TecTile

TecTile was a type of NFC (Near Field Communication) tag produced and marketed by Nokia. These small, programmable stickers could be affixed to various surfaces and encoded with specific actions or information. When an NFC-enabled device, such as a smartphone, was tapped against a TecTile, it would trigger the programmed action.

TecTiles were primarily used for convenience and automation. Users could program them to perform tasks such as launching applications, turning on Wi-Fi, connecting to Bluetooth devices, making phone calls, sending text messages, changing phone settings (like volume or brightness), opening web pages, checking in on social media, or displaying contact information.

The tiles were designed to be reusable; their programming could be overwritten and changed as needed. They relied on the NFC capabilities of the device reading them and a corresponding application, often provided by Nokia (though third-party NFC task launcher apps were also compatible), to interpret the tag data and execute the programmed instructions.

While initially designed for Nokia devices, TecTiles could be used with any NFC-enabled smartphone or tablet compatible with the appropriate NFC task launcher software. They represented an early example of using NFC technology to simplify everyday tasks and create context-aware interactions with mobile devices.