Near Field Communication (NFC) services may be closer than anyone realizes. Recent research studies are showing that in three short years there will be about 300 million NFC enabled mobile devices, or one out of every five Smartphone’s.
Devices and objects that contain NFC capabilities or RFID chips can communicate with each other by sending radio waves when the two get into a close distance of each other. The
technology allows a simultaneous flow of data coming in and going out at the same time.
Several companies have been trying to find a way to enable mobile payment transactions on a platform that is not only user friendly, but merchant friendly also. Many technologies have been developed and all of them are nearing the finishing point and getting ready to burst onto the mobile scene.
In another report, the U.S. is forecasted to be the biggest adopter of the services, with Europe following close behind. France started a trial program last year and is now widening out to nine more cities in France this year. Several device retailers and a string of mobile operators have helped the NFC outlook.
A host of companies is getting on the NFC train, including Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Nokia to name a few. Apple is holding out to see how the others deal with the new technology; the iPhone 5 won’t be seeing NFC, but maybe the next release will have it.
NFC isn’t for making payments only. There are many other uses for the technology, such as marketing, carrying e-z passes, application discovery and much more.
