Samsung announces TecTiles to bring NFC to the masses

While Samsung’s Galaxy S III is getting ready to hit the US in full stride on multiple carriers this month, they’ve also just announced their brand new TecTiles. What are TecTiles you ask? These are programmable NFC tags that will simplify your life using the built-in NFC chip to complete tasks with the swipe of your phone. Call your wife when you get in the car to head home from work, activate apps like navigation, change settings and more all with ease. Check out more on these programmable NFC TecTiles below.

Above was just a few ways users can enjoy NFC capabilities. Program a “Work” TecTile and simply tap your Galaxy S III (or NFC capable Sammy device) to the tile when you get to work and it will instantly set all your settings to work/silent/vibrate mode, maybe turn on WiFi, and even open your calender. The options, ideas, and tasks are limitless. Put a TecTile by your doorway so when you get home you can simply tap it to turn on and connect to your home WiFi. Neat right? We’ve seen these before with others but were given an opportunity to enjoy a few of these tricks on the new Galaxy S III and it worked flawlessly.

These appear to only be compatible with Samsung devices like the SGS III, the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S Blaze 4G, and the Nexus S for their NFC capabilities. Samsung has even launched a TecTile App in the Play Store for easy programming and other functions. Here’s a list of the many different ways to enjoy Samsung TecTiles.

Settings & Applications
• Change phone settings (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ringer/media volume, screen brightness, etc.)
• Launch an application
• Join a WiFi Network
• Show a message

Communication
• Make a call
• Send a text message
• Start a Google Talk conversation
• Share a contact or business card

Location & Web
• Show an address on a map
• Open a web page
• Foursquare or Facebook check-in

Social
• Automatic Facebook “Like”
• Update Facebook status
• Post a tweet or follow a contact on Twitter
• Connect on LinkedIn

Each pack of their TecTiles will cost just $14.99 and you’ll get five to a pack. The Samsung TecTiles app will be available for download on the Google Play Store, and TecTile packs will be available for purchase online or in-store at multiple carrier locations throughout the country.

[via Samsung Tectile]