NFC

Apple rumored to add iOS e-wallet via NFC to 2012 iPhone

According to reports from tech industry site DigiTimes, smartphone makers are convinced that Apple will be adding near field communications, or NFC, to the next-generation iPhone, widely expected to be released in 2012.

The current smartphone market only has about 10 percent adoption of NFC technology, but according to Taiwan-based phone manufacturers, that number could rise to 50 percent by 2013.

Samsung, HTC, Nokia, and RIM all have NFC-enabled phones currently on the market. Rumors last spring had Apple adding the e-wallet technology to iOS and what is now the iPhone 4S. That, of course, did not come to fruition.… Read more

Visa brands its digital wallet V.me

Visa has officially launched its new brand for its digital wallet, called V.me, as the credit card company also works to court app developers to help further is mobile payment platform.

Early next year, Visa will start marketing its digital wallet as V.me, a brand that is differentiated from its Visa credit card brand. The new digital wallet, which works a lot like PayPal by allowing users to link the wallet to other forms of payment like an existing credit card, will make it easier for customers to make online purchases, especially from their mobile phones.

Instead of … Read more

Ultrabooks to get tap-and-pay function next year

By next year, you'll be able to place an order for a book on Amazon by tapping your smartphone to your ultrabook.

At least, that's what Intel and MasterCard are envisioning. The companies said today they were working jointly to allow customers to pay for online purchases by tapping special MasterCard-powered PayPass cards or phones by their computer.

The introduction of the tap-and-pay feature on the ultrabook underscores the proliferation of devices capable of making and receiving mobile payments, a burgeoning field that has attracted power players such as Google. A smartphone with Google Wallet, for instance, will be able to work with an ultrabook. The feature also comes as more people take to their computers for online transactions instead of heading out to brick-and-mortar stores. … Read more

The 404 945: Where wow, you guys are a lot taller than I thought you were (podcast)

Big thanks to everyone who came through last night's 404 Meet-up at the CNET Gotham holiday gift guide. Friendships were made, business ideas launched, and plenty of stickers were given; it was one of our most productive meet-ups to date!

We'll wrap up last night's event and show a quick interview segment on today's show, then launch into the headlining news of the day: Logitech has announced that it made a huge mistake with its Revue Google TV set-top box, and the company has no plans to upgrade or reinvent the existing hardware. Tune in to find out your other options for streaming Web content to your TV.

We'll also chat about near-field communication (NFC) chips making their way to luxury goods like Louis Vuitton wallets, Prada bags, and Nike sneakers to battle bootlegers, a six-year project to tweet the events of the second World War, and Jeff gives us his quick-take of "Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword."

We've been talking about games like Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham City, and Uncharted 3 a lot on the show, and Blockbuster just gave us two copies of each game to give away in conjunction with Blockbuster's promo running through Nov. 22 where if you buy a copy of the game in-store you receive a free month of unlimited game and movie rentals!

We have PS3 and Xbox 360 copies for Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City and two copies of Uncharted 3 for PS3 to give away. Here's how to enter:

Follow The 404, Justin, Wilson, and Jeff on Twitter. Tweet out a message that includes #GimmeFreeGames and @The404.

And that's it! Just remember that you need to be a U.S. resident to be eligible and the contest ends November 22. We'll select the winners at random, so good luck!

Stream or download today's show after the break!… Read more

Google Wallet is good for mobile payments, says rival Isis

Michael Abbott, the CEO of carrier-backed mobile payments joint venture Isis, has an interesting take on rival Google Wallet: "It's the best thing that could happen."

That's not the sort of thing you would expect to hear from the head of a venture that is planning to roll out its own mobile-payment system, designed to allow consumers to tap their phone on special terminals to pay for goods. Abbott, however, holds a longer-term view of the business, and believes that the entry by multiple parties is a good thing. It generates greater consumer awareness, stirs the … Read more

VeriFone acquires Global Bay

VeriFone, the world's largest electronic payment provider, announced today it had acquired privately held Global Bay Mobile Technologies, which makes apps that help mobile devices conduct financial transactions.

South Plainfield, N. J.-based Global Bay's infrastructure and software support are expected to strengthen VeriFone as it competes for a piece of the emerging mobile payments market.

By storing credit card and bank account information, cell phones equipped with the necessary near field communication technology can exchange information with other equipped phones as well NFC-based registers and terminals as a way of paying for goods and services wirelessly.

This … Read more

Google Wallet gets an upgrade

Google today launched a new set of capabilities to its mobile payment service that it hopes will draw in more early adopters.

Customers can use their Google Wallet-armed smartphones to redeem coupons and earn rewards points, something it calls the SingleTap experience.

The new feature marks the first major enhancement since the summer launch of Google Wallet, which enabled consumers to pay for goods and services by waving their smartphones at special payment terminals found in drug stores, retailers, taxis, and some train stations.

Google has been aggressively pushing the service as it attempts to take an early, dominant role … Read more

Amex: Partnerships required for mobile payments

SAN DIEGO--No single company can catapult mobile payments into mainstream use, said American Express executive Dan Schulman, who called for more partnerships between the financial and wireless worlds.

"All of us need to play together," Schulman said today during his keynote address at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications show. "All of us have strengths and capabilities we bring to the table."

Schulman himself straddles both worlds. He is the group president of American Express' enterprise growth unit, which is responsible for mobile payments. Prior to that, he ran Virgin Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel's prepaid, … Read more

RIM introduces NFC-based BlackBerry Tag app

RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie unveiled BlackBerry Tag today at the GITEX conference in Dubai. BlackBerry Tag is an NFC-based app that will let BlackBerry customers share information simply by tapping their BlackBerrys together. You can also add friends directly to your BBM list this way.

This sounds a lot like Bump, an iOS and Android app that transfers information in a similar way. However, Bump uses your phone's sensors and a cloud-based algorithm for the connection, while BlackBerry Tag utilizes NFC, the proximity-based technology introduced with BlackBerry OS 7. Not many BlackBerry phones are equipped with NFC, however. They … Read more