NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a short-range wireless technology that allows data exchange when devices are touched or brought within close proximity. It was established in 2004 by Nokia, Philips, and Sony. The first NFC phone was the Nokia 6131, launched in 2006. NFC works using magnetic field induction to enable communication between devices within 10cm of each other, with a maximum transfer rate of 424kbps. It has applications in areas such as contactless payment, identification, and social networking.