Earlier this month, I sat down with Geoff from the Near Field Communications (NFC) Product Management Team at RIM to get his take on a top NFC myth we often see from our Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog readers. (FYI – the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900/9930 smartphones and BlackBerry® Curve™ 9350/9360/9370 smartphones have NFC built-in NFC.)

Editor’s Note: About a year ago, we sat down with Geoff for the first time to get his perspective on where RIM is going in the NFC space. If you haven’t had a chance to watch Geoff’s video interview, check it out here: How to use Near Field Communication (NFC) for Business.

Debunking The Top NFC Myth: NFC is not just about mobile payments!

Popular perception seems to be that NFC is just a way to make mobile payments. Although RIM has been a key mobile payment advocate – including becoming among the first smartphones to be certified by MasterCard® and Visa® for NFC-based payments and working with EnStream in Canada – this capability was merely a stepping stone to a BlackBerry presence in the NFC space. Mobile payment capability is just one part of NFC technology’s true potential.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog »

Last week I wrote about a new NFC mobile payment option we launched with some of our partners. Today, I wanted to take a moment to give you some more information about NFC (near field communication) and how it will turn smartphones into “smarter phones.”

In a nutshell, NFC is a data transfer. NFC possesses two types of information transfer: emulation or peer-to-peer (P2P). In emulation mode, it allows a user to replicate all activities directly from their NFC-enabled mobile device; in P2P mode, information can be shared back and forth between mobile devices.

One of the coolest things I’ve observed lately is the integration of NFC on devices beyond smartphones and tablets. Recently, Dutch publishing firm Elektor International Media released the first NFC-enabled book: Catch the Sun, a book about ballooning, features NFC tags on its cover and select pages within. When readers with NFC-enabled BlackBerry® devices click a tag located within the book, they are directed to an Elektor-hosted website to get more information about the section of the book they’re reading. I love that this is a meaningful way of bringing technologies like traditional book consumption into a digital age.

With all the possibilities of NFC-enabled BlackBerry devices – such as enhancing foursquare “Check-in Stations” and automating your life – where do you see NFC going from here? Let us know by sharing your opinion in the comments below.

It’s no secret that we love Near Field Communication (NFC). What’s exciting at this point is watching some of the use cases come to fruition, and today in particular, the ability to replace security access badges with BlackBerry® smartphones. NFC is an innovative technology with many stakeholders and interested parties including enterprise customers, end users, financial institutions, carriers, and of course smartphone manufacturers. BlackBerry smartphones have been leading the way in mobile payments for some time, becoming the first smartphones to be certified by MasterCard® and Visa® for NFC-based payments, and now we’re first to be available as an access badge replacement solution. “RIM has proven to be a leader in NFC technology, and in bringing NFC solutions to market – we spearheaded the efforts in mobile payments. Now we are taking NFC beyond payments into the enterprise sector and partnering with HID Global®, an industry leader in physical access solutions” says Geoff MacGillivray, RIM Sr. Product Manager for NFC.

Late last week HID Global announced the availability of Secure Identity Services™, a comprehensive suite of web-based services for managing physical access credentials (read the HID press release for more info). Secure Identity Services is the enterprise’s first all-in-one web-based solution for credential provisioning and management. The platform provides businesses with the tools to create, use, and manage identities for traditional badges on plastic cards, for tokens, and for digital credentials on NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphones beginning with models on the Verizon Wireless network: the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930 and the BlackBerry® Curve™ 9370.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog »

If you look back a few years, it is impressive to see the ways in which wireless technology has changed the way we live. One example of this is the emerging NFC technologies that are being built in to a range of BlackBerry® smartphones, and even the new 4G LTE™ BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. NFC essentially allows devices to connect by waving or tapping them together. This is useful for exchanging small amounts of data like weblinks or contact information, and it is increasingly being used for mobile payments, where you can tap your device (which can be connected to your financial accounts) and conveniently pay for purchases. The future is now.

Since I’m no expert when it comes to NFC, I caught up with Geoff MacGillivray to get the scoop.

IBB BLOG: Could you tell us what NFC technology is for those who have never heard of it?

NFC is a very new technology for the mass market. It has been around for quite some time, and people have probably already seen examples of NFC or have used NFC technology even without realizing it. The acronym itself, NFC, stands for Near Field Communication. Essentially, it’s a short-range wireless technology that is largely associated with a ‘tap’ — a tap on a reader or another device to initiate a transaction.

Now, if you’re a member of a corporation and you have an ID pass or card that gives you access to the premises, it could be using NFC technology. If you tap the card to the reader, that’s an NFC exchange. Likewise, when you tap your credit card on a certain point of sale reader, your financial transaction is executed using NFC.

IBB BLOG: With today’s fast-paced lifestyle, what key uses of NFC do you think will help us the most?

I think the modes of NFC and the ways it can be used are so widely varied, and that’s where I see value for end consumers. It’s not just about payment, although that’s certainly one aspect of it.

Physical access is another aspect. It doesn’t just play into enterprise; it can also extend to other areas like getting access to buildings of any sort. Modern hotels rooms, for example – you won’t just get a magnetic key card for access, you’ll sometimes get a card with NFC technology that you can tap to be let in.

Transit is another use case – GO trains in Toronto use NFC with the Presto system, the London transport system uses NFC with the Oyster card, and a lot of transit authorities use it around the world because it just fits so nicely.

IBB BLOG: Is there a creative or interesting use of NFC that people may not know about?

We were just talking about what we call ‘card emulation use cases’ which are replacing the physical card in terms of NFC transactions.v

There’s also an equivalent form of NFC that fits within the QR code space. You often see a QR code on a poster, but it’s actually very easy to put an NFC chip on it instead. The benefit there is that you can simply ‘tap’ the poster to read a web link, phone number or other info instead of fumbling to focus your device on the QR code to read it.

Many of us already know about device exchanges that involve tapping devices together to share a picture or web link, et cetera. That can actually extend to accessory pairing as well. We’ve all gone to the trouble of trying to pair Bluetooth® accessories – wouldn’t it be nice just to ‘tap’ on accessories and you are Bluetooth-paired?

It’s these kinds of examples spanning a person’s daily life that will make NFC truly valuable. You don’t have to focus on a QR code – you just have to tap. You don’t have to pull out your wallet to pay – you just tap. So it’s all those little things that I think add up to the overall NFC experience.

IBB BLOG: With NFC, we’ve talked about the ability to exchange photos, documents and more. And in the near future, we’ll be able to make secure financial transactions. How secure are these transfers?

Another great question. People get a little worried when you talk about issuing credentials to a phone, but I’d like to point out that your phone is actually a more secure environment than your credit card. And the reason I say that is because there are remote management options as well as password lock and other features that are available.

When you have your credentials on your credit card and your credit card is stolen, they have your information if they know your PIN. If that info is now on your phone and stored in the same secure chip location where it’s stored on the card, you now have the ability to lock your phone. So if someone steals your phone they can’t get the card information without first unlocking the device. Plus, some devices also have remote wipe or management capabilities available.

The security of the device can now be factored into protecting your payment credentials or any other credentials that are stored there.

IBB BLOG: In your life, how do you feel NFC technology is most helpful, or engaging?

To me, the idea of getting rid of all cards is really appealing. Not just payment cards, but all the rewards cards and others too. Now if I can get down to a couple of cards in my wallet – at least in the short term – that would make me so much happier. In the long term, that could mean getting rid of your house keys and your car keys. All you would need is your phone. People could rid themselves of carrying wallets; they would just take their phone, because everyone takes their phone with them.

And the other thing about security is that I may not notice immediately if I lose my access card or even if I lose my wallet, but people are on their mobile devices so often that they’ll know if they’re missing them probably sooner than any other passes.

IBB BLOG: How large is an NFC chip?

An NFC chip is in the order of 1 millimeter or 2 millimeters square. What actually takes up space on the NFC tag is the antenna, but it’s still very flat. NFC stickers are paper-thin. There’s a magazine that recently ran an ad using NFC, so it can be imprinted in media.

There’s also a company investigating the ability to use technology to actually print an NFC tag. And if that happens, the cost will come down and the amount of functions you can explore will increase.

IBB BLOG: Over the next few years, what new capabilities do you think NFC technology will have? How do you think it will impact the smartphone industry as a whole?

I think we’re seeing a lot of publicity around the introduction of NFC technology in mobile phones now. And more and more companies and manufacturers are getting onboard with NFC. We have to bear in mind that this is a new technology and will be adopted over the next several years. The vision of having NFC as a part of your daily life is one that we should subscribe to. It’s going to take a little while to get there, but we’re pretty excited about how things are moving.

There you have it — NFC technology explained. Now that we’ve shed a little light on this new standard, let us know if you have any other questions, and be sure to check out Luke’s blog post on how NFC can be used in everyday life.

Broadcasting your tunes from your Bluetooth®-enabled BlackBerry® smartphone to your home or portable audio system has never been easier. We introduced the BlackBerry® Music Gateway to you during BlackBerry World™ 2012, and I’m happy to announce that it’s now available at ShopBlackBerry.com.

The BlackBerry Music Gateway uses NFC to connect your BlackBerry smartphone via Bluetooth. If you don’t have NFC, no worries — the process for pairing your smartphone to the BlackBerry Music Gateway is almost as simple. It’s always better to see it in action, so check it out:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Be sure to pick up a BlackBerry Music Gateway today, and let us know what you think of it in the comments!

If you were at BlackBerry World™ or BlackBerry® 10 Jam last week, you might have seen the foursquare “Check-in Stations” we set up. Did you know they were NFC-enabled?

Four days prior to the two conferences, foursquare released an updated version of their BlackBerry® smartphone app. The biggest addition? Near Field Communications! You can now check in at a venue with nothing more than a wave of your NFC-capable BlackBerry smartphone. (Of course, the venue has to have NFC tags for you to tap your BlackBerry smartphone against. It’s not actually magic – it just seems that way.)

Peter Nofelt, Software Engineering Manager – BlackBerry at foursquare (you might recognize his name from BlackBerry DevCon 2010) shot a quick demonstration video of the onsite NFC experience with fellow BlackBerry platform developer at foursquare, Kyle Fowler.

We learned a lot about #TeamBlackBerry from your foursquare check-ins. At BlackBerry World, the Solutions Showcase had the most check-ins and was the most popular event, while the most popular session was a Hands-On Lab, “BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion Studio and BlackBerry Device Service,” whereattendees learned how to install BlackBerry Mobile Fusion Studio and BlackBerry Mobile Fusion for BlackBerry devices.

At BlackBerry 10 Jam, attendees checked in at the Jam Space most often. No surprise there – the Jam Space was where developers could “Ask The Experts”, port their apps to the BlackBerry platform (in minutes!) at the App Express station, or simply hang out with us at the Social Media Desk. The most popular conference session on foursquare was “Get Ready for Cascades™ Development,” where attendees got a preview of Cascades and the powerful tools behind it.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a BlackBerry conference if we didn’t have the swag to back it up. At the end of each conference, the five attendees with the most check-ins won exclusive foursquare “Mayor Badge” t-shirts. Check out one of the mayors of BlackBerry 10 Jam, Chad Tetreault — he’s the guy that brought you LensBoost, among many other apps.

Below are more of the photos you shared with us when you checked in on foursquare, including another picture of those awesome t-shirts! (I know, I want one too. That’s the problem with “exclusive.”)

BlackBerry 10 Jam

BlackBerry World

If you haven’t done so already, head to BlackBerry App World™ to download the foursquare app.

Were you at the event? Did you check in? What badges did you earn? Share your foursquare stories in the comments below!

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

I’ve been a huge fan of NFC technology for some time now, and it’s been exciting to see the use cases growing for BlackBerry® smartphone users to include everything from payments using your smartphone to sharing photos and contact information. Yesterday I got a hold of some blank NFC tag stickers and got to tinkering. Building on some advice from Twitter® friends and a few colleagues, I managed to create a set of extremely useful NFC tags that have helped me automate common tasks that I perform on a daily basis. Now I can access the flashlight feature, remotely control my BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, check into social media, and set my daily alarm with almost zero effort. Check out the video above to see the tags that I managed to whip up!

In the words of my friend Annu, who happens to be the Senior Product Manager for BlackBerry® 7, NFC technology on BlackBerry smartphones “works like magic”. The tags are inexpensive, the apps are readily available, the technology is here today, and the end result is fantastic. Let me walk through the steps that I took to create tags such as these.

The Recipe

You’ll need:

• Blank NFC tags/stickers
• An NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone:
  BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900/9930 or 9790 smartphone, BlackBerry® Curve™ 9350/9360/9370 smartphone
• The ShortcutMe app for BlackBerry smartphones
• The NFCShortcuts app for BlackBerry smartphones
• Plenty of ideas; the sky’s the limit with this stuff!

Tip: The size of the tags (some hold more data than others), shouldn’t matter. You won’t be loading them with too much information in this exercise.

How it Works

The process involves a few steps: You’ll be creating a shortcut (think of it as an “action sequence” that can launch an app or function and then, optionally, interact with the app once it’s launched) using the ShortcutMe app, and then writing a command to launch that shortcut to an NFC tag/sticker using the NFCShortcuts app. Conveniently, both apps were designed by the same group (Fonware Ltd.), and they work together seamlessly. Check out some of Fonware’s other apps on the BlackBerry App World™ storefront here!

Tip: Do a web search for “buy NFC tags”. You should be able to find some that are quite affordable.

Creating Shortcuts Using the ShortcutMe and NFCShortcuts Apps

Both the ShortcutMe app and the NFCShortcuts app can be a little daunting to use at first. They deal with creating functions that can be quite complex, and you may need to do a bit of tinkering to figure it all out your first time through. Be patient, and leave any questions that you may have in the comments.

Let’s create an NFC tag that causes your device to turn Wi-Fi® on. Follow the steps below:

1. Launch the ShortcutMe app on your BlackBerry smartphone, hit the Menu key, and choose “Add Shortcut” from the menu. This will bring you to the new shortcut configuration page.

2. To the right of “App Name”, you can choose what app or function that this shortcut will launch. For our tag, we want to choose “WiFi_ON”. However, take a look in this list to see all of the possibilities for creating NFC tags. There’s a lot to explore in terms of apps and settings.

3. Next, you’ll need to choose a 1-3 character shortcut key sequence that launches this shortcut. I chose “WFI” to closely resemble the function of this tag. At this point, your screen should look something like this:

4. If you scroll down the page, you’ll come to an area that says “Macros”. Above this is an “Alternative Launchings” setting, which you can ignore for the time being. Macros allow you to simulate actual inputs after the app that you selected launches. In our case, turning Wi-Fi on is a one-time task, so we wouldn’t need to include a macro. But if you were to launch the clock with the intention of setting the alarm for example, you’d need to add that input sequence that would be performed after the app is launched. See below for an example macro and a screenshot of the built-in Macro Editor:

Note: Use Macros at your own risk, and be careful not to tap unknown NFC tags. As a built-in security measure, your phone will not work with NFC tags if it is locked.

5. Now you can hit the menu button and choose “Save & Exit” (remember to clear any macros out if you had been playing around; none are needed for the “Wi-Fi ON” command that we’ve chosen).

6. You should see your new shortcut on the home screen of the ShortcutMe app, listed as “WFI WiFi ON”. Feel free to click it to try it out.

7. Next, close the ShortcutMe app, and open up the NFCShortcuts app. This is where we’ll actually write data to a tag. Conceptually, we’ll tell the tag to launch the ShortcutMe app on your smartphone and activate the “WFI” shortcut that we just created.

8. Choose “Add a New Tag” – you’ll see that all you need to do is tap a blank NFC tag to begin (make sure that NFC is turned on in your settings). You should see a message that looks similar to the following:

9. Choose “Yes,” and in the next screen, you can configure the information that will be written to the tag. For “Launch”, choose the “ShortcutMe_Touch” application. Beneath that, you’ll see options for additional settings such as PreMacros. Ignore this and move down to the “Parameter” field. Here you need to enter the shortcut keys for the shortcut that we just created within ShortcutMe – so enter “wfi” (in this case, the field is not case-sensitive). Your screen should look like this:

10. Save and close the tag configuration screen, and then back on the home screen of the NFCShortcuts app, choose the correct “Stored Tag Number” for the tag that you just created. You’ll know you’ve got it right when you see the proper “Stored Tag Name” and the parameter shortcut keys listed after a comma:

11. Next, all you need to do is choose “Write To Tag”. Then you’ll have a simple option to “Write NFCL data to a tag”, which leaves it re-writable for future tinkering, or “Write and Lock the tag”, which is irreversible. After you’ve selected one of these two options, simply hold your NFC tag up to the phone, wait for the vibrate indication that the data has been written, and you’re finished! Go ahead and try it out.

More Ideas for NFC Tags

After a bit of brainstorming, I came up with a few more ideas for NFC tags that you may find useful:

• Create an NFC business card that adds your contact information to an associate’s device when they tap it with their NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphone.
• For the frequent traveler, create NFC tags for turning off your wireless radio, or for launching BlackBerry® Travel.
• Do you often make soft-boiled eggs? Slap an NFC tag onto your fridge and tap it to automatically start a pre-set timer on your phone.

That’s it for me; I’d love to hear your ideas and your experiences! Share your thoughts in the comments below.

In our sneak preview post, we mentioned we have social media Like Stations on our Mobile World Congress 2012 stand this year. Visitors coming to say hello to BlackBerry® will have the chance to engage with us like never before…via NFC!

The new BlackBerry® 7 OS -based Bold™ and Curve™ smartphones feature Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. NFC also powers BlackBerry® Tag, a new feature of the BlackBerry® 7.1 OS that we first announced at CES in January. At MWC, we’re using NFC technology to give our visitors the chance to share their BlackBerry experience, all with just a simple tap. We’ve put together this cool video to tell you all about our Like Stations and how easy it is engage with BlackBerry at MWC.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

This week we’re showcasing our BlackBerry® smartphone and BlackBerry® PlayBook™ platforms, our developer platform for visitors looking to create apps for BlackBerry App World™ and an exciting demo for visitors to test out NFC. Also joining us are our carrier partners Telefonica, Turkcell and Orange who are demoing their latest BlackBerry applications and services. Can’t make it to MWC? Don’t worry! We’re giving you a sneak preview of what to expect from BlackBerry at MWC this year as well as some exclusive photos.

BlackBerry Experience and Developer Zone BlackBerry experts are on hand to guide you through our latest BlackBerry device software. At our interactive demo stands, you’ll get hands on with the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 and OS 7.1 smartphones. If you are new to developing apps for mobile, you can speak to our RIM gurus who will take you through turning your idea for an app into a reality.

Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 loaded with BlackBerry & QNX technology takes pride of place on the stand. Whilst you can’t take the car for a spin around Barcelona (we’ve asked for the keys), you can check out how the BlackBerry platform integrates seamlessly with the Porsche’s automotive technology. Ask to see the NewBay Cloud Services in action too.

Like Stations

We giving all our visitors to the BlackBerry stand a chance to engage with BlackBerry like never before…via NFC. If you know anyone coming to MWC, keep a look out on their Facebook and Twitter profiles for some exclusive BlackBerry content.

This is just a glimpse of what we have on the stand. If you are at the conference, come by and say hello to us. If you can’t join us, we’ll keep everyone updated on MWC via our social channels. Keep an eye out on Twitter (@UK_BlackBerry) as well as our blogs for updates we have planned for this week. You can also follow us live here: http://www.BlackBerry.com/mwc12