Near Field Communication, or NFC, is expected to really take off in 2011, and rumor has it that the next iterations of the iPad and iPhone will accommodate NFC technology. The technology has recently been included in the Google Nexus S, but we’ve yet to see it in real action or in newer handsets. NFC will allow payments and other transactions to be made simply by waving your mobile phone by a receiver – similar to waving your credit or debit card at a sensor.
Given the rapid adoption of the iPad and iPhone, it makes sense that the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 would include NFC technology even though merchants and other businesses haven’t fully adopted it yet. The new technology is expected to hit places like restaurants, coffee shops, subways and more. It will also give Apple a means of tapping a huge market according to Bloomberg as reported by TiPB:
The main goal for Apple would be to get a piece of the $6.2 trillion Americans spend each year on goods and services, Crone said. Today, the company pays credit-card processing fees on every purchase from iTunes. By encouraging consumers to use cheaper methods — such as tapping their bank accounts directly, which is how many purchases are made via PayPal — Apple could cut its own costs and those of retailers selling Apple products.
Apple is reportedly also updating iTunes to support this new technology, and is working on getting NFC-related deals through iAds for consumers. By doing so, it will undoubtedly boost the adoption of the near-field tech and make purchases and transactions so much easier. It’ll also make our impulsive purchases more frequent as Apple levels a whole new landscape or market all over again.
Would you make more purchases and transactions with an NFC-capable iPhone on items you might have others passed on? What if those transactions earned you points or other discounts?
[Via: TiPB]