It was only 24 hours ago when it was reported that the iPhone 5 will feature Near Field Communication (NFC) in the device, but new reports show a 360 as it appears not to be true.
As Latinos Post reported yesterday, the Japanese blog Macotakara stated that the iPhone 5 will include a special chip that will allow you to make payments over the phone following leaked images from Apple.pro showing a spot where the NFC will be located.
NFC was speculated to assist in the iOS 6's Passbook, which is Apple's own version of the Google Wallet where transactions occur. NFC has been credited to helping secure those transactions as it has with Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Nexus.
However, AnandTech concluded that NFC is "highly unlikely" for the iPhone 5.
"Given the primarily metal backside of the new iPhone, it's highly unlikely that NFC is in the cards for this generation," wrote Brian Klug and Anand Lal Shimp of AnandTech. "In fact, given the very little space at top and bottom dedicated to those glass RF windows, you can almost entirely rule it out."
"With an NFC antenna at the extreme top or bottom, alignment with non-iPhones (for example, payment tokens or reader tags) becomes a much more confusing task, and that doesn't seem like the Apple-like level of polish everyone is waiting for to drive NFC adoption," AnandTech added.
The conclusion, not fully confirmed, has led to confusion as to how Passbook would then work. The use of NFC hasn't been popular with American retailers so far, an no doubt Apple will have a plan set to make Passbook work for the iPhone 5.
The iPhone 5 is expected to launch during a Sept. 12 news conference and could be on sale starting Sept. 21.
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