information sharing\/social networking<\/strong>, e.g. to exchange business cards, to share images, articles and applications; to download information, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe video clip below is a demonstration by Google late last year of NFC using Google Galaxy Nexus and Google Nexus S smartphones, soon after the launch of its latest operating system, Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich:<\/p>\n
\u00a0This video clip is from Reuters focuses on mobile money, and using NFC for access control.\u00a0\u00a0NFC is being used widely in some Southeast Asian countries to replace credit cards, but that application is not yet as ubiquitous in other developed countries:\u00a0For developing countries around the world, including those in the Caribbean, NFC could be an important tool in mobile money systems \u00ad\u2013 that allow payment of goods and services via mobile\/cellular devices. Although many banks across the region offer mobile banking services, the unbanked \u2013 persons who do not have their own bank accounts \u2013 are still underserved. With the growing shift away from transacting in cash (most notably for security purposes), persons who do not have credit cards, or access to other forms of electronic payment, are frequently marginalised. NFC-capable mobile phones can offer another option for wider inclusion across all levels of a society, and could contribute to a narrowing of the digital divide.<\/p>\n
Benefits and concerns<\/h3>\n Manufacturers and industry pundits have been claiming that NFC will hit its stride this year. The NFC Forum, a widely recognised association that includes manufacturers, applications developers and financial services institutions, has identified the following benefits to consumers and businesses:<\/p>\n
\n\nIntuitive<\/strong>: NFC interactions require no more than a simple touch<\/li>\n Versatile<\/strong>: NFC is ideally suited to the broadest range of industries, environments, and uses<\/li>\n Open and standards-based<\/strong>: The underlying layers of NFC technology follow universally implemented ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards<\/li>\n Technology-enabling<\/strong>: NFC facilitates fast and simple setup of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)<\/li>\n Inherently secure<\/strong>: NFC transmissions are short range (from a touch to a few centimeters)<\/li>\n Interoperable<\/strong>: NFC works with existing contactless card technologies<\/li>\n Security-ready<\/strong>: NFC has built-in capabilities to support secure applications (Source: NFC Forum<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\nOn the other hand, there are a few critical issues and concerns that must be addressed. The first and perhaps most worrying, are concerns related to security. Although NFC operates in very short ranges, a few centimetres, it is still possible to use a receiver detect transmissions. Second, and again being a form of wireless communication, it is also possible for NFC transmissions to be corrupted or obstructed, such as through signal jamming and other types of attacks. These security issues, while arguably slim, will need to be clearly addressed in order to allay fears among consumers. Finally, mainstream use of NFC in country – across a broad range of services and appications – will only be realised\u00a0 when there has been buy-in and support from a number of stakeholders, such as infrastructure providers, content developers, vendors, and standards managers.Hence policy makers\u00a0and special interest groups may have to take to lead to lobby stakeholders to implement and offer this feature.<\/p>\n
Having said all of this, younger users in particular, are likely to be the ones driving the use of NFC. When this is coupled with the growing trend towards ultra-personalised services, as outlined in 7 insights on the future of technology and the Internet<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, NFC may become a key contributor to our changing world, due to its convenience and ease of use.<\/p>\n
Image courtesy of Erwin Boogert<\/a>, flickr and NFC Forum<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
_____________<\/p>\n
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Industry experts have been projecting the growing importance of near field communication due to its versatility and wide ranging application, but will it change the world? Although near field communication […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,27,11,6,19,22],"tags":[59,32,43,37],"class_list":["post-3291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-caribbean","category-computing","category-ict-tech","category-internet","category-mobile-telecoms-2","category-wireless","tag-digital-divide","tag-information-society","tag-internet-governance","tag-smartphones","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-R5","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3291"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3322,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3291\/revisions\/3322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Source:](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/NFC-Erwin-Boogert.jpg\" "\\"NFC")
<\/a>Although near field communication (NFC) has been around for almost a decade, it has been slowly gaining prominence, thanks to the shifting focus and use of smartphones worldwide. With a new wave of mobile devices coming to market, such as the launch of the new Apple iPad some time this week, and anticipated upgrades to the Android operating system over the next few days, manufacturers have been promising that 2012 will be a pivotal year for NFC. However, what exactly is it? How can it be used? And what are some of the benefits and issues associated with its use?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/NFC-N-Mark-Logo.png\" "\\"NFC-N-Mark-Logo\\""){kind=logo}
<\/a>