Could contactless payments and short-range content downloads finally be heading to the mass market in Europe?
Nokia has unveiled its third fully-integrated Near Field Communication (NFC) device in the form of the Nokia 6216 classic.
Perhaps more importantly, it's also the company's first SIM-based NFC device, and as such will enable operators to build NFC services on to the SIM card.
The device is expected to start shipping in the 3Q09 in selected markets with an estimated retail price of 50 euros before taxes and subsidies.
NFC has been a huge success in Japan, where Sony's proprietary FeliCa technology is widely used.
However, there's a growing move towards open standards in global markets - earlier this month Visa and Nokia teamed up to launch NFC payments in Malaysia.
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Jeremy Belostock, head of near field communications at Nokia, said: "With the Nokia 6216 classic in your pocket and the ticketing applications on the SIM you can replace the multitude of cards in your wallet. Having the applications on the SIM consumers can bring their secure applications to their next Nokia NFC enabled phone."
