On the Way: NFC-Enabled Jewelry

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Is NFC-enabled jewelry the next step in the control of various consumer devices? At least two recent offerings suggest so-- the NFC Ring by British designer John McLear and the Geak Ring by China's Geak.

NFC RingCurrently looking for funding/preorders on Kickstarter (where it already surpassed the £30000 pledge goal), the NFC Ring is a titanium/steel band with an embedded NFC chip allowing users to operate smartphones, open NFC-enabled door locks and securely share.

The NFC functionality is passive, meaning it does not require a battery or charging.

McLear suggests the NFC Ring will also allow users to  start "apps with custom settings, making it a really easy way to personalise the app experience to match [the] ring."

Meanwhile the Geak Ring allows users to bypass lock screens or share data with other smartphone users by waving the ring over the device in question.

Geak RingGeak does not specify the technology inside the ring, instead claiming "a unique chip, globally unique identification, powerful algorithms and proprietary circuitry."

Both NFC Ring and Geak Ring are only compatible with Android smartphones and tablets, since iOS devices currently lack NFC radios-- a situation Apple might fix with the next iPhone iteration.

Either way, the NFC Ring should start shipping on September 2013, while the Geak Ring will be available in Chinese markets from August.

Go NFC Ring

Go Geak Ring