As the iPhone 5 release approaches, the game of "will it support NFC or not" is heating up (the same game that was played when the iPhone 4S was released last year). Now Boy Genius Report is joining other sources in "confirming" the new iPhone 5 will support NFC technologies.

According to BGR, current models of the iPhone 5 are in the penultimate testing phase before the devices are produced and shipped. Expected launch of the device, given past testing and release timelines, should be late September or early October, the post said. That's just in time for the holidays.

So what will NFC mean for the iPhone? It's too early to tell, especially in terms of NFC-enabled mobile payments. But given that iPhones make up around a third of the smartphone market, it obviously can't hurt.

What it will definitely mean is that Apple is finally jumping on the technology bandwagon that's already carrying Samsung, Research in Motion, Nokia and others who have begun including NFC as a standard technology for sharing data with their devices.

And Apple has plenty of possible uses for NFC, at least as far as its patent portfolio is concerned. Patents include ticketing, marketing and an intriguing patent for an iWallet.

More on this as additional confimations come in.

For more stories like this, visit the Contactless/NFC research center.