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1.) DParker - 06/20/2014
Here's yet another reason that Android is slowly but surely kicking iOS's butt in a market that Apple created: NFC support.
"NFC" is an acronym for "Near Field Communication" which is, as the name implies, a technology standard for close range (~4 cm or less) electronic communications. It's the standard used by things like the plastic security badges that you hold up to a flat plate mounted on the wall in order to get into your office and other similar items. The card has a tiny chip and antenna embedded in it with no power supply, and when it's held in proximity to a powered NFC transmitter/receiver the latter emits a magnetic field that powers the chip in the card and allows the two to communicate via low-power radio frequency waves. The chip/antenna combo is an extremely thin disk about the diameter of a half-dollar...
...making it easily to embed in all manner of very small packing options (like the aforementioned security badges). Most non-Apple smart phone (as much as I hate that term for it fostering an inaccurate mindset) hardware vendors and Google's Android operating system have been supporting NFC for a while now, which is why phones like the Samsung S4 (and S5) can do nifty things like exchange photos and other data with each other simply by touching two phones together (actually, you just need to get them really close).
So why am I babbling about this? Because the unpowered chip/antenna hardware has become a dirt cheap hardware item that is has been packaged for consumer use by several companies. They're called "NFC Tags" and are generally contained in a cutesy little disk that can either be backed with adhesive for mounting on the surface of your choice, as a key fob or what have you. Using my Amazon Prime account I ordered a package of tags that include 11 adhesive-backed disk and one plastic-encased key fob all for $14.99.
Will I ever use 12 of them? Maybe not. But at $1.25 / tag, what the hell. Like I said, dirt cheap technology. Anywho...so...what good are these little gizmos? Well, each of them contains a tiny amount of non-volatile memory (the amount varies by manufacturer from 46 up to 716 usable bytes...the ones I bought have 450 bytes, which is plenty, believe it or not) that you can program (using any one of a number of free apps you can download) with a set of instructions and/or data that is automatically read by your NFC-capable device (phone, tablet, etc) when you hold it within about 4 cm of the tag containing the instructions/data. The device will then react by doing whatever the instructions/data indicate it should do. For instance, you could program a tag with wireless router and password data and affix it a wall or whatever so that you could allow people to use your wi-fi without you having to tell them the password, or them having to enter it. They just hold their phone up to the tag and, presto...they're connected to your wi-fi. Or you can get even more elaborate. For instance, when I get in the car each morning I perform the following steps on my Galaxy S4:
[LIST=1]
[*]Disable Wi-Fi.
[*]Enable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Bluetooth (which automatically pairs with my car stereo for music playback from my phone).
[*]Launch the Music app.
[*]Launch AutoGuard (my dash-cam app).
[/LIST]
Now, I could use a variety of scripting apps to program all of these actions into a script that I could launch with the press of a button...but I'm too lazy even for that. Instead, I've programmed that sequence of instructions into the key fob that came with my package of NFC tags, and when I get in the car I just touch the fob to the back of my phone and the phone instantly begins carrying out each of the steps in order, and by the time I have my phone locked into the dashboard mount...
...the dash-cam app is already taking video of my commute (which is just the driveway at that point). You know, just in case Big Foot or something crosses the road in front of me on my way to work. Cool stuff. And, as it turns out, you can also program a second sequence of instructions/data into the tag and the tag will toggle between them each time you hold your device up to it. This is handy because, in the case that I outlined above, I need to undo all of that stuff when I get where I'm going and get out of the car. So I create the following sequence as a second task...
[LIST=1]
[*]Shutdown the AutoGuard app.
[*]Shutdown the Music app.
[*]Disable Bluetooth.
[*]Disable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Wi-Fi.
[/LIST]
...and reprogram the tag with both tasks. Now when I get to work I just pop the phone out of the dash mount, hold it up to my key fob and the phone executes the 2nd task, putting it back into not-in-the-car mode. Pretty slick.
Now I just need to come up with a use for all the other tags. Maybe stick one on my bow riser with instructions to turn the phone's sound off and put it in power-saving mode. Stuff like that.
"NFC" is an acronym for "Near Field Communication" which is, as the name implies, a technology standard for close range (~4 cm or less) electronic communications. It's the standard used by things like the plastic security badges that you hold up to a flat plate mounted on the wall in order to get into your office and other similar items. The card has a tiny chip and antenna embedded in it with no power supply, and when it's held in proximity to a powered NFC transmitter/receiver the latter emits a magnetic field that powers the chip in the card and allows the two to communicate via low-power radio frequency waves. The chip/antenna combo is an extremely thin disk about the diameter of a half-dollar...
...making it easily to embed in all manner of very small packing options (like the aforementioned security badges). Most non-Apple smart phone (as much as I hate that term for it fostering an inaccurate mindset) hardware vendors and Google's Android operating system have been supporting NFC for a while now, which is why phones like the Samsung S4 (and S5) can do nifty things like exchange photos and other data with each other simply by touching two phones together (actually, you just need to get them really close).
So why am I babbling about this? Because the unpowered chip/antenna hardware has become a dirt cheap hardware item that is has been packaged for consumer use by several companies. They're called "NFC Tags" and are generally contained in a cutesy little disk that can either be backed with adhesive for mounting on the surface of your choice, as a key fob or what have you. Using my Amazon Prime account I ordered a package of tags that include 11 adhesive-backed disk and one plastic-encased key fob all for $14.99.
Will I ever use 12 of them? Maybe not. But at $1.25 / tag, what the hell. Like I said, dirt cheap technology. Anywho...so...what good are these little gizmos? Well, each of them contains a tiny amount of non-volatile memory (the amount varies by manufacturer from 46 up to 716 usable bytes...the ones I bought have 450 bytes, which is plenty, believe it or not) that you can program (using any one of a number of free apps you can download) with a set of instructions and/or data that is automatically read by your NFC-capable device (phone, tablet, etc) when you hold it within about 4 cm of the tag containing the instructions/data. The device will then react by doing whatever the instructions/data indicate it should do. For instance, you could program a tag with wireless router and password data and affix it a wall or whatever so that you could allow people to use your wi-fi without you having to tell them the password, or them having to enter it. They just hold their phone up to the tag and, presto...they're connected to your wi-fi. Or you can get even more elaborate. For instance, when I get in the car each morning I perform the following steps on my Galaxy S4:
[LIST=1]
[*]Disable Wi-Fi.
[*]Enable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Bluetooth (which automatically pairs with my car stereo for music playback from my phone).
[*]Launch the Music app.
[*]Launch AutoGuard (my dash-cam app).
[/LIST]
Now, I could use a variety of scripting apps to program all of these actions into a script that I could launch with the press of a button...but I'm too lazy even for that. Instead, I've programmed that sequence of instructions into the key fob that came with my package of NFC tags, and when I get in the car I just touch the fob to the back of my phone and the phone instantly begins carrying out each of the steps in order, and by the time I have my phone locked into the dashboard mount...
...the dash-cam app is already taking video of my commute (which is just the driveway at that point). You know, just in case Big Foot or something crosses the road in front of me on my way to work. Cool stuff. And, as it turns out, you can also program a second sequence of instructions/data into the tag and the tag will toggle between them each time you hold your device up to it. This is handy because, in the case that I outlined above, I need to undo all of that stuff when I get where I'm going and get out of the car. So I create the following sequence as a second task...
[LIST=1]
[*]Shutdown the AutoGuard app.
[*]Shutdown the Music app.
[*]Disable Bluetooth.
[*]Disable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Wi-Fi.
[/LIST]
...and reprogram the tag with both tasks. Now when I get to work I just pop the phone out of the dash mount, hold it up to my key fob and the phone executes the 2nd task, putting it back into not-in-the-car mode. Pretty slick.
Now I just need to come up with a use for all the other tags. Maybe stick one on my bow riser with instructions to turn the phone's sound off and put it in power-saving mode. Stuff like that.
2.) Swamp Fox - 06/20/2014
You lost me at "Android"...
3.) Swamp Fox - 06/20/2014
[QUOTE=DParker;21111]Here's yet another reason that Android is slowly but surely kicking iOS's butt in a market that Apple created: NFC support...
[/QUOTE]
You lost me at "Android"...
[/QUOTE]
You lost me at "Android"...
4.) DParker - 06/20/2014
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;21113]You lost me at "Android"...[/QUOTE]
You were warned.
You were warned.
5.) Swamp Fox - 06/20/2014
It's not often that I have a seizure just six words into a thread...
6.) Floyd - 06/21/2014
Poor Swampy
7.) Swamp Fox - 06/21/2014
[QUOTE=DParker;21111]... For instance, when I get in the car each morning I perform the following steps on my Galaxy S4:
[LIST=1]
[*]Disable Wi-Fi.
[*]Enable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Bluetooth (which automatically pairs with my car stereo for music playback from my phone).
[*]Launch the Music app.
[*]Launch AutoGuard (my dash-cam app).
[/LIST]
... I need to undo all of that stuff when I get where I'm going and get out of the car. So I create the following sequence as a second task...
[LIST=1]
[*]Shutdown the AutoGuard app.
[*]Shutdown the Music app.
[*]Disable Bluetooth.
[*]Disable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Wi-Fi.
[/LIST]
[/QUOTE]
Here's what I do when I get in the vehicle each morning:
Wonder if I have my phone. Clip it to the sun visor if I can find it. Otherwise, go back into the house and look near the desk.
Place coffee mug between my legs, hopefully with top securely on.
Place key in ignition.
Hope that there are no cats hiding in the engine compartment.
Turn ignition and pull out slowly.
When I get where I am going, I don't need to create any sequences, because I just get out of the vehicle and lock it. Sometimes I have to go back and unlock it, though, because I left the phone up in the visor.
[LIST=1]
[*]Disable Wi-Fi.
[*]Enable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Bluetooth (which automatically pairs with my car stereo for music playback from my phone).
[*]Launch the Music app.
[*]Launch AutoGuard (my dash-cam app).
[/LIST]
... I need to undo all of that stuff when I get where I'm going and get out of the car. So I create the following sequence as a second task...
[LIST=1]
[*]Shutdown the AutoGuard app.
[*]Shutdown the Music app.
[*]Disable Bluetooth.
[*]Disable 4G Data Connection.
[*]Enable Wi-Fi.
[/LIST]
[/QUOTE]
Here's what I do when I get in the vehicle each morning:
Wonder if I have my phone. Clip it to the sun visor if I can find it. Otherwise, go back into the house and look near the desk.
Place coffee mug between my legs, hopefully with top securely on.
Place key in ignition.
Hope that there are no cats hiding in the engine compartment.
Turn ignition and pull out slowly.
When I get where I am going, I don't need to create any sequences, because I just get out of the vehicle and lock it. Sometimes I have to go back and unlock it, though, because I left the phone up in the visor.
8.) Hunter - 06/21/2014
[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;21117]Here's what I do when I get in the vehicle each morning:
Wonder if I have my phone. Clip it to the sun visor if I can find it. Otherwise, go back into the house and look near the desk.
Place coffee mug between my legs, hopefully with top securely on.
Place key in ignition.
Hope that there are no cats hiding in the engine compartment.
Turn ignition and pull out slowly.
When I get where I am going, I don't need to create any sequences, because I just get out of the vehicle and lock it. Sometimes I have to go back and unlock it, though, because I left the phone up in the visor.[/QUOTE]
Made me laugh!
Wonder if I have my phone. Clip it to the sun visor if I can find it. Otherwise, go back into the house and look near the desk.
Place coffee mug between my legs, hopefully with top securely on.
Place key in ignition.
Hope that there are no cats hiding in the engine compartment.
Turn ignition and pull out slowly.
When I get where I am going, I don't need to create any sequences, because I just get out of the vehicle and lock it. Sometimes I have to go back and unlock it, though, because I left the phone up in the visor.[/QUOTE]
Made me laugh!
9.) Swamp Fox - 06/21/2014
I'll be here all weekend...
:-)
:-)
10.) Deerminator - 06/21/2014
if DP finds the vibrator mode I fear we'll never hear from him again.
11.) NEBigAl - 06/21/2014
Thats awesome! What phone do you have and what do you use to program?
12.) Swamp Fox - 06/21/2014
[QUOTE=Deerminator;21121]if DP finds the vibrator mode I fear we'll never hear from him again.[/QUOTE]
LOL...
LOL...
13.) Deerminator - 06/21/2014
:wink
14.) DParker - 06/21/2014
[QUOTE=NEBigAl;21123]Thats awesome! What phone do you have and what do you use to program?[/QUOTE]
Galaxy S4. Right now I'm playing around with automation using Tasker, and triggering ones like the driving-mode sequences I described via the NFC tags. I have it doing some pretty cool stuff, like voice prompting me to ask whether or not I want to launch the dash cam app, doing so if I say "yes" and skipping it if I say "no". Next I'm going to use GPS input to automatically shut all that down when I pull into the parking garage at my office. Fun stuff.
Galaxy S4. Right now I'm playing around with automation using Tasker, and triggering ones like the driving-mode sequences I described via the NFC tags. I have it doing some pretty cool stuff, like voice prompting me to ask whether or not I want to launch the dash cam app, doing so if I say "yes" and skipping it if I say "no". Next I'm going to use GPS input to automatically shut all that down when I pull into the parking garage at my office. Fun stuff.