NFC and the commercial agent
05 March, 2013 | Web design
Few of us know what it is; yet many of us already have it and it’s actually been with us for years. Will 2013 be the year that we all start using NFC?
NFC or Near Field Communication enables Smartphones and other NFC enabled devices to establish radio communication, simply by touching one another. Many of us already have this technology on our phone. In fact it is estimated that there are over £150 million NFC enabled devices already. This is technology that presents a number of applications that could revolutionize our lives.
For example in commerce NFC will allow contactless transactions. In social networking it will enable the simple and fast sharing of data like contacts, photos and video for example. NFC enabled devices could also be used as keycards and ID documentation. It is predicted that by 2017 almost 85% of all point-of-sale terminals will be fitted with NFC capability.
Imagine how NFC could change the way that we go about our day-to-day life. Think about when we are at the airport. A boarding pass on your smartphone would allow you to check-in, by simply ‘tapping’ in. You would access the business lounge by simply tapping on security. Finally at Duty Free, you would be able to pay for one of those magnum-sized bottles of Grey Goose, simply by tapping on it. Yet instead for lumping it and all of your other duty free purchases onto the plane, the NFC tag will have automated an app on your phone that ensures all your purchases will be deliver to your home when you return.
The protocols for NFC are based on RFID (Radio-frequency identification) and have been with us for years. The first NFC phone was actually the Nokia 6131 launched in 2006.
Philip Burrows, Marketing Consultant