How To Make Your Own iPhone RFID Reader 46
andylim writes "It's been rumoured for some time now that Apple will include RFID technology in a future iPhone. An RFID-packing iPhone could interact with various objects including opening doors and it could even be used in shops to register items at the checkout. Beating Apple to the RFID punch, last year a company called Wireless Dynamics announced an iPhone RFID accessory called the iCarte, but if you'd rather make your own reader then you'll be interested to know how a research assistant at University College London has managed to build his own RFID iPhone accessory."
Nokia has had RFID phones since 2006 (Score:4, Informative)
Nokia has had a few RFID phones since 2006. This is not a new invention.
The Question is (Score:2, Informative)
What sort of RFID are they trying to implement ?
If they want the iPhone to open doors and such, then simply stick an RFID chip somewhere in or on the iPhone and be done with it.
I mean, the chips are so small, the end user can do this with very little fuss. Heck if you can stick an RFID tag in your dog, cat, wallet, keyring, credit card, and even yourself, well then this is really a non newsworthy item.
If they want to read RFID tags, then that's a different matter all together.
There are many RFID standards, as well as different freqs. On top of all this, there are going to be range issues,
(I.E. you wont be able to have a huge antenna inside an iPhone) so thats going to limit your range to around 5cm for reading tags).
And then what is the average iPhone user going to use this for ?
I can think of quite a few applications for this, but I dont see businesses shelling out for iPhones to read RFID tags, when there are purpose built reaers on the market that sell for a fraction of the cost of an iPhone