SIM Server

Sony has big plans for 2013 and a new partnership with a major smart card specialist fits nicely with an initiative to improve its contactless technology. 

Watchdata Technologies, a company that pioneered secure digital authentication mobile payment solutions and SIM server technology, has 18 years of experience and an international presence. According to this report on The Next Web site, the company signed an agreement with Sony that will integrate Sony’s FeliCa technology with Watchdata’s SIMpass solution. 

SIMpass Card is engineered for inclusion in handsets, which allow users to conduct transactions while shopping, gassing their vehicles, using the bus, train or subway system as well as a variety of other contacts. The SIMpass operates without the need for additional antennae and is being used widely in East Asia right now where roughly six million users are currently relying on the technology daily.

SIMpass offers a SIM server technology with high security solutions and has earned the trust of many telecoms and users, including those in the financial sector. Its contactless function is a perfect fit for Sony’s 2013 goals with its mobile platform. Watchdata’s SIMpass supports mixed-mode and dual interface cards and can handle multiple applications. The technology is also open to multi-function use. The team behind SIMpass made it easy to deploy and cost-effective enough for Sony to include it in many lines of its upcoming mobile devices.

With the emerging near field communications (NFC)-enabled trend, Sony wants to be sure it doesn’t miss out on the action with its smartphones and tablet computers. The SIMpass ensures Sony can continue to develop NFC solutions for mobile phone handsets that will require no other hardware other than the phone itself (with the SIMpass inside the phone). The FeliCa trend is one that has taken hold. There are over 600 million of the chips currently in use worldwide, but only around 30 percent are currently being used in mobile devices.

The partnership between Sony and Watchdata will likely spell an increased adoption of the contactless technology outside of the Asian market, especially given Sony’s worldwide popularity and ability to reach into any area of the globe and market its products. 

While Samsung is currently exploding in the market with its tablet computers and Android (News - Alert) smartphones, Sony is looking to take a bigger piece of that pie, and the cache of the contactless technology could be a major selling point to consumers who are looking to reduce the amount of personal information they carry with them. Some might worry about the security of the technology, yet more than six million users in Asia are using it to great success and without security hiccups.