According to Bloomberg, Apple Inc. will ship the next generation of its iPhones for AT&T Inc. and the iPad 2 with support for near-field communication (NFC) technologies. Richard Doherty, the director of consulting firm Envisioneering Group and the source for the Bloomberg story, said the new iPhone 5 and iPad 2 will ship later this year.
The story does not mention if iPhones for Verizon Communications Inc. will include NFC support. After months of speculation, Verizon recently announced it will be selling iPhones for use on its wireless network in February.
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile USA announced last November the creation of the Isis network, a partnership between the mobile carriers that will use NFC technologies to allow consumers to use their smartphones for payments. Consumers will need smartphones with operating systems supporting NFC technologies to use the system.
The report comes after Google Inc.'s release of a new version of its Android phone — the Nexus S — that supports NFC applications. The Nexus S is manufactured by Samsung and is currently only available to T-Mobile customers. Other phones from other manufacturers using the same Google Android mobile operating system with NFC support, known as "gingerbread," will be available soon for other wireless carriers.
