Apple has snagged another NFC patent for an RFID reader incorporated into the screen of a portable touchscreen device which obviously once again points to the potential for an iPhone 5 NFC future.
The new Apple patent, entitled “Touch Screen RFID Tag Reader” lays out a plan for “the efficient incorporation of RFID circuitry within touch sensor panel circuitry”. In layman’s terms? It would allow you to put your phone against a reader to share and retrieve information…
The potential iPhone 5 NFC system includes a mobile ID app for reading RFID tacks and a method of using RFID to sense and detect available WiFi networks.
The iPhone/iPod touch/iPad 2 mobile ID app would also combine the RFID reader with the camera and an IR image capture device to identify objects.
Apple has pulled together a massive cache of NFC patents but whether they’ll come together in iPhone 5 remains a mystery. Well, let’s be honest, everything about iPhone 5 is still a mystery.
Out TBC | £TBC | Apple (via AppleInsider)
