nfc

NearSpeak is an interesting Near Field Communication (NFC) app for your Windows Phone 8 device that lets you record voice messages and store them on NFC tags.

There are a couple of neat aspects to NearSpeak. First, NFC tags typically lack the storage space to hold audio files. To record your voice, NearSpeak uses speech recognition to convert your spoken word into text. When played back, the text on the NFC tag is converted back to audio through NearSpeak's speech files.

We’re still trying to get to bed here in Barcelona, but that hasn’t stopped Nokia from releasing new apps to their Collection.

The latest is NFC Writer, which is exactly what it sounds like: a clever app to write to blank NFC tags specific functions or tasks. We’ve seen similar apps before, like the excellent NFC Launchit, but for some Nokia users they may prefer the more streamlined design of NFC Writer.

For those in the media with Windows Phones or the few of you industry folks who are headed to the massive Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of the month, you’ll want to grab the new official Windows Phone 8 NFC Badge App.

The GSMA Press Office just sent out an email for Android and Windows Phone users on how to get the app and enable the pass features. Starting last year, physical badges for MWC had an NFC chip in them and this  year they’re going a step further by using NFC-enabled apps. The pass is necessary to get in to the tightly secured event which attracts nearly 60,000 attendees over a few days.

Nokia’s Monster Purity Pro ‘over the ear’ headphones have been a hot item as of late. Not for sales but for questions in regards to availability. The headset was announced way back in September and since then, we’ve seen many Nokia releases come and go just not that one.

Now at least Amazon.com is listing the super pricey wireless devices for a whopping $350. You can of course order them today but until Amazon gets that stock filled, you won’t receive them.

Near Field Communications or NFC is relatively new to our Windows Phones with the technology having enormous potential. With NFC Launchit, you can program NFC tags with a variety of actions to make life a little easier. All from your Windows Phone.

You'll need a supply of unprogrammed NFC tags and with NFC Launchit you can program two types of actions based on System Apps and Popular Apps. If you only use your Bluetooth when in your car, program a NFC Tag to launch your Bluetooth and stick it to your car visor.

The JBL Nokia PowerUp speaker, much like the Lumia 920, is hard to find these days with supplies running low from many retailers. In fact, cyan and white versions of the pricey accessory are quite rare with black being a lot easier to purchase.

Ours just showed up today so we figured we would give you a quick unboxing and our initial thoughts on the experience. The JBL Nokia PowerUP packs two 10W  2.5” full range drivers, Qi wireless charging, NFC for instant pairing and of course Bluetooth 2.1 streaming all for $250-299, depending on where you go.

Yesterday, we mentioned that several readers were having terrible battery life with their Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone. Some batteries barely lasted half a day while others steamed on with fantastic battery life.

We had a few suggestions to disable the NFC to improve battery performance. Yesterday, with NFC enabled, my Lumia 920's battery only lasted six hours before drying up.  The 920 also got warm throughout the morning. Today, after disabling the NFC the Lumia had 62% battery life remaining after ten hours and I didn't experience any warm spells.

Windows Phone 8 introduces NFC (near-field communication) support to the platform, allowing small packets of data to be shared by holding two supporting WP8 devices back to back. The new NFC-based "tap + send" feature enables Windows Phone 8 devices to share web URLs, contact data and more with another phone in close proximity.

But because it's a multi-platform standard, many of these features work just fine between Windows Phone 8 and NFC-enabled Android phones, as you'll see in our demo video below.

We tried bouncing web pages and contacts back and forth between a Samsung Galaxy Nexus and an HTC 8X, and were able to do so without a hint of trouble. Unfortunately, NFC file transfers remain off-limits for the time being, so if you want to share photos over NFC, it's strictly Windows-to-Windows or Android-to-Android.

Check out our quick video demo below to learn more.

Pinnable CC's and new notifications

Many of the new features of Windows Phone 8 are already known due to the leaked SDK over the summer but exactly how some of it will look is still a bit unclear.

Take for example the NFC Wallet app. It’s a safe assumption that it will allow many different options—storage of coupons, deal cards, frequent flier pass and of course your credit cards. It’s also not too wild of a guess that Microsoft will allow you to pin those to your Start screen for quick and easy access.