When you work with NFC all day, it’s easy to get hung up on the more complex solutions – like payments & ticketing and vouchers. These services will certainly be the driving force for getting the infrastructure in place. But what I’m really looking forward to seeing is how NFC will solve some of the more basic challenges – like getting applications onto your phone.
It’s off putting – even for techies
Nerdy online tutorials and numerous blog posts prove how complicated the current process is. Imagine how easy it will be to install an application on your NFC handset. You tap a smart poster, hit “yes” to confirm a couple of times and that’s it – done! What happens in the background is simple. The RFID tag contains a web-link to the application and the handset loads the link using its browser. This seems trivial but for years I’ve wrestled with the alternatives – either some kind of trigger for sending a WAP-Push to your handset (which means giving out your phone number) or typing a URL into the native browser. If you’ve never tried, have a go at typing “http://” in your next SMS. There are some great mobile games but the PC based email and phone number registration process really puts me off.
App stores aren’t enough
In light of Apple’s success with the Apple-store, many manufacturers are actively creating an application eco-system. This is long overdue in my opinion but these solutions fall short “on the move” – however slick and touch-sensitive your phone is. In the NFC enabled future it will be another matter entirely. I will be in a cafe, having picked up the latest copy of Edge and I’ll tap my phone on the insert promoting “Left 4 Dead get exclusive mobile content”. The RFID chip in the insert will do it all for me. I can’t wait!
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