Apple to Include NFC in the next iPhone?

DeviceMag reported Apple is seriously considering to include NFC in the next generation of iphone to the market. The NFC will be based on a special chip from Qualcomm.
The potential NFC partner could be with MasterCard. Apple is also developing NFC application for iOS platform in the future. Have heard this rumor many times before iPhone 4S came out. Not sure whether this time is for iPhone 5 or iPhone 6. It's really depended on how you define "next generation".

Nokia going to launch NFC-based Window Phone

Guardian reported that Nokia is working with Microsoft to develop a new top-end smartphone based on Microsoft Windows.
The new phone will have NFC capbility and could be released as early as by October 2012. The current Windows Phone, Lumia models, such as 800 and 900, do not have NFC functionality. Nokia said the new features will "ship with the product that we will ship in the future".

NFC "open" allows Bluetooth pairing without the use of password by tapping the devices to be paired together: an exchange of electronic tokens takes place, so that Bluetooth connection ñ for a hi-fi, speakers or headset ñ can occur within seconds with virtually no other interaction. Current secure Bluetooth pairing otherwise requires the user to enter a password of up to eight digits.

Nokia has shipped more than a million Lumia phones since introducing them in November. The company decided to abandon its Symbian platform for high-end smartphones in January 2011 after Elop decided it could not compete against Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile operating systems.

Other rumor that Nokia Lumia 900 is going to be launched on AT&T for $99 with a two year contract. The target launch date could be March 18. It's going to be an interesting phone from Nokia.

NFC Sharing - LikeBelt

Gearburn reported a company, called Deeplocal, released a new product, LikeBelt. It uses NFC technology to link a smartphone and belt for a physical representation of social activities. Interesting stuff.

For the novice gadget-smith, the belt can be built with very little fuss. Users are first required to snatch the open-source code from GitHub to get the wall-humping party started. Next, an NFC-enabled smartphone (such as the Nokia N9 or the Nexus S), a snazzy belt and an RFID tag are required to finish the home-grown project.

NFC Phone as Boarding Pass

Many airlines right now are allowing you print your boarding pass at home. Just bring the piece of paper printed from your home or hotel computer, head to airport, avoid the long line to check in. Many people like this kind of self-check in. It's convenient, fast and less stressful.

What happens if you are not at home, office or hotel and do not have access to printer? What happens you misplace the piece of paper somewhere. People usually forget anything, but rarely forget their phones. This is why airline comes out a new way to improve check in process and allow you to board with your mobile phone, of course by the help of NFC.

SITA Lab recently developed SIM-based concept to enable passenger just tap the mobile device to the scanner at the point of check in. According to SITA, this approach is supported by 45 mobile operators which cover more than 60% of the mobile phone market.

Phone to Open Your Door?

Have you heard using phone to open your door. Obviously someone is doing that. Yale Lock recently created a keyless lock that can be opened by a mobile phone. Of course, this is NFC enabled. The company said they expect the  availability sometime late in 2012.  Here is the youtube video for the product.

Google Releases NFC-Based Wallet

We have heard NFC-based wallet for quite some time. Now reality is close to come true. Fast company reported a rumor that Google will official release its digit wallet based on its Android-powered smartphones. Similar like iPhone changes the way people use phone, NFC based digit wallet can  dramatically change the way making payment using their mobile phone. 

Google's idea goes beyond replacing a credit card in your wallet with a wireless system in your phone--tallying with everything we've predicted about NFC-enabled shopping. Wallet, Google hopes, and the accompanying Offers system is "mobile, local, personalized, serendipitous, and open." Giving an example of walking into a grocery store, Tilenius demonstrated that a Google Nexus S phone could pop up a grocery shopping list because it's detected where you are. When you'd collected the goods, you'd pay at the checkout merely by tapping your phone to the sensor, and the transaction happens instantly, along with loyalty point awards and so on.

The system supports multiple cards (by default Citibank to start with) but there's provision for other providers cards which are all securely stored along with PIN data, and there's also a Google pre-paid credit card which you can "top-up" by using other payments systems. Special offers are also targeted at you, based on your previous shopping history at the store--a trick which leverages Google's vast databases and expertise in targeted advertising--and ultimately Google thinks you'll put "everything" in its Wallet, including digital editions of your driving license and car keys. Google stressed this is a real system, not a proof of concept, with over 300,000 PayPass installations and retailers integrating the tech right now. (Jack Dorsey, are you listening?)

And then comes "Offers," a system to partner the Wallet and add in the extra functionality that makes it a real reinvention of shopping. Offers has been around for a few months and is, basically, Google's attempt to steal Groupon's--and maybe Facebook Deals'--business. While much of clients' interactivity with Groupon happens at home, on a PC with printouts for vouchers and so on, Offers is going to be more about being mobile and tapping into the rich data stream generated by your shopping habits--Tilenius noted Offers would be delivered as a daily email (very much like Groupon) but also through apps. And unlike Groupons coupons it all happens in a single move when you pay for the product you're saving cash on, via Wallet. Plus, as Google demonstrated onstage, there are novel new shopping ideas enabled by this system, like NFC-tagged posters which you'd tap your phone on to collect a coupon.

To appease security and privacy worries, Google's Nexus S phone has a hardware level secure encryption chip, and to prevent your card data from being scanned just when you're walking along (a very 21st Century version of pickpocketing) there's no transmission of your data until you're at a cash desk and have "unlocked" your Wallet app. How this translates to Google's plans to make Wallet "open" for other systems to interact with, we're not sure.

Here is more for the article.