NFC

Leaked packaging confirms ‘iPhone SE’ name, 16GB baseline model and NFC for Apple Pay

Thursday, a photo of what appears to be Chinese packaging for Apple's upcoming four-inch iPhone refresh was posted on Chinese social network Weibo.

The image allegedly shows the specifications sticker affixed to the box for the upcoming device while specifically mentioning 'iPhone SE' branding.

The '16GB' label on the sticker suggests that the iPhone SE will start out at sixteen gigabytes of storage, just like current iPhone models do. Additionally, the technical specifications section mentions Apple Pay compatibility, meaning the iPhone SE will include NFC, like previously suspected.

Apple teams up with PayAnywhere for new Apple Pay card reader

Apple on Thursday announced that it has teamed up with payment service PayAnywhere on a new mobile NFC card reader. It will attach to iOS devices, and support both traditional credit cards and those stored within Apple Pay.

The reader, which will be available exclusively in Apple Stores in September, will open the door for smaller businesses to begin supporting Apple Pay. PayAnywhere is easy to setup and there are no monthly fees to worry about.

Apple joins NFC Forum to help advance interoperability between NFC devices and services

NFC World is reporting that Apple earlier in the week joined the NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that promotes implementation and standardization of the Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology in order to ensure interoperability between devices and services.

NFC, as you know, is at the heart of Apple Pay and other contactless payment systems and has been used on Android devices for easier sharing of content directly between devices.

The iPhone maker joined the organization as a top-tier sponsor and also has a seat on NFC Forum's Board of Directors, meaning it's now in a position to significantly influence the development of the NFC standard.

12.9″ iPad Pro rumored to feature stylus, NFC, Force Touch input, USB-C connector and more

Apple's rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro is understood to include a number of interesting hardware features, including a Bluetooth stylus accessory, support for Force Touch input and a USB-C connector, AppleInsider has ostensibly learned from a person familiar with Apple's future product plans.

Dubbed by the press 'iPad Pro,' the device believed to be in the works should feature a larger 12.9-inch display, as rumored many times before. The timetable for release for this device is unknown at this point and AppleInsider is adamant that a number of changes are in tow to the iPad lineup.

Verifone announces new point of sale hardware that could give Apple Pay big boost

Verifone, a company that boasts it connects more than 27 million payment devices to the cloud, has announced a new point of sale (POS) system that aims to work with any smartphone on the market, and could be a huge boost for Apple to get Apple Pay more widely adopted in stores.

The PAYware Mobile e355, the newest mPOS terminal from Verifone, frees merchants from consumer technology upgrade cycles and adapts to multiple OS options, the company says. "It is a flexible, long-lasting device that can accommodate different form factors and outlive smartphone and tablet models."

Apple forming Apple Pay team in London to launch mobile payments in more countries

Apple looks to be gearing up to bring its mobile payment service Apple Pay to countries in Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa, after a launch in the US in October. A job listing on Wednesday revealed Apple is forming a new team focused on Apple Pay at its London office, along with hiring an "Apple Pay Site Reliability Engineer" in China.

"Apple Pay is a new and exciting area in Apple that is set to expand across Europe, Middle East, India and Africa," the company wrote.

Apple wants to enable iPhone 6’s NFC for building security, public transit tickets and more

Most of the talk about NFC inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has centered around Apple Pay, the iPhone maker's mobile payments service, but NFC has other uses, too. Android handsets typically use NFC for proximity-based wireless sharing and now The Information is reporting that Apple is considering adding more NFC-based features to the new iPhones, stuff like enabling secure access to buildings and transit fare systems.

CVS follows Rite Aid’s lead and shuts down Apple Pay

CVS appears to be following Rite Aid's stupidity, according to MacRumors, and has instructed its individual stores to shut down NFC access on its terminals, rendering Apple Pay unusable during checkout. The problem with this decision is that it not only shuts down Apple Pay, but any other contactless payment technology such as Google Wallet.

These stores have been able to accept contactless payment for who knows how long, but now that Apple Pay has brought needed relevance to the space, companies are beginning to draw lines in the sand...

How to use Apple Pay

As expected, Apple rolled out Apple Pay to the masses today, courtesy of its iOS 8.1 update for eligible devices. Apple Pay, as you know, allows users to make in-app and online purchases using certain devices equipped with a Touch ID sensor, and in-store purchases using the NFC chips found in the recently released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of setting up Apple Pay, including adding eligible credit cards, along with making in-app, and in-store purchases.

The reports of retailers not supporting Apple Pay have been greatly exaggerated

With Apple Pay set to launch later this month with support from big retailers such as Macy's, Staples, Disney Store, and many more, there has been some drama building regarding the fact that Apple still has a lot of work to do to convince some big names to get on the Apple Pay bandwagon.

A post on the Daily Dot today exemplifies this, claiming that Pizza Hut, Chipotle, and H&M, Coach, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Sears, Kmart, BP, Starbucks, and more don't plan on offering support for Apple Pay.

This sure makes for great headlines, but this kind of post usually fails to omit that retailers aren't against Apple Pay, they're just not on board with updating their costly point of sale systems.