre of Finland) VTT Vélo Tout Terrain (French: mountain bike; aka ATB or MTB) Technical Research Centre of Finland. About Innovision Research & Technology plc Innovision R&T delivers innovative and market leading ICs for wireless connectivity solutions. Our primary focus is on short-range data communication from one device to another, passive and/or active, with a special emphasis on Near Field Communications Field Communications was a division of Field Enterprises, which owned the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily News. The company owned independent television stations in the United States, with WFLD-TV in Chicago as its largest-market station. (NFC) and RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) A data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. The tag, also known as an "electronic label," "transponder" or "code plate," is made up of an RFID chip attached to an antenna. solutions. As a leading fabless custom RF IC design and systems provider we offer a complete engineering capability to our clients, including research engineering, custom IC design and production, and system design engineering. Products include Topaz[TM], mandated by the NFC Forum as the NFC number one tag type format, Jewel [R] for mass transit mass transit, public transportation systems designed to move large numbers of passengers. Types and Advantages Mass transit refers to municipal or regional public shared transportation, such as buses, streetcars, and ferries, open to all on a ticketing applications, and io[R], the world's smallest standards compatible Near-Field RFID reader A transmitter/receiver that reads the contents of RFID tags in the vicinity. Also called an "RFID interrogator." The maximum distance between the reader's antenna and the tag vary, depending on application. . Visit www.innovision-group.com/topaz for more details. About NXP Semiconductors NXP (for Next eXPerience) Semiconductors is the name for the new semiconductor company founded by Philips as announced by its CEO Frans van Houten to its customers and employees in Berlin on Thursday night 2006-08-31 and to the global media early on Friday morning NXP is a top 10 semiconductor company founded by Philips more than 50 years ago. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the Netherlands, The officially Kingdom of The Netherlands byname Holland Country, northwestern Europe. Area: 16,034 sq mi (41,528 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 16,300,000. Capital: Amsterdam. Seat of government: The Hague. Most of the people are Dutch. company has 37,000 employees working in 26 countries across the world. NXP creates semiconductors, system solutions and software that deliver better sensory experiences in mobile phones, personal media players, TVs, set-top boxes, identification applications, cars and a wide range of other electronic devices. News from NXP is located at www.nxp.com. About VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT is a contract research organisation involved in many international assignments. With its more than 2700 employees, VTT provides a wide range of technology and applied research services for its clients, private companies, institutions and the public sector. VTT is striving to improve the well-being of society and to enhance the technical and economic performance of its clients. NFC technology, applications and business solutions are one of the key research areas of VTT. For more information, see www.vtt.fi. About Nokia Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations. For more information, see www.nokia.com. About SmartTouch SmartTouch is an ITEA/Eureka project that emphasizes NFC technology use in practical applications. The project consists of 21 partners from eight European countries: Alcatel-Lucent, Buscom, City of Oulu, Dan Company, ENSICAEN ENSICAEN Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs de Caen (French) , Gemalto, Idesco, IDesia, Innovision Research and Technology, K.U. Leuven, MedicTouch, Nokia, Nordea, Philips CE, the Innovation Lab, Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, Robotiker, Telefonica Investigacion y Desarrollo S.A. Unipersonal u·ni·per·son·al adj. Manifested as or existent in the form of only one person: a unipersonal spirit. , TeliaSonera, Telvent Trafico y Transporte, S.A., ToP Tunniste, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. For more information, see www.smarttouch.org. About the NFC Forum The NFC Forum was launched as a non-profit industry association in 2004 by leading mobile communications, semiconductor and consumer electronics companies. The Forum's mission is to advance the use of Near Field Communication technology by developing specifications, ensuring interoperability among devices and services, and educating the market about NFC technology. The Forum's nearly 100 global member companies currently are developing specifications for a modular NFC device architecture, and protocols for interoperable data exchange and device-independent service delivery, device discovery, and device capability. The NFC Forum's Sponsor Members, which hold seats on the Board of Directors, include leading players in key industries around the world. The Sponsor Members are: HP, MasterCard International, Microsoft Corp., Nokia, NEC (NEC Corporation, Tokyo, www.nec.com, www.necus.com) An electronics conglomerate known in the U.S. for its monitors. In Japan, it had the lion's share of the PC market until the late 1990s (see PC 98). NEC was founded in Tokyo in 1899 as Nippon Electric Company, Ltd. , NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, Renesas Technology Renesas Technology Corporation (ルネサス テクノロジ| , Samsung, Sony Corporation, Texas Instruments See TI. (company) Texas Instruments - (TI) A US electronics company. A TI engineer, Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit in 1958. Three TI employees left the company in 1982 to start Compaq. and Visa International. For more information, see www.nfc-forum.org. |
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