14 DAY TRIAL // Google has been talking about near field communications (NFC) as the next big thing in mobile technology, but it hasn't done much with the technology, so far. That's about to change, though, according to a couple of reports. The company is expected to unveil a big mobile payments push based on NFC.
The company will hold an event tomorrow and, while it hasn't disclosed what it will reveal, the rumors provide a fairly detailed picture.
Google has partnered with a number of companies to launch a mobile payments system, for NFC-enabled phones, in a number of select cities at first, New York, San Francisco and possibly other places.
The service will enable users to pay at retail stores with their phones, by waving the devices in front of credit card readers with built-in NFC chips, and also get access to special offers and discounts.
In order to make this possible, Google worked with financial companies, the Citigroup bank and MasterCard, card reader manufacturers and related software makers as well as with retailers.
The payments system will eventually enable mobile app developers to tap into the technology as well.
It's unclear whether Google plans to charge a processing fee, or if it plans to make money via other means. It would not be unusual for Google to roll out a free service and expect to make money from advertising, which could be a lot more accurate with the new data from users.
Google has built a NFC chip in its latest Google Nexus S. It also added broad support for the technology in Android and encouraged manufacturers to add NFC support as well.
The payments system has been rumored since the start of the year, but reports from both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, make it clear that Google will reveal broad plans tomorrow.