Nokia has unveiled the NFC version of company's recently announced Lumia 610. This Windows Phone will go on sale first via telecom operator Orange in Europe and features compatibility with both MasterCard and VISA mobile payment systems.
"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," Ilari Nurmi, marketing chief at Nokia smartphone unit, said in a press statement.
NFC, or Near Field Communication, technology enables devices to communicate with each other over radio frequencies without any physical contact (much like Bluetooth). This means, for example, you can simply swipe your NFC enabled phone to make a payment at a NFC enabled vendor, as an alternative to paying by credit card. Banks around the world have done away with detailed authorization checks for NFC transactions below certain amount, which means the entire transaction is completed much faster.
A NFC connection establishes much faster than Bluetooth (but not Bluetooth Low Energy) and also has a shorter range than Bluetooth, reducing the likelihood of unwanted pairings.
Lumia 610 NFC is the eighth smartphone and the first Windows Phone from the manufacturer that comes with NFC hardware. As Windows Phone platform lacks the native support for NFC, Nokia has added its own NFC software on top of Windows Phone along with the necessary hardware.
Nokia Lumia 610 NFC features a 3.7-inch display, 5MP camera, and 800MHz Qualcomm processor. It is expected to be available early in the third quarter of this year.