Schmidt: Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” to include NFC for fast payment

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We’re finally beginning to smell the sweet aroma of “Gingerbread” wafting from the elusive Google kitchen. The much rumored Gingerbread (codename for the newest Android 2.3 operating system), has recently seemed like nothing more than a sugar craving with no solid release date, and with new Android smartphones like the Samsung Continuum debuted without it.
Apart from the company’s taunting tweets that “something sweet” was baking, Google succeeded in giving us one more whiff of Gingerbread goodness to tide us over until it’s finally out of the oven.
At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, California, CEO Eric Schmidt pulled an unreleased Android phone (rumored to be the Nexus S) out of his pocket and released the newest tidbit of Gingerbread intel: it will include a Near Field Communication feature.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a RFID technology for mobile phones, designed to provide short-range communication between devices. Think: leave your credit cards at home, pay with your NFC enabled smartphone.
Similar to credit cards with contactless transaction features, NFC will allow for “Tap-n-Go” style transactions without having to whip out your plastic or even deal with any humans. This could save a tremendous amount of time and effort when it comes to purchasing tickets, public transportation, and other activities where waiting in line sucks.
The technology avoids the irksome “pairing process,” that sets it apart from similar technology like Bluetooth. Compared to Bluetooth, NFC has a much shorter range and only requires a wave or a tap to establish an instant connection between devices and a fast way to relay digital data.
Aside from just payments, NFC has other implications like fast check-in to various places by touching a sensor rather than having to open up an application like Foursquare or Gowalla. With the potential to redefine how we interact with our surroundings, NFC could be an interesting first step towards a further integration of contactless transactions in today’s society.
Although there is certainly a good amount of buzz over Google’s integration of NFC in its Android 2.3 operating system, it’s certainly not a new technology. Various Nokia phones including the Nokia C7 running on Symbian^3 and the Samsung S5230 (also known as the Tocco Lite, Star Play One, and Avila) running on the company’s proprietary operating system, have integrated NFC technology although not all of them have been able to capitalize on its use due to software inadequacies.
Just today, Nokia announced that its C7 will receive a firmware upgrade in early 2011 that will allow for full use of the embedded NFC chip and that all smartphones going forward will integrate NFC technology. Google’s announcement also follows summertime rumors that the Apple iPhone 5 would feature Near Field Communications to integrate into its own micropayments franchise.
Schmidt noted that Gingerbread and the Nexus S are imminent within the next few weeks, although no release date has been announced.