Near Field Communication
fieldid.com
What is NFC?!
It stands for Near Field Communication; and it is what allows your Galaxy S3 to “touch” phones in order to transfer information.
Near Field Communication sprung from Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), which was patented in 1983 by Charles Walton. NFC made the scene in 2004 when Sony, Nokia, and Philips created the Near Field Communication Forum.
Come 2006, the Forum created specifications for NFC Tags, and Nokia created the first NFC phone. In 2009 the Forum set Peer-to-Peer standards for the use of transferring data such as URLs and contact information. Then in 2010 the first Android NFC phone was created and called the Nexus S, by Samsung.
Now we have the Galaxy S3 with the NFC device installed. Any device with this, allows us to send playlists, photos, videos, and any other form of data; all anonymously.
Well anonymous to the devices of course, since the chips need to be within 4cm of each other to communicate. It would be hard to be anonymous when we need to be that close to another person’s device.
Here you can find a list of phones that have the Near Field Communication capabilities. Another use for NFC is Google Wallet. Learn about Google Wallet in their video, located here.
Updated 21 April, 2013:
Update 03 May, 2013:
I finally purchased some NFC Tags in bulk and I am really getting my use out of them.
If you have an NFC enabled device go to buynfctags.com (I linked the cheapest ones).
Once you get the tags in the mail download NFC Task Launcher and Tagstand Writer (both android).
NFC Task Launcher is made to tell your device to change settings, post statuses, and speak text.
Tagstand Writer does the basic stuff; such as open a URL, add a contact, and display text.
What I really enjoy about NFC Task Launcher is that it tells you how much time you have saved not toggling your phone settings!
