High standards?
Apple's eagerly anticipated iPhone 5 will apparently not get Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
According to The Independent, Apple's decision not to include ‘wave and pay' functionality in its new handset, due to launch this summer, will dampen hopes that an NFC universal standard will be adopted this year.
Apparently sources from the UK's biggest phone operators told the newspaper that Apple said it will not include NFC in the iPhone 5 so users of the handset will not be able to pay for goods using their mobile. It seems that a roll out of NFC in an iOS update to upgrade the iPhone 4 is not on the cards immediately either.
One source told The Independent: "The new iPhone will not have NFC, Apple told the operators it was concerned by the lack of a clear standard across the industry."
However, it is believed that Apple is beavering away on an NFC proposition to work alongside iTunes and reportedly hopes to roll out the technology in a handset next year.
Google's chief exec Eric Schmidt apparently believes NFC will ‘revolutionise payments' while Frost & Sullivan consulting group reportedly predicted that payments via NFC will reach €100bn by 2015.
With such big predictions for NFC and Google's Nexus S already containing the technology, it is perhaps surprising that Apple is seemingly deciding to buck the trend, especially as NFC was recently backed by mobile industry body GSMA.
Chairman of GSMA, Franco Bernabe said NFC represents "an important innovation opportunity, and will facilitate a wide range of services and applications".
However, in order to be runaway success, a universal standard for NFC has to be agreed upon and networks plus phone manufacturers are apparently undecided on such a standard, so it is stalemate.
Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner told the newspaper: "Nokia has talked about this for years and nothing happened. When Google and Apple talk about it, NFC will happen."
