Near Field Communication: More Than Just Contactless Payment

CES 2007 - Near Field Communication (NFC) in Cell Phones for use as a contactless payment system has been a hot topic for a while: Wave your phone at a wireless reader and pay for that soda can or grovery cart. But one of my CES 2007 findings is that NFC can also be used for other quite exciting applications, as demonstrated by Nokia:

Instant Picture Frame: Take a picture, wave it near an NFC picture frame and it is uploaded right away. No lengthy Bluetooth pairing, USB connecting and twisted menu commands. The simple fact of waving near or touching the picture frame acts as both pairing and a request to upload. The same approach can be applied to a photo printer.

Direct-calling Airport Information Board: Information board typical to most airports with ads for hotels or taxi services are in for a change. With a small NFC tag, travelers can just wave or touch the ad of their choice. The number is instantly uploaded and the call proceeds.

Business Card Of The Future: Bluetooth business card exchange is neat but when did you last do it in a real business meeting? The long process of each user selecting the right menu items is enough to kill any momentum. With NFC, all you need to do is touch each other phone and contact information is instantly transfered.

Instant Movie Trailer: Movie theaters can stick an NFC tag behind every "Now Playing" or "Coming Soon" poster. Just wave your phone and a trailer is downloaded and played.