Apple On Track for NFC-Enabled iPhone in 2012?

[MacRumors]

Following conflicting rumors about whether the iPhone 4S would include near field communication (NFC) technology (rumors that were eventually decided in the negative), Digitimes reports that Apple is indeed one of the vendors still expected to introduce NFC-enabled operating system software (and thus hardware) in 2012. Apple's inclusion of NFC in next year's iPhone would appear to come as part of a tipping point for the technology, with the technology's prevalence in the smartphone industry set to increase from about 10% to over 50% in the span of two to three years.

As Android, Symbian, BlackBerry and Bada have supported NFC (near field communication) functions and Microsoft and Apple plan to make Windows Phone and iOS support NFC in 2012, the proportion of NFC-enabled smartphones will quickly increase from less than 10% currently to over 50% in two to three years, according to Taiwan-based smartphone makers.

NFC standardization issues have been one problem slowing adoption of the technology, but with 45 wireless carriers including AT&T and Verizon now signed on to a SIM-based standard, those issues may be reaching a resolution.

Back-and-forth rumors about whether NFC would appear in the 2011 version of the iPhone led to considerable uncertainty about where Apple stood on the technology, with The New York Times noting in March that NFC would be a part of a "coming iteration" of the iPhone without specifying a product generation. By mid-May, Bernstein analysts correctly predicted not only that NFC would not be included in Apple's forthcoming iPhone hardware but that the new iPhone would be an iPhone 4S and not a radically redesigned iPhone 5.

Article Link: Apple On Track for NFC-Enabled iPhone in 2012?

 

[adildacoolset]

Allow it also in the iPad 3 and iPod touch! Please!

 

[3bs]

What can NFC be used for?

 

[Wickedgardengtp]

I hope I can start using this soon!

 

[bier-meister]

What can NFC be used for?

You can buy a coffee by just swiping your phone, book a hotel and have the room key sent to your phone so no need to check in, buy something at a vending machine, buy tickets for a game/gig/theater on your phone and just swipe to enter venue, etc

 

[3bs]

You can buy a coffee by just swiping your phone, book a hotel and have the room key sent to your phone so no need to check in, buy something at a vending machine, buy tickets for a game/gig/theater on your phone and just swipe to enter venue, etc

A better question is, where can you use this? I haven't heard of NFC being used in Ireland. No point in having an iPhone with NFC capabilities if you can't use them

 

[radge]

The keynote could be "We have a wide-screen iPod with a touch display, a phone, a credit card, a boarding pass, a hotel room key, a ticket to a concert...etc all in one"

NFC would be awesome.

 

[*LTD*]

The coolest way to separate you from your money!

 

[soco]

A better question is, where can you use this? I haven't heard of NFC being used in Ireland. No point in having an iPhone with NFC capabilities if you can't use them

Yeah so let's just not make this at all if they can't use it in Ireland...

 

[BassPlayer]

Next: iPad 3, paid with my card
Then: iPhone 5, paid with my card
Then: iPad 4, paid with my iPhone 5

 

[Fazzy]

An alternative to nfc would be to use bluetooth 4.0
you could technically use it for the same the same things as nfc, but it would also be compatible with the iPhone 4s and the current Macs

 

[cire]

Am I wrong, but isn't NFC widely used in Japan? If so, where else has it reached tipping point and what is their experience with it?

 

[3bs]

Yeah so let's just not make this at all if they can't use it in Ireland...

That's not what I meant
I just hope by the time the next iPhone comes out and if it does have NFC, that I can actually use it and I'm sure a lot of other people would like that too.

 

[scott523]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

What can NFC be used for?

You can buy a coffee by just swiping your phone, book a hotel and have the room key sent to your phone so no need to check in, buy something at a vending machine, buy tickets for a game/gig/theater on your phone and just swipe to enter venue, etc

Until I see at least half of those you listed implemented anytime soon, I don't see NFC coming to the iPhone in 2012 nor am I looking forward to it. I'm picking up the new iPhone 4S today so I'll wait for my contract to be over.

 

[bier-meister]

A better question is, where can you use this? I haven't heard of NFC being used in Ireland. No point in having an iPhone with NFC capabilities if you can't use them

A few of the restaurants here accept it, a few in the UK also accept, some hotels in Sweden are providing keycards to mobile. It's still a young technology, more places will start adopting this technology once there are more devices on the market. Very few people have NFC devices and probably few of these have it set up for mobile payments. Visa (v.me) are introducing mobile payment early next year, so this along with an iDevice and WinMo devices will push the technology into the mainstream.

 

[nagromme]

Sounds better than Starbuck’s bizarre and awkward “show a bar code on your phone screen” solution!

 

[whitesand]

Don't want such a thing and I really don't see any extra convenience anyway...Looks like it would be too easy to steal as well...

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

A better question is, where can you use this? I haven't heard of NFC being used in Ireland. No point in having an iPhone with NFC capabilities if you can't use them

You should read the article!

...Apple's inclusion of NFC in next year's iPhone would appear to come as part of a tipping point for the technology, with the technology's prevalence in the smartphone industry set to increase from about 10% to over 50% in the span of two to three years. NFC standardization issues have been one problem slowing adoption of the technology, but with 45 wireless carriers including AT&T and Verizon now signed on to a SIM-based standard, those issues may be reaching a resolution.

 

[dlowings]

Total bummer if they are going to put it in the tier drop designed phone... I really love the form factor of the current design, and was hopping they would put it in the 4s but no luck

 

[AmpSkillz]

A better question is, where can you use this? I haven't heard of NFC being used in Ireland.

In the U.S. many places like McDonalds & Starbucks already have the capability built into the credit card console that most customers swipe their cards or enter pin numbers on. (IMAGE)

No point in having an iPhone with NFC capabilities if you can't use them

So you are saying there is no point in having a phone if you cant use just one of its features?

I'm guessing this wont be the only new feature. It will likely have a new design, a spec bump, still make/recieve calls, send/recieve text messages and browse the web or check email, so there may still be some point in having the phone.

 

[HellDiverUK]

A better question is, where can you use this? I haven't heard of NFC being used in Ireland. No point in having an iPhone with NFC capabilities if you can't use them

People in non-3rd world, non-bankrupt countries can use NFC in most places.

 

[Jefe]

What can NFC be used for?

Stealing your identity?

 

[needa]

i will say it again...

people can already walk by you and steal your cc info from your cc if it has one of those rfid chips built in (paypass types). storing that kind of info in your phone can only cause more problems.

the best way to pay for your goods is to reach in your wallet and swipe a standard debit/credit card.

 

[3bs]

i will say it again...

people can already walk by you and steal your cc info from your cc if it has one of those rfid chips built in (paypass types). storing that kind of info in your phone can only cause more problems.

the best way to pay for your goods is to reach in your wallet and swipe a standard debit/credit card.

Won't they take that into account and put measures in place to prevent it?

 

[AmpSkillz]

You can buy a coffee by just swiping your phone, book a hotel and have the room key sent to your phone so no need to check in, buy something at a vending machine, buy tickets for a game/gig/theater on your phone and just swipe to enter venue, etc

Until I see at least half of those you listed implemented anytime soon, I don't see NFC coming to the iPhone in 2012 nor am I looking forward to it. I'm picking up the new iPhone 4S today so I'll wait for my contract to be over.

The iPhone (and other phones) adding NFC capability is what will spark implementation of those features, not the other way around

it's not like you were seeing those QR bar codes web links for years before most smartphones had apps that could scan them.