Who here has an NFC enabled smartphone?

The One Who Knocks

Okay, I know Ireland is lacking behind in mobile technology and telecommunication (4G anyone? )

But who here has a phone with near field communication, and who actually uses it?

I use it to put my phone into a sort of sleep mode (disable wifi/data mute sound etc) at night.

Captain Chaos

I have it on my S3 but I have no idea what to do with NFC or what it's actually good for.

The One Who Knocks

The reason I ask is because I'm wondering if it's too early to launch a NFC product in the Irish market.

markad1

A lot of mobiles have them but people don't see the use for them.
I have a tag by the bed to toggle the phone into "sleep" mode (silent and set alarm).
I have another in the car holder that switches bluetooth on/off and car dock mode on/off.
I find them very handy.

The One Who Knocks

markad1 wrote: »

A lot of mobiles have them but people don't see the use for them.

Yeah, I think that sums up the current situation,
I just wish apple added it to the iphone 5,...they're just delaying everything. :mad:

juan.kerr

No, seems to be the new bluetooth which never really took off (other than the odd person with a bluetooth headset or hands free kit).

juan.kerr

Jamez735 wrote: »

Yeah, I think that sums up the current situation,
I just wish apple added it to the iphone 5,...they're just delaying everything. :mad:

Delaying what exactly? Another way to be bombarded with advertising, another marketing fad like QR codes?

The One Who Knocks

juan.kerr wrote: »

No, seems to be the new bluetooth which never really took off (other than the odd person with a bluetooth headset or hands free kit).

NFC is huge in the US & Japan, we're just a bit behind unfortunately

juan.kerr

Jamez735 wrote: »

NFC is huge in the US & Japan, we're just a bit behind unfortunately

Or is it just another fad until the next big thing appears? I'm with Apple on this one (for once).

The One Who Knocks

juan.kerr wrote: »

Delaying what exactly? Another way to be bombarded with advertising, another marketing fad like QR codes?

NFC Payments for one.

The One Who Knocks

juan.kerr wrote: »

Or is it just another fad until the next big thing appears? I'm with Apple on this one (for once).

The only reason apple doesn't include NFC is because they have patented their own alternative. iNFC lol

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57534311-37/apple-patent-award-teases-nfc-alternative-in-iphones-future/

PogMoThoin

Ye guys aren't creative enough.

I have them all over the house

• one beside bed to silence phone
• one at door to connect guests to wifi
• two on laptop, one to turn on hotspot, other to launch syncing apps (swiftp and airdroid) so I can quickly access phone from laptop
• one beside cooker to set a 3 timer for my eggs

The One Who Knocks

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Ye guys aren't creative enough.

I have them all over the house

• one beside bed to silence phone
• one at door to connect guests to wifi
• two on laptop, one to turn on hotspot, other to launch syncing apps (swiftp and airdroid) so I can quickly access phone from laptop
• one beside cooker to set a 3 timer for my eggs

Don't forget NFC Door locks!

juan.kerr

Jamez735 wrote: »

The only reason apple doesn't include NFC is because they have patented their own alternative. iNFC lol

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57534311-37/apple-patent-award-teases-nfc-alternative-in-iphones-future/

The only reason? Hardly.

juan.kerr

Jamez735 wrote: »

NFC Payments for one.

What's the benefit when I already have a Credit Card and of course cash? I save 30 seconds? Or don't need to take out my wallet? Not compelling.

PogMoThoin

juan.kerr wrote: »

What's the benefit when I already have a Credit Card and of course cash? I save 30 seconds? Or don't need to take out my wallet? Not compelling.

I was in the USA a few months ago, NFC is everywhere, all shops, even in taxi's. Leave your wallet at home and just bring your phone to work for the few small transactions you do daily.

PogMoThoin

juan.kerr wrote: »

The only reason? Hardly.

Their history of locked down software and proprietary connectors tells us that Apple won't release it until they have bastardised it to their own restricted POS that's guaranteed not to be compatible with what's already available everywhere.

juan.kerr

PogMoThoin wrote: »

I was in the USA a few months ago, NFC is everywhere, all shops, even in taxi's. Leave your wallet at home and just bring your phone to work for the few small transactions you do daily.

Call me a luddite but I'll stick with my wallet. Don't see any benefit to the consumer here. If I lose my wallet I'm in trouble, if I lose my phone I'm equally in trouble.

The One Who Knocks

juan.kerr wrote: »

What's the benefit when I already have a Credit Card and of course cash? I save 30 seconds? Or don't need to take out my wallet? Not compelling.

You can't get your cash stolen for one.

And if you got your phone stolen, you can remote wipe, track its location, and take images of the thief. Actually, here's a real life example.

Now at the moment NFC isn't great, mobile payments, nfc tags, and business cards is about all it's got going for itself. But in a few years, it's gonna be huge.

Anyway, all that's irrelevant as my product is only targeted towards 800,000 people. So I'm not here to fight the case for NFC, I'd just like to know who has it, that's all.

PogMoThoin

juan.kerr wrote: »

Call me a luddite but I'll stick with my wallet. Don't see any benefit to the consumer here. If I lose my wallet I'm in trouble, if I lose my phone I'm equally in trouble.

It's a new tech that's very early in it's infancy. In time you won't even need a wallet, yes, this is where it's going.

juan.kerr

PogMoThoin wrote: »

It's a new tech that's very early in it's infancy. In time you won't even need a wallet, yes, this is where it's going.

The sdame way we Irish don't use cheques?

PogMoThoin

juan.kerr wrote: »

The sdame way we Irish don't use cheques?

The day will come when they will refuse to give customers cheque books, paperwork is just so messy and time consuming. All new bank cards are NFC enabled, I got a new Visa Debit from AIB last week that has NFC.

juan.kerr

The US doesn't use Chip & PIN for example so there is no reason to assume NFC will take off here just because it seems to have in the US.

PogMoThoin

juan.kerr wrote: »

The US doesn't use Chip & PIN for example so there is no reason to assume NFC will take off here just because it seems to have in the US.

It will because the banks are pushing it. London Bus enabled it on their busses last month: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20694027
It's only a matter of time before we follow suit.

starlit

I don't really know what NFC is or means?

Czarcasm

doovdela wrote: »

I don't really know what NFC is or means?

NFC stands for "Near Field Communication". It's a fairly new technology (your Samsung S3 has it built in) and what it basically means is that you can set your phone to do certain tasks or enable different profiles depending on what way your NFC tag is programmed.

You can buy NFC tags (they're like little plasters with micro-chips in them) that you can program to do things like what previous posters have suggested once your phone is detected within the general vicinity.

The whole mobile payments thing is the idea that you keep your credit card info stored on the phone, and if you've ever seen the barclaycard advert where the guy sweeps his card across the pay point instead of having to hand it to the cashier- same principle, you just swipe your phone across the NFC point and it'll take the money from your credit card account using the details stored on your phone.

As the other posters were saying- big in the States and Japan, but could take a while to be adopted on a mass scale in Europe.

It definitely needs more work, but as chips become able to store more and more info, it has the potential to be huge.

evolutionqy7

Have NFC, was playing around with it for a while with tags, but got bored eventually.

Id automate my alarms and my WiFi and data would always remain over night while charging (that's when Titanium does its back up thingy

Not bothered about power as its just a quick pull down bar.

I'm just waiting for the day that I can leave the wallet at home and use my phone. I have my college ID and my leap card, both of which use NFC. It would be cool if likes of Tesco, Xtravision and other cards could be replaced with an app that goes into the wallet function.

That's what I'm waiting for, might sound weird but I hate carrying around my wallet, its big and bulky and takes up too much space. I never really carry around cash either so its just a card holder and ID holder for me

wheresmybeaver

There's NFC on my Lumia 920 but the implementation by Microsoft is borked: you can only trigger a preset list of basic functions (eg open Bluetooth settings but NOT toggle Bluetooth itself), and even then every NFC scan must be confirmed with an on-screen dialogue. Completely defeating the convenience.

I'm looking forward to a future where my bank card, super valu card, subway card etc are on my phone and i only have to tap the checkout register with my phone to process everything. Neato!

partyatmygaff

One X and I haven't bought a single NFC tag so far.

That said... the new prepaid tickets from Dublin Bus are all NFC enabled so I have a few of them set up. My student card (which is in my wallet) is set to open up my timetable (So I tap my phone against my pocket to open up the day's timetable). It's very useful.

GreenWolfe

I have a Nokia C7. It finally got full NFC functionality with the Belle update, but it's been so long since Symbian was popular I don't think anyone's ever done anything interesting with it.

Rayne Wooney

I have an iPhone 5 and it does feck all.

What enables NFC in the phone?

evolutionqy7

partyatmygaff wrote: »

My student card (which is in my wallet) is set to open up my timetable (So I tap my phone against my pocket to open up the day's timetable). It's very useful.

Bit of course. Would you not just enter your timetable into the calendar and use a widget

cookie1977

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

I have an iPhone 5 and it does feck all.

What enables NFC in the phone?

No NFC in an iPhone 5

PogMoThoin

I'm not comfortable with NFC payment devices such as contactless credit cards. I'm not yet convinced that the system is secure and as such I don't trust it.

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Their history of locked down software and proprietary connectors tells us that Apple won't release it until they have bastardised it to their own restricted POS that's guaranteed not to be compatible with what's already available everywhere.

They really are worse than Microsoft now and that's what I feared a few years ago.

Rayne Wooney

cookie1977 wrote: »

No NFC in an iPhone 5

Yeah but like is it a chip or something?

kippy

Jamez735 wrote: »

Anyway, all that's irrelevant as my product is only targeted towards 800,000 people. So I'm not here to fight the case for NFC, I'd just like to know who has it, that's all.

This would only be a very small representative group though......
Wouldn't it be better if you could find out the sales figures of all NFC enabled smartphones in the country? (they may be available somewhere)
I have a GS3 which I believe is NFC capable however I never use it, nor have I yet to see where I could use it.
To be honest, I'd be happier if they spent more time trying to develop better batteries and/or enhance the software to be smarter about power saving than dedicicate time to NFC technology.

cookie1977

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Yeah but like is it a chip or something?

It's a chip

Nate--IRL--

Karsini wrote: »

I'm not comfortable with NFC payment devices such as contactless credit cards. I'm not yet convinced that the system is secure and as such I don't trust it.


They really are worse than Microsoft now and that's what I feared a few years ago.

Wasn't there a proof of concept app for android that could lift Card Details from contactless credit cards, just by being within a foot or so of them? I remain to be convinced it is secure too.

Nate

evolutionqy7

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

Wasn't there a proof of concept app for android that could lift Card Details from contactless credit cards, just by being within a foot or so of them? I remain to be convinced it is secure too.

Nate

Could be. Android isn't the most secure thing on the planet, as far as I'm aware though. NFC won't activate with screen off. IRS the way it works with my S3 anyway.

Maybe its a bit secure on WP8. Either way you can add a password or a pin to authorize any transaction

batistuta9

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

Wasn't there a proof of concept app for android that could lift Card Details from contactless credit cards, just by being within a foot or so of them? I remain to be convinced it is secure too.

Nate

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Could be. Android isn't the most secure thing on the planet, as far as I'm aware though. NFC won't activate with screen off. IRS the way it works with my S3 anyway.

Maybe its a bit secure on WP8. Either way you can add a password or a pin to authorize any transaction

Yeah, there was an app on Play for a while by a German security researcher

It's nothing to do with Android being secure or not + it was from bank cards not card details on phone.

It's the NFC that's being exploited - if you want to call it that - it doesn't encrypt the card details, it's not making a transaction there and then, just gets the details

the app lifted the name, card number & 3 digits security code - enough to buy stuff online with

you can see them details anyway if you get a persons card but now often will people actually have your bank card?
not that often, probably never in some cases, and not long enough to remember those numbers

Nate--IRL--

Yeah that's the one I was thinking of. Basically you phone could steal Card details by standing next to holders of contactless cards, like on a bus or something. Scary thought.

Nate

PogMoThoin

Nate--IRL-- wrote: »

Yeah that's the one I was thinking of. Basically you phone could steal Card details by standing next to holders of contactless cards, like on a bus or something. Scary thought.

Nate

No different to someone picking your pocket, therefore you have a PIN for security

jimmynokia

Ive a lumia 920 yellow and gnote 2 and ive only used it once.
It will be sometime yet before it catches on here.

partyatmygaff

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Bit of course. Would you not just enter your timetable into the calendar and use a widget

That's a monumental amount of effort. Trinity use a system that's almost impossible to integrate with Google Calendar without writing a script. It's easier just to open the browser on the page.

kippy

PogMoThoin wrote: »

No different to someone picking your pocket, therefore you have a PIN for security

It's a fair bit different.

batistuta9

PogMoThoin wrote: »

No different to someone picking your pocket, therefore you have a PIN for security

It's completely different

+ they don't need your PIN

PogMoThoin

batistuta9 wrote: »

It's completely different

+ they don't need your PIN

Anyone who you present your Bank Card to has access to this info, any store you call it out to on the phone has it also. NFC on smartphones will need a PIN or some sort of user verification and will not work while the phone is locked. My point is using cards is no more insecure than it's ever been, all the more reason to move to electronic devices that require verification.

batistuta9

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Anyone who you present your Bank Card to has access to this info, any store you call it out to on the phone has it also. NFC on smartphones will need a PIN or some sort of user verification and will not work while the phone is locked.

Yeah i know that the details it takes are visible anyway

This is just about NFC with bank cards though

who would you be given your bank card to for long enough that they'd remember your name, 16 digit number & 3 digit security code, rain man?

I think on XDA there's mods to make NFC work when the screen is locked

PogMoThoin

batistuta9 wrote: »

who would you be given your bank card to for long enough that they'd remember your name, 16 digit number & 3 digit security code, rain man?

I don't expect a human to remember it, cameras are tiny these days

batistuta9 wrote: »

I think on XDA there's mods to make NFC work when the screen is locked

Yes, user installable mods, as with any security, the human themselves are the weakest link.

batistuta9

PogMoThoin wrote: »

I don't expect a human to remember it, cameras are tiny these days



Yes, user installable mods, as with any security, the human themselves are the weakest link.

it's easier for someone to have a NFC card skimming app installed than use a tiny camera though, as you don't even need the person to take it out & you'd be able to target far more people, etc.

anyway i'm not too bothered by it, all tin foil hat :pac: & think NFC bank cards are a good idea, just know it can be done easily enough

this is going OT.