Samsung has launched a campaign to give Robbie Williams fans the chance to meet the star by simply tapping NFC tags located in black cabs in three UK cities.

For the campaign, run by VeriFone Media in partnership with NFC vendor Tapit, taxi cabs are being redecorated with promotional imagery for the singer's Take the Crown tour and TV screens are being installed inside the rebranded cabs to show exclusive backstage footage of a previous tour.

Every 30 seconds a call to action appears on-screen that prompts viewers to tap their phone against one of the NFC stickers located on either side of the cab's interior. When they tap, fans are directed to the competition web page where they can enter a draw to have the chance to meet Robbie Williams and win tickets to the gigs.

The promotion is now live in fifteen London taxis and will be rolled out to eighty cabs around the city as well as to cabs in Manchester and Glasgow.

The campaign is the first of its type in Europe, Tapit's Niklas Bakos has told NFC World — and the company is now working with VeriFone "to install permanent NFC tags in hundreds, maybe even thousands, of black cabs in the UK meaning that any advertising company could make use of NFC tags in any campaign, because they will already be installed."

Fans can also enter the Robbie Williams competition by taking a picture of the outside of a cab and tweeting it with a#SamsungRobbie hashtag, Bakos explained. "But, in my opinion, inside the cab is the best part of the whole campaign."

"By showing people the video, it demonstrates how they use the NFC stickers in the cab and it also makes them more aware of the technology; it brings more attention to it."

Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy, has installed a new maintenance system that uses NFC phones and a network of 50,000 NFC and RFID tags attached to equipment and systems around the airport — including fire extinguishers, elevators, sprinklers and boarding bridges.

The CAM (Maintenance Activities Control) project consists of tags, supplied by RFID360, that employees can read with an NFC device to check in and out of locations, allowing the back office to verify the execution of planned maintenance and repairs in real time.

The tags can also be used to obtain information such as checklists, technical specifications and other documents to help employees with their work.

RFID360's Vittorio Ricci told NFC World that his company has implemented similar systems in a number of situations including an Italian hospital and a home health care company for tracking visits.

"We also plan to develop three new modules this year," he told NFC World. "Personal protective equipment (PPE) management, voice assisted procedures and an indoor location system.

"We initially had problems after we first launched this type of system in 2009 with the lack of available NFC phones, but now with more Samsung and Google phones we don't have any issues."

Blockbuster movie Star Trek Into Darkness is being promoted at four US airports via displays equipped with NFC marketing specialist Blue Bite's mTag platform.

Using Clear Channel Outdoor and JCDecaux displays and in partnership with mobile marketing agency Joule, consumers can access exclusive video content by tapping their NFC device to the phone-style "communicator" shown in lead character Kirk's hand.

"We are excited about the opportunities that NFC technology provides, and feel that Star Trek is a great property to take advantage of it," says Faye Ugolnik, senior vice president of media at Paramount Pictures.

"With this advanced technology we are able to connect multiple mediums and deliver content seamlessly to engaged consumers on mobile devices outside of the traditional mobile media models."

Outdoor wear manufacturer JanSport is running an advertising campaign across New York City combining Blue Bite's mTag NFC platform, San Francisco-based Teak's signage and out-of-home media buyer Kinetic's consultancy.

Deployed on Cemusa newsstands and transit shelters, the displays allow users to obtain custom video content from JanSport and listen to free music from local bands by tapping their NFC phones to a tag or scanning a QR code.

"Mobile integration gives JanSport the opportunity to make a more meaningful connection with our audience by layering in content — music in this case — that adds value, enhances our brand message and encourages deeper consumer participation with the brand," says JanSport brand director Courtney Blacker.

A total of 125m NFC phones were shipped in 2012, according toABI Research, along with 147m NFC secure elements.

"There are multiple chip vendors offering a range of product alternatives to OEMs in various form factors with security and connectivity specialists all coming to the fore," says practice director John Devlin.

As a result, attach rates are increasing, devices are reaching market, and service partners — who had been holding back due to lack of devices — are now developing their own innovative use of NFC, bringing new services and NFC applications to market."

"Most of the current activity that we are tracking is largely focused around non-payment applications designed to increase interactivity of devices," he adds. "This allows consumers to use their smartphones and access information and content in new ways whilst giving OEM and service brands the chance to increase customer engagement."

ABI forecast in March that 500m NFC devices will be in use in 2014.

Car maker BMW is using tags supplied by Smart-Tec in two NFC-enabled accessories, the NFC Smartphone Holder and theBMW Car Hotspot LTE, the Munich-based custom tag specialist reports.

The NFC Smartphone Holder is designed to work with Samsung Galaxy S II, S III and S4 NFC phones and enables motorists to listen to music stored on their phone as well as make and answer phone calls wirelessly while they are driving. A Smart-Tec tag embedded in the holder automatically starts the My BMW Remote app — or prompts the driver to download the app — when the phone is placed in its jaws.

The BMW Car Hotspot LTE, meanwhile, includes a tag which is programmed with the device's SSID and WPA2 key, allowing up to eight users to connect to a vehicle's WiFi hub by simply tapping their NFC phone to the hotspot.