NFC (Near Field Communication) is a wireless communication technology, which is becoming more and more popular today. Similar to WiFi and Bluetooth, it enables the transfer of data between two devices within a short distance, such as mobile phones and NFC tags. 

Typically, NFC is used to pass data from one device to the other. The most commonly seen example is to use a NFC enabled mobile phone to transfer information to another NFC enabled mobile phone. It can also be used to process data from a mobile phone to a payment terminal or from an NFC tag to a mobile phone.

NFC has been incorporated in many applications nowadays, enabling users to perform various activities in an easy way. All of these applications require just an NFC enabled mobile phone to get started. Current applications include contactless payments, interactive marketing and advertising, security and access control, product identification, location identification, mobile phone task launcher apps, etc. 

With its infinite potential, more applications are believed to be explored to offer ultimate convenience to users.

Typically, NFC technology works only at close distances within three to six centimeters. With this close range interaction, NFC is highly secure in the sense that tags will not 'accidently' be read or used.

 

To meet the growing demand of NFC, most of the mobile manufacturers have adopted NFC. Almost all new smart phones now have NFC built in. Apple's iPhone is the only major smart phone which do not support NFC function.

NFC tags can be in different sizes or shapes, and even as tiny as an USB stick. Commonly, a tag is a postage stamp sized sticker, while it can also be embedded into key fobs, wristbands and other accessories.

Containing no batteries, it receives power directly from just being close to the mobile phones. Yet, to enable wireless data transfer, it has an antenna attached in it. 

Generally, an NFC tag can store any types of data, such as a URL (web address) or a telephone number. Depending on the type of NFC tag used, the actual amount of data stored will vary according to the memory capacities. 

Usually, information is stored in a specific data format (NDEF - NFC data exchange format), enabling them to be reliably read by most devices and mobile phones.

NFC tags can be locked. Once data has been written, it cannot be altered. For most tags this is a one way process so once the tag is locked it cannot be unlocked. Encoding and locking are two separate actions. NFC tags can be re-encoded numerous times until they are locked.

Encoding can be defined as in a small scale or large scale. For small scale encoding, it is an easy process which can be done directly from your NFC enabled mobile phones in a few minutes after downloading the appropriate app. For larger scale encoding, we will offer a reliable and timely encoding service to meet the requirements of your project. No encoding is required to be done in advance if using the apps from us.

That's the clever thing about NFC tags. They don't require batteries. Instead, they obtain their power from just being near to a powered NFC device, like a mobile phone.

Standard NFC stickers cannot work properly when directly attached (less than around 0.5 centimeters) onto a metal surface. To overcome such problem, a special 'on-metal' NFC tag is required. The ‘On-metal’ NFC tag has a very thin layer of ferrite foil or similar material, which effectively creates a 'barrier' between the tag and the metal to allow its operations.