NFC - Should we care?

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stevenz

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Topic # 83682 20-May-2011 11:33

A number of upcoming cellphones will be including NFC tech in them (I believe the Nexus S already supports it) - is this something that is going to be of any use whatsoever in NZ in the forseeable future, or should I just stop worrying about it as a selling point?

What might be potential uses for it be here other than as a glorified replacement for bluetooth & "bump" transfers?

Cheers,

Steve.

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Reply # 471502 20-May-2011 11:46

I think we should encourage these technologies. I remember Snapper going on about the future being embeddable in cell phones.

As for actually being useful. Not yet and not likely for a long time. Unless someone wants to foot the bill for capital investment and sell it do the thousands of stores around the country :P

sbiddle

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Reply # 471519 20-May-2011 12:15

Current Android NFC implimentation is very limited and has no ability to act as a replacement for your PayPass credit card or Snapper card.

In the future however there is no technical reason why it can't - the reasons will purely be business ones.

K1000716

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Reply # 471567 20-May-2011 13:31

While I can see that it could be a good thing I think there are still some security issues to be resolved before I'd be happy with it. There isn't much use for it here yet either. My SGS2 was missing it from release and I certainly don't miss it.

Disrespective

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Reply # 471574 20-May-2011 13:53

I'm not worried about it being in any devices I own just yet as nowhere here has any use for it that a simple code scan can't do.

That being said in 5 or so years i'd think it will be in all new devices and things will be a little different.

mentalinc

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Reply # 471698 20-May-2011 18:51

I was thinking it was a must have, but NZ is so far behind its not going to catch on any time soon.

I've read in the UK they are looking at implementing it into sim cards themselves so the phone will just need the software to be able to use the functions in the sim card....

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sbiddle

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Reply # 471745 20-May-2011 21:13

mentalinc: I was thinking it was a must have, but NZ is so far behind its not going to catch on any time soon.

I've read in the UK they are looking at implementing it into sim cards themselves so the phone will just need the software to be able to use the functions in the sim card....

The NFC isn't embedded into the SIM, it's part of the NFC process requires what is known as a "secure chip" to handle the authentication in the transaction. A standard known as single wire was developed which uses the SIM as the secure chip, which is very much a telvo driven thing so they can clip the ticket on NFC transactions.

K1000716

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Reply # 471760 20-May-2011 21:52

sbiddle: The NFC isn't embedded into the SIM

Are you sure about that? It's certainly the impression you get after reading these two articles:

UK: http://www.nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com/2011/01/27/35762/orange-and-barclaycard-set-date-for-uks-first-commercial-nfc-service/.

And from Korea: http://www.nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com/2010/03/25/33318/sk-telecom-and-hana-launch-sim-based-mobile-contactless-payments-and-promotions-service/

Lambchop

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Reply # 471812 21-May-2011 02:04

pretty sure i've read/heard about the sim card implementation being an option for phones without native support for NFC ...

androidmnz

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Reply # 471815 21-May-2011 04:40

Back in March, ANZ were reportedly doing NFC trials in AUS. So who knows, maybe we'll get it sooner than you think.

And I agree NZ can be behind the times, but we had Eftpos before England did :)

sbiddle

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Reply # 471833 21-May-2011 09:03

The Orange system requires a NFC capable phone, a SIM by itself can't perform the NFC functions. A SD/Micro SD card can however and many trials have revolved around this. The downside of these however is that they can't necessarily interact with the phone to allow user input or to see your balance.

The service itself actually went live this week in the UK, and lets you use the single phone on offer (Samsung) at any NFC terminal in the UK that accepts Mastercard PayPass.

NZ is actually a long way behind many other countries now. The UK has had compulsary chip + pin for 6 years now and something like 50000 NFC terminals in use.

Last I heard Australia has over 15000 NFC terminals in use, compared with estimates of a thousand or so right now in NZ. ANZ are still the only bank issuing PayPass enabled Mastercards here in NZ, compared to more than 5 million cards in Australia where PayPass has become the norm for most small value payments at major retailers.

jlittle

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Reply # 474925 27-May-2011 19:34

sbiddle:
Last I heard Australia has over 15000 NFC terminals in use, compared with estimates of a thousand or so right now in NZ.

With Auckland buses moving to Hop cards, every bus becomes an NFC terminal in principle. However, Auckland transport's publicity is completely silent about the underlying technology, and I wonder why. I suspect they are desperate to keep control of the hop balances to fund their operations.

sbiddle

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Reply # 474930 27-May-2011 20:05

jlittle:
sbiddle:
Last I heard Australia has over 15000 NFC terminals in use, compared with estimates of a thousand or so right now in NZ.

With Auckland buses moving to Hop cards, every bus becomes an NFC terminal in principle. However, Auckland transport's publicity is completely silent about the underlying technology, and I wonder why. I suspect they are desperate to keep control of the hop balances to fund their operations.

The underlying technology isn't secret, it's cvery public. Infact there is very little difference fundamentally between the tchnology used by any NFC device. What makes the card is the application that's loaded on it. With JCOP compatible cards multiple applications can be loaded and an existing Snapper card can already be used for a myriad of tasks such as building access systems.

richms

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Reply # 474941 27-May-2011 20:42

Biggest use I can see for it is a way to speed the pairing process for bluetooth etc up, but I have only seen that shown in a "look what the future will bring" type video.

I don't want my ability to pay for something being reliant on having a mobile with me, which has enough charge in it to turn on and run whatever is needed to make it act as a payment card. That's what a payment card is for.

To be honest, I dont even like my ability to pay for necessities to be reliant on eftpos or visa being working. I always get paranoid when I am out without enough cash for a taxi/bus that some bloody ATM will eat my card or something as has happened in the past.

Richard rich.ms

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Reply # 475534 29-May-2011 19:17

jlittle:
With Auckland buses moving to Hop cards, every bus becomes an NFC terminal in principle. However, Auckland transport's publicity is completely silent about the underlying technology, and I wonder why. I suspect they are desperate to keep control of the hop balances to fund their operations.

Keeping silent probably because Ritchies aren't signing up to the Hop service. They opted to go with another system which doesn't surprise me. They're known for cutting corners and trying to find the cheapest way possible.

The council can't claim to have Auckland fully on Hop because of this, and it's a PR nightmare once people start realising just how USELESS that makes the whole system.

Zeb A.
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richms

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Reply # 475539 29-May-2011 19:20

Surely they can just not give richies any routes the next time they sort out who does what?

Richard rich.ms

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