Near Field Communication (NFC) is a very short-range radio technology and is used for
contactless communication between NFC-enabled devices and tags or cards. It has a range of
typically no more than 4 cm, operates at 13.56 MHz, and supports transfer speeds of 106 Kbps,
212 Kbps, and 424 Kbps. NFC provides an easy and attractive means of communication as it
allows devices to interact with each other merely by being moved to sufficiently close
proximity.
NFC is a standard-based technology defined by the NFC Forum. A number of ISO standards are
used in the NFC architecture, most notably ISO 14443 and ISO 7816 specifications. NFC
technical specifications are well documented and available on the NFC Forum.
There are many use cases that the NFC service could support. Here are some examples:
- Smart Posters: Embed small electronic tags containing data such as a URL in
posters. An NFC-enabled smartphone can read the data and act upon it if you hold the
device close to the poster. The action taken when reading a tag can vary according to
the type of data the tag contains and the nature of the application reading the tag.
For example, the action can involve taking the user directly to a website that
contains more information about the advertised event or product, or automatically
sending an SMS message requesting that someone call the user.
- Ticketing: Gain access to theaters, events, trains, buses etc.
- Payment: Pay for goods or services using your NFC-enabled BlackBerry device
similarly to how you use a credit card.
- Data exchange: Exchange data objects such as electronic business cards between
BlackBerry devices just by tapping them together. Automatically configure devices by
tapping them together.
The NFC library provides various APIs for creating powerful and engaging applications.
Note: The NFC_API identifier in the API functions is used to make the
functions visible for public use.