French smart card maker Gemplus SCA has announced smartX, an open development framework which will allow application developers to run their products on any smart card or terminal. The company claims the product will kick-start card interoperability, and provide a significant boost to the adoption up of smart card technology.
SmartX enables developers to write smart card commands in XML, which can then be executed in Java, C++ and Visual Basic environments. Gemplus has won endorsements from major market players such as Sun Microsystems Inc, Microsoft Corp and IBM Corp. Augustin Farrugia, director of advanced technologies at Gemplus, claims that application development will be ten times faster with the subsequent advantages for time-to-market costs. If that claim is proven correct, more endorsements will surely follow. Version 1.0 of smartX will be available by the end of the year.
