Google has been a faithful supporter of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, and this feature might not stay exclusive to the Search Giant’s Android devices! The Chromium OS team has recently started working on NFC support for Chrome OS devices. This means our Chromebooks will soon be able to take advantage of all those cool features we currently enjoy with our smartphones and tablets.

Chromium OS NFC Daemon functions:

Runs with enough permission to access the NFC device.

Provides D-Bus service for Chrome to access NFC functions.

Maintains a callback function table so that all NFC requests/events can be dispatched to right process.

Provides default launcher to work with other system component, for example, a WiFi zero-config passive card can request shill to setup WiFi connection.

The project continues to be in its early stages, but it’s still exciting to see this technology coming to Chrome OS. The source code is already available if you want to go check it out.

What could Chrome OS users use NFC for, though? You might not want to pull out your Chromebook to pay at a convenience store with Google Wallet, but NFC can open many possibilities to Chrome OS. I would love to be able to send photos and other files to my Chromebook via NFC, for example. Maybe program an NFC tag in your office to turn WiFi on/off?

As with mobile, the possibilities are endless. So tell us, what would you do if your Chromebook had NFC?

[Chromium via François Beaufort]