Is NFC no longer wearable?
Last week saw the Google I/O event showcase the latest that Google has to offer the Android community. Lots of new bits and pieces and many of them based around showing what you can do in an everyday scenario using just a mobile running Android OS.
The Google Wallet has not gone out of fashion, I am pleased to see. Not that I would be so cynical to think that Google would lose interest in a product just because it hasn’t gone gangbusters by now. Perish the thought! No, instead, Google has brought out new features for payment and e-commerce providers, including a ‘save-to-wallet’ feature on their app to enable customers to store offers in their Google Wallet account. The inclusion of geofencing means that customers will be prompted to one of their digital cards when in specific stores and a split tender option lets users pay for part of a purchase with their Google Wallet balance and the rest by credit or debit card. “‘Save card to Google’ allows you to store loyalty cards, but not only loyalty cards, also coupons and discounts and bonuses,” explained Magnus Hyttsten, a Developer Advocate at Google, “If we tie that together with context and location, for example, if I’m walking into a store, then that store can offer me things based on what my loyalty program is, my status is and, also, it can utilise the coupons that I’ve collected.”
However, the really interesting elements were based on the smartwatch-type objects, called ‘Wearables’. Similar to the ‘Expendables’, but the average age is 20-something rather than 70-something. Now known as ‘Android Wear’, the apps can leverage the computing power and connectivity of the user’s Android phone so that, for example, a Google search request made to a smartwatch will actually be performed by the user’s phone. The results are then returned to the smartwatch. Voice input is also now supported, enabling users to say “OK Google” and then speak their instruction. PayPal also has revealed that it has an Android Wear app in beta testing that allows device owners to check in to pay at local stores, redeem offers and receive payment notifications while on the go. PayPal did not explain how this would work, but the company already has a Bluetooth-based payment system called Beacon, which could communicate with either the user's smartwatch or the phone that the watch is paired with.
I shall reserve judgement on this but you can imagine how insufferable it will be if everyone walks around saying “OK Google” all the time. You can watch the Google keynote on YouTube here.
The really interesting thing concerning ‘Wearables’ was pointed out by Daniel Wolfe, Editor-in-Chief of PaymentsSource, who said in his article, ‘Has NFC become unfashionable with Wearables?’, “Here's my ideal mobile payments scenario: I go up to the counter with an NFC smartwatch or an NFC Ring, wave my hand or wrist Jedi-style over the contactless card reader, and the payment goes through. Maybe a digital receipt will show up on my phone's screen, but I'd never have to take the phone out of my pocket. Sadly, this process is looking more like science fiction than science fact, now that the specs for Google's inaugural line of Android Wear smartwatches are out – and NFC is conspicuously absent from the features of the LG G watch and the Samsung Gear Live watch. The devices rely on Bluetooth, which can certainly be used for mobile payments, but the absence of NFC is surprising. If these devices have NFC, neither manufacturer considered it important enough to merit a mention.”
Having said that though, it's certainly possible that future generations of Android smartwatches will have NFC technology; Google indicated that many more smartwatches are already being developed on the Android Wear platform and adding NFC capabilities to these products is not as hard as it used to be so perhaps it better to wait and see if consumers are really going to buy and wear these ‘wearable smart watches’.
Google also pointed out that the new BLE Peripheral Mode support in Android L, version 5.0 of the operating system, means that “Android devices can now function in Bluetooth Low Energy peripheral mode and apps can use this capability to broadcast their presence to nearby devices — for example, you can now build apps that let a device function as a pedometer or health monitor and transmit data to another BLE device.” Currently, Android devices can only consume Bluetooth LE data but the addition of peripheral mode support means they will be able to ‘advertise’ too, opening the way for these devices to act as Bluetooth beacons.
Which may or may not come in useful if you want to check-in to a hotel and be greeted like a long lost friend. In a piece titled, ‘A place where everyone knows your name’, we cover a company called Mahana who are extolling the virtues of Beacons for just such an occasion. Mahana utilises Apple iBeacon technology to enable travel and hospitality companies to enhance their consumer mobile applications, manage their beacon network and make guest information immediately and easily available to the staff. As a hotel or casino manager, imagine being able to notify the staff when your best guests arrive. The guest’s photo, name, notes and preferences are displayed based on their proximity. Using Mahana technology, those details can be shared on the bellhop’s smartwatch, concierge’s tablet, and front desk computers before the guest even walks in the door. You can watch the video on their site here.
While the theory sounds great, I can’t help that the more cynical amongst us (cough, cough) would see this as a pretty slippery way to bond and get better tips from the hotel clients. It would be pretty funny seeing couples trying to do an anonymous check-in though! What do you think - do you want everyone to know your name?
Until next week.
Steve Atkins
Contactless Intelligence
