Speaking at the Mobile World Congress, T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom showed a slide during a presentation that hinted Apple may be including Near Field Communication technology in the next iPhone model. The company plans to roll our NFC support through 2012, letting users pay for products and services through supported handsets.
According to Engadget, the reference to the iPhone supporting NFC appeared in a presentation slide at the conference, but Apple wasn’t mentioned by name.
An iPhone with NFC? Maybe
NFC is a technology mobile phone service providers and manufacturers have been rolling out to let customers use their handset as a digital wallet. Simply by holding their phone in range of a special scanner, they can pay for goods and services.
Rumors that Apple will include NFC in the iPhone have been circulating for some time, although the company hasn’t confirmed whether or not it plans to support the technology.
Since Deutsche Telekom isn’t officially saying Apple is including NFC in the next iPhone, it’s possible the company accidentally leaked information that was supposed to stay under wraps. What’s more likely, however, is that the designers building the slide presentation used a photo of an iPhone on the NFC slide just because it looks better than other smartphones.