Hasta La Gadget!

HP’s mystery-wrapped Touch-to-share functionality already does something very similar to Near Field Communication, but it looks like the company’s not satisfied with its own tech and will be jumping into the rapidly growing field of companies embracing NFC. A new job listing that has popped up online this week invites applications for the position of NFC Design Engineer on HP’s tablet and smartphone team. Responsibilities include the design, testing, and debugging of NFC antennae and systems, but also expand to “support of product in field,” indicating that HP is working on an aggressive roadmap here. Don’t take our word for it, though, the job advert also advises prospective applicants that they’d have to work in a “high paced, schedule driven environment.” Only question we have is this: since when are webOS devices being produced at a high pace?

HP seeks NFC engineer for ‘smartphone and tablet products’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia’s N9 got most of the attention earlier today, but the gang from Espoo also announced a nifty new portable speaker to complement its slice of MeeGo. Called the Nokia Play 360, this little barrel of omnidirectional audio streams music from your phone via Bluetooth. It also makes the pairing process easy with NFC — a simple tap of your N9 or Nexus S to the speaker gets the tunes flowing. Not only that, when you get two of these sound boxes together, they sense each other through NFC and switch your sound to stereo. So, what’s the price of such aural enjoyment? It’ll cost you €149 ($213) when it ships in Q3 of this year.

Continue reading Nokia’s Play 360 Bluetooth speaker uses NFC daps to pair with your phone

Nokia’s Play 360 Bluetooth speaker uses NFC daps to pair with your phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Google ever hopes to lead the mass exodus away from credit card transactions with Google Wallet, a lot more NFC-packing handsets will need to hit the market. Thus far Sony Ericsson hasn’t exactly led the near-field charge, aside Japan’s Xperia Acro, but it looks like that may soon change, thanks to a deal struck between the phone maker and semiconductor producer, NXP, which will bring the company’s PN65 to future Android-based Xperia models. Wave your phone after the break to check out the official announcement.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson signs deal with NFC chip maker, gets ready to do the Xperia pay

Sony Ericsson signs deal with NFC chip maker, gets ready to do the Xperia pay originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 21:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The radio waves that saturate the air around us may, or may not, give us headaches and cancer, but we can tell you for certain they’re capable of powering tiny wireless chips. Renesas Electronics Corp has created a new ultra-low power wireless transmitter that can push data to both Bluetooth and WiFi receivers without the need for a battery or AC adapter. Instead of the typical tens of milliwatts, the little transmitters require only a few microwatts of power, which can be harvested from environmental radio waves through LC resonance. The creators envision adhesive sensors that send a baby’s body temperature to laptops and ads that beam coupons to smartphones over short distances — you know, the sort of stuff NFC can do, but without the specialized hardware.

Battery-less transmitters pave the way for wireless baby sensors originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s an interesting idea from a Chinese company called Netcom (not to be confused with the Norwegian operator): adding NFC capability to existing phones via microSD. That’s right, rather than relying on external add-ons that occupy ports, Netcom decided to fit NFC chips plus their antennas onto ordinary microSD cards, yet still managing to cram in up to 8GB of NAND memory at the same time. This sure sounds convenient, but there are some caveats: the first rule is that neither the back cover nor the microSD card holder should be made out of metal; then secondly, we noticed that due to the tiny antenna coil, scanning could become tricky if the reader has a small sensing area — you’d need to position your phone at just the right spot; and lastly, the phone needs a special background app to communicate with the NFC circuitry.

The demo we saw used a Java app running on a Chinese dumbphone, and we were told that Android will be next in line to receive similar support. Alas, consumers won’t be able to pick up one of these cards from the shops, though Netcom’s already working with a “top ten” phone manufacturer on a compatible device due in three to six months, so stay tuned. Hands-on video after the break.

Continue reading Netcom shows off microSD card with integrated NFC goodness (video)

Netcom shows off microSD card with integrated NFC goodness (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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