Isis to hit Austin, Texas during the first half of 2012

In a few short days the first half of 2011 will come to a close and if you had to ask us about one particular technology that dominated the mobile landscape during that time, we’d probably say dual core smartphones. For the second half of this year we expect Android tablets to be the talk of the town. Now what about Near Field Communication (NFC), which many people have said will skyrocket in adoption? Earlier this year Google announced Google Wallet, a system that will let consumers pay for goods and services using their mobile phone instead of cash or a credit card, but when it launches later this year it’ll only be compatible with 1 device, the Nexus S 4G, on 1 operator, Sprint, and you can only use one bank, Citibank. We’ll see if that ecosystem grows, but for now we’ve got more confidence in Isis taking off than Google Wallet, at least in the United States.

Isis is a joint venture setup by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon with the same goals as Google Wallet, but instead it’s backed by the people who actually sell the devices that you’ll one day use to pay for your morning coffee. While their business model isn’t yet known, we can only imagine that they’re looking for a cut of each transaction, regardless of how minuscule said cut is, multiplied by the amount of purchases people make and it can add up to be a significant revenue generator. The first Isis trials are set to take place in Salt Lake City during the first half of 2012 and now Isis has said that Austin, Texas will be one of the first markets to get Isis, again during the first half of 2012.

We look forward to seeing the progress Isis will make, and what other announcements are likely to take place in the mobile payment space, especially from Apple.