The next generation of smart phones for business people and consumers will be RFID capable while making wider use of NFC  - a wicked combination that is sure to unlock the enormous potential of expanding the current capabilities of wireless phones.

What is RFID?

At 8:01 a.m. on June 26, 1974, a customer at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, OH, made the first purchase of a product with a barcode, a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Gum.

Barcodes were the first practical use of RFID, an acronym for “Radio Frequency Identification”.   Barcodes store information, such as price, volume, etc., about a product where it is then read by a scanner at checkout.  The barcode essentially “tags” the product with this information.

RFID tags are an improvement over bar codes because the tags have read AND write capabilities.  Data stored on RFID tags can be changed, updated and locked.

One common use of RFID tags today is highway toll passcards and subway passes.  Because of their ability to store data so efficiently, RFID tags can calculate the cost of tolls and fares and deduct the cost electronically from the amount of money placed on the card by the user.

What is NFC?

NFC (short for Near Field Communication) is a short-range wireless communications technology standard that allows electronic devices to communicate with each other.  The most common current use of NFC today is to make payments using only your NFC-equipped cell phone.

Because NFC is used for secure transactions, close proximity is needed to allow it to work.  RFID is capable of accepting and transmitting well beyond the few inches commonly used for NFC transactions.

Cell Phone Applications Using RFID and NFC

Cell phone makers are beginning to take a serious look at potential applications of these emerging technologies.

Apple has reported that it plans to build RFID capabilities into the next generation of iPhone.  The success of Apple’s App Store and the huge amount of currently available applications, make this news a software developer’s dream come true.

One advantage of RFID is that it does not require a direct line of sight for the information contained with a tag to be read.  And because RFID tags are very small, they can be hidden easily within every day objects.

Multimedia content and information will soon be accessible from physical and inanimate objects that are embedded with RFID tags.  Cell phones will soon begin to interact and communicate with all kinds of physical objects contained in the world around them.

Below is a video showing how an RFID capable iPhone interacts with a set of children’s toys.  Each toy in the video is embedded with a small RFID tag.  When the phone is passed near the object,  the tag triggers distinct content associated with that toy onto the iPhone screen.

As you can see, the potential of RFID-embedded products is staggering.

Some useful applications could be:

• A maintenance manual and/or repair video RFID tag embedded in your car for easy access
• Product information video and tutorial RFID tags embedded onto packaging or purchased products
• Local information embedded on tags that are placed throughout cities, towns and popular tourist attractions
• Fashion accessory information embedded into clothes, boots, shoes, etc.

The possibilities seem endless.  You can be certain that ultimate uses for NFC and RFID have not yet been conceived.   If Apple’s plans for utilizing this technology are true, don’t be surprised to see very cool applications emerging sooner rather than later.

Submitted by:  TelCon Associates, Inc.

Below is a quick summary of the new features of the new Apple 2.0 software.

App Store
Apple’s new App Store enables users to download a variety of new 3rd party applications.

Support for push email, contacts and calendars with Microsoft Exchange Active Sync
Support for Microsoft Exchange Active Sync is now available for iPhone. So businesses can have push email, calendar, and contacts for their employees using iPhone. (Both iPhone and iPhone 3G customers who intend to use Microsoft Exchange Server should enroll in an Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone.)

MobileMe support
MobileMe is a new service from Apple for your iPhone, iPod touch, Mac and PC that
allows you to keep al your email, contacts, calendars up to date and in sync via push
technology. It’s like Microsoft Exchange for the rest of us. When information is changed on any of your iPhone, Mac, PC or iPod Touch, updates will automatically be pushed to all your other devices, wirelessly.

Email Management
Now you can keep your email inbox organized even better. Move or delete multiple
emails at a time and organize groups of messages by moving them into different folders.

Contacts Search
Type a name into the new Contacts search field and iPhone lists matching names from the local address book or a company’s Global Address List (for Microsoft Exchange users only).

Additional Language Support
For its worldwide release, iPhone with 2.0 supports more languages and dictionaries for auto-complete and spelling check.

Email Attachment Support
iPhone currently displays more than a dozen file formats and now it will also display
Apple’s iWork and Microsoft PowerPoint files.

Scientific Calculator
Now you can rotate the iPhone horizontally to transform the standard calculator into a scientific calculator including functions for solving advanced mathematic problems.

Rockville, MD (PRWEB) April 29, 2008 — In a just-released survey report, ChangeWave takes a close-up look at the features consumers love and hate most about their iPhones and BlackBerrys.

This report is a follow-up to a previous ChangeWave Smart Phone survey showing a rapidly evolving two-horse race between the Apple (AAPL) iPhone and the Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry — with second tier players like Palm (PALM) and a host of others being pushed to the sidelines.

The previous report showed excellent consumer satisfaction levels for the two top rated smart phone frontrunners — with Apple sporting a 79% Very Satisfied rating for its iPhone models and RIM grabbing a highly respectable 54% rating for the BlackBerry.

But what is it about these two brands that have consumers so very satisfied?

RIM BlackBerry

The ChangeWave March 2008 survey of 864 smartphone owners found by an overwhelming margin, the feature BlackBerry users like best is its exceptional access to email (56%).

No other feature came close in terms of popularity. As one owner put it, “The email integration of the BlackBerry 8800 is probably its single best feature, but I am constantly amazed at the quality of the phone itself.” Another adds “I like the seamless way my BlackBerry works with corporate email and the way you can call a number from within an email by highlighting it.”

(Detailed charts on Smart Phone Trends, along with additional ChangeWave findings can be downloaded at changewave.com/smartphone).

BlackBerry owners also reported a few key dislikes, number one being the speed and quality of its Internet browsing experience (13%). A second major dislike was the size of the keypad (11%), with owners complaining that the keys are too small and cause too many typing errors.

For example, one respondent states “The overlaid keyboard (two letters per key) and TrueType feature make my BlackBerry slow to type messages without errors.”

Apple iPhone

By far the most lauded feature of the Apple iPhone among its owners is the seamless integration of its phone, iPod and Internet browser (36%) capabilities. As one iPhone owner puts it, “The feature I use most is the iPod, but it’s the integrated whole that makes it so much fun to use.”

Another reports, “I love the iPhone. It is revolutionary. I love being able to jump on the Internet, send email, get maps, weather forecasts, instant message, and make phone calls.”

The second most popular feature is the iPhone’s touch screen interface, followed by its ease of use.

In terms of dislikes, there is no doubt about what iPhone owners hate most. It’s the speed of the AT&T (T) EDGE network. No surprise then that the number two criticism is the requirement to use AT&T. Users also expressed unhappiness with the iPhone’s lack of copy & paste functionality.

“According to our survey, both Apple and RIM are in the process of overwhelming the competition,” said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave and editor of ChangeWave Investing. “Each has a super-loyal cadre of users that fervently support their brand, and each has extraordinary room to grow.”

Smith also points out that previous ChangeWave surveys have picked up a seismic shift occurring among U.S. consumers towards the high end smart phone market. “In simplest terms, that’s where the momentum lies,” he said.

While the iPhone boasts some of the highest satisfaction ratings ever seen in a ChangeWave survey, the bottom line for BlackBerry owners continues to be — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. RIM’s enormous strength in ChangeWave business user surveys (73% market penetration) strongly suggests they’ll maintain momentum in their core market going forward.

For all the iPhone’s momentum, there are still some core issues owners want to have resolved — and first among them is 3G capability. According to the survey, that’s the number one feature iPhone owners want integrated into the next generation of the iPhone (19%) — even more so than third-party software (18%), GPS functionality (15%) or email integration (10%).

The same holds true among respondents who say they are interested in, but haven’t yet purchased an iPhone. One-in-four say they are holding out to wait for the next generation iPhone (14%) or for 3G network compatibility (11%).

“The bottom line in this horse race is Apple and Research In Motion are both giant winners, while the rest of the smart phone manufacturers lose,” added Smith.

To sign-up for real-time email alerts from ChangeWave on emerging technology trends and companies, visit changewave.com/hotwire.

About ChangeWave:
ChangeWave runs a proprietary network of more than 15,000 highly qualified business, technology, and medical professionals in leading companies of select industries - credentialed experts who spend their everyday lives working on the frontline of technological change. ChangeWave surveys its members on a range of business and investment research topics, collects feedback from them electronically, and converts the information into quantitative and qualitative reports. For more information, visit blog.changewave.com.