Nokia 6131 NFC flip phone

Nokia's old dog has some new tricks, with payment options and electronic admission tickets handled through Near Field Communications.

Design:

The Nokia 6131 NFC is an unassuming flip phone, physically identical to the European Nokia 6131. The shell is a mix of soft-touch matte black surfaces and metal. The screen is a vibrant, 2.2-inch QVGA display, and the pictures we saw on it were very sharp, even held side-by-side with an LCD picture frame showing the same image. What sets the 6131 NFC apart is the Near Field Communication sensor built into the tip of the top of the clamshell. To use the NFC capabilities, when the phone is open, you simply touch the earpiece to an NFC sensor, and the phone gives a quick, purring vibration to let you know the link is active. In our hands-on demonstration at CES, we found the quick vibration to be very satisfying, and we enjoyed wandering the small booth looking for places to tap the phone. For payments, the sensor will also work when the phone is closed, if you have no active password set.

Features:

The phone's primary feature is the Near Field Communications system, which allows the phone to exchange information when it senses another active NFC device, such as an RFID tag or a payment terminal. Once you tap the phone to the designated space, the phone leaps into the designated action. In our demonstration, we saw the phone open a movie file, navigate to a URL, receive a text message, and make a payment. In the future, the phone could be used for payments or as an electronic ticket for shows and events. The movie file, a preview for a Disney cartoon, jumped to life in a few seconds, a bit slow, but the effect of tapping a letter on the movie's title and seeing a preview was fun. For payments, NFC allows for password protection, or a more open, less secure option, where you tap your phone and your Visa card is billed. Nokia told us that if you lose the phone, the payment option can be disabled over the air, but if you don't have a password enabled, until the payment option is turned off anyone can use your phone for purchases.

Pros:
Cool applications for NFC. Sensor for NFC seemed very responsive.

Cons:
Unlocked, NFC is less secure than a credit card. Do we need to pay with our phone?

Conclusion:

Once NFC sensors are ubiquitous, this could be a very convenient option, akin to the early days of Palm when beaming contacts was all the rage. Of course, if the technology doesn't take off, it will be just another useless feature, but in New York City we've seen plenty of payment terminals that should work with NFC, so we think Nokia might have something here. Business cards and text messages with the weather? Maybe not, but the occasional interactive subway advertisement could be interesting.

Specifications

Quad-band GSM with EDGE support
Near Field Communication (NFC) support
2.2-inch QVGA high resolution color display
1.3-Megapixel camera
Music player with MP3 and WMA support
microSD memory card expansion
Bluetooth DUN and headset support
Stereo FM radio
1/14/2007 10:56:06 PM
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