Engadget Primed: What is NFC, and why do we care?
By Brad Molen posted Jun 10th 2011 12:00PM Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.
NFC, the brainchild of Sony and NXP, is at the bottom of the wireless totem pole. It allows two devices embedded with chips to snuggle up together and transmit small pieces of data between each other when they are in close proximity. This data can be credit card information, coupons, tickets...you get the idea. As all of this is rather sensitive, it means you'll need to get up close and personal with the other device in order for it to suck down your data -- a simple swipe or tap should do the trick, and your most intimate bytes will soon be whisked away into the wilds of the internet.
The introduction of Google Wallet felt a little too good to be true, didn't it? It's magical, like the tech equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat. In reality, the tech behind mobile payments has been around since 2003 on a much smaller scale using near-field communications, more commonly known as NFC. The idea behind Wallet (amongst other services, like ISIS) is contactless pay -- using your phone as a credit card -- and is just one of the many ways NFC can be useful in our everyday lives. In fact, we're only scraping the surface of what's theoretically possible.
Google is definitely not the first company to dabble in NFC, but it appears to be poised and ready to push the tech's adoption forward at a rapid pace with the advent of Wallet and Offers. Until now the coals have been hot; but if a fire's going to start, someone monolithic has to throw a few newspapers in as kindling -- and Google volunteered. But what good is NFC if it's just an acronym that causes our eyes to glaze over? Is El Goog the only instigator? After the break we'll focus on what NFC is capable of, and why we want it on our phones as soon as yesterday.
Liks : http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/10/engadget-primed-what-is-nfc-and-why-do-we-care/
