The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, and WIMA, a worldwide event dedicated to NFC technology, today announced the nine finalists in their Tap Into Innovation: NFC Global Competition 2012. Created to recognize the development and deployment of innovative and exemplary NFC solutions around the world, this year's competition attracted three times as many entries as the previous contest in 2010, showcasing the tremendous growth and interest in NFC implementations.

The 2012 entries cover a broad span of consumer and business application areas, ranging from new approaches to established applications such as mobile couponing, mobile payment, and retail merchandising, to inventive solutions in new fields such as social media, fitness and health, and cloud-based functions.

A jury composed of senior professionals and recognized experts from academia and industry evaluated all entries and selected three finalists in each of three categories, as follows.

• Best Innovative Solution for the entry that uses NFC technology in the most inventive way to address a market, business, or consumer need:
  SAi (Israel): Tag-a-Bag luggage tagging and identification
  TapThat Games LLC (USA): TapThat game
  XIUS (USA): MIT Active Poster Cafeteria Ordering System
• Best Business Viability for the entry that offers an NFC solution with the most commercial potential:
  Barclaycard (UK): Quick Tap contactless mobile payment service
  Korea Smart Card Co., Ltd. (South Korea): Mobile T-money ticketing solution
  NXP Software (China): MediaTribe media sharing
• Best User Experience for the solution that best leverages the power, ease, and convenience of NFC technology:
  good2gether (USA): good2gether and Do Good Badges for nonprofit support
  Korea Smart Card Co., Ltd. (South Korea): Mobile T-money ticketing solution
  NXP Software (China): MediaTribe media sharing

"This year, Tap Into Innovation attracted scores of entries from 22 countries, demonstrating the global acceptance of NFC," said Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "Clearly, NFC is inspiring the imaginations of inventors and entrepreneurial businesses in all sectors. We commend the finalists for their efforts and wish them luck at WIMA."

"We have been very impressed with the range and diversity of entries that were submitted to the competition this year," said Joanna Merchie, WIMA Executive Director. "Our finalists' innovative uses of NFC are opening our eyes to the far-reaching applicability of the technology, and building anticipation for the announcement of the winners and the demonstrations of their solutions at WIMA."

Finalists are invited to the awards ceremony on April 12, 2012 at WIMA in Monaco, where the three first-place winners will be announced. All finalists are also candidates for the Audience Award, a special award to be given at the ceremony to the solution that receives the most votes from the WIMA audience.

Each first-place winner will receive a Global Competition trophy, and all nine finalists will receive certificates of commendation. The winners will have the opportunity to demonstrate their solutions at the NFC Forum booth, F10-F11, at WIMA on April 13. Further details about the competition may be found at http://www.nfc-forum.org/events/2012_competition/.

About WIMA

WIMA is the leading global conference and exhibition held in Monaco and the US exclusively dedicated to NFC applications, products and services and a name of confidence for hundreds of industry companies. The events bring together the entire ecosystem with both transversal and vertical sectors from industry leaders to startups, and from application developers to merchants and service providers spanning a wide variety of industries. WIMA is a catalyst, facilitating networking and information sharing, enabling partnering and business to take place within the NFC industry. More information at: www.wima-nfc.com.

About Near Field Communication Technology

NFC technology makes life easier and more convenient for consumers around the world by making it simpler to make transactions, exchange digital content, and connect electronic devices with a touch.

A standards-based connectivity technology, NFC harmonizes today's diverse contactless technologies, enabling current and future solutions in areas such as access control, consumer electronics, healthcare, information collection and exchange, loyalty and coupons, payments, and transport.

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 160+ 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: Barclaycard, Broadcom Corporation, INSIDE Secure, Intel, MasterCard Worldwide, Microsoft Corp., NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Inc., NXP Semiconductors, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Samsung, Sony Corporation, STMicroelectronics, and Visa Inc.