5 Cool Things to Do with NFC

Establishment of the NFC Forum

The NFC Forum was established in 2004 by Nokia, Philips, and Sony, to promote and regulate the use of NFC-enabled devices and services.

The world seems to be abuzz with talks about NFC technology, and how it is changing the face of communication. Near field communication, or NFC, is a fun and easy way to wirelessly interact with NFC-enabled gadgets, without the need for any complex commands or activation methods.

All you need to do is to tap your NFC-enabled phone with another NFC phone or chip, and you can seamlessly share information with the other phone, or interact with the chip, based on the specific task it is programmed to trigger in the phone.

Unlike other wireless technologies, like Bluetooth and Infrared, NFC does not involve a complex process for transferring data, and is much more secure. Here are 5 cool things that you can do with NFC.

All you need is a simple app on your NFC-enabled smartphone, and you can pay for all your shopping with a simple tap of your phone. Although this is still in its initial stage of development, it shows a lot of promise for the future of shopping.

Transferring Data

One of the most basic and handy uses of NFC is sharing data between compatible phones. Simplicity is what this technology is based upon, and this comes to the fore, especially while transferring data between devices.

To share data, simply select the file, enable NFC, and tap on the other device, and you're good to go. It can also be used to tether your data connection.

Provide Secure Access
NFC has paved the way for a more secure and non-intrusive way of controlling the security of an area.

You could soon have cars which allow you keyless entry into them, without the need for little else than your smartphone.

Walk up to your door, and have it magically open for you, thanks to the NFC sensors on the door, which detect your presence (rather detect the presence of your NFC phone). NFC has already found its way to a few parking meters and gates at parking lots.

Gather Information

Another cool feature about NFC is that you don't need both the devices to be powered. What this means is the NFC tags can be used to store specific information, which they can share with compatible phones.

All you would need to do is bring your phone in contact with the NFC tag, and your phone would display the information on the screen. A lot of NFC tags are already available in the market, which help you to change the profile of your phone, and even let you securely unlock your phone with a tap.

NFC tags placed along with a product or place could give you snippets of information about it.

Health Monitoring
This is another extremely useful feature about NFC—its application in the medical field. It could revolutionize the way doctors interact with their patients, and track their medical stats.

Wearable NFC tags could store all vital information about patients, and could even track their vitals signs. NFC could also allow for easier and secure access to proper medication for a patient.

NFC promises to be the technology of the future, making our lives a whole lot easier. In its current form, however, it is not without its flaws, security being one of the biggest concerns here. As it draws more attention, this technology is bound to develop even further, and would take care of these loopholes.