If 3D was the tech of 2010 then I predict NFC will be the big-Daddy of the New Year. Over the last couple of months we've heard rumblings of NFC emerging on various handsets such as those from Nokia's 'MeeGo range'.
Not one to be left out Google have jumped on board and acquired a low-profile payments firm Zetawire, in order to support their Near Field Communication ambitions.
The deal actually took place in August but has just been uncovered by analysts at the 451 group.The terms of the deal are yet to be revealed, but according to a patent filing from the payments company, they will be specialising in "mobile banking, advertising, identity management, credit card and mobile coupon transaction processing using NFC." Which gives you a pretty good idea what Google are up to.
So far, big G have only revealed its plans for an NFC-enabled Hotpot system, allowing users to tag themselves and gather business information by swiping their Android 2.3 equipped handset over Google Places tags.
But by the looks of it we will soon be able to use Android smartphones (such as the Nexus S) to make day-to-day payments.
Yesterday it was revealed that the Google Nexus S is already capable of NFC support, which once activated, would allow the handset to be used both for reading, and transmitting.
Exciting times. So will the iPhone 5 be NFC ready?
What do you think?
Source: dialtosave