Ever Wonder What’s in Your Smartphone?

With the explosive growth of smartphone users, especially in Korea, people are more connected with each other than ever. It is within bounds to say that our lives – at least the lives of those of us using smartphones – have undergone a complete metamorphosis, thanks to the technology that enables us to multi-task, even on-the-go.

It’s easy to take all of this connectivity for granted but we hope your appreciation of modern day technology will grow once we walk you through the real inside story (yeah, really) of your mobile device.

At the core of the next wave of mobile technology, there is this technology called Near Field Communication, more commonly known as NFC. This is an exciting method for communication between devices within a short range. Being equipped with NFC means phones can transfer data with one another, read and write special NFC tags, and act as contactless payment cards and readers.

Many uses for NFC

How NFC contactless payment works

As such, consumers can take advantage of NFC technology in a wide range of applications. Its active RF technology can be configured by various smart apps, making this multi-tasking possible.

For example, a consumer walks up to a cashier with an NFC phone, and use coupons and credit card information loaded on the phone to make a discounted purchase without paper ever changing hands. In return, the customer and also receive loyalty points back, which will be stored in another application.

The NFC ecosystem

KONA-I has been working hard to bring smart card technology to market. KONA-I has supplied more than 10 million NFC USIM cards globally, making the company the largest NFC USIM provider in the world. KONA-I is a key enabler behind the world’s first nationwide commercial NFC mobile payment service (South Korea, October 2010) as well as the Visa/MasterCard mobile payment service, mobile transit service, and mobile coupon service for KT, a leading telecom operator in South Korea.   KONA-I is committed to helping its customers accelerate the deployment of NFC technology across the globe by offering a broad portfolio of advanced NFC-based solutions”,

A technical view of NFC 

There’s a long list of phones that already have NFC built in at the NFC World website. Korean-made options include the Google Nexus S, most of the LG Optimus phones including Optimus Elite, L5, L7, LTE, Net and View, Pantech Sky Vega LTE and Vega Racer, Prada phone by LG 3.0, Samsung Galaxy Mini 2, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S Advance, Galaxy S Blaze 4G, Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III. Check out the link for the full (long) list, including upcoming models.

KONA-I card also used for e-passport and Identification card

In addition to smartphones, KONA-I products are widely adopted by governments around the world. National identification cards in many countries embed personal identification information, from your legal name to fingerprints, on an IC chip from KONA-I

Smart ID cards have been used to improve the efficiency of e-government while improving security and convenience. For example, people from Korea can enjoy the benefits of the government’s E-Passport system which lets them be processed through immigration in less time at the airport.