I realise it's not clear enough that these are outdoor-proof (i.e. PVC), will change that on the store.
We do customise tags right now for folks and putting logos and QR codes on them is our number 1 feature request - so we'll automate this process on the store in the next 2 weeks or so. Thanks for feedback!
This is very cool, congratulations! Just bought a sample pack. I have a few technical questions, if I may (or if you have a good blog post or document that can help, that would be amazing.)
I've been playing with RFID for a while. Is NFC different than RFID? On a different frequency than 132 KHz/13.56 MHz that I already have readers for?
Also, are there simple readers or breakout boards I can use to play with this (a la Parallax's RFID reader, or anything that could plug into my Arduino?) as opposed to buying a phone? Any suggestions for good readers or what the protocol looks like?
Also, out of curiosity (see, I'm a software guy, so often this stuff is a black box to me) did you all design and fab the tags yourselves? Or do you get them in bulk and then do your own customizations?
This is extremely cool stuff! I'm really excited about playing around with this!
NFC is a subset of RFID which works over closer ranges (hence the term "near-field"). The other difference is it can be passive (i.e. the reader induces a current in the tag/sticker to read it, that's why the tag doesn't need any power).
13.56 MHZ readers should work. We're ordering cheaper reader-writers (~$50) and will put them on the store soon. In terms of sourcing, we get them in bulk. We basically tested all the suppliers for quality, speed, and are working with the best ones. Who knows though, buying a factory may be in our future.
This is one of the coolest and most useful (for hackers) startups out there -- NFC is clearly the future, but is such a pain to deal with now in development (even small deployments; anything less than 50k unit quantities).
thanks rdl - you're in MV? We've seen some really cool stuff happening, including the MobiSocial guys at Stanford. Eventually we expect the cost of these tags to tend to zero, and then they really will be ubiquitous. We listed a bunch of demos on our about us page: http://www.tagstand.com/pages/about-nfc
After wednesday it might be fun to get some tags and experiment with them -- the main thing I'd like to do is track access to servers, and maybe organize tools and components.
Great. Is it possible to somehow adapt my existing HTC handset to read the codes, or must I buy a NCF enabled model? If so, any recommendation on handset model would be handy.
Based on demand/interest I'll set up a discount code for HN, let me know what products seem the most interesting.