Based on near-field communication (NFC) technology, the demand for services that allow payments to be made at brick and mortar stores using a smartphone could be considerable. For that reason, Google, Microsoft, Nokia and several others have reportedly been developing their own offerings.
Users of such services could hold their handset near an NFC-equipped register and use an application to make payment for goods and services, or to potentially carry out other tasks such as redeem coupons or use loyalty points.
Amazon is making bold inroads into the mobile marketplace. It recently launched its own Android Appstore to the dismay of Apple, which is suing the company for the use of "App Store" in its name. It also unveiled a music streaming/locker service just earlier this week that works with Android.
According to research firm Gartner, 340 million mobile users will carry out mobile transactions in 2014, with a value of $245 billion.
Written by: James Delahunty @ 2 Apr 2011 1:14
