Stick'em up! Samsung has unveiled a very cool accessory for the Samsung Galaxy S3 and other Android phones: TecTiles NFC stickers, which let you perform any task on your Android blower by simply waving it at a sticker.
TecTiles are small square stickers that talk to your phone just by tapping the two together. Program the sticker with a specific job using a free Android app, and you can launch apps, change loads of settings in one go, or even call a preset number just by tapping your phone on the sticker.
And the tags don't just work with the tasks you program: if you tap your phone on someone else's sticker, you'll quickly access the task they've set up. For example, our CNET colleagues in the US first encountered a TecTile attached to a Samsung exec's business card -- pictured above. Tapping phone to card downloaded all the Samsung wonk's contact details straight to the phone. Click here for our full hands-on play with TecTiles.
Social network check-ins are also supported, so shops, bars or other attractions could place a sticker by the door for you to tap as you walk in, announcing to your online buddies that you've arrived. TecTiles work with other NFC phones too.
Samsung isn't the first to introduce NFC tags. New Xperia phones such as the Sony Xperia S can talk to Sony Smart Tags, little plastic discs you place around your life ready to quickly fire up pre-set tasks or change your phone's settings in one go -- you can stick one in your car, for example, and as soon as you drop your Xperia on your dashboard it could switch off Wi-Fi, divert all calls to voicemail and fire up a sat-nav app.
Samsung is into NFC in a big way. The technology can also be used to talk to specially equipped tills to pay for stuff, like contactless credit cards. There aren't many tills set up with NFC just yet, but during the London 2012 Olympics this summer Samsung and Visa are pushing no-touch payments hard, with much of the Olympic site kitted out for paying for stuff with your phone, and every athlete issued their own S3 to do just that.
Barclaycard also has NFC stickers, but Barclaycard PayTag is specifically designed for paying for things. The sticker can be attached to anything, turning your phone, wallet or the back of your hand into a credit card.
In the US, a pack of five stickers costs $14 (£9). I've contacted Samsung for more information on when TecTiles are coming to the UK, and we'll keep you posted when we know more. Where would you stick your TecTiles, and what would you program a phone to do when it met one? Tell me where to stick it in the comments or on our Facebook page.
3G subscriber base in India to reach 371 million by 2017 despite slow start: Maravedis-Rethink - telecomtiger.com
Despite slow start 3G subscriber base in India to reach 371 million by 2017, according to Cellular Market Analysis and Forecasts, 2012-2017” from Maravedis-Rethink.
“ We expect the active 3G subscriber base in India to reach 74 million by the end of 2013 and 371 million by the end of 2017. The market share growth will depend on how fast operators can deploy 3G networks in their respective licensed circles, and how rapidly they can address the demand in rural areas”, the study said.
With overall stagnant 2011 broadband penetration at 13.35 million primarily DSL subscribers, the Indian market represents a significant growth opportunity for the broadband wireless sector.
3G is starting to make inroads in India and the active 3G subscriber base will reach 41 million by the end of 2012, “In India, the growth of 3G has been slower than many expected, mainly because of the high price of services,” said Basharat Ashai, author of the report. “However, we believe that the availability of lower cost smartphones in the US$50 range will drive 3G growth in India in the coming years.”
“As long as TD-LTE is the de facto technology for mobile broadband in India, the challenge operators face lie in bringing an inexpensive multimode (2G/3G/TD-LTE) device to consumers. Multimode devices give operators an opportunity to expand 4G with the option of fallback to 3G networks in rural and suburban areas. Operators are pressuring chipset/device manufacturers to accelerate their efforts to get the cost of multimode devices down substantially,” added Caroline Gabriel, research director for Maravedis-Rethink.
Samsung launches its own NFC ‘smart tags’ called TecTiles - Know Your Mobile
Samsung has just launched its own official near-field communication (NFC) TecTile ‘smart tags' for the Galaxy S3.
We've seen the NFC smart tag concept before at Mobile World Congress with both LG and Sony demonstrating that NFC chips can be used to program phone functions with a swipe, but now Samsung is getting in on the act with TecTiles.
The tags are being launched primarily as an accessory for the NFC-enabled Galaxy S3 flagship, but Samsung does have other NFC capable devices including some variants of the Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy Nexus, which the company's press release says are compatible.
It's probably a safe bet that plenty of future handsets from Samsung will also use NFC technology and fully support the TecTile tags.
Dale Sohn, president of Samsung's US division, said: ‘With millions of NFC-enabled Samsung Galaxy smartphones currently in the market and the arrival of our flagship device Galaxy S3, Samsung saw an opportunity to expand the value of NFC beyond mobile payments.'
'The launch of Samsung TecTiles is another example of Samsung's ability to innovate new products and applications that improve the way we use our mobile devices for everyday tasks,' he added.
Alongside the tags Samsung has released an official app, which is free to download from the Google Play store and allows you to program and customise your TecTiles with specific phone functions. The TecTiles are re-programmable as well so you can change your settings whenever you like.
Samsung has outlined some of the things you can program TecTiles to do when you swipe your phone over them:
Settings & Applications
- Change phone settings (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ringer/media volume, screen brightness, etc.)
- Launch an application
- Join a Wi-Fi Network
- Show a message
Communication
- Make a call
- Send a text message
- Start a Google Talk conversation
- Share a contact or business card
Location & Web
- Show an address on a map
- Open a web page
- Foursquare or Facebook check-in
Social
- Automatic Facebook 'Like'
- Update Facebook status
- Post a tweet or follow a contact on Twitter
- Connect on LinkedIn
Samsung's launch statement also indicates TecTiles can be used for ‘silencing the phone when entering a meeting, setting an alarm, and dimming the display when going to bed.'
The new TecTiles are now being made available in the US from Samsung's online webstore and at retail outlets for $14.99 for a pack of five, they're in a sticker format but no doubt you can also use them without peeling the back off. We expect these will also be landing in the UK very soon.
Samsung TecTiles a warmup act for mobile payments - CNet
Samsung's free TecTile app can program NFC stickers.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)Samsung may present its new TecTiles near-field communications (NFC) stickers-and-app combo as a campaign for consumers to do more with their phones, but in the long run, Samsung hopes for much more.
The electronics-maker told CNET that TecTiles should ultimately help serve Samsung its slice of the mobile payments pie. Its TecTiles app lets you program an NFC sticker to do various things when you tap a compatible phone to it, like turn on or off certain phone settings, or check in to a location on your social networks.
Yet, NFC, a technology that uses short-range communication similar to Bluetooth, has yet to go mainstream in any capacity.
Part of the problem, according to Samsung, is that ordinary people are unused to physically using their phone to do things. Consumers know how to swipe cards and punch numbers, not to press a phone onto a terminal and authorize payment through an app.
Once upon a time Google Wallet stood as the best chance for NFC to take off, with Samsung providing the first phone to receive the app capabilities. Yet, Google Wallet's development stalled thanks to a Verizon push-back that kept the app off of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and by narrow requirements for using the app with a single bank and credit-card combination.
In addition, not many businesses accept Google Wallet, as CNET editors Brian Bennett and Roger Cheng discovered when they took Google Wallet on a test drive through Manhattan. They almost didn't make it out of a cab when the app stuttered.
Just this week, another report suggested that Sprint is working on a Google Wallet alternative.
It's no wonder, then, that Samsung thinks that NFC needs some positive press, and is furthermore tasking itself with making NFC lovable in ways that aren't related to payments. Once people feel comfortable with TecTiles, Samsung reasons, then using the technology to buy stuff is a logical next step, rather than a scary leap.
To that end, TecTiles can be seen as a social experiment, a warmup act before the main usage takes the stage.
Samsung's thinking seems to line up with others in the payment space, like American Express, which estimates a 4- to 6-year tipping point before mobile payments take off with gusto.
When NFC buying does succeed, Samsung wants to make sure that it's one of the movement's key players. And if that fails, well, at least Samsung will be able to make a few bucks or win a few hearts in the process.
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