Apple’s iPhone 4 does not boast near field communication (NFC) capabilities. But a new report suggests the smartphone’s successor could very well be NFC-enabled.
“From what I hear, it is possible the iPhone 5 will include NFC,” wrote Elizabeth Woyke of Forbes.
“An entrepreneur who is working on a top-secret NFC product told me he believes the iPhone 5 will have NFC and cited a friend who works at Apple as a reliable source for the information.”
According to Woyke, the unnamed source also confirmed manufacturers of the next-gen readers expected the iPhone 5 to ship pre-loaded with NFC components.
“These manufacturers are gearing up for the additional NFC traffic the iPhone 5 will bring, likely this summer,” she added.
It should be noted that Woyke’s report contradicts an earlier article by
the UK-based Independent, which claimed Cupertino vetoed the idea of an NFC-enabled iPhone 5 due to concerned over the “lack of a clear standard [in] the industry.”
Nevertheless, Apple is likely to embrace NFC sometime in the near future, if only to remain competitive with Mountain View. To be sure, Google is reportedly poised to begin testing NFC systems in select stores across New York City and San Francisco.
The beta mobile-payment project will allow consumers to pay for products and services by simply tapping a device against a register at checkout.
