Card Technology articles from March 2004

Card Technology archives from March 2004

CTST's New Look.(CardTech/SecurTech show)
March 1, 2004... I have no choice but to attend next month's CardTech/SecurTech show in Washington. It's the biggest smart card and biometrics event in the Americas, so it's a must for a reporter covering this industry. Besides, CTST is owned by the same...

Vendor Profits On The Mend.(smart card)
March 1, 2004... The smart card industry is showing definite signs of regaining its health, if year-end 2003 financial reports from card vendors are any guide. The vital signs were especially good in the critical market for subscriber identity module cards...

Road to Recovery: Major card vendors either stemmed losses or increased revenue last year (Sales, in millions of euros--not accounting for currency fluctuation).(Illustration)
March 1, 2004... Vendor 2003 2002 % change Gemplus 749.4 787.4 -4.9 Axalto 634* 581.6* 9 Giesecke & Devrient NA 505 NA Oberthur 430.1 440.1 ...

Industry Briefs.
March 1, 2004... Deals Germany-based Giesecke & Devrient has won a contract to supply EMV-compliant, MasterCard-branded credit cards to the state-owned Islamic Development Bank of Brunei Berhad....Germany-based Byometric Systems GmbH and Oki Electric...

Looking To Expand: I'm Technologies plans to launch an initial public offering this quarter.
March 1, 2004... Headquarters: Singapore Employees: 60 CEO: Teo Zee Vee Main business: Develops operating system and applications for subscriber identity module cards for mobile phones; outsources production. Revenue: Full-year 2002:...

Letter To The Editor.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... All this brouhaha over contactless RF-based systems (Card Technology, January 2004) prompts me to think, "How many would one person likely want to have"? I can see the slight advantage to the user of having, say, a Mobil Speedpass on her...

Card Technology Calendar.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... April 6-8: Card-Ex 2004-Cairo Organized by Egytec Engineering Co. For more information, contact Nivin Maursi at: Telephone: +202 735 9801 - 735 3877 Fax: +202 735 8801 e-mail: egytectedata.net.eg Web site: www.egytec.com...

Regional News.(Inside Contactless)
March 1, 2004... EUROPE G&D Takes Over IT Security Firm: Germany-based smart card vendor Giesecke & Devrient plans to acquire a majority stake in German IT security firm secunet Security Networks, hoping to boost its network security business. Secunet will...

Chip Cards Are Knocking On The Door.(usage of chip cards )
March 1, 2004... Two years ago, British consultant Lindsay Robertson wrote a lighthearted column for Card Technology about the year 2010 when, he predicted, he would enter his home by waving a contactless smart card and verifying his identity through an...

Canada Wants It All-And Fast.(safety of secure areas of airports)
March 1, 2004... A big part of making it safer to fly is ensuring that only authorized employees have access to secure areas of airports. That has spurred a worldwide search for more sophisticated worker ID cards, including a growing interest in biometric...

Canada's Airport Worker ID.(Canadian Air Transport Security Authority)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... * Issuing agency: Canadian Air Transport Security Authority * Planned scope: To be carried by some 130,000 workers at 29 Canadian airports. * Card technology: Cards will be contactless chip cards conforming to ISO 14443 Type B and ISO...

Wringing Revenue From Customers: The latest generation of SIM-based applications allows mobile network operators to squeeze more revenue out of customers and reduce churn.(subscriber identity module )
March 1, 2004... For all the talk of multimedia applications and Java-based handsets, you would think mobile network operators would be cutting back on the services they deliver on their subscriber identity module cards. To the contrary. SIMs with 64-kilobytes...

What Will Be The Impact Of Consolidation?(trends in U.S. cellular market)
March 1, 2004... The sprawling U.S. cellular market, the world's second largest after China, is consolidating, starting at the top. The successful bid last month by No. 2 U.S. network operator Cingular Wireless to acquire No. 3 AT&T Wireless means the...

The Massive Chinese Market Matures.(cellular phones)
March 1, 2004... Growth in the world's largest cellular market slowed considerably in 2003, as the market matured. While adding nearly 30% more customers would be considered a great year for mobile network operators in many countries, that's a comedown for the...

'It Was A Land Grab'.(growth in Subscriber numbers in Russia)
March 1, 2004... Subscriber numbers in Russia doubled in 2003 and could double again this year. Like mobile phone markets in other developing countries, network operators here are offering low tariffs on voice calls to sign up as many first-time customers as...

Cheap Tariffs Spur An Indian Boom.
March 1, 2004... With more than 150% growth last year and less than 3% penetration, the booming Indian mobile market reminds one a little bit of the Chinese market of four or five years ago. With some of the lowest tariffs in the world and a handful of...

SIM Toolkit Breathes Life Into Cell Broadcasting Service.
March 1, 2004... Operators, faced with eroding voice revenue, are keen to sell more content. A major problem has been how to entice customers to use more value-added data services without bombarding them with annoying advertising text messages or launching an...

Groupe Sagem.(Mobile Value Added Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Groupe SAGEM is an internationally-based high-technology group which enjoyed consolidated sales of EUR 2.763 billion in 2002 and an operating income of M 130. The second largest French group in the field of telecommunications and the third...

Gemplus.(services of Gemplus International S.A.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source 2002: Gartner-Dataquest, Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.). It has the...

Dynamizing Future Wireless Services.
March 1, 2004... Operators are looking at ways to enrich their subscriber experience through a range of attractive and easy to implement services. SIMagine is an annual worldwide GSM & Java Card Developer Contest that explores innovation in SIM-based...

Lipman.(use of wireless technology in electronic transaction solutions)(NURIT 8000 Secure Palmtop Solution )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Lipman has and continues to lead the way in the implementation of wireless technology in electronic transaction solutions. The NURIT 8000 Secure Palmtop Solution - The NURIT 8000 is the ultimate solution for on-the-go retailers who...

Crunch Time.(biometric passports)
March 1, 2004... The fall deadline for biometric passports may not be realistic, but it is fast approaching. A law passed by the U.S. Congress in 2002 requires the 27 Visa Waiver countries-those nations whose citizens can enter the United States with just...

ICAO Task Force Grapples With PKI.(International Civil Aviation Organization)(Public Key Infrastructure)
March 1, 2004... A task force of the International Civil Aviation Organization's New Technologies Working Group is defining how to protect data stored on contactless chips in passports using public key infrastructure technology. ICAO recommended last May...