Samsung will introduce a software development kit (SDK) for the recently released  Bada 2.0, the second version of its homegrown operating system whose new features include NFC. Unlike its rivals, the vendor is majoring on the technology’s payment capability. Samsung says the technology will enable smartphone users to “experience advanced services such as mobile payment, transport pass-card recharge and file sharing without internet networking”. It will release three new Wave smartphones based on Bada 2.0 later this year.  

Samsung’s rivals showed rather less enthusiasm for making use of NFC’s payment capability in their announcements in what has been a busy week for handset releases. Nokia has unveiled three new NFC-enabled Symbian handsets – the 700, 701 and 600 (pictured) – but did not mention their capability as payment devices. Instead the manufacturer emphasised NFC’s “pairing and sharing functionality”. In addition to sharing content between one another, NFC enables any of the three smartphones to share with NFC-enabled accessories such as speakers or Bluetooth headsets.  The company will not support payments on its NFC handsets until the first half of 2012, according to NFC Times.

Earlier in the week, RIM announced three NFC-enabled additions to its Curve range of BlackBerry smartphones: the 9350, 9360 and 9370. Like Nokia, it was shy about the devices’ ability to make payments. It said NFC offered “many exciting capabilities including the ability to pair accessories or read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap of the smartphone.”