Inside Secure has come up with a solution that can add NFC functionality to ordinary phone handsets. 

The patented INSIDE core technology puts NFC card emulation inside a standard SIM card form factor. Despite its small size, the company says it still achieves industry-standard 4cm proximity transaction performance. 

The company also says the technology works from inside a mobile phone, significantly reducing the effects of the metals and electrical noise typically found within these devices.

The technology is part of an Inside Secure initiative that aims to bring a range of NFC products to market in 2012 and 2013, both directly and through strategic partnerships. 

A technology demonstration is being presented for the first time during the CARTES and IDentification 2011 conference and exhibition being held this week in Paris.  

“INSIDE Secure is again demonstrating its leadership in the NFC market by providing a core enabling technology that will enable multiple new end products in SIM and microSD form-factors for use in legacy mobile devices, accelerating the adoption of NFC card emulation use cases within the currently deployed mobile phone market,” says Charles Walton, chief operating officer at INSIDE Secure. “This breakthrough technology provides a means of bringing NFC services to markets that might otherwise not be immediately reachable through smart phone sales, such as in Brazil, India and African countries, or for any market with a large installed base of legacy mobile phones.”

The technology will be demonstrated using a SIM card inside a legacy mobile phone. The SIM will have INSIDE core technology, and a secure element and a 5x10mm antenna will also be inserted. These mobile devices will then be used to demonstrate NFC contactless transaction performance with a reader device. The phone containing the INSIDE solution will be able to communicate with contactless readers, such as the standard ISO 14443 contactless smart cards used in US contactless payment deployments.  

Inside Secure says the technology doesnt have to be applied to SIM cards, and says it could be embedded into other devices and form factors. 

“Until now, no one has been able to place a complete NFC solution, including antenna, into a SIM card, insert it into a mobile phone and have it perform well,” says Bruno Charrat, chief innovation officer at INSIDE Secure. “The patented INSIDE innovation enables the creation of new products with very small antennas, less than one square centimetre, making feasible the commercial introduction of NFC enablement products using the SIM form factor as well as other inserted or embedded solutions.”

Commercial products based on this INSIDE core technology are expected to be available in the latter part of 2012. INSIDE will be starting discussions with prospective product partners during CARTES this week, and will be extending a partnership program structure in the new year.