Near Field Communication, which allows mobile phones to process wireless monetary transactions, is currently the buzz word amongst all smartphone manufacturers.
But, one of the major drawbacks of the present NFC technology is that it requires physical hardware in the form of a chip, which is to be embedded inside the smartphone to make NFC transactions possible from that device. This leaves no space for older devices to make use of this technology as there is no way an NFC chip can be installed in them.
To overcome this, Naratte, a USA- based startup, has developed a technology called Zoosh.
Whenever an NFC enabled smartphone comes close to a POS or point of sales terminal, the NFC chip that is embedded inside the phone communicates with the sensor and the user is required to touch or move his phone across it. Once the phone comes in proximity of the POS sensor, it communicates with the NFC chip and data related to the transaction is transmitted to the sensor by the chip.
On the contrary, the new technology uses sound waves to transfer data between devices even in the absence of NFC chips. Zoosh enables users to securely exchange data between devices using speakers and microphones found on most devices.
POS terminals, on the other hand, only need to install a microphone that allows them to record or listen to the sound that is generated by the cell phone to complete the transaction.
Not just smartphones; feature phones can also be NFC enabled with this technology since no hardware upgrade is required by the device.
“Zoosh operates across a broad range of products including feature phones, smart phones, media players, tablets, POS systems, personal computers and even televisions,” the company says in its website.
Naratte, in the beginning of the year, had only released software development kits for both Android and iOS platforms for developers to make applications using this solution.