Near Field Communication

Just yesterday, Nokia announced 3 phones namely Nokia 600, 700, 701 running Symbian Belle. All three phones are NFC enabled. Recently announced and soon to be launched, Meego running Nokia N9 is also NFC enabled. Other than Nokia, Samsung released Google Nexus S in December last year which was the first Mobile phone to contain an NFC chip.

What is this NFC?

NFC stands for Near Field Communication and works of radio frequency detection technology known as RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) and is used to transfer any sort of data be it photos, songs, videos or applications. An NFC enabled phone or any other device has an NFC chip built-in which enables it to tag or pair with other similar devices with just a simple tap.

I will not go into more technicalities here.

Some might think here that if it can be used to transfer data then why do we still use bluetooth or wi-fi?

This is because of some limitations. Firstly, transfer speeds are currently limited to only 53kBps which is way less than what bluetooth or wi-fi has to offer. Secondly, because it is "near" field communication, range is limited to a maximum of 20cm(practical working distance of about 4 centimetres) which also is quite less than the other two. NFC can't be the substitute of these two, but can complement them.

Now, you might ask that why then, I am getting excited about its introduction in the mass market?

Using NFC devices can open up a whole new world of possibilities.

Imagine if you don't have to pair your Bluetooth device while sharing MMS clip with your friend. Just tap the two phones, pairing is done in less than a tenth of a second and bluetooth transfer begins. Won't it be fun?

To connect with a bluetooth handsfree, you won't have to enter the pass code of that device, just tap the phone to the handsfree and you are good to go.

It can also be used in any kind of Identification process because each NFC chip has unique code associated with it just like your fingerprints. So, in future, we can have door locks operating on this or Attendance systems using NFC instead of the bio-metric ones.

Airports can also have NFC assisted check-ins which transfer the boarding pass of the particular flight to the user's phone instantly without the manual process which takes up so much time.

I saved the best one for the last. NFC is a sure shot replacement of "bulky" credit cards. Why bother to carry a credit card if your phone can be one. Instead of s

wiping credit card, just tap your phone to the machine and payment is made. NFC transfer is

supposed to be as safe as credit cards magnetic transfer because the distance involved is very less and RFID codes are unique.

To lend your friend some money applications can be made to allow transfer of credit via NFC instead of sms or gprs, due to ease of use. Just tap the phones, enter the amount and done!

NFC is not only limited to power driven devices, it can also be used in power-less devices like tags giving extra information about some product in a shop or museum. We can have tags that on a single tap, transfer additional info about a particular product in a shop. They can also be used in museums to give more info about history of some item on display. This has been implemented recently by Nokia in London Museum by placing tags at strategic points. NFC can also be used instead of bar codes in shops to identify products.

In the near future we can have more uses for this amazing technology. Imagine T-shirts being made with NFC tags and a tap would allow you to Facebook friend the person wearing it!