iPhone 5?

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Well, except for PayPass... pretty much every 7 Eleven, CVS, Taco Cabana, McDonalds, almost every gas pump, Whole Foods, Whataburger, Jack in the Box, Petco, Diamond Shamrock, Valero, Chevron, Home Depot, Radio Shack, Braums, Abuelos, Foot Locker, American Eagle Outfitters, Macy's, Champs Sports, Brooks Brothers, Office Depot and my favorite... a GUN STORE down the road from my parents!

It's all over the place, you probably just don't notice it.

I mean, I guess. But it still is fairly useless. I can't link any of my cards. Google and the carriers are fighting each other so there's no standardization. So far NFC is useless to me. I'm guessing another year or two before we see anything approaching usefulness.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

I mean, I guess. But it still is fairly useless. I can't link any of my cards. Google and the carriers are fighting each other so there's no standardization. So far NFC is useless to me. I'm guessing another year or two before we see anything approaching usefulness.

Well actually if you are on Sprint or Virgin Mobile it works great and you can link any card you want. It definitely is a problem with Verizon and ATT not playing ball yet. Of course there is a hack to get it working on Verizon and Verizon users are pushing hard for them to make it available, so you may see that change soon.

UPDATE: apparently there is a hack for ATT and Tmobile as well, BUT who uses those losers anyway?

UPDATE UPDATE: When I say ANY card, I mean any VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover(and JCB)... your Diner's Club card may be out of luck!

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Well actually if you are on Sprint or Virgin Mobile it works great and you can link any card you want. It definitely is a problem with Verizon and ATT not playing ball yet. Of course there is a hack to get it working on Verizon and Verizon users are pushing hard for them to make it available, so you may see that change soon.

UPDATE: apparently there is a hack for ATT and Tmobile as well, BUT who uses those losers anyway?

I thought even on Sprint that they only partnered with one credit card company, but I could be wrong. I just looked up the carriers alternative (the name of which I've already forgotten) and they have partnered with more, but no one I have an account with.

Too me, the high point of NFC isn't even payment. I have a wallet - it takes me seconds to take out a card and swipe it. What I want is public transport, airline tickets, game tickets, etc. That infrastructure will take a long time to build out, but I dream of the day that I can just use my phone everywhere around the world and not have to bother with buying different transit cards, tickets, blah, blah.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

I thought even on Sprint that they only partnered with one credit card company, but I could be wrong. I just looked up the carriers alternative (the name of which I've already forgotten) and they have partnered with more, but no one I have an account with.

Too me, the high point of NFC isn't even payment. I have a wallet - it takes me seconds to take out a card and swipe it. What I want is public transport, airline tickets, game tickets, etc. That infrastructure will take a long time to build out, but I dream of the day that I can just use my phone everywhere around the world and not have to bother with buying different transit cards, tickets, blah, blah.

As of last month, Google now ties in any card you want without having to use a prepaid virtual card. Since they did, their usage has doubled.

They are already working on transit .. I think it is up and running in New Jersey. Yippee.

I don't know how long it will take to build out, but it's starting to pick up steam... and when it does, the ghetto-passport crap isn't going to cut it. Of course, Apple could easily add NFC next year and try to keep up.

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

As of last month, Google now ties in any card you want without having to use a prepaid virtual card. Since they did, their usage has doubled.

They are already working on transit .. I think it is up and running in New Jersey. Yippee.

I don't know how long it will take to build out, but it's starting to pick up steam... and when it does, the ghetto-passport crap isn't going to cut it. Of course, Apple could easily add NFC next year and try to keep up.

Good deal - I agree with you on Apple btw. I was just making the point that the lack of widespread availability hurts NFC. You can have a phone with NFC, and a shop with NFC, and still not be able to use it.

Some level of standardization needs to happen. You'd think this would be a dream for most companies - the fights going to be over who controls the money. Google wants it, Apple will want it, and the carriers obviously want it.

I like Apple's idea, but I question if they can make it work.