Las Vegas: 2013 will be the year of NFC, or near field communications, a communication technology that allows smart devices to share information just by touching them together.
However, 2012 and 2011 were also supposed to be the year of NFC, but at CES 2013, the technology is now being actively used by everyone from Google to MasterCard to Sony.
Originally viewed primarily as a way to turn smartphones into mobile wallets, NFC also being used to share media.
Unlike Bluetooth, a wireless technology that requires users to “pair” and connect devices, NFC connects devices together with a simple, single touch.
Sony in particular is introducing NFC across all its devices, including in television remote controls, home networks and smartphones, in what it is calling its “One Touch” feature. The idea is that consumers will be able to touch their smartphones to a television remote control, which will then transfer their movies, picture or any other media onto the television. Sony is also launching a device that will allow you to move that media onto your home network simply by setting your smartphone onto a small platform.
Sony expects most of its new NFC enabled devices to hit the market in March.
