Near-Field Communication
“The war of the ‘wallets’ is escalating”, according to Wall Street Journal. Google and Verizon Wireless, the Internet and Wireless “Giants” respectively, are in a foot race to see who can make industry standard, one of the newest mobile technologies, called Near-Field Communications or NFC. The technology can potentially replace credit/debit cards, or in some cases wallets entirely, for today’s consumers. “The payment system can allow Google to offer retailers more data about their customers and help retailers target ads and discount offers to mobile-device users near their stores.” Google wallet is just one way that industry developers are using Near-Field Communication technology. In the “home of the future” it is hopeful that we will one day see a WIFI or NFC connected home, where all of your appliances, your door locks, garage doors, and lights are all connected together and able to be controlled straight from your mobile phone. Edgar Cervantes says that, “NFC technology can be used for a multitude of daily tasks.” and “I’ like to have all main room lights turned on when I tap my phone to unlock the door. You could even set the TV to turn on, or maybe the air conditioning.” How about having your car turn on when you tap on the NFC receiver that opens your garage door? The future holds possibilities that we cannot foresee. The things that we do every day, the way we do them, and the way that technology impacts those things is something truly amazing. When the world’s first personal computer, the MITS ALTAIR, was created by Steve Wozniac, nobody thought that a “normal person” would ever want a computer. I guess the test of time proved that wrong. Well, like the ALTAIR, Near-Field Communications was originally designed for business uses. J. Muller writes about the results of his research he has done “on the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) for user authentication and document control.” In his research he creates an environment where “NFC tags are