Four ways NFC is useful right now

Having an NFC-enabled phone means that there are some tasks that are just easier and quicker to achieve. Using NFC is simple, just tap your phone against a tag, and that’s it! We’ve got four reasons why NFC is useful right now.

Connecting accessories

For those who frequently turn on a Bluetooth headset and hold down the power button for a few seconds to connect will know that it’s a fiddly experience. Sure it works, but it can be made easier. Fortunately, NFC does that job.

With an NFC-enabled phone, such as the Nokia Lumia 925, you’re half the way to pairing-paradise. Get yourself an NFC-enabled accessory, such as the Nokia Purity Pro Wireless Stereo Headset by Monster, the Nokia Reaction, or even the JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speaker for Nokia and just tap your phone against the accessory to pair and connect the two.

Sharing contact details

Most of the time, if you own a smartphone all of your contacts are pulled in automatically when you set it up. The details are taken from ‘the cloud’ via Facebook, Twitter, Outlook, Gmail or any other social network or email account you may have.

However, what of the new people in your life, those you’ve not yet added to Facebook?

The seemingly old-fashioned swapping of phone numbers can be difficult, especially when you’re inputting people’s names.

With NFC, you can swap contact details with anybody by simply tapping your two phones together.

Additionally, you can keep an NFC-enabled business card in your wallet with your contact details on. This is a good way to keep things professional, without including details of where to find your latest tweet – plus it can be re-written if or when your contact details change.

Automatic app launching

Life is full of routines. For those that drive frequently, getting into your car and launching an app to help you get from A-to-B is just another routine.

With the Nokia Wireless Charging Car Holder (CR-200), not only can you charge your phone without plugging in the power cable (providing you have a wireless charging Lumia), there’s a built-in NFC tag that launches Car App – a screen with big accessible buttons, optimised for driving.

This Car App can also be used to launch HERE Drive.

However, if you don’t own a Nokia CR-200, you can purchase blank NFC-enabled tags, program them to launch HERE Drive, or even Nokia Music, and stick one to your dashboard to make driving a more pleasurable experience.

Checking-in to venues

Lovers of Foursquare will know that while checking-in to a venue is fun, it’s also not without its problems.

Every check-in requires you to load the Foursquare app, find the correct venue, and then check-in – all of which takes time.

Bypass that entire time-consuming standing-about and just place your phone against a NFC-enabled tag to check-in.

Obviously, the venue (bar, restaurant, college) has to have an NFC tag in the first place, but if you’re a regular and prolific Foursquare user why not make one for them and just place it inside the venue?

Can you think of any more uses that we’ve not described above? Let us know, below.