When you think about it, this really makes a lot of sense. So many cars have push-to-start these days where the actual physical key doesn’t really matter all that much. All you need is something that can provide the appropriate signal and the NFC technology in compatible smartphones sounds like a perfect fit. Hyundai is aiming to replace traditional car keys with NFC-based apps by 2015. This wireless technology is likely an option, as some people will still want regular keys, but it is certainly intriguing.

But it’s not just about unlocking your doors and starting the engine. Hyundai wants to make it possible to set specific user profiles based on which smartphone is being used. In addition to opening the door, it might automatically set your seating and mirror positions, for example, and automatically switch to your favorite satellite radio station. And the cars would likely have an inductive charging plate to provide power to your mobile devices too.

I like it. There are already smartphone apps to work with compatible “smart” door locks, apps to pay for things, and apps to replace customer loyalty cards. It’s only a matter of time before we abandon traditional keys and wallets in favor of an all smartphone lifestyle.

[Source]

The post Use Your NFC Smartphone to Replace Your Hyundai Car Keys appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

With 2012  nearly over, we love taking a look back at some of the most innovative mobile technologies making their way into the “mainstream” this year.

Keep in mind that most of these innovations actually started years ago, but they make this year’s list simply because they went mainstream or showed up for the first time in a high-demand flagship device.

I am not going to number this as a “countdown of the best”, because each of these technologies bring new things to the mobile world and how important they are is really a matter of opinion.

This is by no means a definitive list; we are also  focusing on technologies in phones and tablets, not the devices themselves, though several hot items like the iPad, Nokia Lumia 920 and LG Nexus 4 certainly have technology present that makes this list.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Did we miss something monumental? Do you disagree with our top innovation choices? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Top Mobile Technology Innovations of 2012 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

First, we’re hearing that the new iPhone could take the path of the iPod family and be introduced with a number of different colors. The manufacturing process will likely be similar to that of the iPod touch, giving you a metallic outer casing in your choice of colors. I’m not sure how popular that could be, but it does seem possible. I imagine most of us would still choose the monochrome options.

The business analyst also says that the new iPhone will come with some hardware upgrades, like the availability of a 128GB storage option. Given the current pricing model, that could place the top tier iPhone at a $300 premium over the base model. We’re also hearing that NFC will finally make it to the iPhone, as well as better battery life and a 4-inch 2272×1280 beyond Retina IGZO display with a pixel density of 652ppi. I think that’s wishful thinking, but considering we have 5-inch Android phones with 1080p, that’s not too far beyond that. I’d worry about battery life though.

We can fully expect all kinds of new iPhone 5S rumors in the months to follow, but here are some nuggets to munch on in the meantime.

[Source via Gizmag]

The post iPhone 5S Launching in June with Colors, 128GB, IGZO Display? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Looking to break free of all the hassle that comes with wires? That’s where the Boombero NF Audio speaker comes in, helping you cut the cord between your phone and the speaker dock.

At first glance, this certainly looks quite retro but inside is a great audio experience. So what is NAC? Basically it takes the electrical signals from the phone’s speaker and relays to the dock’s speaker and amplifies them. The Boombero NF Audio Speaker will come in black or white and starts will set you back $72.29. Besides the speaker, you’ll also need three AA batteries in order to power the device for up to 20 hours of continuous playback. For those that want to save your precious batteries, this will also allow power through USB. This is fully compatible with just about any phone out there, including the iPhone, Windows Phone, Blackberry and Android devices.

What do you think, anyone interested in this NF-based speaker system or not?

Updated due to inaccuracy of original article. Sorry for any confusion caused.

[ source ]

The post Boombero Near Field Speakers have a Retro Styling, Cost Just $72.29 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Starting with Windows Phone 8 devices, NFC will now come into play on Microsoft’s newest mobile platform. While this isn’t that surprising, it is interesting to know that the tap+send features in Windows Phone 8 will actually work just fine between WP8 devices and Android phones.

The new Windows Phone 8 tap/send feature is designed for sharing web URLs, contact data and more with phones nearby, using a multi-platform standard. In the video from WP Central, the HTC 8X and Galaxy Nexus easily tossed web pages and contact information back and forth.

The only thing that won’t be cross-compatible is data transferring. For now that’s strictly Android-to-Android or Windows-to-Windows. In time could that change though? It’s certainly possible. Still, this is an interesting development and a step in the right direction.

While competition sparks innovation, so can collaboration and cooperation. What do you think? Are you interested in Windows Phone 8 or will you stick with an iOS, Android or even Blackberry alternative?

[ source ]

The post Windows Phone 8′s NFC Features Will Allow Limited Cross-Platform Communication with Android appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Want to ride on the subway for free? While there is no such thing as a ‘free ride’ in life, there is a free ride on the subway when you use an NFC hack. Obviously this is completely illegal, but researchers have no discovered that contactless fare cards in New Jersey and San Francisco transit systems can be hacked using a special Android application and NFC technology.

The researchers demonstrated the method on Thursday at the EUSecWest security conference in Amsterdam. The method is easy, according to the researchers presenting it at the conference, and it can be loaded and reset as many times as they wish.

The original testing was done in 2011, but as far as it is known the vulnerability still exists in contactless systems. While the exploit was only tested in the NJ and San Fran system, many other subway systems also use contactless cards that could be vulnerable to the hacking. This includes cities like Boston, Seattle and Chicago.

So how does this hack work exactly? The hack exploits the Mifare Ultralight chip found in disposable NFC cards, allowing the data to be read and than changed using a special Android app. That’s it.
In order to test the security in your local transit system, the hackers/researchers have released a special version of the UltraReset Android software to the public. This will allow curious users to attempt to see how secure their system is but won’t allow re-writing or resetting for free rides.

This is a pretty serious security issue, and hopefully one that transit systems take seriously. What do you think?

[ source ]

The post NFC Hack Allows Free Rides On The Subway appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Rumors suggest that NFC could be in the works for the new iPhone. While the limited space and rumored design of the so-called iPhone 5 might not allow for it, one thing does seem clear- Apple is interested in NFC. If not now, perhaps in the iPhone 5S or whatever they decide to call it?

Where’s the evidence of Apple’s interest? Beyond its somewhat-limited eWallet-type app, Passbook, coming to iOS 6, there is now patent information that could possibly allude to an NFC-based payment system in the works.

The new Apple patent suggests a graphical user interface that would represent the payment transaction through a digital image. Sound complicated? Basically, imagine looking at your screen to see a digital version of your MasterCard or Visa. To confirm the payment, this patent would basically have you touch the screen and ‘slide’ the card across it.

Sounds innocent enough, and it could just be a feature that will make it into PassBook for debit/credit cards that were manually entered, right? That’s entirely possible, but reading the detailed parts of the patent pictures and information makes it more likely that NFC is a key part of this patent system.

Exact words here:

Close range communication with the NFC device may take place via magnetic field induction, allowing the NFC device to communicate with other NFC devices or to retrieve information from tags having radio frequency identification (RFID) circuitry. As discussed below, the NFC device may provide a manner of connecting to a shopping website and communicating with an external server.

Interpreting that, it’s pretty obvious that the idea here is to retrieve ID information from cards through NFC, and the final piece of the puzzle is revealed here:

For example, credit cards may be digitally represented within an electronic wallet or an online payment system. After movement of the graphical elements, the electronic device may transmit a confirmation message to initiate payment with the selected payment instrument.

The ending part of this segment says you could slide your digital card on-screen and then initiate payment with “the selected payment instrument”- sounds like a NFC card reader to me. What do you think? Does this patent suggest some kind of NFC payment system that makes use of graphical sliding and pictures to confirm transactions? Or something else entirely?

[ Source ]

The post Apple Patent Suggest Sliding Virtual Cards to Confirm NFC Payments? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

NFC technology has quickly become commonplace among many smartphones out there. For the most part, NFC has been used for things like mobile payments, though a few unique uses exist out there. Now comes probably one of the strangest yet coolest uses for NFC ever, quick connecting to a keyboard. The new keyboard is the world’s first NFC keyboard and is made by Japanese electronics firm, Elecom. For those that really can’t be bothered to setup Bluetooth (which takes only seconds), this is a quick and easy way to start typing right away.

The keyboard is designed in collaboration with Norwegian firm One2Touch. Besides the wide space where the phone is set, this thing actually looks quite a bit like a standard keyboard. This keyboard is designed to be folded away into a small carrying case thanks to its silicone design, and is very small at 34cm. The NFC keyboard is designed to continuously work for 18 months in a row, factoring in about eight hours of use a day, without need for recharging. This is pretty impressive until you realize that there is no way to recharge this thing, so once it dies, it’s dead for good. At a $150+ price point, this is a pretty expensive item to replace, even if you only need to do it every 1 ½ years or so.

What do you think of the idea of this NFC keyboard, or would you rather just stick to a trusty Bluetooth keyboard instead?

[ source ]

The post The World’s First NFC Keyboard is Here appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The so-called iTravel app would work in tandem with Passbook, a feature that is set to come with iOS 6 this fall. Passbook is designed to capture your documents and save them in digital form, including boarding passes and possibly even your actual passport or driver’s license. It’s debatable whether TSA and other border control people would accept a digital passport, but airlines will probably start shifting to NFC to accept this new system. And it’s not just flights either; iTravel can be used for car rentals, cruises, trains, buses and more. Apple has been working on this for quite a while, as it appears the patent was originally filed way back in Q3 2008.

Not surprisingly, Apple has also filed and been awarded several more patents in the last while too. You know that Smart Cover and Smart Case for the iPad? It looks like they may be planning to miniaturize the whole thing and slap it onto the iPod nano too. I get the utility for something the size of an iPad, but do you really need a magnetic folding cover for your tiny MP3 player?

[Patently Apple via NFC News]

The post NFC-Enabled iTravel App Patented by Apple for iPhone 5 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

In a headphone industry first, the Parrot Zik comes with integrated NFC (near field technology) communication. The key advantage here is that you can pair up the headphones with a compatible NFC and Bluetooth-touting device simply by tapping them together. You no longer have to deal with “discovering” new devices and entering passcodes. The NFC tag is in the left ear cup.

On the outside of the right ear cup is a capacitive touch panel. No, you don’t have to look for specific touch sensitive buttons. Instead, it’s gesture-based, so you swipe up and down to adjust the volume, left and right to change tracks. You can also tap it to answer a call or hold it to reject a call. What’s cool is that there are also head detection and bone conduction sensors. When you take the headphones off to drape around your neck, the music automatically pauses. Put them back on your head and the tunes resume. The bone conduction sensor is meant to improve the clarity of your voice when you’re on a call.

The Zik will utilize a free iOS app which can disable the noise cancellation, it can also give you access to a variety of DSP effects like concert, live and tweak the sound with an equalizer.  The app is out for iPhone and iPod and should come very soon for iPad.  Android is coming in a few weeks too.

But there’s even more technology in there. Parrot has also shoved in five microphones to aid in the active noise cancellation, which they say is effective in eliminating up to 25dB of ambient noise. As far as the 40mm neodynium drivers themselves, you get a rating of 32 ohms, a frequency range of 10Hz to 25kHz, and a sound pressure level of 110dB per volt at 1kHz. The 800mAh battery is good for 6 hours of full featured use and up to 24 hours in standby.  Bluetooth is still 2.1, but Parrot says 2.1 is good enough, and engadget confirms the sound quality is exceptional.

Of course, all this technology isn’t going to come cheap. Expect to spend a hefty $399 when the Zik headphones ship toward late July and early August. Brits and Aussies can expect to spend even more: 349GBP and 499AUD, respectively.

[Source]

The post Parrot Zik Are the Most Advanced Wireless Headphones Ever Created appeared first on Mobile Magazine.