Vivotech Inc. has introduced software designed to support "large-scale commercial deployments" of near field communication, a short-range, contactless payment and downloading technology.
Sun Microsystems Inc., a computer technology vendor in Santa Clara, Calif., will use Vivotech's Vivo NFC Suite 2.8 for commercial NFC deployments, said Mohammad Khan, the president and founder of the contactless technology vendor, which also is in Santa Clara. Sun is to include the software in its Solaris 10 operating system.
Though some companies have said they have started limited rollouts of the technology, no large-scale rollout has occurred, and various estimates for the technology's commercial debut have proven optimistic.
Making the Vivotech software available for rollouts through Sun, however, appears to nudge the technology closer to wider rollouts. "Everybody is saying 'no more pilots,' " Khan said. Instead, pressure is building for "commercial launches."
Vivotech's software lets consumers personalize and load NFC applications over the air with their mobile phones.
Khan said he expects the software to appeal to the retail segment.
