MicroRead NFC Solution Powers TazCard and TazKiosk Proximity Applications

Aix-En-Provence and Rennes, France, January 4, 2009–INSIDE Contactless and TazTag™ today announced they have created a partnership to develop and bring to market a variety of highly secured, multi-application contactless solutions based on near field communication (NFC) technology. INSIDE’s third-generation MicroRead® NFC solution has already been integrated into TazTag’s innovative TazCard®, the first NFC electronic wallet (e-Wallet) and open application platform, as well as the TazKiosk®, the first interactive NFC urban advertising kiosk, developed in partnership with Hyundai IT.

“INSIDE has been instrumental from the beginning not only in providing the core NFC technology for our products, but also in supporting our vision and introducing us to potential customers due to their leadership position in the NFC marketplace,” said Eric Fouchard, CEO of TazTag. “We look forward to working with INSIDE on new and exciting products based on NFC technology.”

The TazTag TazCard, TazKiosk and other products can be seen in the TazTag booth 36426 in the South 4 hall at the upcoming International CES, January 7-10, 2010, in Las Vegas.

Essentially a special purpose, Java-based tablet computer about the size of a credit card, the TazCard is capable of supporting a variety of identity, healthcare, transportation, loyalty, ticketing, payments and other secure NFC-based applications. An autonomous smart mobile device designed for corporate, campus and consumer environments, the TazCard features a 3.5-inch color touch screen, biometric authentication, audio output, data storage and a tamper-resistant secure element, and offers USB and 6lowPAN communications in addition to the NFC provided by the MicroRead chip.

“The TazCard represents a new class of versatile NFC devices that will open the door to a broad range of new NFC applications, and we are very excited to be participating with TazTag in the development of their innovative NFC products,” said Bertrand Moussel, executive vice president of sales, EMEA and LATAM for INSIDE Contactless. “Our award-winning MicroRead NFC solution delivers an unrivaled user experience while easing integration of NFC capabilities into products such as the TazCard and TazKiosk.”

INSIDE’s third-generation MicroRead NFC chip provides the broadest range of NFC options, enabling numerous new contactless applications. The first NFC solution to support the single-wire protocol (SWP), the award-winning MicroRead suite combines third-generation silicon, a full set of interfaces, NFC software libraries and APIs, a field-proven reference design and robust standards support to provide a turnkey contactless reader solution.

About TazTag

TazTag is a new innovative company that creates and provides secured contactless solutions based on NFC and 6lowPAN. Its core activity is the creation of new, highly secured, multi-application contactless products such as the TazCard and TazKiosk. The Java Development Framework supporting these products allows customers to easily harness the full potential of NFC to create new services, differentiate their offerings, generate new revenue streams and increase customer satisfaction.

About INSIDE Contactless

INSIDE Contactless is the global leader in open-standard contactless payment and near field communication (NFC) semiconductors and software that power the next generation of payment, transit, identity and access control applications. The company’s intelligent, microprocessor-based platforms offer the flexibility to be embedded in smart cards, mobile phones and other consumer electronic devices, documents, badges and other items to support a wide range of innovative contactless applications and bring new levels of convenience to users. INSIDE has delivered more than 350 million contactless platforms worldwide to customers and partners that include many of the leading payment card and mobile phone manufacturers, systems integrators and financial institutions. With a portfolio of 60 families of patents, including several essential NFC patents, the company has played a leading role in NFC and contactless innovation. INSIDE is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Warsaw, Seoul and Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit http://www.insidecontactless.com.

Contacts

For INSIDE Contactless
Patrick Corman
Corman Communications, LLC
(650) 326-9648
patrick@cormancom.com
http://www.cormancom.com

INSIDE company contact
Geraldine Sauniere
Marcom Director
+33 (0) 4 42 39 33 01
gsauniere@insidefr.com

For TazTag
Michel Delaux
International General Manager
+33 (0) 2 99 57 90 60
md@taztag.com

TazTag company contact
Eric Fouchard
CEO
+33 (0) 2 99 57 90 60
ef@taztag.com