NFC TimesThe premier source for news, analysis and commentary on
Near Field Communication and all contactless technology

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – NFC technology this year is likely to make its way into a greater variety of consumer products, including televisions, DVD players, digital cameras, even an automatic vacuum cleaner, if demonstrations at last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas are any indication.

While the first smartphone sporting the Windows Phone 8 operating system grabbed the headlines–the Ativ S from Samsung Electronics–a number of other NFC-enabled portable devices, from Asus, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, as well as Samsung, were unveiled at this week's IFA tradeshow in Berlin.

Sony has announced another NFC-enabled Android smartphone, the sola, as part of its Xperia series, one in which it introduces non-NFC-related “floating touch” technology.

BARCELONA – Two more chip makers, Samsung Electronics and NXP Semiconductors, are planning to introduce NFC chips that support Japan’s large infrastructure of contactless readers based on FeliCa technology.

Sony Ericsson has announced two NFC-enabled Android smartphones and NFC tags for its Xperia series, touting NFC as enabling consumers to share content, as well as “an increasing number of NFC applications.”

Intel and MasterCard Worldwide have announced plans to enable consumers to tap their NFC phones and contactless cards on notebook computers to shop on the Web.

While Japan’s dominant mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, declined to confirm a press report that it would move to standard NFC phones starting in 2013, most market observers agree the pressure on DoCoMo to adopt NFC will become too strong to resist.