Slashdot Mirror
Wireless Alliance Touts 'Magic Touch' RFID Tech
An anonymous reader writes "Nokia, Sony and Philips have launched a new wireless technology, called Near Field Communication, that could be a threat to Bluetooth. Based on RFID, they say it will enable electronic devices to interact -- for m-commerce, file-swapping or to download info from the Web -- when touched together."
If you RTFA (which the submitter didn't do obviously) you find out that this technology still uses WiFi or Bluetooth or other wireless technology to communicate.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Bluetooth has a usable range up to 300ft (there are also specs for 30ft and 3ft); it is commonly used for laptops and handhelds to connect to modems, printers, GPS receivers, and access points from across the room. Something that has a range of only a foot or so won't compete there.
I don't see much use for these new short-range wireless technologies--they aren't short-range enough to use their range limitations for security, and they aren't long-range enough to move into Bluetooth territory. Furthermore, there are short-range versions of Bluetooth.
For secure communications, IrDA would still be a better choice. For anything else, you might as well use Bluetooth.
But, hey, with enough marketing and sales muscle, these companies will probably manage to force another proprietary standard upon us, whether it is a good idea or not.
m-Commerce? Did we really need another x-Commerce variant? I swear, the marketing heads that come up with these buzzwords need to be taken to the woodshed.
I think the main "advantage" is really more of a difference - i.e. that it can be more easily adapted (and adopted) as a technology for transactions and exchanges because of the contact element. This, presumably assumes that there will be less user resistance to a transaction technology that requires a positive action controlled by the user rather than a passive "sweep" by an external reader or even a (theoretically) interceptable transmission. Just a guess, I am sure that I will be "corrected".
I've finally got around to changing my sig
The members of the NFC Forum envisage that their technology will be used to manage connections to both active and passive devices...
and get raided by MPAA & RIAA.
Well, Sony is one of the members of the forum, and both the MPAA & RIAA represent Sony, so they should have some sway to DRM the tech and to prevent the RIAA from preventing its adoption.
Then again, Sony is notorious for backing technology that is a great idea (and perhaps superior technology), but too strict enforcement of its patents prevented them from still being used today (see Betamax, miniDisc, SACD, Bjork, etc...)
The article says:
While NFC will handle identification of users through RFID, it appears that wireless protocols such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi will still be used for the data transfer.
"NFC won't replace Bluetooth or infrared. This is a new paradigm based on touching, and it will complement these existing wireless technologies," a NFC spokesman explained.
What kind of threat is that? RFID is not a short rage data communications medium if you want bandiwdth you need something else.
RTFA, just like the submitter didn't. This isn't supposed to replace BlueTooth or WiFi or IR or anything, it's just meant to be it's own thing, possibly using BlueTooth or WiFi to transfer data. How can it replace a system that it itself uses?
Sigs are for the weak.