NFC Forum Welcomes Canon, HP, Infineon Technologies, and Yahoo! JAPAN as Principal Members

WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, today announced that Canon, HP, and Yahoo! JAPAN have joined the organization as Principal members. In addition, Infineon Technologies raised its level of membership from Associate to Principal member. The NFC Forum also recently welcomed 24 new Associate, Implementer, and Non-Profit members from across the NFC ecosystem.

“They, along with our new Associate, Implementer, and Non-Profit members, will contribute greatly to furthering the adoption of NFC technology and strengthening the knowledge base and impact of the NFC Forum.”

Since its founding in 2004, the NFC Forum has drawn market-leading organizations from around the world to its membership roster as momentum builds for the adoption and implementation of NFC technology.

"Our newest Principal members span the NFC ecosystem, bringing us their perspectives as global leaders in the consumer electronics, Information Technology, semiconductor, and Internet industries," said Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "They, along with our new Associate, Implementer, and Non-Profit members, will contribute greatly to furthering the adoption of NFC technology and strengthening the knowledge base and impact of the NFC Forum."

Principal membership is the second-highest level of membership in the NFC Forum, with each Principal member entitled to appoint a voting representative to each of the Technical, Ecosystem, and Compliance Committees and Working Groups. Principal members may also designate individuals to run for positions leading Committees or Working Groups, and they may propose initiatives and contribute to the development of Forum deliverables. As Principal members, organizations may also participate in the NFC Forum testing and certification program using their own in-house test labs.

New Associate members include:

BKM
CanvasM Technologies Limited
Dialog Semiconductor GmbH
Harman International
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT)
Interac Association/Acxsys Corporation
Nordic Semiconductor ASA
Polar Electro
Stonestreet One, LLC
Wipro Limited
Zebra Technologies Corporation

Joining as Implementer members are:

Advanced Card Systems Ltd.
Athena Smartcard Solutions Inc.
BURY Sp. z o.o.
Constratus, LLC
Crosscliq
DUALi Inc.
Fujitsu Limited
GN Netcom A/S
RapidNFC
Samsung SDS

CITC-EuraRFID and Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association joined as Non-Profit members.

In addition to its ongoing work via conference calls and online meetings, the NFC Forum holds face-to-face, all-members meetings three times a year to advance NFC initiatives, and to address specifications and other projects under development. The next all-members meeting will take place in Tokyo, June 25-29, 2012.

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, NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Inc., NXP Semiconductors, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Samsung, Sony Corporation, STMicroelectronics, and Visa Inc.