A few weeks ago, I did a bit of a mobile device upgrade. I found a very nice deal on a Nokia N9 and pulled the trigger. One of the reasons for getting this device (despite its age and the non-Android/iOS aspects of it) was the inclusion of NFC (Near-Field Communications). NFC is a radio transmission protocol that’s used to instigate wireless data transfers. It is too small a wave to do the transfer for all but the smallest pieces of data. But, it can be used as a trigger to enable Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to take over the transferring of files and other data between devices.

This ability to instigate the transfer of data between devices is something that comes across the #mobmin field pretty often. In some of the contexts, we’re asked about P2P (person to person) media transfers because the use of an Internet service to facilitate that is not always so economic or practical. So, the use of Bluetooth, a shared, offline Wi-Fi hotspot like AirStash, or even turning to a multimedia card reader (by itself or embedded within a mobile or laptop) becomes the method that people employ. NFC technology within mobile devices can help to simplify the process of doing these transfers. The key here to to understand what all a device can transfer, and then making sure that you’ve setup your device accordingly for sending or receiving.

Steps to Use NFC (if your device has it)

1. Make sure that NFC is turned on (you will probably need to go into Connectivity settings in order to set this on)
2. Make sure to enable the confirmation of a transfer (this is a security measure to protect your device and the information on it)

After that, its as simple as navigating to the content that you wish to share, clicking on Share, setting your device back to back with another mobile that has NFC, then tapping the screen and starting the sharing of the content. The other device has to have NFC for it to work like this. Otherwise, you will want to use Bluetooth pairing in the conventional manner in order to share the content (turn on Bluetooth, make both devices discoverable, select the content you want to send, then send it).

Samsung’s S-Beam and Other NFC Implementations

This article was sparked by a reading of How to Use S-Beam over at Android Authority. S-Beam is a Samsung-branded implementation of NFC that not only uses Bluetooth, but can also use a variant of Wi-Fi called Wi-Fi Direct. When using S-Beam, the idea of transferring videos to other Wi-Fi Direct devices makes sense because it uses the much larger pipe used for Wi-Fi, instead of the smaller Bluetooth channels.

NFC is also usable from static boards such as business cards and billboards. Going along with Samsung’s Galaxy III campaign in the USA, there are many billboards in places such as malls and airports where Samsung invites the Galaxy III (or any Samsung NFC-equipped device) owner to tap the ad and get some kind of application, news, or media content. The best part about this kind of activity is that nearly anyone can purchase a “blank” NFC card and then use either the mobile device or an attending PC to program it for sharing info in a similar manner. Samsung calls their programmable tiles TecTiles. Nokia has a whole suite of programming documentation on the subject for Symbian, MeeGo, S40, and Windows Phone projects.

NFC can also be used in situations such as making identity and access tokens (really cool when you see this: tap the device against a panel on a door, hear the door unlock, then walk in). There are plans to doing things like this for automobiles, but already we are seeing this specific implementation in schools and businesses. There are even NFC enabled phone accessories that do everything from charging a device on a pillow, to playing music through a wireless boombox.

Conclusion

You don’t need to make a web service in order to make something mobile that can get from one device to another. If your device doesn’t have a memory card slot, you can use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to make the transfers. NFC is a protocol that makes it easier to start those connections. Many new smartphones have NFC (Samsung, Sony, and HTC models on the Android side, Nokia and HTC on the Windows Phone side, some of Nokia’s Asha phones have it, and the new BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 devices do as well) and most will be able to at least transfer content between them.

The days of saying “I have to wait to email it to you” are done, wouldn’t you say?