Category: NFC Technology

The Power Suit from Heritage Bank lets consumers make a payment with their sleeve.

The Australian bank has partnered with VISA and premium Australian tailors, M.J. Bale, to develop this wearable tech that lets people make contactless payments via Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

The NFC chip is woven directly into the suit.

This wearable technology garment uses the identical NFC chip that is found in VISA payWave terminals. However, instead of being integrated into a card, the chip is weaved right into the suit’s sleeve and is then connected to the account of the “Power Suit” wearer. Once activated, the wearer can then make contactless payments with their suit by simply tapping or waving their sleeve over the payWave terminal.

The Power Suit is made from the finest Australian merino wool and tailored in Japan by M.J. Bale. It utilizes Visa’s payWave system to link to the mobile wallet from Heritage Bank. Those who wear the suit can add funds to their mobile wallet with their bank’s credit or debit card and use it to buy merchandise.

This smartsuit eliminates the need to carry around a credit card. As long as the NFC chip makes contact with the terminal, the payment is processed. That said, currently, to make a payment with the suit, purchases must be under AUD $100.

M.J. Bale CEO Matt Jenson commented that “The prototype means the wearer doesn’t need to ruin the cut of their trousers or jacket with a bulky wallet. It allows individuals to be ahead of the technology game and look top notch.”

This wearable tech is also supporting a good cause.

According to the Heritage Bank’s official website, 11 prototype suits have been designed for select lucky customers across Australia, to test the new tech-savvy concept. In addition, the Heritage Bank put up a twelfth suit for a charity auction online. This suit recently sold for $510 via eBay and all of the proceeds from the auction were given to 4 ASD Kids, a charity that supports children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Thus, the winner of the auction is not only the owner of rare and innovative wearable tech they also had a hand in helping out in raising awareness and money for kids with ASD.

This will allow users to be able to change their wash settings through an app and a tap.

Although when it all comes down to it, washing machines are pretty basic, but they are also extremely essential to our lives and are now becoming, quite high tech, as is the case with the NFC technology enabled appliances being unveiled by LG.

This latest release was announced during a technology event attended by LG.

LG brought the NFC technology compatible washing machine to InnoFest 2014, where it made the appliance’s first introduction to the world. The fact that it supports the tech drew some considerable attention as smart devices and home appliances become more common and appealing to consumers.

NFC technology will help people to load new programs into their washing machines.

As it stands, the appliances will come with a number of presets from which users can choose so that they can decide what temperature they would like to use for the water, how much water to use (that is, the size of the load), how many refills or spin cycles are needed, and more. For instance, if the user only wanted a quick wash, then the washer may be set to spin for only a few minutes, whereas a longer wash would require more refills and spins to remove the water.

With the near field communication compatibility, users will be able to download additional programs and their settings onto their smartphones, and then simply tap them against the washing machine in order to load them into the appliance. This simple feature for added connectivity also gives the users of smartphones to be able to keep on top of any potential minor issues that the washing machine might develop, through the use of a Smart Diagnosis feature.

Aside from the additional programs that can be added by way of NFC technology, and the smartphone compatible diagnostics feature, the appliance appears to be a relatively standard top of the line washing machine. It comes with a number of the latest top features such as steam softener and steam refresh, as well as allergy care.