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I'm talking about worldwide availability. NFC is adopted in only a few countries. That's hundreds of millions smartphone users with no use for it.
Few countries? More like few continents.

As for "hundreds of millions with no use", do you really want to play the numbers game up against the population of European and Asian countries combined?
 
Few countries? More like few continents.

As for "hundreds of millions with no use", do you really want to play the numbers game up against the population of European and Asian countries combined?

China is on board with NFC in a big way for mobile payment. It won't be long before there are more NFC users in China than people in the US.
 
NFC is totally a game changer because its pretty much a digital wallet. When i go to 7-11, Vending Machines, I use NFC and i think over all its a great compliment to the other mobile payment options like what starbucks uses etc.
 
How is NFC a game changer?

With the exception of Wawa (no idea what that is) I've been to each of those places within the last 6 months-Year and I have not seen any way to pay using NFC. We have credit cards that have RFID tags in them that you can use, but no place that supports NFC payments via Google Wallet.

Come on. Really?

I linked a video of a guy using Google Wallet at a lot of those places.

What other info could I possibly provide?
 
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Come on. Really?

I linked a video of a guy using Google Wallet at a lot of those places.

What other info could I possibly provide?

Proof that God exists.

This is a war of religion, not facts. ;-)
 
I just don't see the widespread multifunctional use of NFC that causes people to get upset every time a new device is released without it.
Your inability to see something's usefulness doesn't necessarily make it useless to others. If you don't see the point in something then move on to something that you do see the point in.
 
Why do I want to open anything? Since there is a lack of imagination here I'll lead the way.

Picture the Apple equivalent to Google Wallet. Rather than opening up and up, bringing up the right screen and turning the screen to a scanner you double verify your FP, telling the phone you are paying for something. NFC touch and done. You never even turned on the screen...

THAT is a seamless user experience. That is Apple.

Unless you're using a system integrated feature (I.E. Google Wallet), the app is still required. Say for instance a museum has work on display, and their app has a built in QR reader and NFC support. For the QR, just open the app and scan the QR. For NFC, you have to tap the object, and then tell the phone to open the app. Either way you are still required to open the app.

I've also used Google Wallet before (yes I have devices with NFC, shocker!), and I'm still required to enter my pin, confirm, and use the device to pay. The difference was I didn't have to take out my card from my wallet. This was only once in a small rural area. Maybe Google Wallet has updated since then, but for the sake of security I doubt it.

Or imagine using tickets for a sporting event or air flight. With Passbook or the Galaxy Passbook ripoff whatever thing, when I arrive to the location, using iBeacons or location services, the card pops up on the lock screen and I can present it right away. With NFC, I have to tap the location, and then open the app. If the location I'm at doesn't support location services or iBeacons (say a makeshift stadium), I can just open the passbook app and choose the card, or tap my phone and open the app. It's not beneficial.


As someone that travels every at least a couple times a month I would love this. Walk into the Hyatt late at night. I've already checked in on the cab ride over, and I can go straight to my room... No waiting, no keys to lose, nothing else to stuff in my wallet.

Fair enough, I will give you that, but many hotels have not adopted such a system. Maybe some high end ones, but nearly every hotel I've stayed at under many of the most chains (Hilton, Gaylord, Hampton, Holiday, etc.) have not had such a system, despite NFC being around in devices since around 2010-2011.


Again, so you either broadcast to everyone or to explicitly setup with someone ahead of time. If I see 'Steve' for the first time in a while do I want to setup a connection to his phone to share contact info? Hell no.

Don't get me wrong, AirDrop is cool. It is great to share files with people you regularly interact with. It is not great to share files with people you don't because it requires setup or broadcast.

Again, I'm going to try to explain AirDrop to you.

Say I have a photo. I am in a room with my friends Dillon and George. I want to send them a photo. I pull up the share sheet on my iDevice, and look, Dillon and George's icons are there. I simply tap those two, and send it to them. They pull out their phones and choose to accept the file transfer. Now comes along Jeff. Jeff is a hacker who wants to brick our phones. He tries to send me malicious code. He sends it to Dillon and I, but we don't know who that is or don't want it, so we choose deny. Since George has his set to contacts only, so Jeff doesn't even see him as a choice to send it to.

With NFC, to share my file, I have to tap each of their phones individually. Jeff comes along and tries to sneak the code onto my phone. He can easily sneak up behind me and touch our phones, or pretend he's just sending a photo since when you share with Beam there's no real preview, unlike AirDrop.

NFC doesn't require authentication, but requires contact and only does one person at a time.. No setup is required past turning the feature on.

AirDrop requires a simple accept/deny authentication, but can be used without requiring contact and can be sent to multiple people. No setup is required past turning the feature on and you are given additional security options if you wish.

AirDrop > Using NFC to establish a connection


Proven and practical, just not in your eyes. Just like many people believes that cars were not proven or practical.

If it's proven and practical, then why is it not widespread? Why is it that very very few people use NFC? Why is it that things like QR Codes and low-bluetooth emitters are more popular than NFC?

Also, education time. People didn't think cars weren't proven or practical. Cars weren't popular because they were VERY expensive. Cars were handbuilt and had buyer-specific specifications, down to the exact engine parts. After the Ford Model T came out, ownership of cars went up because the Model T was the first mass-produced vehicle, giving it an extremely low cost compared to other vehicles and was much more accessible. Cars had already been proven and were extremely practical. NFC on the other hand....


Again there are examples of systems that already support this but I'm more interested in the systems that don't support it.

I'll lead again... I'm waiting in line at the movie theater for snacks. Wouldn't it be cool to make the list on your phone while you wait and once you get to the register place your order and pay instantly? NFC enables this type of interaction because you can interact with that specific instance of the service (instead of other registers) and it knows instantly who you are, what you want, and that you have paid for it.

1) If you're talking about mobile payments, see above.
2) If you're talking about using your phone to place and order and having it ready by the time you get to the counter, NFC is not required to do this at all.

Your making the case that we don't need NFC because nothing supports NFC (which isn't accurate). NFC is an enabler for a more seamless interaction between systems. With just a little imagination I'm sure you can come up with a dozen systems you interact with every day that NFC would speed up or make more seamless.

I'm not saying NFC isn't needed because nothing supports it, I'm saying NFC isn't needed because there's no widespread support AND the fact that there are more logical and practical solutions to the point that, at this time, NFC is not something that is a concerning feature.

I didn't skirt it at all but if you are really interested in what kiosks I log into...

Airport checkin - More practical with Passbook
Library book checkout - Can be done without NFC. More practical with Passbook. I do this already.
Hotel checkin - Fair enough.
Movie theater tickets - More practical with Passbook
Safeway self checkout or Home Depot (the two most common ones I interact with) - I can see how it would be used but I don't see any added connivence.
Bank ATMs - So basically you want your bank account less secure?
Security checkpoints (many customers I visit have checkin kiosks) - Many security providers are not going to authorize your mobile device, for obvious security reasons. Not practical.
NYC subway pass when I visit well... NYC - Easily accomplishable without NFC.
My dry cleaner has a ticket scanning kiosk to bring your clothes to the front (I hate losing those things) More practical with Passbook
Garage parking - More practical with Passbook
Redbox - I don't see how this makes sense at all
Photo kiosk at Walgreens - I don't see how this makes sense at all
Sprint kiosk in the movie theater (free popcorn, yum) - What?
Gas pumps (yep, those are kiosks) - I don't see how this makes sense at all
The damn kiosk at the Verizon store that I can never remember my password to... grrr - I don't see how this makes sense at all


Now, think of it in terms of multiple instances of a system, an ATM for example. I want money. I not only need to identify myself to the bank and I need the bank to know which ATM to spit the money out of. NFC is capable of connecting those two things (my identity and the instance of the system I want to interact with) in a seamless way.

You have no idea what you're talking about here, do you?

Again, apples and oranges (no pun intended). Why is it a question of BT vs. NFC. BT serves a different purpose today with a very different design. When I walk up to a kiosk or some system I want to interact with I don't want to 'pair' my phone to it. I want that setup to be natural. NFC enables this be ensuring the communication distance is so short that with a high degree of certainty setup can be implied.

BT may evolve to this with a different set of standards but the point is it's not something the iPhone supports today and there are endless use cases for it.

Low-Bluetooth works exactly like NFC does while offering more capabilities and easier ways to access it (for example iBeacons).

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Come on. Really?

I linked a video of a guy using Google Wallet at a lot of those places.

What other info could I possibly provide?

Because one person has gone to a lot of places does not mean it's widespread.

Tell me how many people you see use NFC on a daily basis.

I am not saying NFC is bad. NFC is not practical because it's not a widespread utility and there are alternatives that work better and are more universal. In the future NFC may become a more practical method for various things, but right now it hasn't proven itself to be a better mechanic.

I have devices with NFC, but I've seldom been put in a situation where NFC was more convenient than Passbook, QR, Low-Bluetooth, etc.
 
Because one person has gone to a lot of places does not mean it's widespread.

Tell me how many people you see use NFC on a daily basis.

I am not saying NFC is bad. NFC is not practical because it's not a widespread utility and there are alternatives that work better and are more universal. In the future NFC may become a more practical method for various things, but right now it hasn't proven itself to be a better mechanic.

I have devices with NFC, but I've seldom been put in a situation where NFC was more convenient than Passbook, QR, Low-Bluetooth, etc.

I'm not going to bother quoting the entirety of your dribble which basically boils down to "I don't see" or "I don't understand". It is clear you don't see it because Apple hasn't told you it's ok yet.

You are comparing two different things. NFC and Passbook are not the same thing. NFC can be an enabler of Passbook applications.

Oddly enough you mention BLE which would indicate you want what NFC offers but want to call it something else (here is the religion factor coming through loud and clear). This is odd because your point to the lack of infrastructure as a reason why NFC isn't useful. This is factually untrue as it is being widely deployed across Asia, Europe and the US, yet you want to start over with something else.

There is no convincing you the Earth is round so I'll leave you with a quote from Google's Google Wallet FAQ:

"You can tap to pay using the Google Wallet app on select NFC-enabled Android phones anywhere contactless payments are accepted, which includes over 200,000 merchant locations in the United States."

/thread
 
I have a Samsung NX300 camera that has NFC to transfer the files to a smartphone immediately, this is the only reason I would love to have NFC…
Right now I either have to email me the pictures from the camera (I can't if i'm outdoors) or connect my camera to the wifi generated by the camera, but that takes about 2-3 minutes to set up, its not very efficient to do it.
 
Glad to see this thread... I was thinking the same thing. Why is this such a big deal? Why are so many folks whining about not having NFC?

The closest thing to NFC in my life is when I pay for my Starbucks using the scannable barcode on my phone, inside the Starbucks app. That's it. I don't know any other retailers offering such a thing (or I just don't frequent any of them.)

I saw that Home Depot was doing PayPal payments awhile back... but again, not NFC. Nowhere that I know if is offering any NFC payment option that I COULD be taking advantage of, had Apple put this technology in my phone.
 
There are so many in these forums saying that NFC not being in the iPhone is yet another miss for Apple. It makes me wonder how this will truly be used.

I get the use of NFC to be able to waive you phone to use your credit card (which some would say passbook can serve the same purpose if adoption were to increase), but what are the other applications for NFC that would truly change your life?

This is a serious question. Not trolling at all. I just don't see the widespread multifunctional use of NFC that causes people to get upset every time a new device is released without it.

NFC means I don't have to carry an extra metro card in my wallet.
 
Why would anyone be against having NFC? Don't like it don't use it. Seems selfish to me if someone doesn't like it so they don't want anyone to use it.
 
I have a Samsung NX300 camera that has NFC to transfer the files to a smartphone immediately, this is the only reason I would love to have NFC…
Right now I either have to email me the pictures from the camera (I can't if i'm outdoors) or connect my camera to the wifi generated by the camera, but that takes about 2-3 minutes to set up, its not very efficient to do it.

the transfer speed is so slow, its a useless feature
 
This is factually untrue as it is being widely deployed across Asia, Europe and the US, yet you want to start over with something else


I'm not asking to be a jerk, but rather because I honestly don't know... where in the U.S. is the widespread deployment? None of the places that I cross paths with during the course of a week are offering any kind of NFC payment options. At least not that they're making any effort to make consumers aware of. Just in the past month I've traveled from Las Vegas where I live (a consumer/tourist mecca) to Phoenix, Seattle, and Dallas. In none of those travels did I come across NFC anything, that I'm aware of.
 
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I'm not going to bother quoting the entirety of your dribble which basically boils down to "I don't see" or "I don't understand". It is clear you don't see it because Apple hasn't told you it's ok yet.

You are comparing two different things. NFC and Passbook are not the same thing. NFC can be an enabler of Passbook applications.

Oddly enough you mention BLE which would indicate you want what NFC offers but want to call it something else (here is the religion factor coming through loud and clear). This is odd because your point to the lack of infrastructure as a reason why NFC isn't useful. This is factually untrue as it is being widely deployed across Asia, Europe and the US, yet you want to start over with something else.

There is no convincing you the Earth is round so I'll leave you with a quote from Google's Google Wallet FAQ:

"You can tap to pay using the Google Wallet app on select NFC-enabled Android phones anywhere contactless payments are accepted, which includes over 200,000 merchant locations in the United States."

/thread

So basically you're accusing me of being an Apple Religious zealot because I believe that NFC isn't something that's necessary or a real selling feature of a phone?

So instead of actually answering my statements, you decide to artfully dodge them using your flawed logic?

200,000 Merchant Locations in the United States? There's probably 200,000 stores in my state alone. Try millions if not billions of merchant locations in the US that don't have it.

So if I am labeled a religious follower of Apple, what do I get to brand you? A religious follower of Google, since that's the only tech company you've actually mentioned anyways, or since I'm part of your mythological "Church of Apple" should I just brand you as a pagan? After all according to you I'm some religious nutjob because I think that at this time NFC is not very practical compared to what is available for use but in the future could serve a better purpose (which I've already stressed).

But hey, I guess I can't show you the world is round, eh? :rolleyes:

Sidenote: based off of your statement above, I'm guessing you don't understand how BLE has an upper edge over NFC, but if we're going to brand everything with a ludicrous "religious" statement, I'm guessing your "religion" doesn't allow for it. :rolleyes:

Also, it's nice to see rather than defend your points and explain how they could be used in a situation like that, you throw down your towel and just give up and resort to name calling because "oh no someone has challenged my opinion?! WOAH!"

Checkmate.
 
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So basically you're accusing me of being an Apple Religious zealot because I believe that NFC isn't something that's necessary or a real selling feature of a phone?

So instead of actually answering my statements, you decide to artfully dodge them using your flawed logic?

200,000 Merchant Locations in the United States? There's probably 200,000 stores in my state alone. Try millions if not billions of merchant locations in the US that don't have it.

So if I am labeled a religious follower of Apple, what do I get to brand you? A religious follower of Google, since that's the only tech company you've actually mentioned anyways, or since I'm part of your mythological "Church of Apple" should I just brand you as a pagan? After all according to you I'm some religious nutjob because I think that at this time NFC is not very practical compared to what is available for use but in the future could serve a better purpose (which I've already stressed).

But hey, I guess I can't show you the world is round, eh? :rolleyes:

Sidenote: based off of your statement above, I'm guessing you don't understand how BLE has an upper edge over NFC, but if we're going to brand everything with a ludicrous "religious" statement, I'm guessing your "religion" doesn't allow for it. :rolleyes:

You haven't responded with anything other than I don't get it. It's ok if you don't get it. You don't have to. Other people do, which is why NFC continues to get deployed. You seems to have an expectation that NFC is useless if there is a slow rollout. Name a single technology that was instantly ubiquitous.

BLE and NFC appear to overlap but the use cases will be very different. You clearly did not understand the previous concept of single instance vs. multi-instance services so lets boil it down to a simple real world example so you can tell me how NFC is flawed.

I'm at the movies. I'm waiting in one of a dozen lines to get snacks. I have an app on my phone that lets me build an order list. Here is my vision for how this works with NFC:

I build the order and approve the total. I drop my phone back in my pocket. I get up to the register (which may or may not be the one I was standing in line for). I tap the FP sensor once and then scan my FP to approve my pre-cached transaction (tap and scan is the secret gesture to do so without turning the phone back on) and tap my phone on the NFC reader to pay. The kids behind the counter jumps into action.

Describe how you would do this with Passbook today please.
 
You haven't responded with anything other than I don't get it. It's ok if you don't get it. You don't have to. Other people do, which is why NFC continues to get deployed. You seems to have an expectation that NFC is useless if there is a slow rollout. Name a single technology that was instantly ubiquitous.

BLE and NFC appear to overlap but the use cases will be very different. You clearly did not understand the previous concept of single instance vs. multi-instance services so lets boil it down to a simple real world example so you can tell me how NFC is flawed.

I'm at the movies. I'm waiting in one of a dozen lines to get snacks. I have an app on my phone that lets me build an order list. Here is my vision for how this works with NFC:

I build the order and approve the total. I drop my phone back in my pocket. I get up to the register (which may or may not be the one I was standing in line for). I tap the FP sensor once and then scan my FP to approve my pre-cached transaction (tap and scan is the secret gesture to do so without turning the phone back on) and tap my phone on the NFC reader to pay. The kids behind the counter jumps into action.

Describe how you would do this with Passbook today please.

So basically, rather than explain your thought process or idea, you simply ignore the person and decide to belittle them, because they don't understand what you mean? You would make a great U.S. Senator, you should run for office.

Anyways:
You build up the order and approve the total, and drop the phone back into your pocket. When you get up to the register, you use Touch ID to approve the payment and use a scanner placed to scan the code that appears on the screen. Ta-da! You've just accomplished the same task. Worried about battery life because the screen comes on? Don't worry, because there's less consumption from your screen lighting up than there is from establishing a direct connection.

Your move.

Also, I have responded with many things other than "I don't get it". In fact, I've completely broken down every single one of your posts. Maybe if you could actually provide examples the first time I ask instead of waiting until I have to deliberately say "I don't understand". Maybe if you actually read my posts, you'd understand, but since we're using ridiculous religious analogies here, I guess NFC zealots don't read other people's opinions.
 
So basically, rather than explain your thought process or idea, you simply ignore the person and decide to belittle them, because they don't understand what you mean? You would make a great U.S. Senator, you should run for office.

Anyways:
You build up the order and approve the total, and drop the phone back into your pocket. When you get up to the register, you use Touch ID to approve the payment and use a scanner placed to scan the code that appears on the screen. Ta-da! You've just accomplished the same task. Worried about battery life because the screen comes on? Don't worry, because there's less consumption from your screen lighting up than there is from establishing a direct connection.

Your move.

Also, I have responded with many things other than "I don't get it". In fact, I've completely broken down every single one of your posts. Maybe if you could actually provide examples the first time I ask instead of waiting until I have to deliberately say "I don't understand". Maybe if you actually read my posts, you'd understand, but since we're using ridiculous religious analogies here, I guess NFC zealots don't read other people's opinions.

Wait, how do they know what register to bring your food to? How did your order get on the register you are standing in front of? How does the kid at the register know thats your order?

Your phone is in range of 12 registers....... What you really want is a way to interact with THIS register, the one I'm standing in front of.
 
Wait, how do they know what register to bring your food to? How did your order get on the register you are standing in front of? How does the kid at the register know thats your order?

Your phone is in range of 12 registers....... What you really want is a way to interact with THIS register, the one I'm standing in front of.

Because the register hold the order number? It's not that complicated at all. The order got on the register because you scanned it. They know it's your order because you're standing right there.

You are interacting with the one you're standing in front of, because you just scanned your phone with it.

Since you didn't read what I bolded up above, I'm going to try to bring the big issue to your attention:

TRY READING MY POSTS FIRST

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NFC isn't a game changer. Android fans, android OEMs, and companies that spent money are trying to make it happen.

I think that it might go down along the 3D TVs and other fads. But I may be wrong.

I don't think it'll go the way of 3D TVs and be entirely useless. It's not important now but it could prove itself in the future.
 
I'm at the movies. I'm waiting in one of a dozen lines to get snacks. I have an app on my phone that lets me build an order list. Here is my vision for how this works with NFC:

I build the order and approve the total. I drop my phone back in my pocket. I get up to the register (which may or may not be the one I was standing in line for). I tap the FP sensor once and then scan my FP to approve my pre-cached transaction (tap and scan is the secret gesture to do so without turning the phone back on) and tap my phone on the NFC reader to pay. The kids behind the counter jumps into action.

Describe how you would do this with Passbook today please.

But explain to me why NFC is even necessary at all. From my previous response to your movie scenario:

The concept of ordering & paying in line is a great application, but why not take it a step further? Why can't I go straight to the theater, find my seat, pull up the concession menu (I guess I need to download an app for that), pick my items, and place my order? Then I could get an alert when my order is ready to pick up, and I can just walk to the concession stand & pick it up without even paying, because I already used my credit card to pay in the app. Instead of fumbling for my phone to waive & pay when I am carrying a large popcorn, 2 large sodas, nachos, and Junior Mints, it's all ready to go.

Neither NFC nor Passbook is required for that. And not only do I get to skip the lines, but I also don;t have to wait for the kids to "jump into action" to get my order. My order is picked, pulled, paid for, & waiting for me.
 
Because the register hold the order number? It's not that complicated at all. The order got on the register because you scanned it. They know it's your order because you're standing right there.

You are interacting with the one you're standing in front of, because you just scanned your phone with it.

Since you didn't read what I bolded up above, I'm going to try to bring the big issue to your attention:

So I have to pay and then turn my phone around line it up with the scanner, hope it is reading it correctly and the phone isn't doing something silly, because I can't see the screen at this point.

A multi-step process which NFC can streamline/refine/make more elegant. Touch once and you have paid, ordered and verified the location...

Do you honestly believe opening the app and scanning the screen is more elegant than just taping your phone? This is like preferring the old credit card imprint machines to magnetic swipe machines.

----------

But explain to me why NFC is even necessary at all. From my previous response to your movie scenario:

The concept of ordering & paying in line is a great application, but why not take it a step further? Why can't I go straight to the theater, find my seat, pull up the concession menu (I guess I need to download an app for that), pick my items, and place my order? Then I could get an alert when my order is ready to pick up, and I can just walk to the concession stand & pick it up without even paying, because I already used my credit card to pay in the app. Instead of fumbling for my phone to waive & pay when I am carrying a large popcorn, 2 large sodas, nachos, and Junior Mints, it's all ready to go.

Neither NFC nor Passbook is required for that. And not only do I get to skip the lines, but I also don;t have to wait for the kids to "jump into action" to get my order. My order is picked, pulled, paid for, & waiting for me.

Awesome! How about when I sit in the theater I put together my order and tap my phone on my chair so they know EXACTLY where to bring it to me :)
 
So I have to pay and then turn my phone around line it up with the scanner, hope it is reading it correctly and the phone isn't doing something silly, because I can't see the screen at this point.

A multi-step process which NFC can streamline/refine/make more elegant. Touch once and you have paid, ordered and verified the location...

Do you honestly believe opening the app and scanning the screen is more elegant than just taping your phone? This is like preferring the old credit card imprint machines to magnetic swipe machines.

Guessing you haven't used Passbook before. You don't have to open any apps. It can appear on your lockscreen.

Ever seen a scanner? You know how they beep when you've scanned something? Yeah.

Scan and you have paid, ordered, and verified the location.


Awesome! How about when I sit in the theater I put together my order and tap my phone on my chair so they know EXACTLY where to bring it to me :)

You can do this without NFC OR Passbook. Or just don't be a jerk and don't use your phone during a movie.
 
And sadly my wife yells at me when I get a large popcorn now. Too much sodium :-( It's my one real vice; must have popcorn while watching a movie ;-)
 
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