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Looks like Samsung’s newest accessory to compliment your Galaxy S3 (as well as other NFC-enabled devices) has kinda flown under the radar, popping up today on their official retail site. They’re called Samsung TecTiles and they’re programmable NFC stickers similar to what is already made available via other retailers — only these are officially branded by Samsung.
They’re being sold in packs of 5 for $15 and will allow users to program their phone to activate specific functions when placed on top of the TecTile. Place one in your car and configure your Galaxy S3 to launch the car application, turn on hands-free bluetooth and activate voice commands when placed in the dock. Stick one to your nightstand and you can set your device to mute ringer, turn on WiFi and launch the bedside clock application. Pretty nifty stuff.
Update: Looks like Samsung may have jumped the gun and has promptly yanked the TecTiles from their site. But here’s a screenshot of the page before it was pulled for those interested:
[Samsung]
Update 2:
Looks like we may have jumped the gun the first time around, with Samsung just now officially announcing the NFC tags for their NFC enabled lineup. They’ve given us the full low-down on exactly what TecTiles are about and how they work via their full press release below. You can also visit their new official TecTile site here: Samsung TecTiles
The TecTiles app can be found here: Google Play Store Link
Samsung Mobile Puts All The Pieces in Place to Bring NFC To The Masses
Inexpensive, easy to use Samsung TecTiles™ Programmable NFC Tags can be customized to launch apps, send text messages, share contact information, change phone settings and more, with an NFC-enabled Galaxy smartphone
DALLAS — June 13, 2012 — Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) is helping consumers realize the potential of NFC technology today with the creation of Samsung TecTiles™ and the TecTile™ programming application. With the largest user base of NFC-enabled devices in the United States and TecTiles available in all four major carrier stores and at major online retailers at the launch of the Galaxy S III, Samsung is ensuring NFC becomes a part of daily life.
With a simple tap of an NFC-enabled phone to a TecTile, consumers are able to automate everyday functions of a smartphone including sending a “headed/at home” text message, silencing the phone when entering a meeting, setting an alarm, and dimming the display when going to bed.
Samsung TecTiles will transform how businesses large and small engage with consumers. On premise, TecTiles enable consumers to check-in on Facebook® or foursquare®, connect to Wi-Fi® or download content. Off-premise, businesses can use TecTiles as a way to market to and engage with consumers by enabling reward programs and to download discount offers or content.
“With millions of NFC-enabled Samsung Galaxy smartphones currently in the market and the arrival of our flagship device Galaxy S® III, Samsung saw an opportunity to expand the value of NFC beyond mobile payments,” said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications America, the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. and worldwide-. “The launch of Samsung TecTiles is another example of Samsung’s ability to innovate new products and applications that improve the way we use our mobile devices for everyday tasks.”
Samsung TecTiles are easy to program with any NFC-enabled smartphone and the free application, which can be found in the Google Play™ marketplace. TecTiles can be reprogrammed as often as needed to complete any of the following functions on an NFC-enabled phone:
Settings & Applications
- Change phone settings (Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, ringer/media volume, screen brightness, etc.)
- Launch an application
- Join a Wi-Fi Network
- Show a message
Communication
- Make a call
- Send a text message
- Start a Google Talk™ conversation
- Share a contact or business card
Location & Web
- Show an address on a map
- Open a web page
- Foursquare or Facebook check-in
Social
- Automatic Facebook “Like”
- Update Facebook status
- Post a tweet or follow a contact on Twitter
- Connect on LinkedIn®
Samsung NFC-Enabled Android TM Smartphones
- Samsung Galaxy S® III on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon
- Samsung Galaxy S® II on T-Mobile
- Galaxy Nexus TM on Verizon, Sprint and GSM Unlocked
- Nexus TM S ® 4G on Sprint
- Samsung Galaxy S® Blaze ® 4G on T-Mobile
Pricing/Availability
Priced at $14.99 for a pack of five, TecTiles programmable NFC sticker tags are now available for purchase online and in-store at AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The Samsung TecTiles app is now available for download at the Google Play store.
© Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC. Samsung, Galaxy, Galaxy S, and TecTiles are all trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Android and Nexus are trademarks of Google Inc. All other company names, product names and marks are the property of their respective owners and may be trademarks or registered trademarks.
Links for more information:
link broken…they pulled it
Advertise stuff like this is what they SHOULD do, not bring it in under the radar! Otherwise the fruit company will swoop in and claim they did it first….
I would have much rather of seen this vs a marriage proposal in a video thru glass via nfc .. smh
Will Samsung release the app (to program) in the Play Store?
I can’t personally speak to the quality of these, but they are cheaper than the Samsung ones.
http://tagsfordroid.com/tags/Home.html
Also, here’s a CNet article about them.
http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57430378-285/how-to-use-nfc-tags-with-your-android-phone/
Nice.
[edit]
Apparently you get can them much cheaper elsewhere. Just have to make sure they’re 13.56MHz, and rewritable (and the 1K / 4K mifare versions).
This is neat, but AFAIK these NFC tags are not actively polled, so, for example, your phone won’t toggle OUT of car mode when you’ve left your car; it’ll only toggle out manually, or toggle when you encounter the next tag.
This would be a great compliment to an app like Tasker, though, so you can combine NFC with GPS and other rules. (e.g.: you’ve left your car, and Tasker sees that you’re near your office GPS, and you have no NFC on your work desk, so it switches to a work profile).
Depending on the range of these NFC tags that may not be much of a problem. If they ( the tag and NFC enabled device) have to make contact, then its not a big problem. You could set a secondary tag within the car to reverse the changes. I.E. one where you normally rest the phone to activate car mode then one say on the arm rest to deactivate it for when you leave your car.
If the ranges is larger than maybe a few inches that my cause more of a problem. Unless software allows you to select between multiple tags.
Just put your “normal” profile tag in your wallet. Problem solved.
Does NFC use a significant amount of battery? And is there a way to turn it off, or is it permanently “on”?
basically NO battery, the range is so small (an inch or two) that the radios use practically NO juice, you can disable NFC but you won’t notice a difference in battery at all
i was at the boston event tonight. i’m pretty sure they used these nfc tags on the passes they handed everyone. they used them to award points for playing various games, completing tasks (such as recording a video and sharing it with a presenter…who played it on a connected TV). cool use of nfc.
Awesome coo
I have NFC tags from tagsforandroid.com. They work with Sammy’s program and are cheaper. Its pretty nice to get in the car and turn off/on wifi and off/on the blue tooth. My only complaint is i wish it would do it with the screen off too.
I’ve been using NFC Task Launcher for a while and it seems that it has quite a few more features than Samsung’s app. It can link to Tasker tasks as well. Its not free though.
NFC Task Launcher does the same thing, but can also launch Tasker tasks, giving you much more power. Still, good to see more NFC support from big companies.
Damn, the case for an upgrade to the SIII is getting close to a no brainer. This is way more useful than paying bills!
This would be a great way for Google, Businesses, etc to allow check ins. For our shop, if a customer were allowed to use this, we could have them check in to our businesses with integrated facebook wall posts. in return we can send them coupons or offers directly to there phone or facebook.