Word just leaked that the next generation of iPhones will come with a special kind of antenna, designed for something called Near-Field Communication. Here are the coolest things you'll be able to do with it.
Your Phone Will Be Your Tickets
This is the part Apple's most excited about. At this year's WWDC, they unveiled Passbook, an iOS app that holds digital copies of tickets, coupons and boarding passes — basically, any authenticated piece of paper you're worried about losing. When the time comes to show your ticket, you'll just load up Passbook and tap your phone. NFC tech has been in Android phones for a while now, but iPhone support will speed adoption immensely.
Your Phone Will Be Your Wallet
Google's been trying to make smartphone payments happen for years now (with a lot of help from Visa and Mastercard), so there are already tap-to-pay boxes at thousands of locations, including crazy Japanese vending machines. (And, for example, McDonald's.)
