NFC - Coming to a handset near you
This one has been passed along by Joanna (thanks Joanna)….
A developing technology called NFC, or near field communication, is growing closer to our pockets by the day. NFC lets your cell talk to other receive sites – kind of like BlueTooth, but quicker. With NFC, you can wave your phone in front of a receiver and have a connection within a second. NFC also works in a shorter range – about four inches max – and uses two-way communication, so the connection’s more secure.
As you can imagine, the possibilities with this thing are endless. The hope is that NFC will eventually act as a virtual credit card, letting you simply wave your phone in front of a panel to make a purchase. It’s also being tested for public transportation – hold your phone up to send your fare and board the bus – as well as eventually for identification, storing your official documents to send to anyone in a split second. In the future, NFC could even let your phone act as your car or house key, connecting with a panel on the door to transmit your identification and let you in.
Snipped from: Cell Phone Payment: A Cash Machine in your Pocket
I’ve seen this at work in Japan and Korea. Its a huge time saver, and really heralds the new age of electronic monetization and micro-payments.
What I find really interesting is using NFC to assist in interactive transactions (rather than just financial). One issue that has always plagued wireless technology is that once all devices become ‘wireless’ how do we know which networks to connect to for performing different tasks? Also, there are problems surrounding security that require lengthy handshaking transactions between devices.
Some developers are experimenting with NFC and Bluetooth to remedy these problems:
Snipped from: http://www.nearfield.org/2007/03/bluetooth-21-incorporating-nfc
Tags: Interaction, Interface, mobile phone, money, near field communications, transaction