Quentin B. • No I don't think so.

* March 2011

A report posted this morning by The Independent says that Apple does not plan to include a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip in the next version of the iPhone. The reasoning there, according to The Independent's sources at "several of the largest mobile operators in the UK," is that the current NFC standards landscape is fragmented, and Apple plans to introduce its own system, which could take well into next year to be readied.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20042898-37.html#ixzz1IfLnS3BL

When they introduce their own it will fragment even more. With no standard the market will not know which way to turn and could easily hinder the whole process.

At least QR Codes are standard and actually are used in a different segment of the market.

Apple tends to always want to control the marketplace and thats maybe why their market share is dropping at a rapid rate though I would still like their share of the market.

Norma R. • Great! I am still learning QR codes. What is NFC?

Keith S. W. • NFC stands for Near Field Comminucations. Newest tech to allow close contact transfer of info from smart phone to smart phone. Also turns your smartphone into a credit card that you swipe by the new readers to pay. Learn more at www.nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com

Norma R. • So If you loose your phone whoever finds will have a great shopping day? Thanks Keith.

Dougal M. • While payments are certainly the most promising aspect of NFC, it should not be viewed as only that. NFC can be also used for check-in, info transfer & device pairing. Perhaps it is your work badge, perhaps you get a coupon, perhaps you get a video transfer or app, or just connect to your Bluetooth headset. There are many possibilities here, but I agree on the fragmentation concern. There are two main issues: who is going to make the transaction fees? and who has the customer relationship? The financial companies want transaction fees, operators want service to be related to mobile number, Google wants customer data, and device manufacturers want to create unique value on thier devices. As far as the security concerns, there is Secure NFC which will help. In the end, financial transactions will likely require a PIN, it is the same as if you lost your bank card.

Alejandro A. • NFC it's not about the user base supporting that technology on their phones. It's about the cost of embedding the chip into whatever is it you want to make interactive. QR codes have been a very useful way for mobile phones to interact with real world stuff but as Sol points out, there's even better technologies that go beyond QR codes (or any other 2D barcode, datamatrix, bidi, microsoft tag, etc...). Check us out at www.clic2c.com or mobi.clic2c.com on your phone.

Real Estate W. • You may have moved beyond QR Codes where you live, but we're in a relatively small town in the mountains of North Carolina and most people here don't even know what QR codes are yet. There's always a big gap between the 'cutting edge' and reality.

Keith S. W. • All great comments as well as a little company promotion going on in these comments. NFC and QR codes will both find a place to exist within the consumer's use and needs criteria. As a marketer, I find QR codes easier to implement at this stage but let's see what the future holds.

Anthony L. • I agree with you Keith, I currently market QR codes to my clients and they seem like the popularity is building somewhat, but we'll see what next!

Dave M. • Poor merchants - keeping up with the technology to handle read QR codes and NFC, while still being able to handle older, but common barcode and payment methods. When will QR and NFC usage reach major market presence so that a merchant will make the investment?

Simmy A. • Echo your comments "Real Estate Weekly" - I'm in Atlanta, and QR Codes are still very novel - I may be wrong, but the QR Code technology, and especially application, is still very much in the infancy stage within the U.S. (from a marketing standpoint).

Andy F. • I have never considered QR codes and NFC as being competing technologies. One is a type of barcode the other is a wireless/contactless payments technology. In Japan where mobile wallets/contactless payments (though this might not be NFC) and mobile barcodes were mainstream years ago, they have both coexisted for years.
I’m no expert in the technologies, but I’ve followed both for some years and my understanding is as follows:

Quick Response (QR), Data Matrix and Aztec codes are 2D barcodes, like a 1D product barcode, except they can contain lots more information, and don’t get damaged in the same way, which is deciphered when scanned by barcode reader - a free app on a camera phone or by a barcode reader (in a store or event). They can be used for myriad consumer-to-business c2b purposes from m-tickets, m-coupons or b2c purposes product info, product ID, link to a mobile site (most common use in the West) etc or b2b purposes such as in logistics, warehousing etc. Think how useful 1D barcodes are and multiply it. A barcode is just a unique picture that can be easily mass-printed or put on a website, emailed, send as an MMS etc, the only cost is associated with it is the license fee. It can be read by anyone with a camera phone with the app on it for free. A retailer/event organizer/logistics company would need to invest in barcode readers, but they are used to having to upgrade hardware, it happens all the time. Anyone that calls 2D codes passé hasn’t considered how they could be used.
There’s a guide to mobile barcodes here: http://mobithinking.com/mobile-barcode-guide

Near-field communications – is a wireless technology – more like Bluetooth than a barcode – that allows two devices to recognise each other and share information. Each requires some dedicated electronic circuitry or a chip. One device can be passive and unpowered, such as contactless card used in some cities places for public transport or RFID tags that are sometimes used in logistics to store info on the shipment. But however simple, and however mass-produced, it is producing an electronic tag for a product, poster, concert ticket, coupon is going to be relatively expensive compared to a barcode. Plus how can you could email or text it to someone, or have them print it from the net?
This is why NFC is more commonly talked about in terms of contactless payments i.e. using your phone as an alternative to an electronic travel card, payment card, office access ID, loyalty card etc. There isn’t really any overlap with mobile barcodes here.
I say ‘talked about’, because talk is all that has happened in NFC for years. And I suspect that even though there has been a lot more talk recently, that’s all it will be for some time yet. Mobile wallets/contactless payments took off in Japan, because it was led by NTT DoCoMo and adopted by the other operators and everyone else in the mobile ecosystem. Mobile succeeds in Japan because the operators are in control, very innovative, but very fair – not like in the West where no one in mobile is in control or innovative enough to take the initiative, but everyone jealously guards what they have and everyone is too greedy. NFC standards have to be universally adopted by every stakeholder and revenue shares in NFC need to be minute.
Nokia could have led contactless payments by putting an NFC chip in every phone, but it didn’t. It’s difficult to see who else has enough clout or wherewithal to lead NFC in the West. (My hunch is that Asia – China particularly – will lead in NFC adoption, maybe followed by Africa).

So in conclusion: when NFC takes off, which it will eventually (I hope), I see mobile barcodes living comfortably along side.

Am I talking sense?

Sol S. • Users' devices are too small to handle all these different app readers for QR codes, Datamatrix, beetags, microsoft tags, etc... Imagine a reader of a magazine that has to download different reader apps for all these different barcodes in different pages of the mag... what a confusing environment! I believe in a one-global-reader app solution concept and that reader exists. Otherwise I tottaly agree with Andy.

Keith S. W. • Andy,
Your research is extensive and academically correct. However, in the course of technology the company that creates a chip, app, device that can encompass existing and add a new twist comes out ahead or even swallowing it's early competitor. I believe this technology will go the way of zip disk, CD, thumb drives to cloud storage. It is still too early to tell but the NFC type of chip that does everything from QR scan to electronic payment is the wave of the future, especially if Google decides to put it's full marketing course behind the technology.

Sol,
I have checked out the reader you suggested, very nice but what is the big value prop over a QR codes. Has any of your technology been utilized in the US media currently?

Rich W. • Excellent discussion! A couple of points to consider: 1 - technological adaptation is far ahead of human adoption. The two operate at two different speeds. The technologically "aware" can get caught up in the nearly daily changes that come from the tech labs and innovation pioneers. People change their habits much slower. 2 - as Keith observed, look at the technology changes from zip disks to CD's to thumb drives to the cloud --- now, put it on a timeline. That is over 25 years of technology.
PEOPLE will determine the life or death of a technology by the ease of use, practical application and comfort with the personalization and security.
Remind yourself that out in the "real world" most people don't even have smartphones yet. Keep an eye on technology in terms of a calendar and not a stop watch! Both QR codes and NFC haven't really arrived in the public scrutiny yet -- try not to usher either one out the back door so soon!

Keith S. W. • Great insight Rich, How soon we forget the timeline when we look into the past. The last 25 years has been a fun ride but you are right it really has been more of a leisurely stroll to get here. But "Moore" than ever, Moore's law is reducing that previous timeline of never ending improvement. Hold on

Lars N. • NFC and QR codes can be combined into smartposters. But as mentioned above there are many different use cases for NFC. I am a bit disapointed to hear that Apple won't make the next iPhone NFC compliant - so I'll stick to Android devices (smartphones and tablets) with NFC support.

Rich W. • Keith -- Hold on!!....is right! Remember Alvin Toffler's FUTURE SHOCK... When information and technology outpace man's ability to absorb and comprehend it. We may not be there yet, but the horizon isn't that far away.
On another note -- QR codes and Mobile Proximity Marketing via Bluetooth/WiFi will be fun ways for people to engage in mobile technology as the smartphone market grows over 50% by the end of this year (projected....) As you say .... HOLD ON !!!

Farrukh Y. • I hope so, I was never a fan of QR codes... But I feel it comes down to the user interface and the user experience, get it right and it will work a treat.