Mopius, developers of the NFC Interactor app, which we wrote about last month, has released two NFC related utility apps. The first, NFCsms, enables Windows Phone to send SMS messages from NFC tags (i.e. triggered by tapping on an NFC tag). The second, NearSpeak, allows you to record voice message, which the app converts to text and writes to a NFC tag.

NFCsms is based on a relatively widely used standard, so, in a sense can be seen as extending as the Windows Phone platform. A common use case of NFC tags is to trigger sending a message, for example to request more information or to purchase a public transportation ticket, and this app means this will now work seamlessly on Windows Phone.

By contrast, NearSpeak is based on a proprietary system, so is perhaps less useful, but is still an interesting technology demonstrator. One of the interesting secondary elements is the inclusion of an optional translation service. This is a premium feature, which is activated via an In App purchase, because it uses a pay-per use web based translation service.

NFCsms app description:

Enables Windows Phone 8 to send SMS messages from Near Field Communication (NFC) tags.

NFCsms extends Windows Phone to enable this use case. When tapping an SMS tag, NFCsms opens the phone's messaging app and forwards the data from the tag. You can then review and send the message.

NFCsms can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Store for free. 
   

NearSpeak app description:

Record voice messages and store them on Near Field Communication (NFC) tags! Leave a message for your partner, a reminder for yourself, or create a public social experiment. As an optional premium feature, NearSpeak automatically translates your spoken messages to different languages.

Anyone who taps the NFC tags with a Windows Phone 8 device will then be able to listen to the phone speaking your messages.

NearSpeak can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Store for free.