The Java Contactless Communication API (JSR 257) enables mobile devices to
communicate via short-range wireless means, such as RFID, infrared light, or
even Bluetooth, and presents such devices via a simple, homogeneous interface
to Java applications. This article explains the role of the Java Contactless
Communication API in the emerging field of near-field communications, and
provides an example of reading data from any contactless target, including an
RFID tag.
In his keynote address at the 2005 MIT Emerging Media Conference, Sun
co-founder-cum-venture capitalist Bill Joy recounted his theory of the Six
Webs[1]. Conceived over ten years
ago, Joy's idea encourages us to look beyond Web browsers when thinking about
the Web's future. In Joy's classification, the Web you are using to read this
article is only one of six manifestations of the Web. That "near Web" requires
you to sit at a computer, fire up a Web browser or email program, and then let
those desktop applications bring content from the Web to your computer.
The near-Web is already fairly well-understood, and its key players have
marked their territories in recent years. The remaining five Webs, however,
hold enormous opportunities in Joy's opinion, having already started life in
embryonic form. Those opportunities lie in the following areas:
The Far Web: This is the part of the Web that stores
content you access from entertainment devices, such as large-screen TVs via
remote control. Precursors of the Far Web are interactive video games; in the
future, think personalized, streaming content coming to a wide-screen in your
living room.
The Here Web: Instead of forcing you to seek out a
network-connected computer to bring information near you, the Here Web allows
you to connect anywhere, any time. Mushrooming wireless hotspots, in-flight
Internet access, and Web access from your cell phone are just early signs of
this Web's potentials.
The Weird Web: While the traditional, "near Web" is mostly
about communication via HTML links and mouse clicks, the weird Web allows
content access via voice instead of keyboard and mouse. You can ask this Web to
fetch some content for you, and it will allow you to contact someone instantly.
Voice-over-IP is one example of the Weird Web, but more intelligent
applications will emerge on top of VOIP. Think Skype on steroids.
The B2B Web: You can already glimpse this Web in embryonic
form in the burgeoning business-to-business Web exchanges. Except that you
can't really "glimpse" these exchanges, because they have no interface to the
consumer. They're sort of the anti-Amazon.com. Instead of pleasing consumers,
they are designed to facilitate pure business-to-business interactions that, in
the future, will involve less and less human intervention.
The D2D Web: While the B2B Web allows business systems to
communicate, the D2D Web provides a way for devices to interact. That assumes
that devices are embedded into everything from the wall of your room to the
walls of your arteries. These devices will communicate through wireless means,
and form intelligent networks to support activities such as controlling a
building's temperature or monitoring your blood pressure. Sensor networks and
Radio-Frequency Identification Systems (RFID) are just a few early examples of
this Web.
