Apple May be Working on Remote Computing Service Using an NFC-Enabled iPhone

[Maura]

Despite recent reports in the UK’s Independent newspaper stating that the iPhone 5 will not now have NFC (Near Field Communication) capabilities, Elizabeth Woyke posts on her “Mobilized” Column on Forbes that she has heard to the contrary from an insider who is working on a secret NFC product. Her source says that they think the iPhone 5 will have NFC capabilities, basing that opinion on information from an Apple source. If this is true, it backs up a story that Cult of Mac has just run about Apple’s plans to use NFC-enabled iPhones as part of a mobile computing system, whereby users will be able to log onto a guest computer via said NFC-equipped iPhone. According to Cult of Mac’s source, the user will be able to access apps they have purchased from the Mac App Store remotely when logging on to the guest computer with the iPhone. The app's icons will be shown on the guest computer’s screen, but the apps will not be downloaded to the computer. However, clicking on the app will give you temporary access to it on the guest computer. When you’ve finished your work and disable the NFC connection, the apps will be immediately deleted from the guest computer. The same source says that Apple is also working on a remote saving system for the service, so that when you create a document in Pages on the guest computer, for example, it will be saved and synced with MobileMe. Apparently work on this service is quite advanced, and parts of it already exist in the Mac OS 10.7 Lion beta. Cult of Mac’s source adds the usual note of caution however though, saying that just because Apple is working on these things, doesn’t mean that they’ll ever see the light of day!

Source: Forbes iPhone 5 Might Have NFC Chip After All, How the iPhone, NFC and Mac App Store Will Enable Remote Computing [Exclusive] | Cult of Mac