What is NFC?

Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in close proximity to each other.

NFC as a Mobile Wallet. Not Yet in India

The most famous application of NFC is that of a mobile wallet to make payments without using credit cards each time. Shoppers who have their credit card information stored in their NFC smartphones can pay for purchases by waving their smartphones near or tapping them on a reader in a store, rather than bothering with the actual credit card. While countries such as Japan have already implemented this on a wide scale basis, this has not yet caught on in other parts of the world, partly due to regulatory issues, and partly due to lack of infrastructure in stores. It is expected that NFC for making payments will still take some time to be launched in India.

NFC for Sharing Data, Streaming audio… and much more

What is not well known is that NFC has many applications other than being a mobile wallet! Check out a few illustrations:

1. You need to transfer an image from one NFC enabled phone to another. Simply open the image in the phone & just tap one phone on the other. Then just accept the transfer on the recipient phone & the transfer takes place instantly! Who needs the “Bump” app on Android & iOS when you can use NFC to transfer data by tapping phones & without using the internet?

2. You need to play music from your NFC enabled phone on your NFC enabled headset or portable speaker. Simply open the music file on your phone & just tap it on the headset or speaker for the music to start playing instantly! Considering that Nokia 600 has a FM Radio without the need to connect headset, a combo of Nokia 600 & a portable NFC enabled speaker may just be the combo you need to play music on the go!

3. You need to advertise your app or website address at an exhibition or in your store. Distribute NFC tags or simply keep one NFC tag at your counter. Any visitor can just tap his NFC enabled phone on this tag & the app or website will open on the phone browser! QR codes could soon get instinct!

4. The new range of Nokia Symbian Belle phones come with a version of Angry Birds on which new levels can be unlocked by just tapping it on another such phone which has those levels unlocked!

There are several other imaginable applications of NFC! You can have a NFC enabled access key in hotels or for your car! The possibilities can be endless.

NFC & Bluetooth

The difference between NFC & Bluetooth is that unlike Bluetooth, you do not need to search for devices & then authenticate & pair them. The process is as simple as ‘just tapping’ 2 NFC enabled devices together to connect them for transferring data or streaming audio. It’s important to note though that NFC is only used for the handshake and Bluetooth then takes over to handle the actual transfer of data!

No wonder then that Nokia will focus on a catch phrase called ‘Just Tap’ for its NFC devices. The phones will have a NFC widget to toggle NFC on or off.

NFC – This is just the beginning. And It’s Here to Stay

Google’s Nexus S is equipped with NFC but doesn’t have any use-cases yet! Nokia is surely aiming to be the leader on this front for now by taking NFC to cheaper price points. While NFC as a technology for mobile wallets may still be some time away, there are several other use cases for NFC as we have seen. We can’t wait for the day when we can walk into a store & swipe our NFC enabled phones instead of credit cards for making payments. But we aren’t simply waiting for that day & look forward to trying out NFC in its several other forms!