5 ways you can use NFC right now

You’ve probably heard about Near Field Communication (NFC), the technology, which allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. It’s been a hot technology topic for a while, and last year research firm Juniper Research predicted that 300 million smartphones will be NFC-enabled by the year 2014. But, why wait that long? There are plenty of things you can already do with this magical technology right now.

Travel’s easier with Oyster

Although NFC only seems to have hit the news this in the last couple of years, it’s actually been around for quite a while. If you live in London, for example, you can use it to help you travel around the city. In fact, five million NFC Oyster travel cards are touched against readers on the Underground every single day. They’re so popular they even brought one out to celebrate the last Royal Wedding.

Makes music more mobile

How much music do you have on your mobile? Whether it’s ten tunes or ten thousand, chances are you probably don’t listen to them much on a speaker. Happily with portable NFC speaker like the JBL Playup for Nokia that’s all set to change. This Bluetooth speaker allows your music to be streamed wirelessly from any Bluetooth device. What’s more, its NFC enabled, which means that to enjoy tunes from your mobile phone you simply tap and play.

Helps you save money

More and more companies are starting to use NFC marketing campaigns to promote their products. If you have an NFC enabled mobile phone, you just tap it against their promotional material and get anything from a money off voucher to a free meal. Never again will you have to cut off vouchers only to lose them before you have the chance to cash them in. With one small tap they’ll be on your phone forever.

Makes wireless sharing simple

Wireless file sharing is one feature Bluetooth’s had in the bag for years, but now Nokia is using NFC to share files on its Windows Phone 8 Nokia Lumias. This new way of sharing is very similar to Bluetooth. It allows you to connect to another device and wirelessly send whatever you like to that device. However, unlike with Bluetooth, you simply touch your phones together or Tap + Send.

Keeps you in touch with your stereo.

A recent report by Forrester found that a whopping 63% of 16-24 years olds listen to tunes on their smartphones, which seems to suggest that mobile music is the future. However if, like us, you still love to chill out to your stereo, you’ll be pleased to hear about the NFC enabled Nokia Music Receiver. This wireless dock allows music to be streamed from a Bluetooth device to your home stereo system, ensuring CD-quality sound from up to 100m away. And all this with a simple tap.

There are five ways NFC is rocking our world right now. But what about you? If you’ve got any others to add the list please let us know in the comments below.