NFC Technology Heads Toward Intel Inside

Inside Secure is a well-known backer of the technology known as NFC, for near-field communication. Popularizing it has taken some time, but the French chip maker has picked up a prominent endorsement in Silicon Valley.

The company is announcing Wednesday that it has cut a deal to provide technology to Intel, the kingpin in microprocessors that power personal computers. Charles Walton, Inside Secure’s chief operating officer, expects to supply chips to Intel as well as software and other technology that Intel could incorporate into its own chips.

Intel isn’t sharing much in the way of possibilities yet. “We are highly interested” in NFC, an Intel spokeswoman says, “but we are not announcing any product plans at this time.”

She did note that one option is to include Inside Secure’s technology as part of what Intel calls reference designs, which are typically functioning combinations of chips and circuit boards that laptop computer makers and others can use as a model to create their own products.

Intel’s move follow endorsements of NFC by players such as Google and Nokia for use in smartphones. Besides Inside Secure, major suppliers of NFC chips include NXP Semiconductors, which is based in the Netherlands.

Now, Intel is not a big player in phones, despite years of efforts. But that could change, and in the meantime there are also frequently overlooked applications that involve laptop PCs, Walton says.

Where the most-discussed use of NFC is in smartphones as a replacement for credit cards in retail stores, there are also person-to-person applications that aren’t usually done with plastic. For example, someone with an NFC equipped smartphone could transfer information or payments directly to another person with an NFC-equipped phone–or a portable PC.

Many applications for NFC, Walton says, have been slow to develop because operators of cellphone networks are hoping to get a cut of transactions, a possibility that hardware makers are not exactly keen on.

But he is hopeful that moves by companies like Intel–which has long held influence over the evolution of technology standards–could help break the logjam. “We are just thrilled to be working with them,” he says.