#Bluetooth vs NFC

The rise of contact-based payments has brought more uses for NFC technology, which has been present in our smartphones for quite some time now. You may be familiar with NFC if you have tried using it to facilitate the pairing process of some Bluetooth peripherals, or if you have seen people tapping their phones to get through the stations in Japan’s subway systems. NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a technology built into modern smartphones, computers, and other consumer electronics. A range of devices can use the NFC standard and will be considered either passive or active. Active devices are able to both send and receive data, whether it's with other active NFC devices or passive ones. Smartphones are by far the most common form of active NFC devices, but other examples include public transport card readers and touch payment terminals. On the other hand, passive NFC devices include tags embedded in newer credit cards, and other small transmitters that can send information to other NFC devices without the need for a power source of their own. USES OF NFC Just like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and all manner of other wireless signals, NFC works on the principle of sending information over radio waves. Read more in our articles including "NFC Explained" and "How to: Install Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, Infrared on Your PC".