Nokia gets smart with RFID kit

Nokia has begun selling a product that turns one of its mobile phone models into a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader.

The Nokia Mobile RFID Kit is aimed at enterprises in the security, services, utilities and health care sectors whose employees often work 'in the field'. Each unit consists of two shells that each fit to a Nokia 5140 - a ruggedised handset designed for outdoor use - giving it RFID-reading functionality.

Once the shell has been fitted, the 5140 can interact with objects that contain an RFID tag, for example a meter or billboard, just by being tapped against them.

Nokia's product is based on Near Field Communication (NFC), a version of RFID that can act as an authentication mechanism. NFC can be used to send information between the handset and the tagged object that could initiate a connection using another wireless technology, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Nokia says that the Mobile RFID Kit will let a workers send information back to their office by tapping their phone against an NFC-enabled object. This could be a customer's electricity meter, which would yield location data that the phone would relay back over GPRS or SMS.

A company could then choose to send information back to the phone. For example, a utility firm could send detailed instructions about a particular task once an employee is on site.

Nokia first unveiled the product at the CeBIT trade show in March 2004, when Nokia said it would launch commercially last summer.

Gerhard Romen, head of market developments at Nokia Ventures, denied that the product had been hit by delays, and said Nokia had held back from commercial launch until now while it absorbed customer feedback and waited until the market was ready.

Along with the likes of Philips, Nokia is making significant strides in NFC. Late last year it launched an NFC shell for its 3220 handset, which is aimed at the consumer market.

Romen declined to speculate on which other Nokia phones might get NFC-capability in the future, but said that Nokia was fully committed to the wireless technology as it offered many advantages to consumers.

"NFC requires very simple behaviour from users, as people like to touch things," said Romen, adding that usability is increasingly important as phones become more complicated.

"Everyone today knows where to put the ignition key in a car, even though cars are very complicated… that's the level we're driving for" Romen added.

Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK.