Microsoft patents an NFC reader of its own

22 Sep 2015

Steve Wright

Skylanders. Disney Infinity. Amiibo. The upcoming LEGO Dimensions. Near-field communication (NFC) is big right now, and it appears Microsoft may want a piece of the action.

TechInsider is reporting that Microsoft has recently filed a patent for their own version of an NFC reader.

Microsoft’s device appears to be an accessory consisting of a connecting element and two or more re-arrangeable smart beads, each of which has its own ID and data storage. You can see an image of the device above.

We’ll see if this makes its way to Windows PC or Xbox as some sort of gaming feature.

TagsMicrosoft

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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Stevivor.com, the country’s leading independent video games outlet. Steve arrived in Australia back in 2001 on what was meant to be a three-month working holiday before deciding to emigrate and, eventually, becoming a citizen.

Stevivor is a combination of ‘Steve’ and ‘Survivor’, which made more sense back in 2001 when Jeff Probst was up in Queensland. The site started as Steve’s travel blog before transitioning over into video games.

Aside from video games, Steve has interests in hockey and Star Trek, playing the former and helping to cover video games about the latter on TrekMovie.com. By day, Steve works as the communications manager of the peak body representing Victorians as they age.