TAIWAN, Hsinchu – 8 January, 2013 – MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced the availability of the MT6605, the world’s 1st dual-SIM plus 1 micro SD card capable Near Field Communications (NFC) solution positioned to expand the adoption in and usefulness of mainstream mobile platforms. Featuring a unique 3-SWP (single-wire protocol) architecture, the MT6605 allows co-existence of multiple applications, such as information exchange/retrieval, ticketing, access control/authentication, location-based services and device pairing, all on a single mobile device, through simple and secure contactless connections.

The MT6605 provides seamless integration with MediaTek’s field-proven Android mobile platforms and efficiently enables NFC connectivity on mainstream smartphones and tablets. It supports simultaneously 3 secure elements, both embedded and SIM-based, meaning a possible usage scenario could be a dual-SIM plus one micro SD card configuration in one device. It’s a great way to empower ecosystem players to launch their NFC services right away by enabling more flexible business models.

The MT6605 software stack complies with the NFC Forum Controller Interface (NCI) and works on multiple OS platforms including Android. The chip also incorporates MediaTek’s ”Beam Plus” technology that optimizes the NFC plus Wi-Fi handover procedure and can reduce device paring time significantly at very low power operations. MediaTek also works closely with its customers to support their antenna designs for significantly smaller antenna sizes than current market offerings. Together with its ultra compact footprint, the MT6605 is truly ideal for highly integrated mobile platforms for device manufacturers to integrate NFC at a significantly lower price point.

“For the next few years, growth of NFC will be primarily in smartphones and the surrounding digital ecosystem devices, such as tablets, PCs, printers and TVs. The enterprise, the consumer, and the event and travel industries can particularly benefit from the inclusion of NFC in these devices, as the controlled nature of their environments (an office building, a house, a stadium, a hotel or an airport) can more easily facilitate the deployment of the necessary infrastructure without the need for ubiquity, (*)” said Mr. Mark Hung, Research Director at Gartner.

"With the convergence of mobile communications, social networks, information exchange, payments and cloud services on the smartphone, NFC is a key technology that is bridging the smartphone owner in both the physical and online world for an enhanced user experience,” said SR Tsai, General Manager of the Wireless Connectivity and Networking Business Unit at MediaTek. “As a global leader across mobile and home entertainment, MediaTek intends to be at the forefront of delivering easy-to-implement, affordable solutions to our customers. Our industry leadership in performance, integration, efficiency and reliability can now bring the powerful new technology of NFC to the widest possible range of smart devices.”

The MediaTek MT6605 NFC chip is currently being designed into smartphones by MediaTek’s leading global customers along with the company’s leading Android mobile platforms. The first smartphone models based on this new chipset are expected to ship commercially in Q2 2013.

*Source: Gartner, “Innovation Insight: NFC Bridges Mobile Devices, People and Things” Mark Hung, 16 October 2012

About MediaTek

Since 1997, MediaTek has been a pioneering fabless semiconductor company and a market leader in cutting-edge systems-on-chip (SoC) for mobile devices, wireless networking, HDTV, DVD and Blu-ray. Our tightly-integrated, innovative chip designs help manufacturers optimize supply chains, reduce the development time of new products, and extend a competitive edge in crowded markets. Through MediaTek Labs, the company is also building a developer hub that will support device creation, application development, and services for the Internet of Things era. By building technologies that help connect individuals to the world around them, MediaTek is enabling people to expand their horizons and more easily achieve their goals. We believe anyone can achieve something amazing. And we believe they can do it every single day. We call this idea Everyday Genius and it drives everything we do. Visit mediatek.com for more information.