NFC

If you enjoy building or tinkering with electronics, the Kode Dot pocket-sized creator tool or electronics multitool or whatever else you want to call it can help you get wildly creative with your projects, and make it a lot easier to test them.

Anyone who uses a smartphone will be familiar with NFC technology, which is used for such things as contactless payments. To demonstrate the versatility of the technology when combined with printed circuitry, Prelonic has created the Paper Piano.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have developed a novel, high-tech form of fabric that foreshadows a future where items of clothing can"talk" to one another, and purchases might be made with a high-five or wave of the arm.

Checking your bike's tire pressure can be a fiddly process, which is why there are now valve stem attachments that let you check it with your smartphone. The just-announced PSIcle sensor makes things even easier, as it doesn't require a battery.

Austrian manufacturer Tubolito is already known for its tough, lightweight plastic bicycle inner tubes. Now, the company has added a chip to one model, which allows users to check their tire pressure using an app.

When it comes to tracking an athlete's performance, a single wearable sensor doesn't always provide much information, yet multiple hard-wired sensors restrict movement. That's a where a new sensor suit comes in – and it's powered by a smartphone.

​Most of us are guilty of hitting the snooze bar on our alarm clocks and going back to sleep, which is why we've seen devices that won't stop ringing until they're taken to a remotely-located docking station. EzLarm takes a cheaper and simpler approach, utilizing a free app and an inexpensive tag.

You know the scenario: a group of friends and family come to visit, and they all want to get on your Wi-Fi network, which means several tedious minutes of reading out the lengthy passcode for your network. That's a problem that the new Wi-Fi Porter could solve.

The Token smart ring packs NFC and Bluetooth connectivity and is designed to take the place of your credit card, house and car keys, workplace access card and even laptop password.

A few years ago, Sony released a business-focused e-paper tablet, and now the company has updated the device with higher resolution, bigger memory, NFC and Bluetooth connectivity, a new pen-friendly screen and a few bonus workflow features.

Sydney startup Inamo has developed the Curl, a wearable, waterproof device containing a prepaid NFC chip that can bring tap-and-go payments to any regular watch, fitness tracker or piece of jewelry.

Looking to take on-skin technology beyond the medical monitoring arena, Microsoft Research and MIT are exploring the potential for functional temporary tattoos made from gold leaf that offer input, display and wireless communications capabilities, while looking fabulous.