1. Application menu (browser)
2. Sharing selection
3. Write dialog
4. Succesful write
The NFC tag writing plugin for N9 sharing framework enables you to write content to NFC tags using the sharing framework. You can use it to create NFC tags with links to web pages, your contact information, and much more.
Download from Ovi store: http://store.ovi.com/content/226727
1 After installation, open an application which supports sharing of content, such as the browser. Select the content you wish to write, and select "Share" from menu or by tapping the share icon, and you will be presented with a list of alternative sharing methods.
2 The selection "Write an NFC tag" will be present in the method selection if the content you're about to share is small enough to probably fit on a tag. You should see a menu alike to the one pictured below.
3 Choose "Write an NFC tag". You will be presented with the writing dialog pictured below. Place the phone on top of an NFC tag, keeping it on the tag until the spinning process indicator has disappeared and you are shown a screen indicating whether writing the tag was succesful or not.
4 You can choose to hide the success dialog in the future. For failed writes, an error dialog is always shown.
1. Application menu (browser) |
2. Sharing selection |
3. Write dialog |
4. Succesful write |
Note: typical tags can be as small as 48 bytes, and there will be overhead related to formatting of the information as required by NFC standards. Long webpage URLs do not fit on the smallest tags, and neither do contact cards. If you wish to create tags with such information, check the tag capacity when buying them.
Note: when writing for the first time on an empty tag, the MeeGo system software may present a dialog informing you that the tag is empty while it is being written to. This does not interfere with the writing process; you can dismiss the dialog but keep the phone on the tag until writing completes.
Q: I don't see a launcher icon! (version 1.0.1)
A: The software is a plugin rather than a standalone application. You activate the plugin via the share menu of applications that can share data, such as the browser.
However I have added a launcher icon that shows an explanatory page to version 1.0.2. The explanation is for reference only and you don't need to bring it up every time when using the plugin.
Q: What applications can I use with this?
A: I am aware of the following (please contact me if you know more):
Q: What applications can't I use with this?
A: Gallery -- photos are easily a thousand times larger than the largest available tags, so you cannot write a photo or a video onto a tag.
Q: Can other devices than N9 read the tags I've written?
A: Yes, as the data written onto the tag conforms to NFC forum specifications.
Q: The plugin doesn't always show up in the share menu
A: The plugin only shows up if the data to be shared possibly fits on a tag. For instance, photos are too large. As the plugin cannot know in advance the size of the tag you're going to write, the cutoff size is set to roughly 750 bytes, based on what will fit on a Mifare 1k tag (a commonly available relatively large tag type).
Q: Where can I get NFC tags?
A: There are numerous mail order companies that can deliver small quantities of tags. I have ordered from two Finnish companies, Top Tunniste, http://toptunniste.fi/, and TagAge, http://www.tagage.net/ (I am not associated with either except as a customer). Besides those two, there are others, e.g., in the United States.
Before buying, study the characteristics of the tags (physical size, memory size, whether they can be mounted on metal, etc.) and see which tags best conform to your needs.
Q: How do I uninstall this as there's no launcher icon? (version 1.0.1)
A: Go to Settings | Applications | Manage Applications, select the tag writing plugin package and "Uninstall".
Alternatively, update to version 1.0.2 (see the first question).
NFC Forum public specifications provide a comprehensive,
although a very technical, view of different NFC Forum tag types:
http://www.nfc-forum.org/specs/spec_list/
Copyright (C) 2011 Hannu Mallat < hmallat at gmail dot com >
Last updated 14 Dec 2011