Nokia today announced an NFC (Near Field Communication) version of its Nokia Lumia 610. Windows Phone itself does not support NFC; Nokia developed its own software for its Lumia devices. Its NFC implementation will support pairing with NFC accessories, the reading of NFC tags and NFC payments and ticketing. It has also been certified for contactless payments with MasterCard PayPass technology and Visa payWave.
“Nokia continues to lead the field in NFC with this latest implementation on the Windows Phone platform, in which we have the full support of Orange,” said Ilari Nurmi, head of product marketing for Nokia’s Smart Devices business unit. “We’re bringing NFC right across our portfolio, and together with our ever-growing range of NFC accessories we’re making it easy for people to connect via a single tap. We’re also enabling operators and other service providers to build NFC payment and ticketing solutions on top of our smartphones.”
The Nokia Lumia 610 NFC will first launch with Orange in the UK early in the third quarter of 2012. There is no word yet on whether it will make its way to North American shores. Nokia also confirmed that it will be bringing NFC to its other devices but no timelines were provided.
Read more: Nokia