Android 4.1 devices work with NFC-enabled speakers and headsets
by Volker Weber
Several Android devices, starting with the Nexus S, have had NFC hardware all along. But "Android Beam", the software introduced in 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), was unable to pair the Android devices to NFC-enabled speakers or headsets. With 4.1 (Jelly Bean) you can now tap the phone on the speaker to transfer the audio output, and tap again to get it back. The Nokia 360 pictured above can act as a stereo pair. Touch the left channel and both will play your audio.
I can do the same with my BlackBerry 7.1 phones, the Nokia N9 and the PureView. It's actually really simple. The phone reads the tag which says connect/disconnect here over Bluetooth. Welcome to the club, Android.
