Google adds more NFC features with Android 2.3.3

Google has released Android 2.3.3, an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread specifically designed to add more NFC functionality to the operating system.

“We know there’s a strong interest to include these capabilities into many applications, so we’re happy to announce an update to Android 2.3 that adds new NFC capabilities for developers,” Xavier Ducrohet from the Android SDK team posted on the Android Developers blog today:

Some of the features include:

  • A comprehensive NFC reader/writer API that lets apps read and write to almost any standard NFC tag in use today.
  • Advanced Intent dispatching that gives apps more control over how/when they are launched when an NFC tag comes into range.
  • Some limited support for peer-to-peer connection with other NFC devices.

We hope you’ll find these new capabilities useful and we’re looking forward to seeing the innovative apps that you will create using them.

“Android 2.3.3 is a small feature release that includes a new API level, 10,” Ducrohet adds. “Going forward, we expect most devices shipping with an Android 2.3 platform to run Android 2.3.3 (or later). For an overview of the API changes, see the Android 2.3.3 Version Notes. The Android 2.3.3 SDK platform for development and testing is available through the Android SDK Manager.”

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