The Gala Ring Is A Business Card On Your Finger

NFC, or near-field communications, is one of those features that everyone seems really excited about, but nobody is quite sure how to effectively use. While apps like Bump and Google Wallet focus on payments, others have a more… subtle way of using the NFC chip.

A Business Card On Your Finger

Specifically, the NFC GalaRing will store pretty much anything you want on it, and upload it automatically to phones. The example the company uses is your phone number and business address, but in theory, you can cram anything on there that you’ve got the room for, meaning you could upload contacts and other items to people’s phones. It’s a neat idea, but it does have a few limits.

The Look Stays

First of all, if you want anything other than titanium and leather, well, tough; the ring only comes in one style. It’s also pretty chunky as rings go; it seems designed for a man, which is fine, but a smaller version for women’s fashion and guys who have tinier hands would also be a nice touch.

Also, it’s limited to Android phones that support NFC functionality, right now. This is partially because Apple will admit Google had a good idea the day Hell freezes over, then thaws, and then freezes over again; NFC will only come to the iPhone kicking and screaming. But it may give you pause if you’re hoping to just use it with every single phone you come across.

Digits On Your Digits

Still, in a time when handing people tiny slices of dead tree with your phone number burned on it seems kind of stupid, the GalaRing seems like a much better and more practical solution. So, if you’re sick of buying business cards, this will probably be worth the $30 you spend, and hey, it’s a tax write-off, right?