Bloomberg reported this week that Apple Inc. is working on Near Field Communication (NFC) for the iPhone and iPad that could turn these devices into payment machines -- perhaps even allowing buyers to pay using their iTunes gift card balances.
NFC could be one of the most intriguing mobile technologies available today, one that can take a phone and enable you to make a payment by waving it near or touching it against a terminal.
A PC World article from last fall defined NFC as "a short-range wireless technology that, for example, can be used to make contactless payments." The article also pointed out there are still obstacles to widespread adoption, including getting merchants to install NFC readers, which could take time.
There is currently a dearth of supported NFC-enabled phones, although this is changing, as Internet Evolution ThinkerNetter Alan Reiter pointed out in November 2010. Google's Android OS has NFC support today, and if Apple gets on board, it will only increase usage.
Indeed, a survey conducted by technology market intelligence firm iSuppli Corp. predicts that by 2014, 220 million cellphones will be NFC-enabled, or approximately 13 percent of all phones sold. And that number could be conservative if Google and Apple get into it in a big way.
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