NFC in the USA

More and more NFC enabled smartPhones (announced). Some ehh.. a lot are not for the U.S. market, other handsets are announced without info about country and carrier yet.In the US, very few handsets are sold outside of the carriers’ stores. But BestBuy and AmazonWireless also sell CellPhones with Plans from all four carriers. Their prices are often lower.

So .. Compare prices, do it. It will cost you at most a few minutes. I verify now and then, and I can tell you, only a few clicks and you might see the same Phone w/plan up to $ 150,- less !

Click on a carrier logo in the table to go to the carrier website.

Here the Mobile Phones page from Bestbuy.com.

And the Phones with/without plans from AmazonWireless.com.

In this sequence often cheap – cheaper – cheapest . Just, check it !

All available NFC Phones in the U.S. in one table

Important !, ISIS vs ISIS appr.;
ISIS = mobile wallet officially available,
ISIS appr./ Visa appr. = Mastercard and/or Visa approved the device for contactless payments. At carrier website not yet listed as ISIS ready phone.
The same for Google wallet. Some phones are approved, but not on the official list of google. Here the list with all Mastercard and Visa approved phones.
ISIS info just for Austin and Salt Lake City.

CARRIER
PHONE
BlackBerry Q10	?	late summer	June, ISIS appr.	June, ISIS appr.
BlackBerry Z10	ISIS appr.		ISIS appr.	ISIS appr.
BlackBerry 9900/9930	x	x	x	x
BlackBerry 9350 /9360/9370	x	x	x	x
HTC First	ISIS
Windows Phone 8X HTC	ISIS appr.		ISIS appr.	ISIS appr.
HTC ONE	ISIS	Google Wallet	x
HTC Droid DNA				ISIS
HTC droid incredible 4G LTE				ISIS
HTC Amaze			ISIS appr.
HTC EVO 4G LTE		Google Wallet
HTC ONE VX	ISIS
HTC ONE X+	ISIS appr.
HTC ONE X	ISIS
Nexus 4			x
Kyocera Hydro Elite, Visa appr.
Kyocera Torque		Mastercard appr.
LG Mach		x
LG Optimus G Pro	ISIS
LG Optimus G	ISIS	Mastercard appr.
LG Intuition				ISIS appr.
LG Spectrum 2 (LTE 2)				ISIS
LG L9			x
LG Escape	ISIS
LG Viper		Google Wallet
LG Optimus Net / Elite		Google Wallet
Motorola droid RAZR (MAXX) HD				ISIS
Motorola DROID RAZR M				ISIS
Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE		Masterc. appr.
NEC Casio G’Zone Commando II, C811, ISIS appr.				?
NEC Casio NE-201A1A ?, Visa appr.
Nokia Lumia 720, ISIS appr.
Nokia Lumia 925			?
Nokia Lumia 928				ISIS appr.
Nokia Lumia 810			Masterc. appr.
Nokia Lumia 822				ISIS appr.
Nokia Lumia 820	Masterc.appr.
Nokia Lumia 920	Masterc.appr.
Nokia C7 astound			x
Pantech P9090 (Magnus), Visa appr.
Pantech Perception				ISIS
Pantech ADR930L (Marauder), visa appr.				nfc?
Pantech Discover	ISIS
Buy Online, Pick Up in Your Local Best Buy Store-Same-Day Pickup Guarantee.
Samsung Galaxy S4	ISIS	Google Wallet	x	ISIS (pre)
Samsung Ativ Odyssey				ISIS appr.
Samsung Gal. Express	ISIS
Samsung Stratosphere II				ISIS
Samsung Gal.Rugby pro	ISIS
Samsung Gal .Exhilarate andr. 4 – 4.1 only	ISIS
Samsung Galaxy Note 2	x	Google Wallet	ISIS	ISIS
Samsung Galaxy Victory		Google Wallet
Samsung Midas		Masterc. appr.
Samsung Galaxy S 3	ISIS	Google Wallet	ISIS	ISIS
Galaxy Nexus		Google Wallet		x
Google Nexus S	x	Google Wallet	x
Samsung Galaxy S II	NFC disabled	non NFC	SGH-T989 ISIS
Galaxy Note – NFC disabled	NFC disabled
Samsung Gal. S Relay 4G			ISIS
Samsung Gal. S Blaze 4G			x
Galaxy S II Skyrocket enabled? phone listed at tectiles site..	still disabled?
Sony Xperia ZL
Sony Xperia TL	ISIS
Sony Xperia ion	x
ZTE Inspiration to be ann. Mastercard appr.		?
ZTE Aurora to be ann. Mastercard appr.		?
ZTE Sprint Flash		x
ZTE Sprint Force		x
Click on a logo to go to the carrier website;

Shop at BestBuy; See all our T-Mobile Mobile Phones with Plans See all our AT&T Mobile Phones with Plans See all our Verizon Wireless Mobile Phones with Plans See all our Sprint Mobile Phones with Plans

NFC news – USA related

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Google Wallet . . Google Wallet support at these merchants in the USA;

Google Wallet where it works.(Better a link than an outdated list)

Google Wallet now supports all debit and credit cards from MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover. You can use any card when you shop online or in-store with Google Wallet. Now you can also remotely disable your mobile wallet app from your Google Wallet account on the web.

Except for the Sprint phones in the table, following phones are suitable for google wallet;
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on US Cellular
Samsung Galaxy Nexus GSM/HSPA+
Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE on Virgin Mobile
Samsung Galaxy SIII on MetroPCS and US Cellular
Samsung Galaxy Axiom on US Cellular
LG Optimus Elite on Virgin Mobile
LG Nexus 4 GSM/HSPA+ (available for purchase on Google Play)
“At this time, Google Wallet does not support devices purchased internationally. The eligible device list above only applies to devices purchased from the listed carriers next to them. For example, an unlocked Samsung Galaxy SIII purchased internationally will not work with Google Wallet.” (Google support)
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ISIS . .
How to Get Started With the Isis Mobile Wallet;
- Visit an AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA or Verizon Wireless retail store in Austin or Salt Lake City to receive a secure element SIM and ensure your handset model is Isis Ready.
- Download the Isis Mobile Wallet application from Google Play.
- Load an eligible American Express, Capital One or Chase credit card into the Isis Mobile Wallet or get started with the Isis Cash™ card that comes in every Wallet.
- Get out and get tapping at any of the hundreds of locations across Austin and Salt Lake City where contactless payments are accepted.” Source; PaywithISIS.com

Take the BUS with ISIS !
With ISIS, you pay with your phone. (o k, just at Utah Transit Authority) Tap your phone and get in the bus/train/metro, when you get out, you tap again. At the backend the trip is calculated and charged. Free rides till March 30 (extended), yes $ 0,-. Contactless payments at its best. Someday, public transport should work like this, everywhere.
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NFC enabled CellPhones can read/write Tags, share and pair. No wallet service available yet. ISIS will be available for Android handset users beginning in spring 2012. Update; ISIS starts this summer in Austin and Salt Lake City.

T-mobile disabled NFC on the BlackBerry’s, it’s not possible to enable with software/O.S. update. Depends 100% on T-mobile. Reading/writing tags is now possible with OS 7.1.0.342 or higher.

update 28 aug.’12; “Great service requires capable devices, and we’re beginning to introduce NFC as a capability in the high-end smartphones we offer. T-Mobile already offers NFC-enabled phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC Amaze 4G and Blackberry Bold 9900″ (sr vc president T-Mobile)

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Update sept ’11; AT&T’s Galaxy S II is not NFC-enabled, Samsung and AT&T didn’t want to say what the intension is . (It seems that the NFC functionality is “dormant”.

The words “Near Field Communications” are inscribed on the battery. Traces of NFC in the Phone’s firmware, and a not functioning NFC Service app.) according engadget.

Maybe AT&T is just waiting the roll out of ISIS virtual wallet program. But why disable peer-to-peer and reader/writer mode if NFC chip is onboard?

update Okt ’11; Rumor, AT&T’s Galaxy S II, NFC enabled with the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update.

A marketing director for Samsung Telecommunications America told NFC Times that AT&T instructed the handset maker not to load NFC phone software into the Samsung Galaxy Note. source; NFCTimes

At this time, AT&T has refused to comment on why they have repeatedly disabled NFC on their devices ..

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Sprint will introduce 2 NFC enabled handsets supporting Google Wallet. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the LG Viper, also an Android phone. The first handsets supporting 4G LTE technology. The phones will be available during the first half of 2012 (probably in the second quarter?)

april ’12; Google Wallet is available on three new phones from Sprint, including: Galaxy Nexus, LG Viper 4G LTE and LG Optimus Elite. Google Wallet will also be available on the LG Optimus Elite from Virgin Mobile.

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The Galaxy Nexus has arrived in the U.S on the Verizon network without the Google Wallet.

“Verizon asked us not to include this functionality in the product,” a Google spokesperson told Reuters.

Fix; Google Wallet on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus without rooting. Outside USA rooted device needed. Procedure is simple, but not for all successful. Thread on forum.xda-developers.com, with hundreds thousands of posts.

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TRIAL

Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Nokia will test NFC ticketing in a small pilot (only 20 MTA employees) before the end of 2011. This trial is similar to the NFC ticketing trial in Germany which enable riders to post-pay rides by tapping tags at entrance and departure stations.

The employees will be able to tap NFC tags with Nokia NFC Phones upon entering and exiting train stations. Pilot is on one commuter line of the Long Island Rail Road in New York.