contact-less
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iPhone 4 gets upgraded for NFC payments the hard way
Softbank customers in Japan can simply get an NFC sticker to add some contact-less payments to their iPhone 4, but most folks don't have it quite so easy just yet. There are some alternatives while you wait for Apple to hop on the NFC bandwagon, however, like this solution from Unplggd's Vivian Kim. It uses one of the smaller NFC-equipped credit cards now available from some banks, which is apparently just small enough to fit under the back cover of an iPhone 4 (a clear one, in this case, to show off your cleverness). And, yes, it apparently still works just fine under there -- even if you add a case on top of it.
Fujitsu says new wireless, contact-less charging system could hit products by 2012
There may be an increasing number of wireless charging devices available these days, but actual contact-less charging systems have so far been confined to experiments and slightly disconcerting demonstrations. It looks like Fujitsu could be set to change that, however -- the company has just announced that it will unveil a new system later this week that can charge several gadgets simultaneously over a distance of "several centimeters," and it says that it could hit cellphones and other products as soon as 2012. That system is apparently based on magnetic resonance technology, which Fujitsu notes can in theory work over distances as great as "several meters," although the efficiency is greatly diminished -- it reportedly has an efficiency of 85 percent at 15 centimeters. Details are otherwise still a bit light at the moment (including word of any actual products), but you can be sure we'll be keeping a close eye on this one.
