So i was working on a project that involved using these little guys
http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Hobby-Neodymium-Magnets-3x1-5mm/dp/B0065O63BK
Without even thinking about it i palmed one with my ring hand and the magnet attached itself to my ring. My first thought was "Titanium isn't ferrous" my second though was "Oh shit!"
I've checked that ring tag with every phone i could get my hands on and have confirmed its dead now.

Allow me to serve as a warning to others: these tags appear to be rather sensitive to magnets so make sure you take them off if you are working with any.

So i was working on a project that involved using these little guys
http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Hobby-Neodymium-Magnets-3x1-5mm/dp/B0065O63BK
Without even thinking about it i palmed one with my ring hand and the magnet attached itself to my ring. My first thought was "Titanium isn't ferrous" my second though was "Oh shit!"
I've checked that ring tag with every phone i could get my hands on and have confirmed its dead now.

Allow me to serve as a warning to others: these tags appear to be rather sensitive to magnets so make sure you take them off if you are working with any.

standard black for the small one and silver for the large one.

I've tried a host of different phones and tables with the ring now. none of them do very well.
With my phone its still rather hard to read. I find that the ring has to be perfectly flat against the phone to read. I also have to leave it there a while before it picks up. It seems to help if i slowly move it left or right on the sweetspot if it hasn't picked up after about 3 seconds. If the ring is tilted in any way it doesn't read at all.
Ironically the larger tag is the hardest for any of the phones i've tried to read. The smaller tag picks up easier, which is not something i expected.
It seems that when i power cycle the phone it picks up the ring easier when it's presented right after the power cycle. Maybe this is just some kind of placebo or psychosomatic/magical thinking. It just seems like the ring can be held a bit farther away and at an angle for that first read right after the power cycle. Maybe there is some kind of power saving feature that android kicks in a few seconds after reboot that turns down the power to the nfc antenna. Maybe this power saving feature it's not in effect for a few seconds after reboot. Maybe, i'm just crazy...

I really need to order an alpha ring to see if that will read better. After trying this ring with all the devices i have i will bet that an alpha ring will be the best choice for most people.

i can also vouch that the regular ring doesn't pick up on the Note3.
I found another sweet spot. Its almost right on the logo on the leather case Paulguy's pic

I took the ring and tag to work with me today. I have a few coworkers who really want one of these and will be happy to help test it.
So far two people have tested it with their Galaxy S4s. We found out there was not hotspot data for the S4. We've fixed that little problem :mrgreen:
Looks like each phone is unique in how it reads. One S4 does well with the ring, the other doesn't but douse have a bit longer read range for the loose tag than the other one.
We did find that holding the ring to the Nexus for a few seconds on the sweet spot gets it to read more consistently. However, even then, it's not very reliable. Given what I've learned with the two S4s it could just be an issue with my phone.
I still suspect an alfa ring would do a lot better on the Nexus.
If you are interested, I'll try the ring with some more phones at lunch and see how they do compared to the Nexus and let you know. Like i said, there are quite a few people here who have been waiting to see how this works. I should have plenty of willing testers.

I used the included inlay and the read/write app several time to confirm the locations that work best. I also placed the stickers.
The phone works brilliantly with the loose inlay. Its rather poor with the ring itself. I've powered cycled several times now and can't get the ring to pick up on either tag. Its pretty strange.
I got it to read the actual ring maybe 4 times total and now nothing...

I haven't placed the stickers on the phone as i use a case and am testing it without the case on for now. I'll be placing the stickers once i can get it to read the ring consistently.
After multiple power cycles of the phone i finally got it to read the ring again. I think it may be a problem with my phone. It seems to only ready once per power cycle :cry:
From a security point i did find a small hole:
After power cycling android reverts back to the standard unlock for me. i was able to get into the settings > apps > nfc unlock section and almost disable the unlock app before the screen was locked by the app again. If i had practiced it a few more times i think i could have disabled the app before it relocked the phone.

i got my ring yesterday and set it up tonight.
i got the regular ring for use with the n4. [b:q9wjnf6r]I think you need an alpha ring for the nexus4!!![/b:q9wjnf6r]
With my ring reading is inconstant at best. I'm currently locked out of my phone as i didn' think to set a backup password and i can't get my ring to scan again. It worked the first time but not the second...