Hasta La Gadget!

The Nokia Research Center has another tech tease that gives us a glimpse into one of our many possible mobile computing futures. The so-called, Explore and Share concept starts by placing an N900 onto a “writer” that’s tethered to a PC at a retail store. At that point, the PC recognizes the handset and serves up a number of options to the purchaser. For the purposes of the demo, an unnamed Finn selects an album that downloads to the handset in less than 10 seconds. Less than 10 seconds, wirelessly! If we assume that the 18 track Bruce Springsteen album is somewhere between 100MB and 200MB then we’re looking at a 10MBps to 20MBps transfer rate. Nokia doesn’t admit to what tech it’s using, referring to it only as “a new radio technology.” It’s certainly not NFC which tops out at 424kbps, or Bluetooth 3.0 + HS which tops out at 3MBps. It also negotiates much faster than WiFi (though that could just be editing trickery). It’s closer to Wireless USB’s real-world data rates of around 15MBps or TransferJet‘s 375Mbps effective throughput. Or as a long shot, maybe Bluetooth 4.0 which targets 60Mbps (theoretical) transfer rates. Regardless, it’s fast so we have to agree with Nokia when it deadpans: “Sounds great. Doesn’t. It.” Check out the action after the break.

Continue reading Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless

Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Things just got strangely… interesting in the world of near-field communications. The NFC Forum, which just a few weeks ago issued a press release repeatedly using the term “NFC” and seemed quite fond of the logo to the left above, has apparently decided that “NFC” isn’t particularly trademarkable. So, it will now be calling its suite of (ever dizzying) connectivity options “N-Mark,” identified by the new, swoopier logo to the right. The latest addition to those head-spinning wireless standards? Sagem and Telenor are adding WiFi into the mix, creating a hybrid device to interact with the new SIMFi, allowing NFC (or whatever you want to call it) at rather greater than “near” ranges, running at 2.5GHz instead of the usual 13.56MHz. Confused? Just gaze at that new, blue logo and all will seem right as rain.

NFC suffers identity crisis, becomes N-Mark, denies prior existence originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Near-field communication, or NFC, has been slowly but surely creeping its way toward mainstream adoption, and this latest announcement by the NFC Forum, rulers of the 13.56MHz frequency, should only help things to go more smoothly. It has announced the Logical Link Control Protocol (LLCP), enabling NFC-compliant devices to talk to each other. We’re not talking massive transfers on a gigabyte scale here, rather things like contact infos, web addresses, and surely other types of secret message (“UR Cute!”). Along with LLCP comes the new NFC Signature Record Type Definition (RTD), which not only yet another acronym but also entails a new way of digitally signing those messages, theoretically preventing their being usurped and used for evil purposes — like recess blackmail.

NFC goes peer-to-peer, won’t help you download next week’s Lost premiere originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia fulfilled its part of the bargain by rolling out its NFC-enabled 6212 cellphone last year, and it looks like Visa is now finally making the phone a good deal more useful — in Malaysia, at least. That’s where the company has launched its first commercial NFC (or Near Field Communications) payment service for point-of-sale transactions, which will let folks simply wave the phone in front of a reader to make a purchase instead of going to the hassle of swiping a card. What’s more, it doesn’t look like this is simply a limited trial, with 1,800 stores in the country ready to accept the magical payments out of the gate, and Maxis and Maybank on board to let folks easily access their credit account. Better still, Visa has also said that this move finally signals the shift from pilot programs to actual roll-outs, although it’s unfortunately not being all that specific about the next few markets on tap just yet.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Visa rolls out its first commercial NFC payment system originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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