Get ready for Near Field Communication

There's one more thing you're going to have to start looking for in cellphones: whether or not it has a near field communication, or NFC, chip in it. NFC is basically a super-short range wireless protocol that only has a range of a few centimeters but would make it possible for people to use their cellphones to pay for stuff or unlock doors. Sounds just like RFID, right? The main difference is that with NFC you're not just reading a tag, you can actually send information both ways, which means it can also be used for transferring files to a PC (and it's supposed to be cheaper and use less power than WiFi or Bluetooth). Anyway, Philips (and just to be clear we mean Philips the company and not Phillip who writes for us) just cut a deal to sell NFC chips to Samsung, so expect to see it show up in their handsets by early next year.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:04AM]

It doesn't appreciably add anything that existing wireless devices have. Of course, it means the Cellphone of the Future(tm) will be able to listen and talk on no less than 30 different frequencies (4 gsms, gprs, edge, UWB, 802.11a-zz, BT, NFC, UHF, X-band, Ku-band, and Near Infrared for that walkabout tan!)