Smartrac has announced that Google's Edition series of hard cases, first unveiled in May 2015 for its Nexus 6 smartphone and other selected models, contain Smartrac Near Field Communication (NFC) RFID tags that enable the cases to interact with the phones.

The Skrillex Live Case

The Skrillex Live Case has an integrated Smartrac Circus NFC tag, which ensures that the phone knows exactly which case was put on and when, and downloads and installs wallpapers and content that match the case design, according to Smartrac. Sonny Moore, the producer and DJ better known as "Skrillex, Baron of Bangarang," provided ideas for the artwork. Smartrac partnerCellotape Smart Products contributed to the design and manufacturing of an on-demand NFC shortcut button that utilizes the Smartrac tag. The shortcut button provides users with one-touch access to information or apps they want. For example, Google explains, the button can be set to launch the phone's camera, open any apps or visit Skrillex's website. The NFC technology also enables live wallpaper that extends the case design onto the screen and updates throughout the course of the day, showing images of the Earth shot from the stratosphere. At night, it changes to display constellations visible from the user's current location.

Each case is individually numbered, and cases have been designed for Google's Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 phones, as well as Samsung's Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 4 models, according to Smartrac. The new Edition Line cases are available in limited quantities via the Google Store.