Boardwalk Inc. Begins Near Field Communication (NFC) R&D

December 02, 2011 08:00 AM Eastern Time 

Aiming to Improve Entertainment Services in Japan and Overseas

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Boardwalk Inc. (Head office: Shibuya, Tokyo; President and CEO: Akira Ichikawa) will begin Near Field Communication (NFC) research and development of ticket-related applications.

NFC is global standard for short distance wireless communication prescribed by International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which allows multi-faceted services compatible with the FeliCa, a contactless IC card technology widely used in Japan, and the Type A/B, prevailing technology in Europe and the U.S. By adopting this international NFC standard, it is possible to implement mobile payment services within global reach.

As a new ticket service for the entertainment business, Boardwalk provides "ticket board," a mobile ticketing service. "ticket board" utilizes the Osaifu-Keitai ("mobile wallet" using the FeliCa technology) feature that turns the mobile phone itself into paperless ticket, and QR code for users who don't have the Osaifu -Keitai-enabled phone. Following introduction of the service in Japan, Boardwalk believes that NFC compatibility is necessary for future core technology of ticket board in order to implement mobile ticketing service in overseas.

NFC implementation will improve usability of ticket board service overseas.

Moreover, with this research and development, Boardwalk will be able to receive the following specific support from its investor, NTT DOCOMO, INC.

				1.				Specification formulation support for ticketing compatible with NFC
				2.				Development support for NFC device applications
				3.				Development support for NFC server applications
				4.				Global PR/advertisement cooperation for the above
				5.				Global sales cooperation for the above
				6.				Introduction of partner companies for effective implementation of 1-5 above

With this, Boardwalk expects further accurate research and development of NFC technology.

Corporate Information
Company Name:			Boardwalk Inc.
Address:			1-4-2 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Capitalization:			680 million yen
Establishment:			May 27, 2010
Main Shareholders:			DENTSU INC., NTT DOCOMO,INC., etc.
Accounting Term:			March
Business Activities:		Ticket sales for events including: music, sports, movies, theater. Planning/production/sales of digital content and merchandise. Providing ticket sales service. Planning/production/execution of various events. Other activities relevant to the above.