The potential of NFC and the obstacles that stand in its way

NFC stands for Near Field Communication and it allows short-range wireless communications. There are a lot of potential applications for NFC which we’ll delve into in a minute, but they all revolve around close proximity data exchange between devices, or between an unpowered NFC chip (usually called a tag) and a smartphone. If you’re interested in the technical details then read our guide on how NFC works.

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Barnes & Noble launches its Nook lineup in the UK, Nook HD and HD+ coming only in November

Calling all book aficionados – the digital kind – in the UK! Barnes & Noble is bringing its Nook Simple Touch Glowlight to fervent readers in the country alongside the Nook HD and Nook HD+ Android tablets.
The Nook Simple Touch Glowlight has been released for a couple of months in the States. Only getting the device now is not always a bad thing, as it’s recently received a price cut back home. The e-reader can be had for £109 on B&N’s website, as well as from high street retailers across the UK.

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Samsung GT-N5100 leaks, could be 7-inch Galaxy Note tablet

It’s awfully difficult to get excited by any Android tablet other than the almost confirmed Google-Samsung Nexus 10, but how about a new 7-incher to take on the Nexus 7, Kindle Fire(s) and iPad mini?
And no, this won’t be just another 7-inch tab, but a scaled down version of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1. Now I know that the 10-inch GNote has only been received with mild enthusiasm, but we know Sammy is capable of getting there. What do you mean where? Where it has taken its smartphones and “phablets”, of course.

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Samsung Galaxy S4 specs and features to include 5-inch display, Exynos 5450 processor?

This isn’t the first time we see the Samsung Galaxy S4 pop up in various leaks, but today’s report seems to shed some light on some of the future flagship smartphone’s specs and features.
According to DDaily, the Galaxy S4 will sport a new processor, a 28-nm ARM Cortex-A15 CPU that will hit mass production by the end of the year, if our Google translation is right. In case that sounds somewhat familiar, that’s because we have recently talked about an unknown device, presumably the Galaxy S4, being spotted in tests with a Cortex-A15 CPU in tow.

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Amazon attacks Apple again, says $199 Fire HD sales were boosted by iPad mini unveiling

As usual when Apple unveils a new and “upgraded” product, we had our fun with the iPad mini, the “thinner, lighter and cheaper” variant of the iPad that looked disappointing even for most faithful fanboys.
Ultimately, we have to admit though that the 7.9-incher is a gadget that will sell in big numbers, having aces up its sleeve to put it in front of the competition. Or does it? Well, we don’t want to appear too subjective, but we already told you why we think Apple’s new tablet is not a threat for budget-friendly Android slates, and now we have some proof to back that up.

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‘Banned iPad mini Promo’ hits revealing the iOS 6 tablet is ‘the future until May, at least’

What better way to start your stormy Monday than by enjoying some tech news. So what if it isn’t Google’s media event that was supposed to unveil a variety of Nexus devices including the Nexus 4, Nexus 10 and new Nexus 7 flavors, all running Android 4.2? You can always learn more about how the iPad mini was made.

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Galaxy S3 had four of its five best-selling weeks in the U.S. after the iPhone 5 was unveiled

Samsung has been doing very well in the smartphone market of late. The company posted record breaking profits in Q3 2012 and has a clear lead in global smartphone shipments. On Friday the South Korean manufacturer revealed that four out of five of the Samsung Galaxy S3’s best-selling weeks in the U.S. came after Apple unveiled the iPhone 5.

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Nexus 3 by Samsung photos hit Picasa, color us confused

You know how we keep showing you pictures uploaded to Picasa whose EXIF information reveals details about the device used to capture them? Well, hang on to your seats, folks, as we’ve just seen a Nexus 3 in there, and it’s apparently made by Samsung.

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Isis support comes to Verizon’s Droid Razr HD and Droid Razr Maxx HD

The Isis mobile payment system, Google Wallet’s competitor, was finally launched on October 22 after numerous delays. We’re not surprised if you haven’t heard much about its impact, since the new system is currently only available in two cities for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless subscribers.

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Google Crisis Map on Hurricane Sandy offers insight on world’s first Android-hating storm

As Android fans may already know, Google’s Nexus-related media event was scheduled to take place today in New York, but the Search giant had to cancel it a couple a days ago, because of a certain hurricane. Sandy is thus the world’s first Android-hating storm, if you were to believe all the jokes we’ve seen since Google announced the cancellation.

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