Many of us have the word NFC mentioned with regard to new devices but is something that few people know about. NFC is easy to comprehend and is incredibly useful. Here is everything you should know about NFC and why you should use it.
What is NFC?
NFC (Near Field Communications) is a set of standards for portable handsets. It lets them establish peer-to-peer radio communications by passing data from one handset to another through putting them close together or touching them. In other words, it can be said to be a communication near handsets.How does it work?
The technology behind NFC is very straightforward. Evolved from the radio frequency identification technology, an NFC chip functions as a wireless link. Once it is enabled by another NFC chip, small volumes of data between two handsets can be easily transferred when they are a few inches or centimeters away from each other.How to use NFC to share content on AndroidMoreover, no pairing code is needed for files to be transferred. Moreover, it is more power-efficient since it operates on very low amounts of power. The NFC also works to recognize us by our activated devices and cards and also by our bank account, extension, and other personal information.What can you do with NFC?
NFC is mostly associated with the ‘mobile wallet’ the idea that your handset will replace your credit cards and cash. You can redeem coupons or offers or pay for your groceries with one tap. The Google Waller is one example. You can store all main debit and credit cards in the Google Wallet and get something like a ‘Virtual MasterCard’ which pays your purchases in-store online or whenever the PayPass scanners are.At IDF (Intel Developer Forum), Intel showed the interaction between an Ultrabook laptop and a smartphone. The smartphone that was tapped to the Ultrabook laptop, logged into the site and managed to pay for an online purchase with no forms required.Apart from mobile payments, here are other uses for NFC:- Paying for the parking meter in some cities such as San Francisco.
- Downloading information. Marketers and advertisers can use the NFC chips in posters or promotional materials so all that the target audience is needed to do is waving or tapping the phone to get more information.
- Opening doors. Some cars such as the BMW models have NFC-enabled keys. Universities and companies are also looking into using NFC-enabled handsets as security badges. To gain access to somewhere, the allowed members only need to tap their phones at the door.
- Boarding passes or getting tickets. Some buses and airlines are experimenting with using NFC for boarding passes.