The development of apps for new Android smartphones seems to have begun. A restaurant-couponing app has been developed for a company in Greenwich, Connecticut, in the States, and it appears to be the first new app in the Android Market store. It’s pretty cool, too.

The “Enable Table” app uses the tag-reading capabilities of the Android smartphone’s Nexus S operating system. Once merchants become equipped for the NFC technology, diners will be able to receive electronic coupons on their smartphones after they tap an NFC tag embedded in the back of a guest-check holder, for instance, with coupons good for their next visit to the restaurant, thus encouraging repeat business and rewarding it with discounts.

It’s just one of many to come, but this first new app for the Android smartphones about to flood the market gives you a very clear idea of how the NFC technology can be used by consumers to save money, and by businesses to reward consumer loyalty.

There’s a lot more to come, so stay tuned.

What’s new in NFC?  Near field communication? 

Well, In-store mobile promotions are the most anticipated uses for NFC tags.  Inside Secure, an NFC chip supplier, is supporting a new category of low-cost RFID tags that could be used in place of standard tags to send data to NFC smartphones.

These tags, called “RF barcodes”, could be attached as “smart labels” to product packages and to smart posters in retail stores that would enable shoppers to receive product details, promotional offers, coupons, loyalty points and nutritional information (for food products)
simply by tapping their NFC smartphones on the tags.

It’s pretty amazing all of the ways that NFC technology can be used to deliver coupons to shoppers electronically, and redeemed simply by tapping smartphones to tag readers, or even by tapping smartphones to posters or products on the shelves.

Reward Yourself and Molo Rewards will help Ireland shoppers avail themselves of these advances, and all you have to do is register and shop.