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Google NFC hotspot icons: automatically tag your Places with a Gingerbread phone

See this little red Places icon? This could be a familiar high street sight in a few years’ time, if Google’s plans for Android 2.3 and NFC take off.

NFC (Near Field Communications) technology, which is present in the Google Nexus S, will allow you to make in-store payments using your phone and also, instantly tag your location wherever you see one of these little red Places icons.

The idea is that you point or swipe your Nexus S at or over the icon, and you’ll be tagged in that very spot. Google is trialling this new venture with local businesses Stateside in Portland, Oregon now. The idea is that it’ll be used by customers to rate and review places and (hopefully) give local businesses a boost.

This selection of decals and stickers have been distributed to Portland businesses to put on display in shop windows and the like. These aren’t just your ordinary garden variety stickers though – these stickers have NFC technology built in.

If the trial in Portland proves to be a hit, we could see it rolled out to cities and towns across the world, covering our high streets in a pimply rash of Places stickers. An encouraging vision of the future right?

Source: Google Lat Long Blog, Google Places Business Kit via T3

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