Google’s NFC projects overshadowed by its other endeavors in technology
The Google I/O developers conference may be over, but the technologies unveiled during the event are still causing quite a buzz. The even brought together some of the world’s leading software and technology developers and introduced them to new projects that Google had been working on. Amidst an ambitious and stunt-prone demonstration of Google’s augmented reality projects and news of the next generation of Android operating systems, dubbed Jelly Bean, the company’s other endeavors received relatively little attention. One of the company’s most overlooked projects during the event concerns the use of NFC technology.
More than 400 million NFC-enabled Android devices currently active
During its developers conference, Google announced that it has begun shipping 1 million NFC-enabled Android mobile devices per day. The company notes that it has already shipped more than 400 million, all of which were currently active. According to Google, NFC technology is built in to approximately 15% of all new Android devices. This is expected to have serious implications for the Android Beam, an NFC-based application that will be available for the Jelly Bean operating system.
Android Beam to make use of NFC technology
Android Beam will enable Android users to share a wide assortment of information with one another without having to connect their mobile devices together. The application uses NFC technology to accomplish this task. Sharing information in this way is akin to data transfer via a Bluetooth connection. Google believes that the Android Beam will be a welcome addition to its services and will win approval from consumers due to its convenient features.
Google continues to throw support behind NFC technology
NFC technology is beginning to be widely used in the fields of commerce and marketing. The progress and adoption of the technology has been somewhat sluggish, however, due to the low availability of NFC-enabled mobile devices. Google seems to be addressing this issue aggressively. The company has already invested heavily into the technology with its Google Wallet initiative and aims to make NFC technology common amongst consumers.
