Samsung TecTiles Programmable NFC Tags For Galaxy S III Review

Samsung is looking to make Near Field Technology (NFC) a little more accessible to everyone with the announcement of its TecTiles, quarter-sized programmable sticker tags, which is integrated in newer Android phones and it allows you to tap a phone to pay or send information. Using the NFC technology in certain Samsung phones, including the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Nexus, users will be able to program the TecTile tags to launch a specific app or send a text message using the TecTiles app and you can program the tags to do a number of things, including launch a website, show an address on a map, or launch a Facebook status update. A pack of five tiles will cost $14.99 and it is likely that Samsung will roll out support for other NFC Android phones.

Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) is helping consumers realize the potential of NFC technology today with the creation of Samsung TecTiles and the TecTile programming application. With the largest user base of NFC-enabled devices in the United States and TecTiles available in all four major carrier stores and at major online retailers at the launch of the Galaxy S III, Samsung is ensuring NFC becomes a part of daily life. With a simple tap of an NFC-enabled phone to a TecTile, consumers are able to automate everyday functions of a smartphone including sending a "headed/at home" text message, silencing the phone when entering a meeting, setting an alarm, and dimming the display when going to bed. Samsung TecTiles will transform how businesses large and small engage with consumers. On premise, TecTiles enable consumers to check-in on Facebook or foursquare, connect to Wi-Fi or download content. Off-premise, businesses can use TecTiles as a way to market to and engage with consumers by enabling reward programs and to download discount offers or content. "With millions of NFC-enabled Samsung Galaxy smartphones currently in the market and the arrival of our flagship device Galaxy S III, Samsung saw an opportunity to expand the value of NFC beyond mobile payments," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications America, the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. and worldwide. "The launch of Samsung TecTiles is another example of Samsung's ability to innovate new products and applications that improve the way we use our mobile devices for everyday tasks."

Samsung TecTiles are easy to program with any NFC-enabled smartphone and the free application, which can be found in the Google Play marketplace. TecTiles can be reprogrammed as often as needed to complete any of the following functions on an NFC-enabled phone:

Settings & Applications

• Change phone settings (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ringer/media volume, screen brightness, etc.)
• Launch an application
• Join a Wi-Fi Network
• Show a message

Communication

• Make a call
• Send a text message
• Start a Google Talk conversation
• Share a contact or business card

Location & Web

• Show an address on a map
• Open a web page
• Foursquare or Facebook check-in

Social

• Automatic Facebook “Like”
• Update Facebook status
• Post a tweet or follow a contact on Twitter
• Connect on LinkedIn

Samsung NFC-Enabled Android  Smartphones

• Samsung Galaxy S III on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon
• Samsung Galaxy S II on T-Mobile
• Galaxy Nexus TM on Verizon, Sprint and GSM Unlocked
• Nexus ^TM S  4G on Sprint
• Samsung Galaxy S Blaze  4G on T-Mobile

Priced at $14.99 for a pack of five, TecTiles programmable NFC sticker tags are now available for purchase online and in-store at AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The Samsung TecTiles app is now available for download at the Google Play store.

Barclaycard PayTag, The NFC-Enabled Card You Glue To Your Phone Review

Barclaycard has launched a stick-on credit card, which will allow its 12 million customers the chance to make wave-and-pay purchases from their mobile phone or other item of their choice. The PayTag is a quarter of the size of a traditional credit card and will sit unobtrusively on any mobile handset or other item, which hopes the move will trigger the mass take-up of contactless payments that has so far proved elusive. he PayTag is an extension of a customer’s credit card account that can be used to make payments of £15 and under, though the limit will rise to £20 in June and the PayTag will be released to a select group of customers in the coming weeks with mass availability coming later this year.



Barclaycard announced the launch of Barclaycard PayTag, a new way to pay with your mobile telephone. Millions of Barclaycard customers will be offered the chance to make payments with any mobile phone by simply sticking a Barclaycard PayTag to the back of their handset. Available at no cost, and exclusively to Barclaycard Visa cardholders, Barclaycard PayTag is an extension of a customer’s credit card account. At a third of the size of a normal card, it can be discreetly and simply stuck to the back of any mobile phone. Once attached, it can be used to make payments of £15 and under, rising to £20 in June, by simply being held over a contactless payment terminal. David Chan, CEO of Barclaycard Consumer Europe, said: “Today, we are offering the choice of mobile payments to millions of our customers at no additional cost to them. More than half of us say that the item we’re most lost without is our mobile phone, so we’re giving people the option of using them to make easy, convenient, everyday payments without the need to upgrade their current handset.” The announcement comes as Visa predicts that the number of contactless point-of-sale terminals in the UK will rise by 50% to 150,000 this year. Major retailers that offer, or are introducing, contactless include Waitrose, McDonalds, Boots, WH Smith and Tesco. By the end of 2012, London buses will also accept contactless payments, followed by the Tube and the rest of the transport network in the Capital in 2013.



Barclaycard PayTag is safe and secure, and comes with the same 100% fraud protection as any Barclaycard. An exclusive group of customers will be invited to receive their Barclaycard PayTag in the coming weeks, before they are offered to millions of Barclaycard customers later in the year. David Chan, adds: “Barclaycard is developing a wide range of initiatives which will ultimately enable everyone to enjoy the benefits of mobile payments. Barclaycard PayTag is another milestone on our journey to make paying easier, and sits alongside other easy ways to pay with your mobile such as those we offer in partnership with Orange.” Last week Barclaycard and Orange announced that credit or debit card holders from all UK banks would be able to load money onto Barclaycard’s mobile payments application, in the Quick Tap wallet. This will open up the opportunity for contactless payments to more Orange customers. Orange also confirmed that it would be making Quick Tap available on a range of Android smartphones, with the first to be announced in the coming weeks. Research carried out on Barclaycard’s behalf predicts that £3 billion worth of purchases will be made with mobile phones in the UK in 2016. Barclaycard PayTag provides customers with the choice of simple mobile phone payments now, without having to wait to upgrade, and at no additional cost.

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What is NFC ? NFC Features and Benefit

About NFC

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology makes life easier and more convenient for consumers around the world by making it simpler to make transactions, exchange digital content, and connect electronic devices with a touch.

Near field communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimetres.

Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi. Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip

NFC Features and Benefit

NFC provides a range of benefits to consumers and businesses, such as:

• Intuitive: NFC interactions require no more than a simple touch
• Versatile: NFC is ideally suited to the broadest range of industries, environments, and uses
• Open and standards-based: The underlying layers of NFC technology follow universally implemented ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards
• Technology-enabling: NFC facilitates fast and simple setup of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)
• Inherently secure: NFC transmissions are short range (from a touch to a few centimeters)
• Interoperable: NFC works with existing contactless card technologies
• Security-ready: NFC has built-in capabilities to support secure applications

A standards-based connectivity technology, NFC harmonizes today's diverse contactless technologies, enabling current and future solutions in areas such as:

• Access control
• Consumer electronics
• Healthcare
• Information collection and exchange
• Loyalty and coupons
• Payments
• Transport

Developers can learn more about NFC in the section on interoperability.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Smartphone Review

Verizon announced that it will launch the Galaxy Nexus today, December 15th and the device will sold for an unexpectedly-steep $299 alongside a new two-year contract. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first device running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, making its launch a fairly significant one for the short-term future of the OS and the Galaxy Nexus features a 4.65-inch 720p HD display, 1.2GHz processor, 32 GB of storage and a 1,850 mAh battery.

Verizon Wireless, Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) and Google announced Galaxy Nexus is available starting today in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers can browse the Web, stream music and more at blazing speeds using the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. Galaxy Nexus customers can enjoy access to the 4G LTE network in 190 markets covering over 200 million people across the United States, and fly through the Web with fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps within the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband coverage area. Galaxy Nexus runs Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, which brings an entirely new look and feel to Android. Galaxy Nexus offers customers a redesigned user experience with improved multi-tasking, notifications, Near Field Communications (NFC) sharing with Android Beam and a full Web-browsing experience. The lock screen, home screen, phone app and everything in between have been rethought and redesigned to make Android simple, beautiful and useful. Galaxy Nexus also features an ultra-thin 9.47mm design with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED Contour Display to watch movies, view pictures and play games that come to life in 720p (1280 x 720) resolution.

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) features:

• Redesigned user interface: software navigation buttons, a first for Android smartphones, and a dedicated recent apps button to make multi-tasking easy
• Face Unlock: use state-of-the-art facial recognition to unlock Galaxy Nexus
• Android Beam: quickly share Web pages, apps, contacts and YouTube videos with friends by simply tapping two compatible phones together
• Redesigned Camera: introduces panorama mode, 1080p video capture, zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, and effects such as silly faces and background replacement
• People Application: browse friends, family and coworkers, see their photos in high-resolution and check their latest status updates from Google+ and other social networks
• Cloud Services: keep email, contacts, photos, music, browser bookmarks and other data synced to the cloud, available across multiple devices so customers never lose important data
• Google Music: upload up to 20,000 songs to the cloud, discover and buy new music from Android Market, and stream it instantly on Galaxy Nexus and from the Web for free
• Google+: Create a Google+ account right from the phone and check status updates, manage circles, quickly share updates and photos, video chat with up to ten friends with Mobile Hangouts, and chat with groups of friends with Google+ Messenger
• Support for Google Mobile Services: Gmail, Google Maps with 3D maps and free turn-by-turn navigation, Google Earth, Movie Studio, YouTube, syncing with Google Calendar, a redesigned Google+ app and access to more than 300,000 apps, millions of eBooks, thousands of movies to rent, and millions of songs available to download from Android Market

Additional features:

• Dual-core 1.2 GHz application processor and HTML5 Web browser: optimized dual-core processing with Android 4.0 combined with lightning fast 4G LTE connectivity for fast downloading of graphics, applications processing and Web browsing
• Mobile Hotspot capability: share 4G LTE or 3G connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices
• 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with zero-shutter lag for instant photo capturing, autofocus and LED flash with full 1080p recording
• Front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat
• • Textured soft-touch back cover: enhances the ergonomic feel and makes the phone slip-resistant
• Bluetooth 3.0 technology: support for headset, hands-free, stereo, phonebook access, human interface device (HID) and object push for vCard and vCalendar
• 1 GB RAM and 32 GB on-board memory (actual formatted capacity will be less)

Pricing and data packages:

• Galaxy Nexus is available now in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
• Customers that purchase a Galaxy Nexus by Samsung will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 monthly access and a smartphone data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

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