Near Field Technology or NFC for short is that amazing technological development in the smartphone world that has the potential to change the way how many things work in the present world. Already, many smartphones have been equipped with Near Field Communication chips by handset makers. Microsoft and Samsung included. One exception in the industry is Apple. While it’s competitors have beat it to it, the iPhone 4S was still launched with no trace of NFC. Apple cannot, however, resist the pull of the magic that is Near Field Communication technology.
Here are the reasons why the next iPhone or the iPhone 5 will surely have an NFC chip embedded in it.
Reason 1: 9to5mac has retrieved a few pieces of information from its search of the PreEVT iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2 prototypes, codenamed N41AP (5,1) and N42AP (5,2). This has led it to believe that the prototypes indeed have Near Field Communication chips directly connected to the power management unit of the phone.
Reason 2: Jim Peters, CTO of SITA, provider of global information and telecommunication solutions for the air transport industry, thinks NFC will come to the iPhone 5.
Here is what he says:
“Opinion is that Apple is going to incorporate NFC into Passbook. Apple just thinks about how they can make it really easy for the user, and then they figure out how to monetize it. They don’t think about how to monetize it and then tell the user what they can have. It doesn’t work like that,” said Peters. “There aren’t any transactions in it yet, but I think that’s how Apple is going to sneak up on the industry. They are going to get people used to using it and then all of a sudden they will allow credit cards to be used in there, on the next iPhone, which will include NFC.”
He added: “There is a lot of debate that NFC will never take off because of all the arguments. But you need to get ready, this is coming. This is going to happen. By the end of the year the majority of smartphones that you go and buy will have NFC on them. If in October the next iPhone comes out and it has NFC on it, it’s game over.”
Reason 3: The NFC related patents that Apple holds for use in its iPhones.
Image Here:http://9to5mac.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/apple-iwallet-patent.jpg?w=657&h=435&h=435
Reason 4: The New York Times report from March, last year stated that an upcoming iPhone would have NFC capabilities.
“According to two people with knowledge of the inner workings of a coming iteration of the Apple iPhone – although not necessarily the next one –a chip made by Qualcomm for the phone’s processor will also include near-field communication technology, known as N.F.C. This technology enables short-range wireless communications between the phone and an N.F.C reader, and can be used to make mobile payments. It is unclear which version of an iPhone this technology would be built into.”
The reason that the iPhone 4S did not have NFC makes it more likely that the next iPhone will have it.
Reason 5: A discussion between Ed McLaughlin, the head of emerging payments at MasterCard, and the Fast Company seems to suggest that Apple planning to make a foray into the Credit card/payments market.
“… When asked to give an estimate for when Smartphone payments would become commonplace (in other words, would 2012 be the year of NFC or contactless tech?), McLaughlin demurred–and may have dropped a hint about Apple’s future in the industry.
“The timeline is always as rapid as it makes sense for consumers,” he says. “That’s a combination of having a critical mass of the merchants, which is what you’re seeing right now, and getting devices into the hands of consumers. I don’t know of a handset manufacturer that isn’t in the process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready.”
So that would include Apple then?
“Um, there are… like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there,” McLaughlin says. “Now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don’t.”
If you think there are more reason that can be added to the list or that the reasons do not matter, let us know.
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