Nokia to add NFC functionality to its future devices

Nokia, the world's largest mobile seller - by volume - has great confidence in the NFC technology and feels that this technology will go places in the near future. Based on this, at the launch event held in Hong Kong for the Symbian Belle update and the three new Symbian phones, Nokia announced that all its future devices will have an NFC chip built-in. During the event, the Vice President of Nokia, Ilari Nurmi announced, “From now on, all of our products will have an NFC chip inside. All other NFC-equipped devices can also link to our products." In simple terms, the NFC technology will enable NFC-equipped devices to pair with different NFC-enabled accessories and devices with just a single tap. This will facilitate fast device connections and will make sharing and pairing a lot easier.

Is this the future of sharing and pairing? (Image credit: symbianworld.org)

The company’s very first NFC device, the Nokia 6131, which was launched in 2006 did not receive much attention. Next came the Nokia C7, but it didn't have NFC activated out of the box. The latest Symbian Anna update made it possible for C7 to facilitate sharing via NFC. The upcoming Belle update is expected to take this functionality a step further with one tap sharing and pairing. Nokia 600, 700 and 701 are amongst the first devices to get this feature right out of the box as the Belle update is expected to come pre-installed in them. According to Mark Selby, the Vice President for Multimedia, Nokia has plans to furnish their upcoming Windows Phone 7 handsets with the NFC technology. Nokia recently showcased its latest Bluetooth headset with NFC receiver showing one tap pairing.