Manufacturers chose not to implement it in devices, Microsoft says

Dec 10, 2011 15:51 GMT  ·  By

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, the latest flavor of Microsoft’s mobile operating system, comes with support for NFC technology, the company has confirmed recently.

NFC (Near Field Communication) can provide users with the ability to easily share content between devices through simply touching them.

It can also offer them the option of new mobile payment features, and connectivity with additional devices that also feature support for the technology.

Will Coleman, developer evangelist and product manager at Microsoft UK, told TechRadar that Mango, the latest release of Microsoft’s OS, provides support for all that, but that no mobile phone maker has included the capabilities in handsets until now.

"As far as I'm aware, NFC is supported by [Windows Phone], but needs to be enabled by the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). So, if any OEM wants to enable it, that can be done by all means."

"Think it's about just about timing, in the not too distant future there are some exciting things that will be coming through with NFC from Microsoft."

There is no explanation on why handset vendors chose to leave the feature out of their recently released mobile phones, though changes are that the OS might have to strengthen the security capabilities that revolve around this technology.

However, Nokia seems to have already offered a response on the matter, suggesting that it did not have time to implement NFC inside its first Windows Phone devices.

"Obviously there's no NFC on our launch devices, so it's difficult to comment too much on that, but the main divisions between secure and non-secure [NFC] mean there's bags of opportunity for the technology [on our phones] especially with so many operators launching services,” Keith Varty, head of apps and partnerships for Nokia, reportedly stated.

Previously, Nokia said that it planned the release of NFC-enabled Windows Phones on the US market, and it appears that we’re moving closer to when that would happen.