Inside Secure unlocks NFC potential in packaging

Inside Secure, a semiconductor solutions specialist for secure transactions and digital identity, has made its family of near-field communication (NFC) solutions Kovio RF Barcode-ready, opening the door for brands, retailers, advertisers, mobile operators and retail system integrators to use packaging to provide instantaneous, personalized and contextual experiences to everyone who purchases, uses or interacts with everyday consumer goods.
 
Kovio said that by combining proprietary high-performance silicon inks with high-throughput and low-cost graphics printing technologies, its RF Barcode wireless tags can be printed in days on flexible substrates at a fraction of the cost of conventional silicon technology, making them practical and affordable enough to be used to ‘extend the convenience and power of real-time personalized permission marketing to mass-market consumer products’.
 
With Inside Secure making its MicroRead and SecuRead NFC hardware and Open NFC protocol Kovio RF Barcode-ready, mobile devices powered by this suite of NFC solutions can now interact with the RF Barcode wireless tags.
 
Inside Secure provides NFC technology for mobile phones, tablets, PCs and other consumer electronics devices. It lists Samsung, ZTE, LG, BenQ, SK Telecom and Bouygues Telecom among its mobile NFC partners.
 
Amir Mashkoori, president and chief executive officer of Kovio, said: ‘The affordability and service model enabled by the Kovio RF Barcode tag offers a breakthrough opportunity for retailers and brands to connect the online and physical worlds, creating a direct and instantaneous communication medium for them to interact with consumers at points of sale and use. Through our work with Inside Secure, consumers, brands and retailers will soon have a broad range of smartphones and other mobile devices they can use to revolutionize the shopping experience.’
 
Didier Serra (pictured, above), executive vice president and general manager for North America at Inside Secure, said: ‘We have worked closely with Kovio to ensure that our MicroRead and SecuRead NFC hardware and our Open NFC protocol stack are fully capable of communicating with wireless tags based on the Kovio RF Barcode technology, and we are excited by the possibilities this collaboration can bring to retailers and brands everywhere.
 
‘Over the coming year, Inside and Kovio will be engaging with major retailers, brands and wireless operators on ways to deploy this solution to enable a new communication medium for interacting with consumers at the point of sale and create new opportunities in brand marketing and advertising at the item level.’