TecTile

TecTiles are a near field communication (NFC) application, developed by Samsung, for use with mobile smartphone devices.

Although NFC Tags can be used with many smartphones, TecTiles gained much prominence in late 2012 with the launch of the Galaxy SIII.

Samsung group Tags' functions under four headings:[6] Settings, Phone, Web and Social.

Such a Tag could be set to take the user to a manufacturer's service support page and sent out stuck to washing machines or other domestic whitegoods.

Factory-prepared Tags can also be printed with logos, or moulded into forms apart from stickers, such as key fobs or wristbands.

[5] A Tag placed on a doorway or noticeboard may be re-programmed in situ and could thus have a long life (e.g. many conferences, meetings or events).

Using a Samsung TecTile NFC tag requires a device with the MIFARE Classic chipset.

When reading a Tag, one of two things happens: This convoluted behaviour was chosen to make the App effectively self-installing for naive users.

Additionally, the lack of a non-proprietary approach to these more capable functions limits the development of NFC Tags as a general technique across all such handsets, rather than just Samsung TecTiles.