This morning, Samsung officially launched TecTiles 2, compatible with their newest flagship device, the Galaxy S4 and all other NFC-enabled devices from Samsung. These NFC tags allow users to simply touch their phone up to the sticker to accomplish simple tasks, such as turn on WiFi, enable GPS, etc. 

You can grab a new sleeve of TecTiles from the Samsung website and also pick up the updated app through Google Play. Keep in mind, if you have a stash of the original TecTiles and then purchase the Galaxy S4, you’ll need to upgrade as they are non compatible.

Play Link

Via: Samsung

Samsung Launches TecTiles 2, the “Next Generation” of NFC Technology is a post from: Droid Life

A couple of hours ago, Samsung’s USA Facebook page posted up a deal that could land you a free flip cover and set of TecTiles. All you have to do is register your Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 2 through their Owners Hub Facebook app and they’ll send you an email with instructions on how to claim the freebies.

Along with the free goods, they’ll also toss in a coupon code to land you 50% off of accessories. Might want to take them up on this one.

Register Device

Via:  Samsung Mobile Facebook

Cheers Jim!

Get a Free Flip Cover and TecTiles by Registering Your Device at Samsung’s Facebook Page is a post from: Droid Life

Samsung released a major update to their TecTiles application tonight, turning it into one of the more advanced NFC tag writing applications around. In version 3.0, TecTiles allows you to write multiple actions to a single NFC tag, look back at previous tag history, and even create profiles that can be launched at any time. They also included more app integration by adding Google+ and Google Talk to the list, gave you the option to send a pre-written email using a TecTile, and can setup a tag to do something as specific as playing a single music track. Below, we have the lengthier version of these details, directly from Samsung. 

• Program multiple actions to a single TecTile – With one tap, a TecTile can perform a series of actions including turning on Bluetooth^®, launching the Navigation app and calling voicemail when entering a car.
• Customize Profiles – Version 3.0 enables users to turn the notion of a static TecTile on its head. Define preloaded Profiles within the app and program a different TecTile tag to launch each Profile – such as “normal,” “office,” “night” and “car” – allowing for easy toggling between Profiles throughout the day. Groups can also take advantage of Profiles. Rather than program a TecTile to evoke the same actions on every smartphone with every tap, Profiles allow one TecTile to perform customized actions for different users when scanned. For example, within the app, each TecTile user in an office can customize their “meeting” Profile to fit their specific preferences, such as automatically setting the phone to vibrate or silent mode, depending on user choice. Then, program one TecTile in a conference room to automatically launch each user’s unique, custom “meeting” Profile upon tapping. Users can also create and add their own custom Profiles based on daily activities, like “workout,” “gaming” or “TV.”
• Store TecTile tag history – Users can now keep a log of all TecTile tags they program for easy reference.
• Create private TecTile tags – Create private TecTile tags that only the owner’s phone can read. TecTile 3.0 will associate the programmer’s email address to all private TecTile tags and will only allow execution of a TecTile command to the programmer’s device.
• Unlock a previously locked TecTile – A TecTile programmer can unlock a previously locked TecTile, or clear a TecTile without having to overwrite with a new command. This is beneficial for both consumers and commercial users who want to extend the value of their TecTile tags while retaining the secure option to lock a TecTile.

Play Link

The update should work perfectly with most Samsung phones from the last year, along with a variety of other NFC-equipped devices like the HTC One X or RAZR HD.

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Samsung Mobile Expands NFC Capabilities with TecTile^™ Version 3.0 

Samsung’s TecTile mobile application update offers more programmable settings, deeper app integration and the ability to program multiple commands to a single TecTile

DALLAS — Oct. 24, 2012 — Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (Samsung Mobile) – the No.1 mobile phone provider in the United States and a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide¹ – continues to advance the use of NFC technology in everyday life with the rollout of Samsung TecTile Version 3.0, the latest update to its popular mobile application. The Samsung TecTile 3.0 mobile app provides a variety of new ways to customize Samsung TecTile programmable NFC tags to automatically change features and settings of Samsung Android™ NFC-enabled devices with a single tap.

Samsung TecTile originally launched alongside the Samsung Galaxy S^® III as an introduction to the user-friendly capabilities of NFC beyond mobile payments. With the U.S. launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note^® II, TecTile programmable NFC tags and the TecTile3.0 mobile application can now automate everyday smartphone functions on Samsung’s newest iconic device.

“As the clear leader in NFC-enabled smartphone deployment in the United States, Samsung is committed to developing and advancing this promising mobile technology,” said Kevin Packingham, chief product officer of Samsung Telecommunications America. “Samsung TecTile tags combined with the TecTile 3.0 application simplifies the way consumers interact with their mobile device and greatly enhances the overall user experience.”

With the largest user base of NFC-enabled devices in the United States, Samsung continues to broaden the use of NFC technology for consumers and businesses by continually expanding and evolving the capabilities of the TecTile mobile application.

Enhancements offered with TecTile Version 3.0

• Programming Enhancements & Improved Usability
• • Program multiple actions to a single TecTile – With one tap, a TecTile can perform a series of actions including turning on Bluetooth^®, launching the Navigation app and calling voicemail when entering a car.
  • Customize Profiles – Version 3.0 enables users to turn the notion of a static TecTile on its head. Define preloaded Profiles within the app and program a different TecTile tag to launch each Profile – such as “normal,” “office,” “night” and “car” – allowing for easy toggling between Profiles throughout the day. Groups can also take advantage of Profiles. Rather than program a TecTile to evoke the same actions on every smartphone with every tap, Profiles allow one TecTile to perform customized actions for different users when scanned. For example, within the app, each TecTile user in an office can customize their “meeting” Profile to fit their specific preferences, such as automatically setting the phone to vibrate or silent mode, depending on user choice. Then, program one TecTile in a conference room to automatically launch each user’s unique, custom “meeting” Profile upon tapping. Users can also create and add their own custom Profiles based on daily activities, like “workout,” “gaming” or “TV.”
  • Store TecTile tag history – Users can now keep a log of all TecTile tags they program for easy reference.
  • Create private TecTile tags – Create private TecTile tags that only the owner’s phone can read. TecTile 3.0 will associate the programmer’s email address to all private TecTile tags and will only allow execution of a TecTile command to the programmer’s device.
  • Unlock a previously locked TecTile – A TecTile programmer can unlock a previously locked TecTile, or clear a TecTile without having to overwrite with a new command. This is beneficial for both consumers and commercial users who want to extend the value of their TecTile tags while retaining the secure option to lock a TecTile. 

• Programming Additions & Application Integration: Samsung has expanded the list of phone settings that TecTile can change when tapped, including the addition of Airplane mode, more comprehensive alarm settings and the ability to automatically change a ringtone. In addition, TecTile 3.0 can now integrate with more applications to give users a more comprehensive experience. Specifically, TecTile can now:
• • Share or edit an electronic business card, forward a call or send a pre-written email to a specific address
  • Toggle between Play/Pause settings on Music Player, or play a specific track
  • In addition to integration with LinkedIn^®, Facebook^® and foursquare^®, program a TecTile to update a Google+ status, start a Google Talk conversation, check in on Google Places or on Glympse™ location sharing

Samsung NFC-Enabled Android ^TM Smartphones

• Samsung Galaxy Note II on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon
• Samsung Galaxy S III on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon
• Samsung Galaxy Note^® on AT&T and T-Mobile
• Samsung Galaxy S^® II on T-Mobile
• Galaxy Nexus ^TM on Verizon, Sprint and GSM Unlocked
• Nexus ^TM S ^® 4G on Sprint
• Nexus ^TM S^® on AT&T and T-Mobile
• Samsung Galaxy S^® Blaze^® 4G on T-Mobile
• Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate™ on AT&T
• Samsung Galaxy S^® Relay™ 4G on T-Mobile
• Samsung Galaxy Victory™ 4G LTE on Sprint 

Pricing/Availability

Priced at $14.99 for a pack of five, TecTile programmable NFC sticker tags are available for purchase at Samsung.com and online and in-store at AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. The Samsung TecTile 3.0 mobile app is available for free in the Google Play™ marketplace.

Samsung TecTile Microsite

For a detailed list of added features and enhancements offered by the TecTile Version 3.0 upgrade, visit http://www.samsung.com/us/microsite/tectile/.

¹ Samsung Mobile is the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the United States based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics, North America Handset Vendor Marketshare, Q2 2012.  Samsung Electronics Company is the No. 1 smartphone provider worldwide based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Global Smartphone Vendor Market Share by Region: Q2 2012.

© Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC.  Samsung, Galaxy S, Galaxy Note, and TecTiles are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.  Android is a trademark of Google Inc.  Other company names, product names and marks mentioned herein are property of their respective owners and may be trademarks or registered trademarks.

XXX

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, (Samsung Mobile) a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Samsung TecTiles 3.0 Update Introduces Profiles, Multiple Action Tagging, and More is a post from: Droid Life

Have you ever visited a friend’s house or a coffee shop and wanted to join the local WiFi network, but didn’t know the password? Or were you on the other side of that equation, with friends or customers constantly asking for the info to join your network? An app called InstaWifi is looking to fix those problems. By taking advantage of both NFC and QR technology, this app can be used by anyone with an Android smartphone.  

With an NFC-enabled phone, you can choose to write to an NFC tag with this app, so that future visitors with other NFC phones can simply tap to connect. You can also tap your phone to another NFC phone to allow your friends or visitors to join in an instant.

If your visitors or friends do not have an NFC-enabled phone, this app also allows for QR code WiFi network joining. While in InstaWifi, you have 1 tab for NFC activities and another that will generate a QR code for you. All it takes from there is a QR scanning app to glance over your code and your network can be joined.

There are other apps that can produce similar activities to this, one being Samsung’s TecTiles. We tend to like the idea of InstaWifi though, since it is much more focused on one feature, joining wireless networks. It’s free, so feel free to give it a spin.

Play Link

Click here to view the embedded video.

InstaWifi Makes Joining WiFi Networks Easy With NFC or QR Codes is a post from: Droid Life

Last night, Samsung introduced their latest product to the market called TecTiles which are NFC stickers that can be programmed to help you accomplish tasks. Since we saw some confusion in the comments about how they are programmed, what kinds of things can you ask them to do, and if they are reprogrammable, we thought a video to help explain them was needed. Here you go! 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Links:  Play Store (app) | TecTile Site

*Note – As one of our readers has pointed out, you are essentially programming the app to know what to do when pressed to a specific NFC sticker. When you tell the app what you want the NFC chip to do, you are actually programming the app to recognize this particular NFC sticker and then perform actions. This would be the reason you need this specific app installed on every device in order for that NFC sticker to do the correct action. It’s like the app is recognizing an NFC code that is specific to that sticker and then telling your phone what it should be doing.

Update:  Samsung reached out to help clarify this situation even more. Basically, it depends on what you programmed the NFC tag to do. Some require the app to perform, some do not. Here is a list that do not require you to have the TecTiles app installed:

• Show a message
• Open a web page
• Location/map/address
• Make phone call
• Send text message
• Share a contact

For other things like toggling WiFi, checking in somewhere on Foursquare, and launching an app, all require the TecTiles app to be installed.

Video: Quick Look at Samsung’s TecTiles in Action is a post from: Droid Life

Tonight, Samsung announced their newest non-hardware creation called TecTiles. These are programmable NFC tags that will be available through major carriers at the launch of the Galaxy SIII. Their goal with TecTiles is to help NFC reach the masses and become a part of our everyday lives. Since the GS3, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, Galaxy SII (some models), HTC One X and so many other devices all have NFC chips inside, this should be simple, right? 

If you are not familiar with NFC stickers like these, I’ll do my best to explain them. With an NFC sticker like TecTiles, one can program it to accomplish a single task that under normal circumstances would take more than a few seconds of your time. For example, you could program a TecTile (using your NFC phone to program it) to toggle WiFi on and off. Assuming you have an NFC-enabled phone, all you would have to do is touch your phone to this sticker and it should toggle your WiFi. A restaurant owner could place one inside the door of the building so that customers with NFC phones could quickly tap the sticker and check-in through Foursquare. You could place one of these stickers on your desk and have it automatically send a text to your wife that read, “Hi Honey, on my way home from work!” as you leave work. The possibilities are sort of endless if you think about it. You could launch an app with a programmable NFC sticker, post a Facebook update, open a webpage or even send a Tweet.

TecTiles specifically will be available for $14.99 for a pack of 5, again, at all major U.S. carriers. The TecTiles app that helps you program these as many times as you’d like, is available in the Google Play store.

Here is a link to the TecTile site.

Are you ready for mass NFC adoption? I sure am.

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Samsung Mobile Puts All The Pieces in Place to Bring NFC To The Masses

Inexpensive, easy to use Samsung TecTiles™ Programmable NFC Tags can be customized to launch apps, send text messages, share contact information, change phone settings and more, with an NFC-enabled Galaxy smartphone

 DALLAS — June 13, 2012 — Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) is helping consumers realize the potential of NFC technology today with the creation of Samsung TecTiles™ and the TecTile™ programming application. With the largest user base of NFC-enabled devices in the United States and TecTiles available in all four major carrier stores and at major online retailers at the launch of the Galaxy S III, Samsung is ensuring NFC becomes a part of daily life.

With a simple tap of an NFC-enabled phone to a TecTile, consumers are able to automate everyday functions of a smartphone including sending a “headed/at home” text message, silencing the phone when entering a meeting, setting an alarm, and dimming the display when going to bed.

Samsung TecTiles will transform how businesses large and small engage with consumers. On premise, TecTiles enable consumers to check-in on Facebook® or foursquare^®, connect to Wi-Fi® or download content. Off-premise, businesses can use TecTiles as a way to market to and engage with consumers by enabling reward programs and to download discount offers or content.

“With millions of NFC-enabled Samsung Galaxy smartphones currently in the market and the arrival of our flagship device Galaxy S^® III, Samsung saw an opportunity to expand the value of NFC beyond mobile payments,” said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications America, the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. and worldwide-. “The launch of Samsung TecTiles is another example of Samsung’s ability to innovate new products and applications that improve the way we use our mobile devices for everyday tasks.”

Samsung TecTiles are easy to program with any NFC-enabled smartphone and the free application, which can be found in the Google Play™ marketplace. TecTiles can be reprogrammed as often as needed to complete any of the following functions on an NFC-enabled phone:

 Settings & Applications

• Change phone settings (Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, ringer/media volume, screen brightness, etc.)
• Launch an application
• Join a Wi-Fi 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®

 Samsung NFC-Enabled Android ^TM Smartphones

• Samsung Galaxy S^® III on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon
• Samsung Galaxy S^® II on T-Mobile
• Galaxy Nexus ^TM on Verizon, Sprint and GSM Unlocked
• Nexus ^TM S ^® 4G on Sprint
• Samsung Galaxy S^® Blaze ^® 4G on T-Mobile

Pricing/Availability

Priced at $14.99 for a pack of five, TecTiles programmable NFC sticker tags are now available for purchase online and in-store at AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The Samsung TecTiles app is now available for download at the Google Play store.

© Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC.  Samsung, Galaxy, Galaxy S, and TecTiles are all trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Android and Nexus are trademarks of Google Inc.  All other company names, product names and marks are the property of their respective owners and may be trademarks or registered trademarks. 

Links for more information:

• Samsung TecTiles microsite
• Galaxy S III U.S. Availability Announcement
• Galaxy S III Global Launch URL

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsungwireless.com.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 206,000 people in 197 offices across 72 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LED. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Samsung Announces TecTiles, Brings Programmable NFC Tags to the Masses is a post from: Droid Life