Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum to Hold Spotlight Session for Developers.

One-day Educational Conference Set for September 4, 2009 in Oulu, Finland

WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- The NFC Forum (http://www.nfc-forum.org), a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, today announced that it is conducting a one-day Spotlight Session for Developers from 9AM to 5PM on Friday, September 4, 2009 at the Lasaretti Hotelli-Ravintolaat in Oulu, Finland. Second in a series of Forum Spotlight Sessions, this event features top NFC experts providing practical knowledge, opportunities to network and hands-on training for NFC application developers.

During the event, attendees will:

* Learn about the market for NFC and sample use cases already deployed in more than 100 projects around the world;

* Get an update on the status of NFC Forum technical specifications from the Forum's Technical Committee Chair and learn how they fit into the overall architecture;

* Preview the compliance program under development;

* Receive a briefing on the tools and certificates needed for secure element programming;

* Learn how to program a secure element applet; and

* Listen to a panel discussion on best practices from recent implementations.

Presenters and panelists include: Peter Preuss of Nokia, NFC Forum Marketing Committee Chair; Jonathan Main of MasterCard, NFC Forum Technical Committee Chair; Matt Ronning of Sony, NFC Forum Compliance Committee Co-Chair; Josef Langer, University of Hagenberg; Heikki Huomo, Center for Internet Excellence, CIE; Holgar Kunkat of SCM Microsystems; Gavin Shenker of Visa; and Hans Reisgies of ViVOtech.

"We're seeing more and more commercially-deployed NFC applications, and as a result, the body of NFC development and deployment knowledge is also growing," said Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "By enabling us to share that practical expertise directly, the Spotlight Session will help empower developers to drive the next wave of NFC innovation."

The Spotlight Session takes place during the NFC Forum all-members meeting in Oulu, Finland, August 31-September 6. During the week-long event, representatives from the 140 NFC Forum member organizations converge to advance initiatives focused on bringing Near Field Communication-enabled products and services to market. The face-to-face meeting gives NFC Forum committee, working group and task force members the opportunity to meet in more than 40 working sessions. The NFC Forum holds three all-members meetings a year; the next meeting will be held December 7-11 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Attendance at the NFC Forum Spotlight Session for Developers is open to all NFC application developers. Costs for the event, including lunch, are as follows: US$70 ([euro]50) for NFC Forum members; US$210 ([euro]150) for non-members; and $70 ([euro]50) for students. A 22% VAT is added to the cost of admission.

Detailed information about the Spotlight Session for Developers, including the full agenda, speaker profiles and online registration, is available at the NFC Forum website: http://www.nfc-forum.org/events/oulu_spotlight/.

Gold Sponsors of the Spotlight Session are Innovision Research & Technology plc, INSIDE Contactless and Sony Corporation; the Silver Sponsor is Hansaprint. Lunch is sponsored by WIMA. The Spotlight Session also features exciting, new NFC-based applications showcased by Gold and Silver Sponsors.

About Near Field Communication Technology

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a standards-based, short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables simple and safe two-way interactions between electronic devices. NFC technology allows consumers to perform contactless transactions, access digital content and connect devices with the simplicity of a single touch.

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology provides global interoperability of contactless identification and interconnection technologies. NFC operates in the 13.56 MHz frequency range, over a typical distance of a few centimeters. The underlying layers of NFC technology are based on ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards. NFC technology is supported by the world's leading communication device manufacturers, semiconductor producers, network operators, IT and services companies, and financial services organizations. NFC is compatible with hundreds of millions of contactless cards and readers already deployed worldwide.

About the NFC Forum

The NFC Forum, http://www.nfc-forum.org, 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 140 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: Innovision Research & Technology plc, INSIDE Contactless, MasterCard Worldwide, Microsoft Corp., NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Inc., NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic, Renesas Technology, Samsung, Sony Corporation, STMicroelectronics and Visa Inc.