From South by Southwest (SXSW) 2011, this annotated version of the talk in the Future 15 series explains what NFC and RFID are, which companies are most heavily supporting the technologies, and how the technologies are being used today.

1. RFID & NFC:How They Will Change Mobile…FOREVER!!! David BerkowitzSenior Director of Emerging Media & Innovation360iMarketersStudio.com / blog.360i.com@dberkowitz / @360idberkowitz@360i.com http://about.me/dberkowitz Twitter:#sxswnfc Slides: bit.ly/sxswnfc

2. Some bonus reading material for you… At digital marketing agency 360i, we put out the Mobile Marketing Playbook. See mobileplaybook.360i.com, or scan the code.

3. Mobile devices have proven to be juggernauts,destroying countless technological predecessors.

4. The fashion accessory won’t die, but the functional purpose of watches is obsolete.

5. I loved this alarm clock, which would shout, “Wake up! Don’t sleep your life away! MOOOO!” Who needs separate alarm clocks now though?

6. Standalone GPS devices had a good run, didn’t they? And then Google released turn-by-turn navigation for Android.

7. I loved my Pentax K-1000 fully manual camera. It was so much fun during my high school photography class that I still have it, in an attic somewhere. The most popular device for uploading photos and video is now the iPhone.

8. I know the 3DS is supposed to be the next big thing, but really, why buy a separate system and pay $30-$40/game?

9. Whether you’re buying a new car or signing up for Zipcar, it’s now increasingly common to unlock and start your car with an app. Farewell era of losing your car keys.

10. Farewell era of losing the remote too. Soon you won’t have to juggle your remote with your phone and/or tablet.

11. Coming soon (we’re a few years away…), goodbye, wallet! Remember the Costanza wallet? It causes all sorts of problems. Kids born today will view this episode in the same way we view movies showing computers in the 1960s. I do wonder though: what would the Costanza phone look like?

12. Okay, let’s focus on a more typical wallet…

13. Along with cash, we’ve got all kinds of cards – credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards... And all of it will be rendered obsolete in the coming years by NFC. The rest of this talk will point to how and why that will happen.

14. What is RFID? The short answer: RFID uses radio waves to allow a reader or scanner to communicate with a device that has some sort of electronic tag built in or added to it. Check Wikipedia or RFIDjournal.com for more details. RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION }

15. Range of RFID The range of RFID can vary considerably. It’s often a foot or so, it could be 10-20 feet, and it can even be amplified to more than 300 feet – the length of a football field, such as when tracking animals.

16. There are some privacy concerns… Tom Toles summed up the privacy concerns around RFID. Some security issues remain, such threats are much greater when the signal broadcasts further.

17. What is NFC? NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION NFC uses RFID technology. It just operates at a much closer range, typically an inch or so, and thus requires less power and is much more secure. }

18. Survey says… “2011 is — finally — the year that near field communication begins to matter. The market will finally move away from the trial stage in regions where NFC infrastructure is in place.” Forrester Research 2011 Mobile Trends report

19. WHOHEARTSNFC?

20. Google – in a big way Google set up a pilot for local businesses in Portland, OR where they can use these window stickers with embedded NFC chips. The catch: today there are barely any phones that can read them. But this is a sign of how NFC will be used in coming years.

21. Here’s an example of the scanning in action. See more at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk5mUdeEF8c

22. Google Nexus S: the first drop of the NFC deluge The Nexus S phones include the NFC hardware and software. Remember when the first Android phone came out in T-Mobile and months later Android was everywhere? This is the case with NFC. Right now the Nexus S and Android software update 2.3.3 is the gold standard, but this will be commonplace.

23. Update: Google expanding NFC pilot “Google Inc. (GOOG) plans to start testing a mobile-payment service at stores in New York and San Francisco within four months, letting shoppers use their phones to ring up purchases, three people familiar with the project said. The company will pay to install thousands of special cash- register systems from VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY) … ViVOtech Inc., a provider of mobile-payment technology, will also play a role in the tests, which will include Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C... The Google service may combine a consumer’s financial account information, gift-card balances, store loyalty cards and coupon subscriptions on a single NFC chip on a phone.” Read more at Bloomberg

24. Google loves NFC so much, it’s ditching QR This seems premature, given the much wider consumer access to QR vs NFC. Is Google betting too much on NFC too soon? Perhaps. …Google… quietly phased out support for QR Codes from its Google Places service earlier this week. … Last December, Google started sending out window decals with NFC chips to participating businesses in Portland, Oregon. Read the full story

25. Google throws down the gauntlet with Google Wallet “George [Costanza] would go crazy over Google Wallet. It's a case within a case within a case, a veritable matryoshkadoll. Inside the case of the mobile handset is the device itself. Then inside the mobile device is the Google operating system. Within Android is Google Wallet, which ties in with Google Offers to provide targeted deals connected with the payment process. Inside Google Wallet will be a virtual array of your credit cards, loyalty cards, gift cards, mileage programs, bills, receipts, and tickets. Plus your phone already has your kids' baby pictures. “ - Ad Age – “Costanza, Has Google Got a Wallet for You”

26. Nexus S gets app love: ChargeAnywhere lets the phones accept payments via NFC “CHARGE Anywhere, a mobile payments company and gateway provider, has introduced a system that enables the Google Nexus S phone to function as an NFC-enabled mobile payments terminal. Using a mobile application downloaded to the device, merchants can accept NFC payments using just their Nexus S smartphone. An optional printer and swiper enables merchants to accept traditional credit card payments as well.” – ReadWriteWeb, March 2011

27. Nokia hearts it too There were reports that Nokia would widely support NFC, but the correction toned it down a little. Still, for global handsets, it’s a big enough deal. ACTUAL: “…Nokia [will] start to incorporate the technology into its Symbian^4 portfolio [in 2011].”

28. Isis: Carriers to the rescue Carrier support is here too. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile have teamed up to create ISIS, an alliance dedicated to furthering NFC adoption.

29. Verifone pledges NFC everywhere Verifone to include NFC in all new payment systems Posted: 05 Mar 2011 05:21 AM PST In an attempt to combat what it is referring to as “merchant resistance,” payment solutions company Verifone has taken an unprecedented step with NFC (Near Field Communications) technology. The company will begin to include NFC in all new POS (point-of-sale) systems deployed to merchants. “The retail point of sale represents a point of convergence for smartphone-initiated payments, social networking and electronic couponing, but it won’t happen if retailers are expected, on faith, to absorb the costs of making it work,” said the Verifone’s CEO, Douglas G Bergeron. “We find ourselves at the epicenter of the mobile payments revolution and the key enabler of the integration of new payment methods with the world’s existing payment infrastructure.” Mr. Bergeron does caution that the mere presence of NFC in POS systems does not make a retailer ready to accept touch-less payment, rather it takes “deep software richness at the point-of-sale to interact with the smartphone and manage a services-based model.” The move is sure to have a positive affect on the future adoption rate of NFC, and we applaud Verifone for taking this giant step. Point of sale acceptance for NFC is a huge hurdle today. It’s chicken & egg all over again. But Verifone’s not waiting for the handsets to come out and is getting ready for NFC ubiquity. Hmm, think merchants would embrace a system that makes it even easier for you to buy stuff, and speeds up the checkout line in the process?

30. Hey Apple, gimme (iPhone) 5! There are countless rumors out there about iPhone 5 support for NFC. Some expected it to be in iPad 2, but it’s not, so don’t believe all the rumors. It’s more important for phones though. We’ll find out soon enough if NFC wins over this crucial backer.

31. March 14: No NFC for Apple? “Apple will not include ‘wave and pay’ chips in the new iPhone to be released later this year, dashing industry hopes that a universal standard for the technology would be adopted in 2011. “Sources at several of the largest mobile operators in the UK revealed Apple had disclosed in meetings that it would not be including Near Field Communication (NFC) technology – which enables payment for products with a wave of your phone on a reader – in the latest version of the iPhone…” Read more at The Independent:

32. March 17: What THE??? We’ll know soon enough… Apple's forthcoming iPhone 5 may have near field communication (NFC) capabilities after all. "Just met with an entrepreneur who says the iPhone 5 *will* have NFC…according to his friend, who works at Apple," Forbes tech reporter Elizabeth Woyke just tweeted, adding, "Huh." (She has since written a post about it, too, here.) Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-5-might-have-nfc-chip-after-all-2011-3#ixzz1GyaFgRTy

33. Will Amazon get into NFC? NFC works to pay instantly at a point of sale, so it will be very interesting how and why Amazon would play here. Read the full story

34. Will Microsoft join the NFC fray? Microsoft is reportedly working on a version of its Windows Phone software that lets users buy goods by waving a handset over a reader at a checkout counter, Bloomberg Business Week reported. VentureBeat/MobileBeatMarch 30, 2011

35. HOW IS NFCUSED TODAY?

36. When looking at NFC today, it reminds me of those sticker books that were so much fun in grade school. http://www.flickr.com/photos/punkybshouse/5189941547

37. The puffy stickers with googly eyes were the best! I don’t think that’s where NFC is going though.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/punkybshouse/5189942259

38. Dairy Queen bats around Tetherball Dairy Queen ran a pilot with Tetherball to provide consumers with NFC-powered stickers that can be scanned at in-store terminals for special rewards.

39. Will we be part of Bling Nation? Bling Rewards is a Facebook app to manage rewards. The idea is that with these NFC stickers and in-store terminals, rewards can improve for consumer loyalty. It’s still in early rollout stages.

40. Slurp First Data’s GoTags at 7-Eleven First Data offers GO-Tag to partners such as 7-Eleven in select stores and markets. It’s similar to other examples here.

41. It can be a game too Touchatag, which sells NFC readers and stickers that anyone can program, demonstrated a Capture the Tag game based on Capture the Flag.

42. NFC could power future business cards(note: Touchatag can do this too) Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjUoSO__BnoVia Dan Blumberg: http://www.dblums.com/2011/03/21/smart-business-cards/

43. Mixi: All the world’s an NFC check-in Mixi, Japan’s leading social network, offers stickers that can facilitate real-world check-ins, among other actions. Now you can prove someone is really in a location, without any of the inaccuracy of GPS .

44. The future: within 5 years All phones include NFC hardware All point-of-sale terminals accept it Stickers add broader NFC support: Stores OOH ads Product packages Physical toys / games Frito pie

45. Thank you! David BerkowitzSenior Director of Emerging Media & Innovation360iMarketersStudio.com / blog.360i.com@dberkowitz / @360idberkowitz@360i.comhttp://about.me/dberkowitz

46. Further reading RFID Journal: http://www.rfidjournal.com NFC Times: http://www.nfctimes.com/ Near Field Communications World: http://www.nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com Boy Genius Report: http://www.bgr.com SlideShare: Ben Gaddis: http://www.slideshare.net/bengaddis Posterscope: http://www.slideshare.net/posterscope