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New Apple patent reveals NFC enabled iPhone [And iPod Touch, iMac, Apple TV and Apple Remote]

Categories: Apple, iPhone, Patents
By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 12:25 AM

See that funky looking N in the top left hand corner of that iPhone? That’s the official NFC, now known as N-Mark, logo.

Apple patent 20,100,082,784, which was filed in September 2008 and published last week, is called “System and method for simplified resource sharing” and that’s exactly what NFC enables. When two NFC devices touch, they immediately form a connection and can start transferring data. No more fumbling around with business cards at conferences and meetings, no more having to ask someone for their phone number, no more having to type a word or phrase into a Google search box or lining up your camera, then waiting, to scan a barcode, but the most kick-ass use of NFC is as a payment method.

People in Japan have been using NFC enabled devices for years now, and they can pay for practically anything using nothing but their mobile phone. Some of the newer apartments even have NFC enabled door locks, so you can literally leave the house with nothing but your mobile phone and some sort of photo identification and have the burden of remembering where your keys and wallet are removed from your consciousness.

Anyway, back to this Apple patent, this isn’t just for the iPhone, this is for practically all Apple products. Check out some more images after the jump.

There are even more images, such as an iPhone pairing with a projector and XBOX 360. If you’d like to see those, read the whole 93 page patent: 1.3 MB PDF

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • Ian Richardson

    Anyone who believes that Apple would have another brand logo on their devices as pictured above is delusional.

    They may use the technology (and it sounds cool) but what’s with the fictional drawings? And what’s the point of having NFC on an Apple TV? Are we going to be transferring videos from our iPhones to the Apple TV wirelessly? No, we’re not. It takes too long and it’s completely not Apple’s M.O.

  • Stephen

    Generic patents are obviously trying to take credit for something being used prior to filing are a legal ploy to allow lawyers extort money from companies already implementing a known standard.

    “Bad Apple”

  • Ian Richardson

    This is bogus. There’s no way that Apple would have a joypad or that fugly Windoze keyboard in one of their patent applications. It’s laughable.