NFC is not ahead of the game.
It's boring old legacy tech.
That's why banks like it though.
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Another Report Suggests NFC Support for iPhone 6, Chip to Be Provided by NXP
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It's boring old legacy tech.
That's why banks like it though.
I think you haven't been looking very closely. Pretty much any UK supermarket credit card terminal these days will have it. Most of them have that little "wave" symbol on them and if you have a credit or debit card with that you just wave it over. Thats NFC.
Youll also find it in M&S, JOhn Lewis and I woudl guess most stores these days. A quick google shows multiple stories back in 2011/2 for plan to roll it out at McDonalds, Tesco and a host of other nationwide retailers rolling out so i guess they are all out by now.
Here's the thing. A card that does NFC has no battery. But it has a computer on it to do all the things needed to talk to the payment terminal. This computer is powered, through NFC, by the payment terminal. The same sort of thing can charge a battery. Apple has a patent for that.
Where did I say NFC was ahead of the game? What game is NFC even supposed to be ahead of?
I find it odd that Apple will announce a new service that taps on a feature which only their latest phone will have.
Consider Handoff and continuity, 2 features in ios8 and Yosemite which tap on Bluetooth, a feature which has been in every iPhone since the 4s. Apple was willing to wait until the majority of their users had a device equipped with said feature before "flicking the switch" and enabling it.
Let's assume the iPhone6 has NFC. This means that the iPhone 4s to 5s don't, and won't be able to take advantage of any new mobile payment initiative or NFC-linked accessory. It will well be another 2-3 years before NFC adoption in iOS devices reaches that critical mass necessary to make supporting it worthwhile.
It also doesn't seem very "Apple" to push for a technology which promises to benefit their rivals more than themselves.
Consider Handoff and continuity, 2 features in ios8 and Yosemite which tap on Bluetooth, a feature which has been in every iPhone since the 4s. Apple was willing to wait until the majority of their users had a device equipped with said feature before "flicking the switch" and enabling it.
Let's assume the iPhone6 has NFC. This means that the iPhone 4s to 5s don't, and won't be able to take advantage of any new mobile payment initiative or NFC-linked accessory. It will well be another 2-3 years before NFC adoption in iOS devices reaches that critical mass necessary to make supporting it worthwhile.
It also doesn't seem very "Apple" to push for a technology which promises to benefit their rivals more than themselves.
In the end, the possibility that:
1. Japanese and South Korean cellphone companies want NFC so it could work with mobile payment systems like the Rakuten Edy and Mobile Suica in Japan and Olleh Touch in South Korea.
2. Apple may have signed a major mobile payments deal with China UnionPay (which requires the use of NFC mobile payment terminals).
...is the reason why Apple--despite the fact it hoped mobile payments could be done using Bluetooth 4.0 (LE)--incorporated NFC into the iPhone 6 models.
1. Japanese and South Korean cellphone companies want NFC so it could work with mobile payment systems like the Rakuten Edy and Mobile Suica in Japan and Olleh Touch in South Korea.
2. Apple may have signed a major mobile payments deal with China UnionPay (which requires the use of NFC mobile payment terminals).
...is the reason why Apple--despite the fact it hoped mobile payments could be done using Bluetooth 4.0 (LE)--incorporated NFC into the iPhone 6 models.
Where did I say NFC was ahead of the game? What game is NFC even supposed to be ahead of?
Apple would not be ahead of the game if it would have done NFC earlier.
NFC is old legacy tech.
The credit card companies are finally catching up to this old legacy tech.
If Apple wants to do mobile payments it has to join the laggards.
Yes it would. If Apple would have been one of the first smartphone makers to include NFC, they would have been ahead of the game. I would have been able to use NFC with my iPhone and we wouldn't be having this conversation on how they're now behind in including it.
I don't care if NFC is old "legacy" tech. (BTW, it isn't legacy, NFC adoption has skyrocketed over the past few years). I use it, my friends use it, many companies use it, I have a set of wireless speakers that use it. And Apple is pretty much one of the last to adopt it. My only guess is because the US haven't really adopted it either, which is why many users here are confused as to why NFC is so important.
Many new small businesses use an iPad with Square as their Point Of Purchase device.
Now with NFC in the iPhone (and most likely added to iPad), you will wave your device across their device and have a nice day.
Square will be pissed...
Now with NFC in the iPhone (and most likely added to iPad), you will wave your device across their device and have a nice day.
Square will be pissed...
The party doesn't start till Apple shows up have some respect!
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If you ever try to pair a beats pill for your iPhone it's very frustrating it has gotten to the point where I just plug in the cordExcuse the dumb question, but what's the point of having NFC on a wireless speaker?
Agreed. Everyone focuses so hard on payments they miss the other applications that are possible.
Bluetooth pairing?
File sharing?
HomeKit?
Person to person payments?
Check-ins? (Yelp, 4square, college classes)
Airline checkins?
Digital business cards?
There was no game with NFC to be ahead of. NFC is some reheated leftovers from old RFID standards, yesterday's solution for yesterday's problems. PayPal, Square and Groupon are all going to do mobile payments, without NFC. They are the ones ahead of the game.
NFC adoption has not "skyrocketed" over the past years. I've been making NFC demos for the boss for years because "customers want it". So far nothing but talk.
Nice that you and your friends use it, but Apple is a global player, and NFC is only a thing in Japan and Korea. Adoption in the US is just now ramping up. UK is starting to get serious. Europe is moving too. Without some traction in mobile payments NFC was just another BlueRay for apple. Something to skip.
Magnetic card is already planned for replacement in October 2015. Chip & PIN is the replacement. If nearly everyone who has a magnetic swipe reader has to replace it, might as well get a model that includes NFC.
These are all things Bluetooth 4 (which includes Bluetooth LE) can do better. Bluetooth LE could be better for payments too, except it takes half a decade for credit card companies and banks to feel comfortable enough with technology to use it. BLE is too new, it's not on their radar.Agreed. Everyone focuses so hard on payments they miss the other applications that are possible.
Bluetooth pairing?
File sharing?
HomeKit?
Person to person payments?
Check-ins? (Yelp, 4square, college classes)
Airline checkins?
Digital business cards?
Can't be ahead of the game when many people are not playing. Especially now with NFC is already going on 10 years. In many cases Apple waits till certain markets get more mature.
Its skyrocketing for the few countries that use NFC extensively, not so for the rest of the world that don't use it.
Where did I say NFC was ahead of the game? What game is NFC even supposed to be ahead of?
Please don't be purposefully disingenuous or "play stupid", you QUITE CLEARLY were pretending like NFC is some hugely popular mobile phone party that everybody else but Apple is happily attending.
That is completely false.
NFC may be a technology that is used in a limited capacity, primarily in CARDS (you know, as opposed to mobile phones), but it certainly has NOT created a "leave your wallet at home" society by any high level of adoption whatsoever. So far Samsung Android smartphones are NOT being used heavily to make NFC payments, nor are Motorola Android phones, HTC Android phones, Blackberry phones, Nokia Windows phones, et al.
So, in a nutshell- NOBODY is at this "party", lol. Sounds like Apple is just now starting to put up decorations & the party will start soon. Mind you, I'm talking about paying using NFC on mobile, not just NFC in general- im aware that party is in middling swing. However, that has little to do with Apple... or any other cell phone manufacturer. So your "last place" comment makes negative sense...
You are confusing NFC with RFID. NFC has a max range of maybe two inches, so you'll need to be that close to scan it. And this is a phone, not a dumb NFC sticker, so the security will very much be there.
Bluetooth pairing?
File sharing?
HomeKit?
Person to person payments?
Check-ins? (Yelp, 4square, college classes)
Airline checkins?
Digital business cards?
Let's answer the questions one by one:
Bluetooth pairing -- Doesn't Bluetooth by itself already do that?
File sharing -- NFC is not a good solution because the data transfer rate is probably too low.
HomeKit -- possible, especially if the door lock or security system lock is controlled by "tapping" the iPhone 6 to an NFC panel connected to the security system.
Person to person payments -- maybe, provided the security is really tight.
Check ins (Yelp, Foursquare, school attendance) -- possible, just as long as the security is really tight.
Airline check ins -- possible, especially if the rumors that flight check-in is done with data stored on a very secure part of the iPhone 6.
Digital business cards -- possible, though the low data rate of transfer through NFC could be an issue. Mind you, if the NFC triggers a secure Bluetooth data transfer, that's a different story.
Excuse the dumb question, but what's the point of having NFC on a wireless speaker?
To pair it with your device and tell it to stream audio to the speaker.
Maybe this new NFC chip is the reason for the proposed Hideous antennae Breaks???
And it's very interesting that this article in the first line reads as if NFC is in fact coming?!?!?! It's still a RUMOR! No confirmation, and we still won't know until 9.9.2014
And it's very interesting that this article in the first line reads as if NFC is in fact coming?!?!?! It's still a RUMOR! No confirmation, and we still won't know until 9.9.2014
Nope. The breaks look like a copy of the HTC metal back antenna design:
HTC spent a lot of time coming up with the ability to actively tune the top and bottom metal pieces to act as antennas... and Apple and HTC signed a full utility patent cross license in 2012, that lasts for ten years.
If anything, an NFC antenna loop might be a reason for the Apple logo cutout in the middle. (HTC's NFC antenna is coiled around their camera opening.)
I wouldn't say Apple is copying HTC at all. If the antenna breaks for dinner then you would not be saying that.
I thought it was clear that I think Apple is using their HTC cross license.
Change "copy" to "implementation", if you wish. I didn't think of the latter word when I was writing.
autocorrect ??
Sort of. New sub standards for wifi and cellular, with different frequencies, modulations, encodings, protocols etc. continue to be made though. Not so for NFC. Except maybe some protocols and software on top that same old NFC. Like NFC peer to peer, kind of newish.