NFC technology is becoming more and more commonplace in today’s smartphones, but the truth is that outside of mobile payment systems such as Google Wallet, they aren’t really being put to full use. This could all change thanks to a new Samsung technology called TecTiles, which essentially are little packs of five stickers for $14.99 that are programmable and can be swiped by your NFC-equipped phone.

The idea is that you can program these stickers with certain functions and stick them to the areas where you would want a setting change. As an example, if you have preferred settings and apps you want launched when you sit down to your work desk, put a sticker on the desk and swiping it will automatically change these settings. Going to bed? Your sticker can set a per-determined alarm and other settings with a simple swipe of a sticker. Samsung will also sell the sticker to other companies and brands for them to make customized stickers that do specific things, such as initiate a download of a program, log into a service and more.

You can program the TecTiles yourself using a free application on Google Play, called Samsung TecTiles. There is a lot of customization present in the TecTiles app, allowing you to do a range of things from launching apps to joining a certain WIFI network, making a call, sending a text message, and more, all with a similar NFC sticker.

While I personally don’t have NFC on my smartphone, more and more users do, and its clear that the technology is quickly evolving into something way beyond a simple novelty.

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