Image via CrunchBase
A 19-pin connector may not be the only new way that the iPhone 5 will interact with the world around it. Rumors suggest that Apple’s next generation of phone is going to be equipped with NFC (Near Field Communications). NFC allows devices to talk to other devices in very close proximity, and is widely considered to be the entry point to the lucrative world of mobile payments. With Apple on board, NFC technology could finally make the jump to becoming a mainstream way of paying for goods and services.
9to5 Mac rounds up the information out there, which includes hints from hardware code dumps, verbal slips during interviews, and longstanding speculation. Most importantly, it’s hard to imagine a world in which Apple isn’t going to be integrating NFC in the near future, and the iron is hot right now. Mobile payments already look like the future of smartphone finances, and it’s time for Apple to get on board.
Google announced its mobile payment system last year – according to their FAQ, about 140,000 merchants in the U.S. currently accept the mobile payment system. Apple has been a bit more cautious – launching a new system to a consumer base that doesn’t quite understand it, and a world that isn’t quite ready to accept it, isn’t really Apple's style. But NFC is getting hotter – adding Apple’s gigantic user base to that economy could be the gamechanger the technology needs.
Apple itself is actually very well poised to enter the real world as a payment processor. It already has millions of credit cards on file through iTunes, and it’s been running micro transactions through the app store for years. Mobile payments are a natural outgrowth of the familiarity Apple has bred by accepting payments through the app store. The consumer trust that Apple has cultivated through music and app sales will give it a major advantage when it comes to mobile payments.
But that’s only if the iPhone 5 actually hits with the chip it needs to change the world. This is all still speculation, but if Apple chooses to wait until the iPhone 6 to showcase NFC, it will lag behind in the most important development in smartphone technology since the touchscreen.
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