Nokia is one of the true pioneers of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, and it's bringing those skills to the fore in a big way in Symbian Belle. Let's check out part of Belle's NFC appeal, namely the Tap to Share function.

There's no question that after years of helping shape the NFC industry, Nokia is now putting that experience to good use in Symbian Belle, which has NFC integration as one of its headline features.

Is NFC the real highlight of Symbian Belle?

All three of the debut Symbian Belle handsets we've been introduced to so far – the Nokia 600, Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 – have NFC abilities hardwired right in.

This means we can look forward to a massive jump in the number of Nokia smartphone users tapping into NFC services every day, and Nokia has done its part in giving them something to enjoy by setting up the NFC Hub, a service which helps promote the use of NFC technology in marketing and advertising to make it easier for businesses and individuals to get their message across in an innovative way.

But as part of Symbian Belle itself, Nokia has also developed some unique technologies that bring NFC's potential back home to basics. Tap to Share is one such example, which uses NFC to let compatible devices make a connection with each other simply by tapping them together.

Connection is instant, and the beautiful simplicity of the technology makes things like sharing a photo with a friend a near-effortless task.

That's just one example of how Tap to Share could be used – another is in multiplayer gaming, where a simple tap of your phone could share unique gaming levels or high-score info with a friend, or even get things set up for some multiplayer gaming action, with hardly any effort required on your part.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Given that we haven't yet had a chance to get to grips with Symbian Belle, we're not sure yet what other NFC-based Tap to Share tricks Nokia has included on board, and it's a feature that will only grow in usefulness as NFC's uptake increases, meaning it should only develop from here.

But it's certainly looking good so far from we're standing. How about you – what to do think of Tap to Share? Is it the kind of feature that has you strongly considering investing in a Symbian Belle handsets? Let us know in the Comments below.