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Getting started with Nexus S NFC/RFID. Can anyone provide any guidance?

I'm interested in creating some home brew demos using the nexus s NFC/RFID hardware. I think I need to find the appropriate tags and how to encode urls into tags that the nexus s can read by it's tags app. Not sure about iso 14443 tags or mifare etc

Does nexus s support all of libnfc?

If I root the device can I get access to write functionality?

Thanks

Noha Kareem
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Chuck Fletcher
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5 Answers5

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The Nexus S will read Mifare tags. I have replayed YouTube videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu7fQsPjDls) from a smartcard using the Nexus S. The URL was written with another device (Nokia 6212).

bulamonto
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One possibility: I've noticed that the Nexus S can read RFID tags made by touchatag, an Alcatel-Lucent venture that has been around a couple years. They have a web page (google 'touchatag store') where you can order a "starter kit" of 10 tags plus a USB reader.

The tags are hard-coded to URLs at the touchatag mothership, www.ttag.be/[tagid]

So the idea is you register a tag through their web site, scanning it on the reader and associating a desired URL with it. When someone reads the tag with their phone, it will show up as www.ttag.be/[tagid] and from there it redirects to the desired URL.

Joe Knapp
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  • I looked at touchatag, too, but I am afraid of getting locked into their service. The Nexus S supports writing tags with some tricks, too, and I find it complicated and unnecessary to have a man in the middle (e.g. the touchatag redirection) – Sven Haiges Mar 03 '11 at 20:39
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I had answered this question partially in one of the Nexus S related questions.

Also, you can refer the developer.android.com URL for a demo app. I think, this uses dummy NFC tag.

If you are interested in developing some hardware demos then you need to buy a few actual NFC tags and try out the above app on your Nexus S phone device. I found a few sites (1, 2) who sell NFC tags, kits, etc. BTW, I have not tried any of these sites.

Based on what I came across, for now Nexus S provides only read functionality for NFC tags and support for other modes is planned.

EDIT:

Android blog states following are the new features in Android 2.3.3:

  • A comprehensive NFC reader/writer API that lets apps read and write to almost any standard NFC tag in use today.
  • Advanced Intent dispatching that gives apps more control over how/when they are launched when an NFC tag comes into range.
  • Some limited support for peer-to-peer connection with other NFC devices.
Community
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TheCottonSilk
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  • when 'NFC tag' is mentioned, this means passive RFID tags are included? I'll just try some write commands eventually – CQM Oct 17 '11 at 03:59
  • I think NFC tags does not include RFID tags as per spec. However, it would be nice to see if vendors have tweaked the at the HW and SW level to differentiate their handsets to offer an extra mile! – TheCottonSilk Oct 17 '11 at 04:26
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If you have upgraded your Nexus to Android 4.0 then you might want to check out this Eclipse plugin (disclamer: shameless plug of own project). It uses Android NFC hardware and also supports a few NFC readers like the ACR122U.

ThomasRS
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I suggest you to but a reader/writer like ACR122U-A2 to read/write tag Topaz and Mifare Card. In SmartId we are a pair of solution just developed with this twin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYFwnc-apnI&feature=fvsr

Alessandro Persano
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