Report: Microsoft to include NFC on Windows Phone OS
Another company is including near field communication (NFC) support in its mobile operating system. This time it's Microsoft Corp. According to a Bloomberg story, citing two people familiar with the plan, Microsoft will begin including NFC in its Windows Phone mobile operating system for smartphones as soon as this year.
Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have confirmed to MobilePaymentsToday.com that the report is accurate.
Microsoft Windows Phone has approximately 6 percent of the U.S. mobile OS market currently. Microsoft will be joining Google Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) in supporting NFC capabilities with its mobile OS. The newest version of Google's market-leading Android mobile OS already supports NFC on tablets and smartphones, though the number of devices loaded with the OS is very limited. RIM recently said that all of its Blackberry smartphones will include the technology by the end of 2011.
The other market leader, Apple Inc., has not commented publicly on including NFC support in the next version of its iOS operating system for iPhones, but rumors persist that it is likely to happen this year.