NFC (Near Field Communication) may have taken its sweet time to become a common feature in Android phones, but it is finally here. Nearly every Android device released in the last year has NFC as a standard feature. It is much more useful than you think and it is made to be.

NFC is generally associated with transferring files between Android devices and for making payments at any shop by just a simple tap or bump of your phone, at least in the United States. However, with the help of NFC tags, you can automate a lot of tasks that you do daily on your phone.

Here is how you can have some fun with NFC tags and your NFC equipped Android device.

With the increasing use of NFC, it’s only natural that companies want to promote their NFC-enabled products, as much as possible. Sony is the latest company to jump on the bandwagon, publishing its “With a Touch/First Touch” commercial on YouTube and on selected TV broadcasting channels.

On Friday evening, Samsung announced the availability of its second generation TecTiles NFC tags. TecTiles are tiny writable NFC tags, that can be programmed to trigger various actions on a smartphone, and now they’re compatible with the Galaxy S4.

Following its mammoth I/O keynote yesterday, which saw a number of services updated and new ones introduced, Google has added support for a number of additional devices — including the latest flagships from Samsung and HTC — to its Google Wallet app for Android.

Samsung Galaxy S III users on T-Mobile USA can look forward to a new Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update today, which introduces a whole host of new features and improvements, including Multi-Window and new apps.