It allows your smartphone to communicate with other devices nearby, allowing you to pay for goods and services without the need for cash or credit card transactions.

It’s also the next stage of the kind of ID technology found in door entry systems and Oyster cards, and it’s already by major retailers for contactless payment using special bank cards.

NFC isn’t just one way, however. Make a payment using NFC on the GALAXY Note II and you can also get loyalty points, air miles, or special offers automatically uploaded to your account. A quick look at your phone will tell you how much you’ve spent – and how much you’ve earned – as a result of your recent transactions.

The future’s near

NFC has plenty of exciting uses beyond everyday shopping, too. Samsung has already pioneered technology for sharing information between handsets, allowing you to easily share photos with a friend, for example, without the need for a mobile signal or an internet connection. At work, NFC is ideal for security and ID purposes, as well as for tracking documents or stock.

Samsung has also developed NFC technology that changes the settings on your phone based on tags you place in your environment. So you can place a tag by your bedside that automatically turns your phone to silent mode and sets your morning alarm, or use a tag in a café to make a check-in using Facebook or Foursquare.

Looking ahead, NFC will also be great for future cars. All you’ll need to do is keep your phone near the dashboard for access to all your phone’s music, voice commands and more, using a special in-car display that is already on manufacturers’ drawing boards.

But with NFC inside the GALAXY Note II, it’s fair to say the future is already here. With phone networks expecting huge take-up during 2013 and Android maker Google set to launch a new version of its pioneering Google Wallet, NFC looks set to become a technology that’s near to all of our hearts!