Continuing last year’s trend for an increased role for NFC in consumer electronics, manufacturers introduced NFC-enabled devices ranging from speakers to home-lighting systems at last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Using NFC to more easily open Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections continued to be the most common use for the technology in consumer electronics demonstrated at the show.

Although the majority of NFC-enabled devices from such major consumer electronics makers as Sony, Panasonic, LG and Samsung announced at CES 2014 offered new generations of devices announced in previous years, their incorporation of NFC as a standard feature offers a real-world use for the technology compared with NFC-enabled payments. The latter has been frustratingly slow in gaining widespread deployment in the market.

Although consumer electronics applications for NFC are less high-profile than payments, such features as device pairing are easier to roll out quickly, and the inclusion of NFC in television sets, cameras, camcorders and household appliances could increase consumer awareness of the technology.

U.S.-based ABI Research estimated that 60 million consumer electronics devices were shipped in 2013 with NFC inside and that number would grow dramatically over the next four years, according to the firm.

Entertainment Electronics
Perhaps typical of the announcements of NFC-enabled consumer electronics at CES was Panasonic’s new SC-HC39 Compact Stereo System, which will use NFC to facilitate Bluetooth pairing between the speaker and a user’s smartphone. The stereo system, designed for users who listen to music primarily on their smartphones, will be on the market later in 2014, according to Panasonic, which announced other NFC-enabled devices, such as cameras and a Windows-based 7-Inch tablet for enterprises, the FZ-M1, which comes with an optional NFC reader.

Sony introduced its flagship Bravia W950B series TVs with One-touch Mirroring, which enables users to tap an NFC tag in the remote control with a smartphone to display the smartphone’s screen on the TV. The company said the feature will help viewers watch mobile videos on a larger screen that is better for viewing by groups. In a release, Sony said the TVs would be available in the spring, but has not yet released prices. 

Sony introduced One-touch pairing last year and played it up big at CES 2013 for a variety of devices, including three earlier Bravia TV models. The consumer electronics giant hopes the pairing feature will increase interest in its Xperia line of Android smartphones.

Sony at this year’s show also introduced two new variants of its flagship Z1 Xperia Android phone, including the smaller Z1 Compact model. The Compact, which is NFC-enabled like Sony’s other Xperia smartphones, works with 130 NFC-enabled accessories, noted the Japan-based device maker.

Camera Connectivity
The market for traditional compact cameras and camcorders has declined somewhat in recent years with the rise in popularity of smartphone cameras, prompting manufacturers to introduce fewer new models than in previous years. But several of the 2014 offerings included NFC for device pairing.

Samsung introduced a product line of “Smart Cameras” which include NFC and Wi-Fi for pairing the camera with a smartphone or tablet to share photos.

Canon also introduced several NFC-enabled cameras at CES 2014, including its PowerShot SX600 HS, PowerShot N100 compact camera (a successor to last year’s PowerShot N), and PowerShot ELPH 340 HS, all of which use NFC to pair the camera with a smartphone or tablet.

Sony bills its A5000 as the world’s smallest and lightest Advanced Photo System type-C interchangeable lens camera. The model incorporates Wi-Fi and NFC for pairing, as well.

Sony also introduced NFC-enabled camcorders, including the FDR-AX100E, which uses Wi-Fi and NFC to “let users quickly and easily connect to other devices such as smart phones and tablets.”

Domestic Appliances
LG Electronics’ new 29-inch washer and dryer set, the WM8500HVA and DLGX8501V, use NFC to update the appliances’ programming with new wash and dry cycles. Users can download the cycles from LG’s Web site onto their smartphones and then tap an NFC tag on the appliance to upload the cycle to the washer or dryer.

The NFC-enabled appliances are nothing new. At last year’s CES, LG’s home appliance division introduced its first NFC functionality, putting NFC tags on a refrigerator, oven and washer and dryer. Users could tap to register the appliances for warranty and to add them to LG’s Smart Control Android app. Within the app, consumers could remotely adjust controls on the smart appliances, such as setting a cooking mode on the oven, and get information from them, such as an inventory of items in the refrigerator.

Last year, LG also demonstrated its previously released robotic vacuum cleaner, Hom-Bot, which automatically vacuums floors using sensors and cameras. It showed the unit with an NFC tag and said users could tap before they leave the house to turn the unit on or off, though it’s not clear LG has actually put this on the market.

LG has also shown NFC-enabled lighting. As with the other appliances, consumers could control settings remotely, via Wi-Fi.

This year, NXP Semiconductors and Germany-based electronics company EnOcean introduced a wireless home-lighting system whose control switch can be connected to a home network. Users plug a gateway device into their home Wi-Fi routers, then tap a smartphone on the gateway to collect network information needed for connectivity. Tapping the smartphone on the EnOcean control switch would transfer that information and complete the connection process.