No NFC for Australian Samsung Galaxy S II
- — 23 May, 2011 15:35
Samsung's Galaxy S II Android phone
Samsung has officially confirmed that Australian models of its hotly-anticipated Galaxy S II Android phone will not feature Near Field Communications (NFC) technology.
Read our first impressions of the Samsung Galaxy S II Android phone, and check out all the details for the phone's May 26 Australian launch.
NFC is a short-range wireless communication technology that is used in many new credit cards, whereby the card can be simply swiped across a smart chip to make a purchase. This technology is rumoured to be an inclusion on the upcoming iPhone 5, but up until today we had seen conflicting reports of its inclusion in Galaxy S II devices across the world.
Globally, Samsung is shipping two versions of the Galaxy S II, one with NFC and one without. The latter is what the company has shipped in European markets, and in Australia, while the Korean version of the Galaxy S II includes an NFC chip.
"Samsung can confirm that the GALAXY S II will not ship with a NFC chip in Australia," Samsung said in a statement. "The company is closely monitoring local application and demand for NFC technology and is ready to release NFC-enabled handsets into the Australian market at the appropriate time."
Last week, Optus announced it will launch the Galaxy S II on 1 June, and mentioned the inclusion of NFC technology on its Web site, but the reference to NFC has since been removed and appears to have been a mistake.
Optus will officially launch the Samsung Galaxy S II on 1 June, and it will be available for $0 on Optus' $79 cap over 24 months. Although Optus is the only telco so far to officially reveal its plans, the Samsung Galaxy S II will also launch through Telstra and Vodafone. The device is a quad-band 3G smartphone, so it will work across all three network bands used in Australia, including Telstra's 850MHz Next G network.
Samsung is set to officially launch the Galaxy S II on 26 May in Australia, describing it as "the biggest mobile phone launch for Samsung this year."
Comments
Luke
1
so ridiculous, how is australia not ready for NFC... its already in stores... and transport.
im sure an app to make the most of it will be out as soon as they release the NFC version.
was waiting for the AUS launch... but now im gonna by overseas and save myself the cash and the pain of being in a contract.
Matt
2
NFC is actually going under a 3 month trial in both Sydney and Melbourne. It's not actually permanently implemented as yet so I guess it makes sense for them to not include it. As mentioned though, they may role out a NFC model later on.
Alex
3
Dear Samsung,
The only reason I was going to buy a Samsung Galaxy S2 over the HTC Sensation was because of the NFC chip, thank you for making this decision a lot easier.
Andrew
4
Have pre-ordered with Optus, I might cancel that now, NFC is well supported in Ice Cream Sandwich, will buy from overseas now.
Darcy
5
This is incredibly short-sighted. On the part of Optus and Samsung. Apps are already in testing and will soon be in use. What this means is if you buy an Optus GS2S (or probably any Aussie carrier's SG2S) you're buying an obsolete 'smartphone'. Initially the Optus guys said theirs would have NFC and any specs I downloaded also said it had NFC. Then suddenly Optus said NO and pulled the reference off their website. How many customers bought this and are about to get a big surprise when Dick Smith, Woolies, Bunnings etc. make it an everyday function at the checkouts??!! It's in Asia - they seem to be a little brighter than our local business geniuses are. A fail for Samsung and a fail for Optus for not using their clout to insist on its inclusion.
Jason
6
Have they heard about the chicken and the egg? Of course there won't be a market if there is no consumers with a device to handle it. Someone has to make the first move.
David
7
I got the Samsung Galaxy S2 because it was supposed to have NFC, didnt realise that the Aust version was NFC free. Lucky I like the phone but it would have been nice to have been told there wasnt NFC
Ash
8
I read in a different forum that all galaxy s2 models have NFC chip built-in but disabled by network provider so that in future they can charge more to enable NFC. What about if we get phone outright from shop, not locked to any network?