Like most Londoners, I absolutely can’t wait for the 2012 Olympics, just around the corner from now. I can’t wait for the buzz, the thrill of watching talented athletes competing and setting new records. Aside from the throngs of even more tourists and a couple of weeks of hectic journeys to work, it’s going to be a hugely positive event of which the UK should be very proud.

But it’s not just the athletics that has us hooked. This Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, is consolidating the future of technology. Social media, mobile banking, 3D TV, NFC-enabled phones, live, multi-platform and high definition TV broadcasting, the site of Europe’s largest free Wi-Fi zone[1]* and extended network service, user-generated content and applications… the list goes on; London is setting the standard for a truly mobile and interactive Games.

NFC technology has the ability to transform smartphones into virtual wallets, where users pay for transactions simply by waving their phone at an appropriate receiver terminal. However, it also has much wider applications, allowing for synchronised content and services across the mobile ecosystem [1]. The reward for owning this relationship in the mobile space is enormous, and as a result everyone, from mobile operators to device manufacturers, is fighting for a share.

The industry message seems clear; mobile payments will be big over the next five years – big news and big profits. The technology has been around in various forms for years and, now that leading names such as Apple, Google and RIM are designing and manufacturing NFC-equipped devices, many commentators predict that mobile payments will skyrocket [2].

However, while this will undoubtedly be a major growth area for the future, such reports seldom address the fact that the journey to full consumer adoption is not without its pitfalls.

Many mobile companies and big brands are ready to launch mobile payment services this year. Although there is a healthy amount of consumer scepticism, there is also enough interest among early adopters and smartphone users to make this a success.

Last month TechTalk published a post about NFC (Near Field Communication) based mobile services becoming adopted among a wider consumer base in 2011. At the time of publishing we highlighted a number of new services and advances being made, from small start-ups to smartphone giants such as Apple, Google and Nokia. Now we’re almost one month into 2011 the news and developments on NFC, in particular mobile payments, continues to hit the headlines in the technology press. Most notably, O2[1] is beefing up their m-payments team ahead of its NFC based mobile payments service launch later this year, whilst  Google announced the launch of Android 2.3 OS (Gingerbread)[2], which adds support for NFC.

Within the last week, Nokia, Google Android and RIM have announced, alongside rumours of Apple’s iPhone 5, that 2011 will see the start of NFC-enabled phones, and the beginning of widespread commercial usage of this exciting piece of technology.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a form of wireless communication technology that allows an exchange of data from two devices if they come within 10cm of each other. It’s been around for quite a while; in fact most Londoners use it every day for travelling with Oyster cards. NFC phones first appeared in 2007, when Nokia released the first phone of this type. With all the benefits of NFC, it’s surprising that we still haven’t seen widespread commercial usage. However, this may all change early next year with the release of the Apple iPhone 5, which is rumoured to be NFC-enabled. If the excitement and buzz around new iPhones continues, this could be the start of something truly revolutionary. In an announcement only last week, Nokia pledged to activate their NFC chips in 2011, with Google and RIM keen to follow the trend, both declaring that the next version of Android and future Blackberrys will come with NFC. Clearly, it’s something not to miss out on.