New Connected Twists for NFC
New Connected Twists for NFC by UCStrategies Staff
Near field communication (NFC) is normally associated with smartphones, electronic ticketing systems, and mobile wallets. But in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, numerous vendors unveiled new applications for the technology.
Sony, for one, touts how it draws on NFC technology to “pair” complementary devices. Sony has a suite of NFC-enabled devices equipped with the company’s One-touch function, including a sound bar, a Blu-ray disc home theater system, wireless speakers such as the NFC-outfitted portable SRS-BT5, mobile devices, and a Sony Bravia television remote control. And unlike LG and Samsung, Sony embedded the NFC chip inside a remote control.
Sony has utilized NFC and placed it at the core of its content sharing via the One-touch function. This is exemplified by the music-sharing capabilities of Sony’s Xperia mobile devices. Also utilizing the One-touch function is the consumer-focused 1TB Personal Content Station device used to wirelessly connect to a home network to save, access, and share multimedia from smartphones and tablets.
The same One-touch function enables smartphones to connect wirelessly with certain Sony Bravia televisions. An NFC-specific SideView app, free for both Android and iOS, allows users to reflect a handheld screen image on the television using a remote control. NFC-enabled phones can then be paired with Sony’s Bravia televisions and Blu-ray disc home theater systems to mirror and explore on the big screen anything from apps, games, photos, and videos – without interrupting an ongoing TV show, for example.
LG, on the other hand, uses NFC technology in its smart appliances, the likes of ovens, refrigerators, and washing machines – all of them made to “communicate” with each other. With LG, the smartphone is essentially the remote control for managing a smart home.
At the CES event, LG presented its home connectivity plans that make use of NFC and Wi-Fi. Managed by NFC-enabled smartphones (iPhones not included), LG smart appliances can be controlled using a single tap. Once paired with an NFC-enabled phone, the user can then, for example, scan a product’s barcode so that the smart refrigerator can add the product to its inventory, remind the user of the expiration date, and even recommend recipes to be used with it. From the fridge’s recipe selection, the user can direct the product to the oven, which will automatically heat up to the right temperature, notify the user about the cooking progress, and so on. There are also diagnostic tools that identify possible issues and recommend fixes.
And since all appliances and devices are linked in this setup, users who do not want to use their smartphones can use their TV instead. They can bring up the app’s interface to display on their TV, then check on a washing machine’s progress or an oven’s cooking time, for example. Similarly, mobile users can, among many other things, initiate a spin cycle on the washing machine using a smartphone.
Similar to iRobot’s Roomba, LG’s Smart HOM-BOT, an automated vacuum cleaner, can be paired with an NFC-enabled smartphone, which remotely controls the workings of the vacuum cleaner – from its conventional spill-cleaning tasks to serving as a glorified home monitor with the appliance’s built-in cameras and speakers.
CES has certainly seen various manufacturers like Sony and LG taking strides in adopting NFC technology for other applications other than the usual mobile payment and ticketing. (KOM) Link. Link. Link.