NFC and HTML5 emerging as Winners on Mobile

Near Field Communication(NFC) ( for more details read my earlier blog http://khanderaotech.blogspot.com/2011/05/nfc-getting-momentum.html) is very useful in very short distance communication ideal for mobile devices. It has got another backer that is from RIM. RIM is bating high on NFC based Apps as its one of the main four focus area (according to its Dev relations VP Saunders).

This week there is another from Adobe. It seems that it is stopping further development on MObile Flash and bating on HTML5 which they should have done it long back after listening to Steve Jobs. Anyway, recently Adobe taking good steps. Adobe has recently acquired Phone Gap which is an opensource for developing HTML5 based hybrid apps of variety of mobile devices like iPhone and Android. We are using it at myBantu. In this case 90% code base is independent of the mobile device. (HTML5 related my blog entry: http://texploration.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/html5-winning-high-volume-websites/ )

NFC Getting Momentum

The Near Field Communication (NFC) is gaining a momentum. Its usage will be propelled via mobile devices and would give a birth to many fantastic devices and applications.

Last week Apple introduced Retail 2.0 store that effectively used NFC.

To the heels of the Apple, Google took the techbology to the more practical and more wider usage. That is to enable credit card payments via mobile. This morning Google introduced an android App called Wallet. It uses RFID and NFC technology.

The usage of NFC in the Android mobile is going to propel a new set of innovation. Hence let us look at few facts about NFC:

1. Distance: 4 cm or less (may be increased to 20cm)
2. 13.56 Mhz
3. Speed 106Kb/s to 848KB/s
4. Typicall usage: “sharing, pairing, and transaction"
5. Passive or active (2way) communication models
6. Unlike Bluetooth, NFC doesn’t require pairing
7. NFC requires far less power than Bluetooth but its slower.
8. Drawback: not-secure (may be ok because of very short range)

Coming back to Wallet. It should be noted that all the android mobiles would not have NFC technology built in. Also the service provider (shops / retailers) should be have complimentary technology.