Elijah Ketchum
Samsung has just announced their solution to getting NFC out to the masses. They have named it TecTiles, and they are little NFC squares that can be programmed to do just about anything that you would like. Unlike mobile payments, this use of NFC is putting the control right in the users’ hands. Available at launch from all mobile US carriers, these little squares will be sold for $14.99 in quantities of 5. Because they can be reprogrammed at any time, this is a pretty good deal because you can constantly mold them to suit your current needs, whatever they may be.
TecTiles will allow users to do things from send a text message to update your social network, and much more then that. They will allow for specific messages, so things like daily updates or messages to loved ones can be as easy as touching your phone to a square. Samsung has really brought productive NFC use to the mass consumer with TecTiles, and I will definitely be picking a few up myself. It will be interesting to see how third-party vendors will use these as well, because NFC can really be used for so many things. For example, if Foursquare started sticking these squares at the door of every venue, users could just tap their phone to the square to check-in, and in my opinion, that would be pretty awesome to see. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the progress of NFC and how well TecTiles actually work.
