Apple patents suggest its next iPhone, iPod Touch and next generation Macbooks and Macbook Pro models could incorporate near field communication (NFC) technology. That would allow you to quickly move data from your Macbook to your iPhone simply by touching them together and even to use your iPhone to open doors.
Apple patents back in November previously suggested that iPhone 4 could come with built-in RFID tech and a new file transfer app called Grab & Go. Transferring files by simply touching devices is already being demonstrated by systems like Sony TransferJet.
The latest Apple patent explicitly shows iPhone, iPod and Macbook devices using NFC. It shows an iPhone being used as a key to unlock a Macbook and as a pass to open a door.
Using an iPod Touch or iPhone to open doors coupled with the ability to grab data via NFC could open up the possibility for hotels or work places to develop access apps.
There are already apps for the iPhone which make use of Bluetooth to lock and unlock your Macbook remotely like Airlock but adding NFC could mean super-swift app updates and file transfers.
We’d love to see NFC in the iPhone 4 but we’ve also put together a lists of lessons from Mobile World Congress 2010 that Apple could take on board.
Due TBC | £TBC | Apple (via Patently Apple)
