Samsung TecTiles give you something to do with your Galaxy S3’s NFC

NFC has been a much-talked-about feature of new smartphones for a while now, but while we’re waiting for NFC payment systems like PayPal’s inStore and Barclaycard PayTag to take off, we’re still looking for things to do with the technology.

Now Samsung’s come to the rescue with its new TecTiles. These NFC-equipped stickers work in tandem with an app on NFC-equipped Samsung phones including the Galaxy S3 and S2 and the Galaxy Nexus.

TecTiles can be programmed to perform different functions when you wave your phone over them – from sharing contact details to opening a website and queuing up a download.

Naturally, you can lock TecTiles to one function if you’re using them in public, and the app requires approval when you tap on them.

If all that sounds rather reminiscent of Sony’s NFC SmartTags, well… it is. But until NFC payments get off the ground, it’s one of the killer apps for NFC phones – so expect to see more manufacturers launching NFC stickers. Maybe they’ll even standardise them so you can use them with different manufactuers’ phones.

TecTiles are launching in the US alongside the Galaxy S3, priced at US$15 for a pack of five – no word yet on when they’re coming to the UK, but we’ll keep you posted.

You might also like

41MP camera coming to Lumia phones, says Nokia

New video! Apple MacBook Pro (2012) first look video

iOS 6 jailbroken already

Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home