If, like me, you thought that NFC-pioneer Nokia's opening salvo in this sphere was the C7, then think again. Over at Nokia Conversations there's a really handy illustrated chronology of all the company's NFC-equipped phones and experiments, dating back to 2004 and carrying on right up to the Symbian-powered 808 Pureview and the Windows Phone-powered Lumia 610 NFC. Nicely done.

From the piece:

Nokia 6131 NFC – 2007

This was the first phone to have ever been created with NFC technology built in. This flip (clam shell) phone was able to interact with other NFC equipment right out of the box. With the Nokia 6131 NFC, users were able to make purchases, access mobile services, or even use their phone as a travel ticket.

First USA usage of the Nokia 6131 NFC was carried out in New York with Citi, MasterCard and AT&T. While at the same time in in several cities across China, the Nokia 3220 with NFC Shell and the 6131 NFC were being used for ticketing and payment systems.

Back in Europe, one of the major Austrian mobile networks, Mobilkom started selling the Nokia 6131 NFC. Users could expect to be able to pay for items, use their phone as a ticket on travel systems and pay for parking in car parks just by tapping their phone against a reader.

In London from late 2007 heading into 2008, 500 Londoners were given a Nokia 6131 NFC that enabled them to use their phone as an Oyster Card on the travel network and also pay for items as if the phone was a debit card.