NFC Tagled and Enable Table now available for Androids. Videos.

WorldWideTech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

NFC World says that the first Android apps including NFC features have started to appear on Android Market, weeks after Google announced the launch of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), which adds support for the technology.

 The report noted two apps: EnableTable, which allows restaurants to issue discount vouchers to customers when they pay their bills, and Taglet, a Japanese app which provides contactless information sharing and supports several NFC-based systems that are already in use, including FeliCa and Mifare.

 Taglet also works around previously-reported limitations in the NFC functionality of the Android implementation, by associating tags with online data and enabling the app to initiate a standard data session.

Software development kits with NFC support are also starting to appear, NFC World notes.

The issue remains that devices that include NFC functionality are currently thin-on-the-ground, with the only Android device shipping that supports the technology being the Samsung-manufactured Nexus S.

However, NFC is certainly something of an industry hot-topic, with vendors including Apple, Nokia and RIM all believed to be set to embrace the technology – although none of these companies are active Android licensees.

 Google is also believed to be planning to throw its weight behind the technology  to power contactless m-commerce services, having acquired mobile wallet technology company Zetawire to bolster its efforts to this end.

Videos:

Taglet [J] is a new Android app/service utilizing the latest Android 2.3(Gingerbread)'s new feature -- NFC.
With the app, you may register any other NFC devices with the service. You may add information like URL, short message, phone number, e-mail address, etc. on each NFC.

Then, when you hold your Android over the device, Taglet will automatically start and show you the registered information. Then you can invoke other apps to use the information.

Enable Table NFC is a Near Field Communication based mobile services app for restaurants. At the end of a meal in a participating restaurant, Enable Table NFC allows the NFC Reader of the Nexus S to touch the NFC Tag within the Enable Table NFC Check Billfold and receive Welcome Back Coupons directly to the Nexus S. The coupons self organize until they are redeemed or expire. No scavenger hunts, elaborate rules, or games are required of busy people who enjoy dining and saving.