Apple Keeping Up With Androids, Adds NFC Chips To iPhone 5 And iPad.2

#NFC Chips On #iPhone5 And #iPad2 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Paying with the phone is very common in countries like Japan. You can pay for bus, train tickets or stuff from vending machines with the cell phone. In US the practice is very rare but merchants like Starbucks is finding a way to use phone to pay for coffee.
Android phones like Google Nexus S already carries NFC ( Near Field Communication) chip, which is the main ingredient needed for using the phone to pay for your daily needs, just like a credit or debit card, or becoming an e-wallet. NFC chips transmit and receive information, in short range, like four to five inches.
So the word on street is that Apple will have these chips on iPhone 5 and iPad 2, which people expect to see in the mid 2011. So the experts assume the NFC application will soon follow.
Be it Android or iPhone, the $6.2 trillion, Americans spend with their credit cards, has lot of companies showing interest on NFC enabled phones. From credit card companies like VISA, Master Card and e-payment companies like Paypal has a lot to gain and so are the advertising companies like Apple with iADs and Google with AdWords / AdSense. NFC chips will allows all sort of wonders with phones. But in the case of Paypal, you don't want your phone frozen by Paypal, at least not me! But in some shops in Palo Alto, CA, you can buy your lunch with your Android Phone, and Bling Nation's NFC-chipped BlingTag coupled with Paypal.

Credit CNet

Apple has already hired Benjamin Vigier, who worked on the technology at mobile-payment provider MFoundry and prepping a prototype payment terminal for merchants, ranging from hair dressers to mom and pop shops, where iPhone carrying crowd most like to linger.
Either way, e-wallets will be a feature we all will be using soon and Apple could be the one to promote the trend, unless Google jumps the bus.
Bloomberg

Google Nexus S, Is Coming Soon, Gingerbread (Android 2.3) Included

#Nexus-S http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Nexus S will be sold unlocked and carrier-independent initially through Best Buy stores in the U.S. starting from December 16th the phone will arrive in UK after December 20th at Carphone Warehouse stores. 

The phone itself is very impressive compared to the previous Google Nexus offering. One thing I already know is that, this phone going to be mine, not my colleagues.
The capacitive touch super AMOLED display of the phone (800 x 480) is contoured and is protected by glass with anti finger print coating. The phone is powered by 1GHz Cortx A8 (Hummingbird) processor and has 16GB memory on board. The 129g (4.55 OZ) phone has a bunch of sensors and feedback devices like Haptic vibration, three axix gyroscope, accelerometer, digital compass, proximity sensor and a light sensor. It also has Quad-band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, Tri-band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700, HSPA type: HSDPA (7.2Mbps) HSUPA (5.76Mbps), Wi-Fi 802.11 n/b/g, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR for communication. The phone is powered by Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It is made by Samsung this time!
But the most interesting feature is the Near Field communication (NFC) which allows the phone to act as a credit card, a BART ticket or a bank card, just like the phones now being used in Japan. I am sure this Android phone, if it ever reaches Japan, will certainly be a hit.
Battery is also pretty good with  talk time up to 6.7 hours on 3G (14 hours on 2G) and standby time up to 17.8 days on 3G (29.7 days on 2G). It is a 1500 mAH Lithium Ion battery.
I want.
More info on the Nexus S phone.

The public transport authority of the Frankfurt, T-Systems, Nokia, And Venyon Takes Mobile Ticketing To A New Level.

RMV, T-Systems, Nokia, and Venyon set mobile ticketing to a new level of convenience
June 13, 2008

Frankfurt am Main, Germany - The public transport authority of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main region (RMV), T-Systems, Nokia and Venyon have announced the next phase for RMV mobile ticketing at the international NFC Forum meeting in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The new mobile ticketing solution based on Near Field Communication (NFC) will offer a wider variety of mobile tickets as well as improved user experience.

RMV introduced its mobile ticketing scheme in 2006 and is one of the pioneers in this area. The main target of this enhanced ticketing solution is to enable customers to purchase mobile tickets even more spontaneously and easily. The ticket will now be stored in the embedded secure element of the NFC- enabled mobile phone, and can be inspected just by holding the device close to the inspector's reading device, which checks the validity of the ticket. This takes only a few milliseconds without any further interaction from the customer.

Soon it will be possible to store the ticket in the SIM card of the mobile phone, and then the ticket will be removable and re-usable in case the customer switches to another NFC-enabled mobile phone.

The new RMV mobile NFC ticketing solution is based on the German-wide e-ticket standard (VDV), to be used with NFC-enabled mobile phones. Thus the tickets in mobile phones and in plastic smart cards can be inspected by the same control device and the ticketing systems aligned with VDV standard allow buying tickets also in other regions in Germany. The same consistent user experience applies to the public transportation in all participating cities in Germany, which brings significant benefits for travellers who frequently use public transportation in different cities.

The mobile NFC ticketing now introduced in Frankfurt is based on the common NFC standards and enables wider selection of tickets, like single tickets, daily tickets and monthly tickets for the RMV transport network. Based on NFC standards, the new Nokia 6212 classic as well as the Nokia 6131 NFC can be used for mobile ticketing in this project.

At the same time with NFC mobile ticketing, RMV will enlarge the availability of so called ConTags, smart tags, which are installed at bus and train stops in Frankfurt. Soon the ConTags will cover all the bus and train stops of all the remaining eleven major cities in RMV service area. Touching ConTags with NFC phone enables quick ticket purchases, online time schedules, journey planners and news services. Travellers can retrieve information on departure times, possible delays or special schedules real-time just by touching the ConTag at the station with their NFC-enabled mobile phones.

Venyon is a global mobile service company which develops and operates a secure and versatile service platform to provision and manage over the air (OTA) consumer applications, such as transport tickets or credit cards on consumers' NFC enabled mobile devices. As a Trusted Service Manager (TSM) Venyon provides over the air (OTA) services to RMV in order to enable the customers from all the mobile network operators to be able to join the pilot.

The new phase for RMV mobile ticketing has been developed by T-Systems in co-operation with T-Laboratories and Deutsche Telekom. This new ticketing solution fulfils all the current requirements and security standards set by public transit authorities as well as mobile network operators.
The Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV)

Tags: RMV, T-Systems, Nokia, Venyon, mobile ticketing, NFC Forum, NFC enabled mobile phone, Nokia 6212 classic