Google’s Eric Schmidt may have just pre-announced the iPhone with NFC.
Scmidt didn’t mention Apple, but his meaning was clear. The era of mobile payments with smartphones is upon us. Schmidt is a former member of Apple’s board of directors.
Near Field Communications (NFC) is a wireless standard that will turn mobile smartphones into electronic wallets and keychains. It has been rumored on the iPhone for years, of course, but does “very soon” mean next Monday when Steve Jobs takes to the stage at WWDC?
Schmidt made the comment while Google’s Groupon competitor was being demoed on stage. Google on Wednesday is rolling out a Groupon competitor that integrates Google Offers with NFC payments on an Android phone. Get the deal on your computer, and it shows up in Google Wallet on your Android phone. You can then use the phone to get the deal at the merchant (which presumably has to have an NFC point-of-sale terminal).
The system looks pretty nifty, and is a lot easier than printing out a coupon or barcode. As the WSJ’s Walt Mossberg noted, “If only Groupon made its own cell phones.”
Google Offers is rolling out tomorrow in Portland, followed by New York and San Francisco “this summer,” Schmidt said.
Last year, Google tried and failed to buy Groupon for $6 billion.
Who is excited about NFC coming to the iPhone? I can’t wait to ditch my wallet.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
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20 responses to “Eric Schmidt Hints Apple Will Have NFC “Very Soon””
Reading too much into things?
what is NFC?
I can’t take it any more! NFC… no NFC… now its NFC again. AHHHH! Simple refresh… no, complete re-design… internal antenna but same form factor. Will someone please make sense of the insanity that is the rumor mill.
Maybe Native Flash Capability ??
It says it in the article:
“Near Field Communications (NFC) is a wireless standard that will turn mobile smartphones into electronic wallets and keychains.”
New-Fangled Contraption
I think NFC will end up being used for a lot more than that. Its got a lot of potential in the smartphone market. You can find out more about it here: http://www.in-traction.com/nfc…
agreed, I can very confidently say that all smartphones will have NFC very soon. Without a doubt, now whether very soon is this release or next years iPhone is open to interpretation but I wouldn’t say that Eric hinted at specifically iPhone NFC in next iteration
can’t wait to ditch my wallet what do you live on Mcdonalds in box? it will only be for things probably tops of £20
I would be much happier if INDUCTIVE CHARGING would finally make it to iPhone. Bugger NFC I have to charge daily and having to hook up a cable for that is soooo primitive.