Useful links:
eMoney News | eMoney Press Releases | sQuid schemes - eMoney

eMoney News

NFC technology set to be widely used in phones
23 Feb 2011

Near field communications (NFC) technology is set to be widely used in mobile phones over the coming year.

The wireless technology allows mobile devices to transmit data over a short-range, paving the way for the widespread use of mobile transactions for goods and even transport.

NFC was previously dismissed as being too expensive, but at the recent mobile phone trade show in Barcelona, many manufacturers revealed they will incorporate it into their latest handsets.

Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, told the Associated Press at the show that "many if not most" BlackBerry models will contain NFC chips this year.

Furthermore, Nokia has confirmed that all of its new smartphones will feature the technology, while the Google Nexus S phone already includes a NFC chip.

Research firm Yankee Group recently forecast that there will be 151 million NFC-enabled phones in 2014, up from 834,000 in 2010.