Jul 29
The Verge is reporting that Nokia is planning to launch a new proximity sensor to tie in with its Lumia range, which will combine NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 to track items from your phone. You may never lose your keys again.
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Jul 25
It’s not the first time we’ve seen NFC embedded in odd products – the folks at Geak have even tried to make ring of their own – but here with John McLear’s invention, uses appear unlimited. Here with what’s called – quite simply – “NFC Ring”, McLear suggests that you’ll be able to do anything a standard NFC tag would be able to to, including linking to webpages, sharing codes and URLs, and sending commands to phones (just so long as they’ve got the right app to do so). What’s not to like?
These rings are designed to look stylish, too. They’re not bulky, not made of plastic and blasted out with bright colors – they’re metal. And they’re not just a simple piece of aluminum, mind you, they’ve got several layers of materials. Inside and throughout most of the ring you’ve got a lovely titanium/steel mix which makes up most of the color of the ring – from there it gets interesting.
NOTE: The tag this ring works with attaches – if you wish – to an official NFC Ring app, which at the moment has some limited built-in profiles. Various options for other apps exist as well – this NFC ring works with a standard NFC protocol for reading and writing, so go wild!
To hold the whole mix in, there’s a clear RFID passive coating front and center – this can be worn above your finger, below your finger, wherever – just know that this bit is the part you’ve got to tap to have your devices recognize the NFC tag within. Below this cover layer is another inlay cover, this above the NFC inlay with NTAG 203 chip itself.
Below that is a bit of RFID reflective material to make sure you’ve got the signal as strong as possible, and the whole device is made to be solid and work forever. The first run of rings – according to McLear – will take 2 weeks to make and will be a run of 1,000 rings. Have a peek at the “making of” journey here and let us know what you think!
VIA: The Verge; Fast Company
NFC ring aims to open doors, literally is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jul 25
After nearly nine years of writing about near field communication (NFC), we honestly thought the tech had maxed out with things like baggage tracking and business cards. Not so, however: Guinness, the company that produces some rather tasty Irish stout, is running a promotion in the UK that gives Android and BlackBerry users with NFC enabled devices the chance to win a free pint. As a bar patron, you simply tap your phone on the Guinness logo at one of twenty participating pubs, fill out some information on your phone, and if you’re lucky, you get one on the house. Technology is rarely this frothy.
Via: NFC World
Source: Guinness
Jul 24
NFC Ring: Rings Open Doors
Posted in: Today's ChiliNear-field communication or NFC is a wonderful standard for mobile devices. It’s more secure than RFID and a lot easier to use compared to Bluetooth. I’m not sure why it hasn’t taken off yet, but that may soon change if devices such as John McLear’s invention take off.
McLear’s NFC Ring has two NFC inlays. The idea is to use one for public purposes while the other one is for private applications. So what can you do with it? For starters, you can install NFC-enabled door locks like Lockitron at home and forget about carrying keys. Just tap the ring to lock or unlock your door.
You can also do the same if you have an NFC-enabled mobile device.
Each inlay can store up to 144 bytes of data, enough to share links to websites or personal data.
Pledge at least £22 (~$34 USD) on Kickstarter to get an NFC Ring as a reward. If you have access to a 3D printer, you can print your own ring then pledge just £8 (~$12) for the NFC inlays alone. Or forget the ring, pledge for the inlays then embed them in your skin.
[via Gizmag]
Jul 23
Have you ever wanted to wave your hand to unlock a door or transfer your contact information by simply touching a phone? How about keeping all of your top secret passwords at arm’s length, literally? Well, with this Kickstarter-funded near field communication-enabled ring, all that could soon be possible.
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Jul 23
This NFC Ring Puts Wireless Transfer Tech On Your Finger So You Can Fist-Bump Phones
Posted in: Today's Chili
The tech world may be hoping for Apple to unbox some wearable technology in the near future but who cares about the iWatch when an NFC ring is a thing? NFC fans — you know, these sort of folk — hankering for the convenience of having the wireless transfer tech always on their person should point their eyes at this U.K.-based Kickstarter project.
The NFC ring is designed to be used in conjunction with NFC-enabled gadgets — such as smartphones and tablets, NFC door locks and so on — so the wearer can perform tasks such as unlocking their phone, unlocking their front door or sending their contact info, personal website or Bitcoin address to another smartphone user by either fist-bumping or using an open-palm gesture.
Provided you’re happy to wear a bit of bling, the relatively slimline ring gets around some of the awkwardness associated with bumping and grinding NFC phones together to do data transfers (aka ‘phone sex‘). Being passive NFC, it also doesn’t need any battery power to work. And all the programming is done via apps, including third party apps if you want to use it to unlock your phone. The NFC ring creators have also made their own open source software for writing actions to the ring.
The ring actually has two NFC inlays, with a larger ‘public’ area designed to worn at the top for sending things like contact data via a fist bump gesture, and a smaller ‘private’ area designed to be worn so it can be concealed in the palm and only activated via an open palm gesture. This area is intended to store more sensitive data such as front door and phone unlocking info, says creator John McLear.
The dual NFC design is intended to help keep a ring owner’s most sensitive data from being slurped by nearby NFC readers. But it’s worth pointing out that jewellery rarely stays put so NFC ring bearers are likely to end up spending a lot of time checking their precious is correctly aligned. Or drunkenly failing to send contact info to the person they are trying to chat up in the bar, and trying to unlock a non-existent front door instead. That’s a whole new level of geek faux pas.
The NFC ring is basically a more convenient (i.e. wearable) version of the NFC tags that are sometimes shipped with NFC smartphones. But since awkwardness is a barrier to more widespread NFC use, anything that helps reduces friction is a welcome development for the contactless fraternity.
The NFC ring is fast approaching its Kickstarter funding goal of £30,000 — with close to 1,100 backers pledging almost £29,500 so far with 27 days left on the campaign. The creators say rings are due to ship in late October, if all goes to plan. Cost per ring is around £25/$38 but the creators have also released a CAD design so the basic ring form can be hacked, customised and 3D printed. They are then offering cheaper pledges to just ship the NFC inlay for fixing inside these 3D printed rings.
It’s worth flagging that the “normal size ring” (which is ~7mm wide) doesn’t work with all NFC phones — notably the Samsung Galaxy S4 and BlackBerry Z10 won’t play nice. For those devices the creators warn “you will need an alpha size ring”, which they add is “really only for chaps with big fingers”.
Jul 05
It’s time for Sony’s second effort in the SmartWatch business, this time with a device that – once again – comes out well before any comparable efforts in wearable industry take shape. This device is appearing this week with Clove, an international web-based spot for sales of such devices, with the company suggesting they’ll have the machine in-stock starting on the 15th of July. This device is also suggested – and remember, this is all preliminary – to be coming in at just 120 pounds in England.
With this machine essentially standing alone in the market as both a smartwatch that can act as its own self-contained device and as an Android-based mini-screen still supported in a major way by its creator, the pricing may surprise you. Sony’s SmartWatch 2 is said by Clove to be well under two bills – that’s right around $180 in USD. With a launch date at July 15th, it’s also surprising that this machine hasn’t been added to any other store stock anywhere else, either.
This device is bringing on a display that’s 1.6-inches large with 220 x 176 pixels to its name, bringing along Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC for wireless connectivity. This device can indeed act on its own, but pairing with a smartphone for internet will allow you to get updates for items like email and Facebook messaging.
Pairing with the Sony SmartWatch 2 will be a tap away with Android devices using NFC on their own and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or above – and it’ll all pair with your smartphone for notifications straight from it, too, if you like.
This device has been called out as an early strike against Apple’s so-called iWatch, a device whose trademark has been filed for in several countries across the planet in the past couple of weeks. Sony has, on the other hand – of course – already released their first SmartWatch which was also joined in the market by Motorola’s own MOTOACTV sports watch in 2011. So it’s not as if this is anything new.
VIA: Geekygadgets; Clove
Sony SmartWatch 2 hits Clove early with July launch date is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jul 03
Jun 27
British Airways teams up with Designworks for electronic bag tags that nab info from your smartphone
Posted in: Today's Chili
Tired of ripping off those old luggage tags after a trip? Well, those could be a thing of the past if all goes according to plan — at least when flying British Airways. The airline cooked up an electronic bag tag that looks to discard the paper version with the help of the folks at Designworks. Once passengers have checked in, they simply need to hover a smartphone over the tag to beam (via NFC, we’d surmise) both flight info and the requisite barcode to the tag’s display. The idea behind the whole thing isn’t only to keep the paper-changing to a minimum, but to also save precious time at the check-in counter. A live trial of the tagging gadget is planned, so we’ll soon be able to see if the concept stands up to baggage handlers.
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Filed under: Misc
Source: Designworks
Jun 25
Phablet just too big to press against your ear? In what may be a little size-shame around the Xperia Z Ultra, Sony has revealed a new Bluetooth “mini handset”, the Sony SBH52 which can be either held as a regular phone might be, or have a set of wired headphones plugged in instead. Up front
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