 "Nokia Does an About Face, NFC Phones to be Available in 2011")
Nokia has decided that that their next-gen smartphones expected in 2011 will be equipped with NFC. Just in case you’re not very well versed with mobile jargon, NFC stands for Near Field Communication. You can take that in a literal sense as that’s pretty much what it means. Smartphones equipped with smartcards will be able to read data off of anything equipped with NFC transmitters.
Imagine if you will, you’re in a supermarket and you’re looking for cereal and as usual, there’s no attendant to help you, NFC transmitters could be placed strategically around the store for you to simply place your smartphone near to get data. The data could not only contain info about which isle the cereals are but also the kinds of cereal in stock as well as what’s good for you.
If you’re traveling abroad and a Map or information counter contains an NFC transmitter, you could capture the data onto your handset about places to see, local transport details, schedules of the same and more. The limitation of NFC, if you can even call it that, is that you’ll be required to place your device within 4 inches of the transmitter. The good thing is data can be transmitted within this short range extremely fast so there’s no standing around waiting like with Bluetooth, as fast as that is.
Shayne has an exceptional love for superheroes, action figures, comics, retro music and movies. His love for the 80s is also very evident in his lingo which is populated with words like 'Yes Siree Bob', 'Scooby-doo', Howdy and lots, LOTS more. As the Deputy Editor of tech2, Shayne stays fit by running back and forth between his desk, the tech team or some other department.