Toronto - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) plans to
open doors for its key corporate customers using a decade-old technology most
in the smartphone industry eye as a way to turn phones into wallets.
Everyone from Nokia to Android developer Google plans to
include near-field communications (NFC) technology in future devices, as they
seek to replace cash and cards for everything from coffee to concert and
transport ticket purchases.
NFC enables data to be exchanged wirelessly over distances
of a few centimetrers, meaning cellphones can be used to pay for goods, store
electronic tickets, download music and swap photos and business cards.
But implementation of NFC for purchases has been stymied by
the competing interests of banks, merchants, device makers and even wireless
carriers all eager to get a cut.
"It is a very dynamic ecosystem; there are a lot of
people involved, a lot of things that need to happen before a critical mass can
be achieved," RIM's vice-president for handheld software products, Andrew
Bocking, said in an interview.
In the meantime, RIM will be leveraging its established role
as smartphone of choice in offices and government buildings to gain physical
access to those properties.
Office workers often swipe a plastic card at a reader to
gain access to their building or activate the lift. There's a decent chance
that card and the associated reader is made by HID Global, a part of Assa
Abloy.
RIM and HID Global on Thursday said they had teamed up to
enable users of new versions of RIM's Bold and Curve smartphones to tap them
against a reader to gain access to their workplace or other controlled area.
Tap to gain access
"This is an industry first and quite a milestone for us
because it enables the capability of a mobile device to now have an identity
stored in it for use in logical and physical access," said HID Global CEO
Denis Hebert.
While HID is testing its product for smartphones on other
operating systems, Hebert said RIM was an ideal partner.
"RIM has a tremendous presence in the enterprise space.
That is an attractive target for them, but also for us because many of them are
users of our cards today," he said.
Hebert said the cooperation could make use of RIM's
enterprise servers - which allow employees to receive corporate email and other
data while away from their desks - to quickly add, alter or remove access for
an individual or group of workers.
RIM's Bocking said visitors to the Museum of London can
already use NFC-enabled phones to get additional information by tapping at tags
near specific exhibits.
HID's Hebert said the company completed a trial at Arizona
State University which proved popular with students who otherwise use a card to
buy cafeteria food or get into their dormitory.
"Many of the students said:'Hey look - I'll often leave
my key in my room, leave my card in my dorm, but I never, ever leave my phone.
I've always got my phone'," he said.
Google is including the ability to make mobile payments in
its Android operating system, the world's most popular smartphone software,
while Nokia has said all of its phones will be NFC-enabled by the end of 2011.
Hebert said NFC operates on a similar frequency to HID's
contactless smart cards, meaning the company did not have to change its
existing systems to migrate them onto smartphones carrying the chip.
"You're going to see that become more pervasive
throughout our product roadmap ... it'll be in a significant percentage of our
new device launches," RIM's Bocking said.