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RIM launches BlackBerry Tag, NFC sharing for Bold 9900 and Curve 9360

So it wasn't just a gimmick after all

RIM launches BlackBerry Tag, NFC sharing for Bold 9900 and Curve 9360
By Jonathan Morris
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If you've bought a BlackBerry Bold 9900, or plan to get the forthcoming Curve 9360, you may be wondering exactly what you can do with the integrated NFC hardware.

Until RIM announced its new BlackBerry Tag service today, there really wasn't much at all. Secure contactless payments are still some way off becoming commonplace on mobile phones.

BlackBerry Tag gives Bold 9900 and Curve 9360 owners, subject to a firmware update, the ability to share contact information, documents, web addresses, photos and other content by merely tapping the phone against another (NFC-enabled) BlackBerry device.

It will also become the quickest way to add other BlackBerry users as BBM contacts, by the means of a simple tap.

RIM is also in the process of inviting developers to start creating apps that can take advantage of NFC too. Nokia has already made it possible to pair some of its handsets to accessories by simply tapping them together.

BlackBerry Tag will be included in the next update to BlackBerry 7 OS, the timing of which may vary depending on your network.

Jonathan Morris
Jonathan Morris
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From starting out as a games tester for Mastertronic, Virgin and Sega in the late 1980s, it may seem odd to then ditch everything to write about mobile phones that, at the time, lasted 20 minutes between charges. He always had a hunch mobiles would become quite popular, but possibly didn't realise how powerful (and, ironically, returning to 20 minutes between charges). Jonathan's job is to continue advising on the best hardware to buy, in order to enjoy games that have advanced considerably since those long days and nights testing Double Dragon on the C64.