San Diego (US) and New Delhi, December 14, 2012 — Wireless technologies leader Qualcomm has announced the availability of a new ultra low power communication chip for mobile devices like smart phones, that is likely to kickstart the business of contactless or tap-n-pay phone-based mobile payments.
The company’s subsidiary Qualcomm Atheros, has incorporated near field communication (NFC) into the QCA1990 -- the industry’s smallest, ultra-low power system-on-chip (SoC) with an overall footprint that is 50 percent smaller than current NFC chips available in the market. . When paired with Qualcomm Atheros’ WCN3680 1-stream, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 4.0/FM chip, the QCA1990 will enable seamless user experiences in the mobile, computing and consumer electronics marketsThe QCA1990 offers platform-level integration with the Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon S4 and next-generation processors and modems to seamlessly enable NFC on Qualcomm fuelled smartphones and tablets. This has implications for India, where payments based on mobile phones rather than other modes like bank tellers or ATMs is seen as the tipping point which will proliferate secure payments in a big way in vast rural reaches where recipients are challenged by ATM like operations which demand the keying in of PIN numbers. When NFC is built into the phone it opens the door to less intimidating authentication and payment mechanisms.
Interestingly in the week when Qualcomm announced the QCA worldwide, it has been recognised as ‘Chipset Company of The Year 2012 (Smartphones)’ in India by Voice & Data magazine’s Telecom Leadership & Innovation Awards 2012.　
The award recognizes the success of Qualcomm Technologies and the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The Voice & Data awards celebrates leadership and encourages innovations in the telecom industry by recognizing and applauding excellence in the domain.
　"We are honoured to have been recognised by Voice & Data Awards 2012 as the Chipset Company of the Year 2012 in the smartphone category," said Dr. Avneesh Agrawal, senior vice president, Qualcomm Technologies and president, Qualcomm India and South Asia. "Qualcomm Snapdragon processors currently power a majority of the high-end, as well as mass-market smartphones in India with diverse features that offer consumers the best possible connectivity and computing experience". www.qualcomm.com