Android Gingerbread Supports NFC: Tap Your Phone To Pay With Your Credit Card
You may not have heard of NFC before, but it’s a very exciting technology (and it’s actually been around for a while). The gist of it: new Android phones will have a chip that let you tap your phone against special sensors to complete a specific action. That sounds vague, but it’s got plenty of practical applications. One of them involves credit cards — you’ll be able to hook up your credit card to your Android phone, and conduct transactions simply by tapping your phone against a sensor.
There are plenty of other possible uses too. Tap your phone against a location-aware sensor, and it can check you into whatever venue you’re standing in, without having to bother with opening app on your phone.
Another interesting point: it’s been rumored that the next iPhone will feature similar NFS technology. Google seems poised to beat them to the punch though, as it looks like the Nexus S will include the chip and other new Android devices will surely follow suit.
We’ve know that Gingerbread is coming soon; Schmidt confirmed that it’s coming within the next few weeks.