NFC Forum and Bluetooth SIG publish NFC developers guide

The guide is designed to show developers how they can easily pair NFC phones with devices such as headsets, pedometers, TVs — and even cars.

NFC Forum and Bluetooth SIG
PAIRING: NFC Forum and Bluetooth SIG got together to publish guide

A new guide explaining how to use NFC to set up Bluetooth pairing has been published by the NFC Forum and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the trade association responsible for the development, promotion and protection of the Bluetooth specification.

“Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing Using NFC” provides developers with examples of how to implement Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing (SSP) using NFC to take maximum advantage of both technologies when they are present in the same device.

The guide describes the interaction between Bluetooth technology and NFC during SSP and provides examples of both negotiated and static handover in use cases such as:

  • Pairing devices with little or no user interface (such as headsets and pedometers) to smartphones
  • Pairing devices with extensive user interfaces (such as cars) to smartphones
  • Pairing devices such as TVs and smartphones to share photos or to use the phone as a remote control

“With over four billion Bluetooth technology enabled devices in market today and nearly two billion coming online in 2011 alone, Bluetooth technology has massive scale, support and runway for aggressive growth, and we’re excited to help developers leverage NFC in the right scenarios,” says Bluetooth SIG executive director Michael Foley.

“The beauty of this collaboration is that the SIG, working with the NFC Forum, provides developers with even more design options for connecting Bluetooth devices. For those scenarios that make sense, and where both technologies are available, designing with Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing using NFC should further empower developers to create great consumer experiences.”

“Working with the globally recognised and embedded Bluetooth standard makes perfect sense for NFC,” explains Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. “It reaffirms our commitment to broadening the commercialisation of NFC solutions and providing new benefits to consumers.”

The guide is available to download free of charge from the NFC Forum’s website.

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions