Touchatag, the NFC tag application platform developed by Alcatel-Lucent, is now available as a downloadable app for Android NFC phones from Android Market.

The service, first introduced in 2008, was developed from the start with the aim of being compatible with NFC phones once they became widely available. Until now, however, users have needed to employ dedicated readers in order to make use of the service.

Touchatag is designed to enable users to link NFC tags to particular actions. The platform enables users to configure particular tags to particular actions. When a tag is scanned, the tag info is sent to the Touchatag server and, if an action is associated with that tag, the client app then automatically executes it. Example actions include:

• Opening a URL in the browser
• Opening the mail app using the ‘mailto:’ scheme
• Opening the maps app at certain coordinates with the ‘geo:’ scheme
• Opening the dialer app with a certain number using the ‘tel:’ scheme

A video produced by Touchatag shows some of the ways in which the service can be used with a Google Nexus S NFC phone:

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/EhgYhKw3rk0?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0

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