Although until now the Apple company has not made it clear that it would be interested in developing any product that would implement NFC technology, a recent patent registered to those in Cupertino denotes the exact opposite. In this patent, Apple describes the ways in which an iPhone equipped with an NFC chip could control a TV, a camera, a projector and more. Although it has been rumored until now that Apple would be interested in producing a mobile payment system, the company is focused on much bigger and more complex things detailed below.
Our report mainly focuses on the new system as it relates to an iDevice controlling and interacting with a possible standalone television in addition to an expanded version of Apple's current Apple TV styled device. The updated Apple TV could one day control cable or satellite television programming and video game play via a video game controller. This would really be a boost for Apple if users were able to play high end RPG video styled games with a standard styled controller. Further, Apple's invention runs deep and they envision NFC ready iDevices being able to control standalone cameras, projectors, in-home security systems, lawn sprinkler systems, your thermostat, garage door and more. One of these fine days, future iDevices will finally support NFC; and when they do – watch out, because Apple will open the floodgates and release a new generation of applications noted in this report and others like their forthcoming iWallet. Will Apple's next generation iPhone 5 finally be the one that will introduce NFC? Only time will tell.
I don't know how many of you have imagined that you could play NFC games using an iPhone, open your garage door using the same technology, or turn on a thermostat. Apple is thinking on a much larger scale than simple electronic wallets, but it's hard to say if everything we see described here will ever be implemented in something.
