With the development of technologies, various wireless data transmission interfaces are gaining more and more popularity, making our life much easier and better. IrDA and Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and UWB, DECT standards allow transmitting information over various distances, ranging by speed and distance of information transmission. Among the many different standards, technology has a special place NFC, which manifests itself in the form of imperceptible, but very widespread, benefits of civilization.

NFC chips are built into travel documents, they are used to pay for various services, they are used in the exchange of files between mobile devices, and much more. What is NFC and why is it so good? I will talk about this below.

Name NFC Is an abbreviation for Near Field Communication, which can be translated as "Near Field Communication". This technology is an extension of the preexisting short-range proximity card standard (ISO 14443).

• With the help of the NSF, a quick wireless connection over short distances (usually up to 10 cm), and the speed of information exchange on iPhone and Android phones is up to 400 Kbps.
• The interface supports full-duplex data exchange, the connection establishment time is 0.1 s.
• Unlike Bluetooth technology, which requires a relatively long pairing of devices, in NFC, to establish a connection, it is enough to bring the device to each other.

Experts distinguish three NFC modes: read mode, information transfer mode, bank card emulation mode.

Where is this NFC technology applied

This technology is becoming more widespread where it is necessary to quickly transfer a small amount of information in a short period of time.

Is there an NFC function on my smartphone

Note that support for NFS technology is implemented in Android OS version 4.0 and higher, in the form of the “Beam” function built into the system. To check the availability of this technology on your device, you need to go to the settings of your phone or tablet, select "Wireless networks", and then click "More". If you see the "NFC" menu item, then you are lucky and your phone supports this standard, you didn't know in vain that this is NFC. To activate its work, it is enough to put a tick in front of the "NFC" item.

How to transfer data between mobile devices using NFC

How do I use NFC? It is important to note that this NFC feature usually only works with unlocked screens on mobile devices. Therefore, activate "Beam" on both devices, unlock their screens, and bring the devices to each other (usually with the back side). The systems will find each other and you will receive a beep. After confirming the connection by touching the screen of the devices, you will be able to exchange data between the paired devices.

How the NFC function works with Samsung phones, we can see in the video:

Working with NFC tags and chips

Given the small size of NFC chips and tags, they can be embedded in any items - bracelets and stickers, cards, price tags, and so on. To read data from such chips and tags, special applications are needed, which, for example, you can download from Play Market(NFC card UID reader, Yandex.Metro, NFC Tag Touch and others).

Disadvantages of technology

Experts call the disadvantage of NFC the weak protection of data from interception and relay attacks. It is also possible to simply lose a phone with configured payment systems programs, which will allow an attacker to empty the accounts of the lost person.

Conclusion

It is clear that today this NFC is gradually penetrating into all areas of our life, and often we can find it where we do not expect at all (for example, in London, NFC tags are built into monuments). The speed of establishing a connection, the cheapness of NFC tags, and the ease of reading data allows us to increasingly use this technology in many areas of human life, making our existence happier, more convenient and comfortable. Work with NFC and you will appreciate all the wealth of its benefits.

The combination of "NFC" (Near field communication) is increasingly found in the specifications of modern smartphones and tablets. In this article we will try to consider this interface from the point of view practical use, so that readers can independently make a conclusion about the need for its presence in their phone.

In testing, we used two smartphone models that have already been reviewed in detail on our resource: Acer CloudMobile S500 and Sony Xperia acro S. We also want to draw your attention to the fact that most of the information, including the described programs and use cases, will only apply to smartphones on Android base... It is this operating system most "friendly" today when it comes to working with NFC.

Introduction

At first glance, it may seem that numerous wireless interfaces today already cover all possible popular tasks and scenarios, so another option is simply not needed. However, if you look at the development of modern technologies, you will notice that more and more attention is paid to energy consumption issues, especially when it comes to mobile devices... In particular, version 4.0 of the well-known family of Bluetooth protocols is just focused on reducing battery power consumption. The second point worth mentioning is that not every task requires a long range. Sometimes it even happens the other way around - you want to explicitly limit the distance between interacting devices. Besides the obvious reduction in consumption, this also affects safety. And a similar remark can be made about the amount of data transferred. So the idea of ​​a slow wireless interface that works over short distances and is characterized by low power consumption has a right to exist.

The year 2004 can be taken as the starting point in the history of the development of NFC, when Nokia, Philips and Sony announced the creation with the aim of developing and standardizing the interaction interface of various devices based on touch. However, the first versions of the specifications were created a little earlier. Perhaps, by modern standards, the technology can be considered very young (if you do not take into account the history of RFID), but it is already quite often found in real products and services. In particular, at the Mobile World Congress 2013 held at the end of February, many stands and demonstrations were devoted to this topic.

This mark can be found on devices with NFC technology.

The formal characteristics of the interface are as follows: work at a distance of several centimeters, the maximum information exchange rate is about 400 Kbps, full-duplex data exchange is supported, the operating frequency is 13.56 MHz, the connection establishment time does not exceed 0.1 s, the operation mode is point-to-point. It can be seen that these parameters radically distinguish NFC from other popular wireless interfaces.

If we talk about devices, then in addition to active controllers in NFC, there are also passive options (they are usually called tags), which receive power wirelessly from an active controller. One example is modern public transport maps. Tags are simply a data store that typically does not exceed 4KB in size. Most often, only read mode is provided for them, but there are options with write support.

One of the simplest options for a passive NFC tag

The compact size of the controller and its low consumption allows NFC to be implemented even in such small designs as SIM cards or microSD memory cards. However, for full operation, a special antenna must be used. In phones, it is usually found on the back of the battery compartment cover or is built into back panel if the device does not have a removable battery.

An NFC antenna is often placed on the back of a smartphone

A small range can have a negative effect when using tablets - finding the right place to "attach" may not be as easy as we would like. To solve this problem, some manufacturers mark the location of the antenna with a special sign. As for the range, in our case, the communication worked at a distance of no more than four centimeters - both between phones and with a passive tag.

From a security point of view, the developers did not implement elements of protection against eavesdropping and relay attacks. This, of course, makes it difficult to implement secure solutions, since it requires the applications themselves to be protected at a higher level. Note that in fact, such a well-known protocol as TCP / IP behaves similarly. So, from a practical point of view, it seems more dangerous to lose your phone without additional protection with customized payment system programs than to intercept communications.

Perhaps the most important thing to know about NFC today is that the interface itself doesn't provide any real-world practical use cases or solutions. Unlike, for example, Bluetooth, whose profiles clearly describe how to transfer a file, how to connect a headset or provide network access, NFC is only a base, and direct work scenarios are provided with additional software that works through it. On the one hand, this opens up great opportunities for developers, and on the other hand, it is a problem for them in ensuring the interaction of different applications and devices.

Interestingly, any programs installed on a smartphone or tablet can register in the operating system as handlers of events related to NFC, and then, upon an external “call”, you will see the standard menu “how do you want to perform this action?”. Since some scenarios for using NFC imply convenient automation of actions, it is advisable not to overload the device with such utilities.

The NFC Forum is trying to help with this uncertainty by proposing to standardize protocols for certain scenarios (in particular, NDEF for storing short messages on tags and SNEP (Simple NDEF Exchange Protocol) for exchanging information between devices), however, practical determination of the compatibility of specific devices is usually difficult due to the lack of detailed information. from the manufacturer and diagnostic tools. Another assistant here is Google, which offered latest versions Android own development of Android Beam. It allows some types of information to be exchanged between compatible devices.

Android Beam

First you need to make sure that both devices have NFC enabled, an active Android Beam, and their screens are unlocked. On the models we tested, NFC only works if the screen is turned on and the device is fully unlocked. But it is possible that a different algorithm will be used in other devices. In any case, the active interface requires very little battery power to work, and so far the described approach looks quite reasonable. One way to make things easier is to turn off the lock screen. In this case, to recognize the tag, it will be enough just to turn on the smartphone. Another inconvenience is the need to confirm the operation by touching the screen after the devices have found each other. This is not always easy to do without disrupting communication, especially when both devices are in the hands of two different people.

The next step is to select one of the applications on the device from which you plan to transfer. In particular, these can be:

• Google Chrome - transfer of the current open link;
• YouTube client - transfer of a video clip (in the form of a link);
• Google Maps - transfer of a place or route;
• Contacts - send a contact card;
• Google play- application transfer;
• Gallery - transfer photos.

Next, bring the devices closer to each other. When a partner is found, you hear a beep on the sending device and the desktop image is zoomed out. At this moment, you need to touch the screen picture and hold your finger until you hear a second signal - about a successful transfer.

We tried the options on the list, and almost all of them actually work. Even the fact that our devices were produced by different manufacturers did not prevent them from finding mutual language... But a few comments are still worth making. There are no problems with routes in Google Maps, and the option with a place is not very interesting, since only the current map display is transmitted. The point marked on the screen of the original phone does not reach the recipient. The situation is corrected by using the "Addresses" application, which transmits data correctly. When sending contacts, a photo is lost, since from a technical point of view, the transfer format corresponds to vcf text files. If we talk about applications, then you can send not only those installed on the phone, but also just open cards on Google Play. Books and other content from the store are similarly supported. Naturally, we are talking about the transfer of links, and not the downloaded or, moreover, purchased elements themselves. There was a problem with sending photos: the Sony device was unable to handle this type of data. The official wording sounds like "The recipient's device does not support the transfer of large amounts of data through the Android Beam." Here is the first sign of a youthful interface or insufficient detailing of the technical specifications of the devices. Formally, we have both NFC and Android Beam in two devices, but in practice their real capabilities differ significantly, and you can only find out about this as a result of a check. What can we say about less eminent manufacturers - their implementation of this technology can be completely unpredictable.

By the way, as for the Android Beam itself. The description of the technology indicates that for data transmission, the establishment of communication via Bluetooth is used after the initial coordination of the settings via NFC. Considering that all working formats involved a really small amount of data transferred, the NFC speed was quite enough for them, but for photos it would obviously not be enough. So we can assume that Sony has not implemented switching to a faster interface. It is not possible to understand whether this problem is software (recall that this device has Android 4.0.4 installed) or hardware.

We tried to send our own music and videos in a similar way from the respective applications, but nothing appeared on the receiver.

Reading and writing tags

The described Android Beam uses the ability to transmit and process short information messages. However, in reality, they can not only be transmitted from the phone, but also read from passive tags. In a sense, this technology is similar to the well-known QR codes that are read by the phone's camera. Wherein helpful information(for example, a link to a site page) takes just a few tens of bytes. Tags can be used by companies, for example, to promote their products or services. Considering the compact size of the passive tag (more precisely, the thickness comparable to a sheet of paper - because of the antenna the area will still be significant, at least a five-ruble coin), it can be placed almost anywhere: on a box with a product, in a magazine, on an informational rack and other places.

Passive NFC tags can be made as key chains

If we talk about hand-made tags, then this is a completely feasible scenario. To do this, you need to purchase clean blanks and using special program for the phone, write the required information on them. For example, we bought several different options: a sticker of the minimum thickness, a protected plastic circle and key chains. All of them had a very small amount of memory - only 144 bytes (there are 4 KB variants on the market). The number of overwrite cycles was not specified, but for most scenarios this parameter is not critical. For working with tags, we recommend NXP Semiconductors' programs - TagInfo and TagWriter.

The first will allow you to read data from the tag and decode information according to the NDEF standard, and the second will help you create your own tags. At the same time, several sub-variants of NDEF are supported: contact, link, text, SMS, mail message, telephone number, Bluetooth connection, geographic location, link to local file, application launch, URI. Please note that when creating a record, consider the amount of data stored. For example, a photo of a contact can take up several kilobytes, messages or text can easily go beyond 144 bytes. By the way, the NFC TagInfo program from the NFC Research Lab with a special plug-in can read and show you a color photo from a biometric passport. With a data volume of one and a half dozen kilobytes, reading them via NFC takes about 20 seconds. An additional level of protection in this case is provided by the need to indicate some passport details for reading data from the chip.

Note that the automatic handling of read tags is content dependent. In particular, sometimes additional confirmation is required to carry out the action itself. For example, in the case of SMS, a completed message form opens, but the actual sending must be confirmed by the user. But the recorded web link can immediately open in the browser. Any automation is associated with a loss of control, so the described possibilities should be used with caution, since by simply replacing or reprogramming the tags, attackers can redirect you to a fake site instead of the original one. We did not find the standard OS settings to limit such autorun (unless you disable NFC itself).

Another important point when using tags in public places is overwrite protection. When writing a label, you can set the protection flag, which will block all attempts to change information, but it will no longer be possible to remove it. So the label will then be used in read-only mode. For home use, in most cases, this is not very critical.

We will mention a few more programs for writing labels:

Using ready-made labels to control the device

Sony is one of the active participants in the implementation of NFC. Its devices are preinstalled with the Smart Connect program, which supports work with original Sony tags. If desired, using the SmartTag Maker utility, you can create them yourself from blank templates. To operate the system, the NDEF URI format is used with the encoding of the number / color of the tag in the text link. In total, the system provides up to eight tags, which are designated as “home”, “office”, “car”, “bedroom”, “listen”, “play”, “activity”, “watch”.

Variant of original Sony SmartTags

The Smart Connect program itself works not only with NFC tags, but also with other devices connected to the phone, including headsets, power supply, Bluetooth devices. Conveniently enough, the standard settings already correspond well to the above scenarios. Thus the user can reprogram all circuits; each of them specifies a set of conditions and actions.

As a condition, you can use the identification of the label or the connection of the device; additionally, you can limit the operating time of the circuit. The set of actions is quite wide, it includes launching an application, opening a link in a browser, starting music, adjusting the volume and mode, connecting a Bluetooth audio device, sending an SMS, making a call, controlling wireless interfaces, adjusting the brightness and other actions. Moreover, they can also be assigned to exit this mode, which is carried out by re-identifying the tag, by a new event / tag, or by the expiration of the specified time interval.

But in fact, it is not necessary to use Sony branded tags - you can also find use of ready-made tags that do not allow overwriting of information. For example, it can be used transport cards. The fact is that each of them has its own unique identifier, which can be linked to certain actions by special programs. Operations such as changing a profile, enabling / disabling interfaces, and many others can act as a possible reaction.

There are several utilities available in the Play Store for this scenario, a couple of them to mention:

Let us remind you that you should not install several such programs at once. Convenience from such a mode will not add, because when a label is found on the phone screen, a dialog box will appear with a choice of a program to process it.

While searching for programs for working with labels, we also came across another class of utilities that may be interesting in the case of the presence of writable labels. These programs use their own original recording format, which only they themselves can work with. At the same time, the set of possible actions is almost the same as those described above:

Recall that at the moment the tag is read only when the device is unlocked. So the scenario "came home, put the phone on the bedside table - automatically switched the profile, turned off the call and Bluetooth, set the alarm" will require some action from the user. This behavior still slightly limits the capabilities of the programs.

Information exchange between devices

With the exception of Android Beam, the scenarios described above assume a single phone with a tag or dedicated terminal. If we talk about the direct connection of devices with each other, then the main issue here is compatibility. Of course, in the case of products from one manufacturer, especially a large one, that one has the ability to simply install the corresponding program into the firmware. But if the devices are produced by different manufacturers, everyone will have to use the same utilities. And it is not at all a fact that your partner will have the same program installed as yours.

Given that the native speed of NFC is very low, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is usually used for fast file transfer, and NFC only works at the stage of negotiating connection parameters and establishing a connection. To test this scenario, we tried several file transfer programs with declared NFC support on our devices.

Send! File Transfer (NFC) in free version allows you to share files of photos, music and videos. You can use NFC or QR codes to establish a connection. Transmission is carried out via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (if both devices have Wi-Fi Direct support, which in the used Sony phone was not found). As a result, we managed to see the speed at 65 KB / s, which, of course, is too low even for photographs.

Blue NFC, as the name suggests, also simplifies Bluetooth file sharing by replacing the power-on, search, and pairing steps with touch with NFC communication. The speed of work is not very high - at the level of the program mentioned above.

File Expert HD also uses Bluetooth, but the speed is already 100-200 KB / s. However, in fairness, it should be noted that this program has many other modes of file exchange.

Conclusion

As of the spring of 2013, we can say that NFC technology is already confidently occupying a place in modern top-end and mid-range smartphones. Indirectly, the interest in it can be estimated by the number of programs in the Play Store: there are already several hundred free projects alone. Given the dominance in the market (especially in the number of models) of the Android platform, it is this platform that is the most popular for NFC devices today. IOS staff resources for NFC is not provided, but Windows Phone 8 has significantly limited NFC capabilities for third-party applications.

By itself, NFC technology has several features that allow it to take a unique position:

• contactless data transmission;
• work only at short distances;
• the ability to exchange information with other devices or passive tags;
• low cost of the solution;
• low power consumption;
• low data transfer rate.

At the moment, for smartphones and tablets, there are three most relevant options for using NFC: data exchange between devices (contacts, applications, links, photos and other files), reading tags with special information and changing modes / settings / profiles of the device, quick pairing with peripheral devices (such as headsets). In the first case, you can try to work with the standard Android program Beam or install alternatives. They can be helpful when needed. high speed sharing (via Wi-Fi), but require the same program on each device.

Passive tags can be used in almost everything from posters to magazines to product tags. They can record product information, website link, Wi-Fi settings, contact information, geographic coordinates, or other small amount of data. The spread of this method of information exchange directly depends on the number of compatible devices among users. This scenario can be compared to common QR codes, which today are perhaps still simpler in terms of implementation and more popular.

For change system settings even non-writeable tags can be used with some programs, so many users will be able to try this scenario. However, it should be noted that in this case, the set of options will be recorded in a specific device, and it can be difficult to transfer it to another device. Most utilities of this purpose still require their own recorded tags, which allows them to store all the required information in an encoded form directly in the tag (or cloud), so that to use these settings on another device, it will be enough to have the same program on it.

We have not covered NFC use cases such as payment systems, e-wallets and micropayments, tickets and coupons, transit cards and passes in this article. These topics, especially the first one, deserve separate consideration. We will try to return to them in the presence of readers' interest and the spread of such solutions.

There are many interesting technologies in the mobile industry today, including NFC. Most smartphone users have not yet figured out this function and do not know what NFC is in the phone, why this module is needed and how to understand if it is present in a particular device.

NFC stands for Near Field Communication. Translated, this means "close communication". The main nuance lies in the small radius of action, this figure is no more than 10 cm.

This function allows contactless exchanges of information. It is important that when transferring data, the devices are close to each other, for example, a smart card, a payment terminal, etc.

NFC is based on RFID, which stands for Radio Frequency Identification. The technology is radio frequency identification that detects various objects automatically. In this case, a special radio signal is used that reads the required information, which is contained in transponders, which are defined as an NFC tag.

The main features of the presented technology include the following points:

• small sensor size;
• allows you to exchange any information with smartphones and passive gadgets;
• does not require a lot of energy to work;
• low speed at the time of information exchange;
• pairing with the desired device takes no more than 0.1 seconds;
• low technology cost.

Due to its small size and low power consumption, this feature is popular and can be easily installed in a variety of devices.

Is there a difference between NFC and Bluetooth?

NFC in a phone is often compared to Bluetooth. This is mainly due to the contactless transmission and small range. On the this moment these functions are introduced immediately into new smartphones.

There are significant differences between the technologies presented. The main nuance is the speed of work. For example, NFC is much slower, but it takes up little power, and pairing is instant and automatic, unlike Bluetooth.

For example, to use Bluetooth, you need to turn it on, then open the list of available devices, select the one you need and wait for the phone to connect to it. While Near Field Communication takes less than a second to get started on its own, you only need to attach your mobile phone to the desired gadget.

The next difference is in the transmission speed. For example, NFC has a speed of 424 kbps, and Bluetooth, whose version is 2.1, has 2.1 Mbps. At the moment, some smartphones are introducing Bluetooth version 3.1, which develops speeds up to 40 Mbps.

The third difference is the field of action. For Bluetooth, this figure is no more than 20 cm, and for NFC - no more than 10. This is an advantage for this communication, because such a small radius will guarantee that you do not connect to an unnecessary gadget.

The presented communication is embedded not only in phones, but also in other gadgets, for example, payment terminals. The receiver itself does not require much space, it is mainly mounted in the free space between the smartphone battery and the cover. But if the phone does not lend itself to simple parsing and you cannot look at its insides, then how to determine the presence of NFC?

Take a good look at the external pointers on your phone. Often, developers indicate a small emblem in the form of antennas right on the cover of a mobile phone, indicating the availability of technology. The icon will also be located in the top pop-up menu of the phone.

At the moment, NFC is being implemented in all Android smartphones version of which is at least 4.0. Another way to find out about the availability of communication is to go to the settings, select the "Wireless networks" column, then click "More". If the function is listed there, then check the box next to it.

Also, this option is often found in cards designed to pay for travel, or in banking plastic. In addition, they began to build it into household appliances, this includes the new refrigerators with the Smart option.

Since the release of this technology, some users have wondered what are the uses. The device can operate in two modes.

1. Active. Implies that the two gadgets have NFC technology.
2. Passive. The working area of ​​only one of the devices is applied.

The presented communication is designed as a chip that operates in two modes. The first is intended for mutual data exchange between devices. The second is usually used on special work passes, metro maps, etc.

The most popular use case is contactless payment. Link your bank card to your smartphone, and when paying, put your phone to the terminal. This method guarantees protection from fraudsters. Attackers will not be able to intercept the signal due to the small field of action of NFC.

You do not need to carry your card with you, you can pay in stores by touching your phone to a terminal that supports contactless payment. How to use the function?

1. You must have a dedicated bank card that supports the paypass option.
2. Install the application from your bank.
3. Sign in to Personal Area and go to the main menu.
4. Select the NFC box.
5. Then place the card against the back of the phone. This is required in order for the sensor to read information on it.

Information exchange

The second use case involves information exchange. To do this, you need to install Android app Beam. This software will allow you to transfer various files to another smartphone.

Do not forget that the transfer speed will be extremely low, which is why it is recommended not to send heavy files, but to limit yourself to sending messages or links.

To use this feature, you need to enable NFC in the settings. The activation point is located in the "Wireless networks" column. Then specify which connection you require.

The last point is not recommended to use because of the low transmission speed. To send the necessary data, you must attach your phone to another. Then the system will ask you to confirm the operation, put your finger on the screen. Upon completion of sending, you will hear a corresponding signal.

Reading labels

The third use is to read labels. Its principle of operation is similar to scanning a QR code. True, in the case of NFC, it is not used mobile camera, and the sensor is under the cover.

The presented function is especially useful for home life. Creating your own tags will require the installation of a special application that can be downloaded from the Play Market. You can independently assign a specific task to a specific label, for example, "send a message", "call", "write a letter", etc.

Among the popular programs are:

• ABA NFC. Allows you to create a simple symbol;
• useful software for connecting to Wi-Fi without a password. That is, your guests do not need to search for wireless Internet and enter a password, just apply to the phone connected to this network;
• SmartTag Maker. This application is only suitable for those who have Sony smartphones.

Such labels are passive. This is because they do not need food to hold information. They have a very small volume, just enough to store the required command. These tags are usually called TecTiles. To read them, it is enough to bring the gadget, after which the command will be triggered.

Smartphones can not only read data, but also save it. The main nuance lies in the installation of a special program. Download the application of the developer who released your phone, or find it on third-party resources. Recording software can be paid or free. Be sure to read the description before installing it. It is important that it supports the brand of your smartphone.

You can also purchase TecTiles as a smart card, key fob, fitness bracelet, electronic key or sticker. It should be noted that such gadgets have a larger volume. Experts recommend not to save money at the time of purchasing this technology. The quality of communication must be high, then it will last a long time.

Pluses and minuses of the module

Among the main advantages are a small indicator of energy consumption, an acceptable price, ease of use and safety. But before you start using NFC, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the nuances.

Let's take a look at the main disadvantages of NFC.

1. Small working radius. This brings some discomfort to use. Although, at the same time, this indicator creates the maximum protection. You will not be able to randomly generate a command, pay for a purchase, etc.
2. Uncontrolled creation of modifications for NFC. For example, the developers of "Sony" and "Haomi" took up the finalization of the transmission technology. They make their own consumables that only work with the gadgets of their company. In other words, to use all the NFC options, you only need to purchase smartphones of specific brands. This also includes the installation of special applications from the same developer.

Some of the shortcomings are being corrected gradually. The developers do not abandon their technology and are constantly making various improvements.

Conclusion

Today NFC is a modern solution for sending information. But not all smartphones support this technology. If your phone is devoid of modification, then you can purchase a special antenna yourself. Install it under the cover of the gadget or take the spare parts to a service where a specialist will do everything for you.

Another way to get to know NFC personally is to buy a special accessory. Today, many companies offer to purchase memory cards, SIM cards, where the NFC is built.

The prevalence of NFC hasn't achieved impressive results, but it won't be long. Now it is mainly used to carry out monetary transactions, although there are other areas of application. The main advantage of the modification is safety. Its principle of operation excludes accidental transfers of data and money to other devices.

NFC technology in Russia has already matured to the point where you can even pay for purchases at the nearest Pyaterochka with your smartphone. Therefore, many owners of older devices are interested: how to add NFC to a phone without NFC? If you're here for this, we have two news: good and bad.

Bad news: you can't use NFC to its fullest

Alas, this is a sad truth. If NFC support is not built into your smartphone by the manufacturer, then no household tricks will help you equip it with all the capabilities of this module.

Why? To answer this question, you need to understand what is hidden behind the words "NFC support". First, a special chip must be soldered into the smartphone's motherboard. Secondly, an NFC antenna must be located in the smartphone body, which will transmit signals from the chip to the outside world. And thirdly, your phone's operating system must be capable of receiving and transmitting data using the NFC protocol.

Agree, if you are not an electronics specialist and part-time system programmer, adding NFC to a phone without NFC with your own hands is quite problematic. Therefore, the only full-fledged solution is to buy a smartphone with NFC support.... For instance, .

Good news: partially - you can!

However, not everything is so deplorable. Removable phone accessories - NFC-enabled SIM cards and removable NFC antennas - come to the rescue of those who are unable to buy a phone.

SIM-cards with NFC support in Russia are issued only by operators of the "big three" - MTS, Megafon and Beeline. But we will focus on the first, since the solution proposed by him meets our task.

Megafon and Beeline cards are intended for a slightly different purpose: they are installed in phones that already have NFC support, and are used for contactless payment of travel in transport from an account mobile phone.

But with the help of the service from MTS, you can partially use the payment capabilities of NFC, namely, to pay in transport and in stores, using an MTS-Bank card as a wallet.

What is needed for this?

Issue an MTS-Bank card at the office of a mobile operator, or install an application on a smartphone for free MTS Money and release a virtual one. The app reminds Google pay.

In addition, you need to purchase a contactless payment kit in the MTS salon: a SIM card with an NFC chip and an NFC antenna. It looks like this:

The SIM-card is inserted into the phone in the usual way, and a thin flexible antenna is brought out from the body. There is a big limitation here: your phone must have a removable battery... Modern phones with a non-removable battery and a SIM card tray cannot be upgraded that way (however, they, as a rule, already support NFC). This is how it looks when assembled:

The antenna can be neatly glued to the back cover to keep it from dangling. That's it - you can replenish your MTS virtual card account, launch the application and pay with it in shops and the Moscow metro.

The range of use of this technology is very wide: you can transfer all kinds of content, pay for services like credit card, pay for travel and groceries, apply as a key card, etc. The use of NFC will be considered on the example of Android devices, since they are the ones who are most actively equipped with the corresponding adapter.

Does my smartphone have NFC?

Making sure you have an NFC chip on your tablet or smartphone is easy. For example, Samsung labels the batteries of its devices with the appropriate inscription:

Sony puts the NFC logo directly on the cases of their devices, but it is best to check through the gadget menu. To do this, do the following.

First step. Open the settings.

Second step. Go to the settings section wireless networks, tap "More ...".

Third step. If there is an NFC chip, we see the section for its settings.

Turn on NFC

Does your device support NFC? Wonderful! It only remains to activate the function.

First step. In the NFC settings menu (the path was indicated earlier), activate the line "allow data exchange when combining ...".

Second step. Click on Android Beam and tap Yes. We do this if the Beam does not turn on on its own.

Important! If Android Beam is disabled, your ability to interact with other NFC devices and tags will be limited.

Instructions for transferring content via NFC

To transfer content via NFC to another device, we work in the following order.

First step. Open the file (for example, a photo) that you want to transfer.

Second step. We lean smartphones / tablets with their back covers against each other. Some removal is allowed (no more than 7-10 cm).

Third step. We are waiting for the devices to find each other. A notification about this will appear on the display of the sending device. It looks like this:

Fourth step. We tap on the screen. Content transfer starts.

As a rule, the system issues a sound notification at the moment of the beginning of information transmission and after its completion.

Can not be transferred:
applications;
videos streamed from YouTube;
web pages.

When trying to transfer the listed content, the recipient will receive a link to it in the corresponding service.

Interaction with NFC tags

The range of use of NFC technology is not limited to only one transmission of user data. Using a device with such a chip, you can read and transmit information to special NFC tags and cards.

The NFC chip has an extremely small size, which allows it to be embedded in any place. For example, a price tag, headphones, business card, etc. Such a chip can contain both information and commands that the device must execute upon contact with the tag (for example, turn off Wi-Fi, turn on a wireless headset, etc.).

To read information from such tags or write your data into their chips, you need to install an appropriate application on your smartphone or tablet. For example, the Yandex.Metro program will allow you to find out through NFC the remaining number of trips on the metro card. By installing the NFC App Launcher, you can configure the Android gadget to perform a number of actions by programming the NFC tag accordingly.