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April 11, 2012
Lumia

The 5 most creative ways NFC is being used right now



Everyone’s talking about touch these days. As a sense it’s currently in vogue, mainly down to the wonders of touch screen tech. Yet touch is set to get even bigger billing, thanks to NFC.

We’re not talking about the National Football Conference, where touch usually involves a nasty bruise, but Near Field Communication (NFC), the technology, which allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections. Here at Nokia Connects, we think it’s magic. To show you just how magic, we’ve unearthed the most original ways it’s currently being used.

Carry the Museum of London in your pocket

Last year Nokia teamed up with the Museum of London to use NFC to bring the museum’s exhibitions to life. With just a tap you can find out fabulous stories about the people and places in the one of the world’s greatest cities. Now more and more festivals and exhibitions are making learning mobile. No more audio tour guides for us!

 A whole new bird game

Rovio, our fine Finnish neighbours, have taken NFC to their feathered breast in a brilliant way for Angry Birds players everywhere. Thanks to location-based integration, the feature, called Magic Places, lets certain users unlock additional levels when they tap two NFC phones together or tap an NFC tag at a special location. You might even get hold of the Mighty Eagle, so be sure to watch your head.

360° tunes just a touch away

How much music do you have on your mobile? Whether it’s ten tunes or ten thousand, chances are you probably don’t listen to them through a speaker. The Nokia Play 360° is a Bluetooth speaker that allows your music to be streamed wirelessly from any Bluetooth device. What’s more, it’s NFC enabled, which means that to enjoy tunes from your mobile phone, you simply tap and play. Anyone for magic music?

Ad fab

Ad agencies the world over are dedicated to thinking of ingenious ways of interacting with magazine readers. Now courtesy of one of our must read magazines, WIRED, that’s got considerably easier. Last month they announced that the first-ever magazine advertisement utilizing NFC technology will appear in its April issue. Adverts, it seems, might now grab our attention and hold it.

Touch and go

Posters used to be passive, right? You stand and stare, maybe scribble a note if it’s anything that interests you. Not anymore. In Singapore, for example, always at the cutting edge of tech, you’ll find NFC smart posters in public transport stations. SMRT, the national bus, train and taxi operator, has launched its ‘iMobSMRT spaces’ in conjunction with Nokia at six high-traffic stations. This means commuters will now be able to make transactions, exchange digital content, and even book a taxi by tapping their NFC-enabled smartphones on NFC tags. Commuting is suddenly a whole lot more interesting.

That’s our top five, but what about yours? Heard of any ingenious ways NFC has been rocking the world recently? If so, we’d love to hear about them, here or at @Nokia_Connects.