Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/09/nfc_kit/
Tikitag lets anyone become Big Brother
Stick NFC tech into clothes, toys, children
Posted in Wireless, 9th September 2008 10:11 GMT
Free whitepaper – Assuring application service quality
If you're still wondering exactly what NFC technology is for, then Tikitag will sell you enough kit to try and find out for only $50 - a small investment if you can find a killer application for the technology.
Near Field Communication is the standard for short range communication with unpowered tags. The kits, which will be available from 1 October, include ten tags and a USB reader for a shade under $50. With the reader comes the "Application Correlation Server", a Mac or PC application that makes things happen when a tag is read, and provides an API for more interesting development.
The company site [1] shows the usual examples of sending tags to people, though the post, so they can wave them near a computer and load up your website - a bit like emailing a URL, only more expensive and less convenient. They also suggest tags could be affixed near art works so people with NFC-equipped phones can load up more information - an awful lot of faff to avoid typing in a URL, really.
The big problem for NFC is that it lacks a killer application - a reason for existing - if that can be found then all these other apps would be great additions, but they won't drive adoption. It should come as no surprise that behind Tikitag is Alcatel-Lucent, associate member of the NFC Forum and sponsor of at least one NFC trial.
Putting NFC tags, and readers, into the hands of hackers and hobbyists is probably a sensible way to try and find the elusive killer application - that is, if such an application exists. ®