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Apple Locks iPhone 6/6+ NFC To Apple Pay Only
Ronin Developer writes From the Cnet article: "At last week's Apple event, the company announced Apple Pay — a new mobile payments service that utilizes NFC technology in conjunction with its Touch ID fingerprint scanner for secure payments that can be made from the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Apple Watch. Apple also announced a number of retailers that would accept Apple Pay for mobile payments at launch. However, Cult of Mac reports that NFC will be locked to the Apple Pay platform, meaning the technology will not be available for other uses. An Apple spokesperson confirmed the lock down of the technology, saying developers would be restricted from utilizing its NFC chip functionality for at least a year. Apple declined to comment on whether NFC capability would remain off limits beyond that period." So, it would appear, for at least a year, that Apple doesn't want competing mobile payment options to be available on the newly released iPhone 6 and 6+. While it's understandable that they want to promote their payment scheme and achieve a critical mass for Apple Pay, it's a strategy that may very well backfire as other other mobile payment vendors gain strength on competing platforms.
NFC technologies are already very well established here (you can wave your phone in front of a vending machine to purchase a drink!), and it's disappointing to see that iPhone users have at least a year to catch up with everybody else.
That NFC will be made available via jailbreak, I do not doubt.
That it will happen quite that *fast*, I do doubt. Apple has gotten really good at lockdown.
Note that Lockdown != Security. Security means preventing unauthorized access. If you can't even authorize *yourself* to get access, it's either not "security" or it's not your device (or both).
If you want NFC, go with Samsung, or HTC, or Nokia, or one of the many other phone OEMs who have been including NFC hardware and software that lets you use it for years now.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
The mobile payment market is completely fragmented. Apple is by far not the first company to announce a payment scheme, however it is the first that has managed to make some concrete deals with several companies and it's the first that actually has a chance at taking off.
Apple has locked it down? So what? How is that any different from the last several years where competitors have had NFC and payment support? Why is the upcoming year suddenly going to backfire them right at a time where service providers will likely be questioning whether it's a good idea to promote a system which can't be used on Apple's much advertised phone?
I'm no fan of Apple, but you can't argue that they aren't strategically clever bastards.
Considering Republicans are so against NFC and haven't allowed any bank to invest in this technology
Really?
NFC has taken off in Aus in a big way. With most retail outlets having terminals that take Paypass/Tap&Go ( NFC payment brand names here ) accepted across competing financial institutions. There is zero chance Apple will make any headway here asking retailers to forgo the already established infrastructure. Also basically asking retailers to stump up money to install another payment network. Given the existing network was no additional cost to them. Apple is making a mistake here. I don't think it will hurt them too much but Apple Pay will certainly not be a reason for market share growth of the platform. The larger screens most certainly will give them some growth but not this ridiculous shackle.
That NFC will be made available via jailbreak, I do not doubt.
That it will happen quite that *fast*, I do doubt. Apple has gotten really good at lockdown.
Note that Lockdown != Security. Security means preventing unauthorized access. If you can't even authorize *yourself* to get access, it's either not "security" or it's not your device (or both).
If you want NFC, go with Samsung, or HTC, or Nokia, or one of the many other phone OEMs who have been including NFC hardware and software that lets you use it for years now.
And I'm sure we'll all be very eager to make use of the third party mobile payment options made available for your jailbroken iPhone on Cydia, courtesy of a bunch of hackers you've never heard of before.
Apple does realize that NFC isn't only used for payment systems, right? My camera can transfer pictures to a smart phone using NFC. It allows you to take high quality pictures of something and then post them straight to whatever social media you're using without going through a computer. It's a really nice feature when you're wandering around someplace photogenic and don't want to be limited to a cellphone camera.
Oh, right, Apple declared proper digital cameras "dead" in their iPhone 6 keynote. I guess that feature will never make it to iOS then.
Not to mention other types of data transfer that's possible with NFC like easily sharing contact information or things like that.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
Also a valid point. I do a fair bit of phone hacking, but am very cautious about what I install from whom (it helps that I can decompile apps pretty well by now). Most people aren't, and somebody is going to want to take advantage of that.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
The same basic information came out on Ars Technica the other day. But the slant on that was not that Apple was locking out 3rd party credit card processors, but rather that the NFC hardware was not being used for anything else because Apple was not ready to say the whole stack was perfect yet, from a security standpoint. This is all new code and new hardware, for Apple, and they would rather not have stories about massive credit card theft come out next week. So, this is an example of slant driving angry diatribes in the comments; if it'd been presented in a more neutral tone people would have judged Apple's actions in a more balance way.
If Apple proceeds with locking away the NFC API from developers they will be making a Huge mistake. NFC is not just for payments, it is a use agnostic technology, and as such can be used anywhere you need short (1-2") data communications i.e.
# Door locks / home security
# Wifi tap to secure.
# Bluetooth Pairing
# End to end encrypted messaging tap to exchange / sign public keys
# Second factor online authentication
etc etc.
On Android all these uses are available because the API is open.
Oh wow, the "my corporate company brand is better than your corporate company brand" fight.
What is most interesting is that the poster you replied to does not seem to realize that Republicans have not been in a position to stop banks from doing such things for almost six years now.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison