You must be aware of devices interacting with each other without any actual contact between them, most common technology used for this purpose is Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and these are the technologies which are known to almost every second person.
But as we know the world is ever expanding and with this ever expanding world there comes a new technology NFC which helps in data exchange between two devices without any physical contact.
Introduction
Near Field Communication (NFC) is based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), NFC is a set of standards for smartphones and other similar devices through which devices establish a connection between by taping each other or by coming into close proximity which is not more than 4 cms.
Communication is possible between two NFC devices or between NFC device and other devices containing NFC tag. NFC tag is an unpowered chip that enables the device to communicate with other NFC device or the device with NFC tag i.e. communication is also possible between the devices having NFC tag.
How Near Field Communication (NFC) works?
One of the very obvious question that strikes into mind is how does NFC works like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi?
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and NFC all three are wireless mode of communications but Bluetooth and Wi-Fi uses radio transmissions and NFC focuses on using electromagnetic radio fields.
It works using magnetic induction, when the communicating devices comes in contact a magnetic field is created that bridges the space between the devices and as a result they can provide information or provide and read both.
History of Near Field Communication (NFC)
NFC is based on RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) which was discovered in 1983, but after many research; main existence of NFC came in 2004 when Nokia, Philips and Sony established the NFC forum. So 2004 is actually the base from when this technology came into existence. After many research work on this technology in 2006 its tags known as NFC tags came into existence and then the commencement was made of the use of this technology in smartphones and other devices.
Nokia 6131 released in the year 2006 was the first NFC enabled smartphone.
Samsung Nexus released in 2010 was the first android based NFC enabled smartphone.
Security
NFC enables secured channel of transmission and also uses encryption methods while sending sensitive data such as credit card numbers and other sensitive data.
Apart from these advantages there are few disadvantages attached with this technology that is eavesdropping, relay attack, data modification, lost property are possible in this technology, so measures are yet to be taken to make it more secure.
Some NFC enabled devices released till now
Acer E320 Liquid Express, Alcatel One Touch 922, BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930, BlackBerry Curve 9350/9360/9370, BlackBerry PlayBook, C-Mii 3, Casio IT-800, Google Galaxy Nexus, Google Nexus 4, Google Nexus S, HTC Droid DNA/HTC J Butterfly, HTC Evo 4G LTE, HTC One X/XL, HTC Windows Phone 8X , Huawei Sonic/Turkcell T20, Lenovo K800, LG Optimus 4X HD, LG Optimus G, LG Optimus L7, LG Optimus LTE Tag, LG Optimus Vu, LG Viper, Mobiwire Cosyphone, Motorola Droid Razr HD, Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD, Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE, Nokia 603, Nokia 701, Nokia 808 PureView, Nokia Lumia 610 NFC, Nokia Lumia 620, Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Oro, Panasonic BizPad, Pantech Discover, Porsche Design P’9981, Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G, Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy S III Mini, Samsung S5260 NFC, Samsung Wave 578, Samsung Wave M, Sharp Aquos Phone Serie, Sharp RW-T110 NFC Tablet, Sky Vega Racer, Sonim XPand NFC, Sony Xperia Ion, Sony Xperia P, Sony Xperia S, Sony Xperia T, Sony Xperia V, Sony Xperia VL, Turkcell MaxiPRO5, Xolo X900, ZTE Blade II , ZTE Grand X IN, ZTE Turkcell MaxiPLUS5