Partnering with Mastercard and Citibank in the United States, the system is launching only on the Nexus S 4G for now, and allows users to pay with their NFC Mobiles at a variety of stores.

Google Wallet NFC

The Google Wallet system is a free android app (for now), but there is no indication as to when it will hit UK shores. NFC Phones available in the UK are currently limited to the Nexus S and a few other minor players (no other android phone as of yet).

There is also no announcement regarding the banks or cards that would support the system in the UK yet, as the NFC payment is going to be tested stateside before it rolls out nationally and then internationally.

If you want to be ready for Google Wallet when it eventually hits the UK, you will want to get yourself a Google Nexus S NFC Phone and hope that Google Wallet is rolled out soon!

The Samsung Tocco with NFC allows users to pay at stores including EAT, McDonalds, Pret-a-Manger and Boots. The user must have a Barclaycard and add funds to their ‘quick tap’ account to make payments up to £15.

TIme will tell wether the NFC phone features on the Samsung Tocco will become popular amongst the UK public, and if NFC payments will crack the mainstream. As the first NFC phone with payments, which some see as the killer feature for NFC mobiles, Samsung now has 2 NFC phones on the market. (the Nexus S is made by Samsung but does not feature oranges ‘Quick Pay’ system).

To check out the Samsung Tocco – click here.

The next iPhone will apparently be an upgrade of the current iPhone 4 – called the 4s, and it is more likely NFC chips will not appear until the iPhone 5. The iPhone with NFC (iPhone 5) is likely to be produced in 2012.

The news will come as a shock to many analysts who expected apple to stick NFC capabilities in their next iPhone, to keep pace with Google, Nokia and even Blackberry who all have NFC enabled phones on the market already.

Apples reluctance to enter an NFC Phone into the market could delay the popularity of NFC in commercial situations, but as Near Field Communication has not yet gained general acceptance with the public, this is perhaps a good move.

The Samsung Galaxy S II is already available in an NFC version in Korea, but the UK NFC phone version is still to be given a launch date.

When it launches the Galaxy S with NFC will join the Google Nexus S, which is the only current NFC enabled phone readily available in the UK.

NFC Phones are still limited in their popularity and availability in the UK.

The new devices are the thinnest and most powerful BlackBerrys yet, and both feature NFC technology to enable NFC payments, as well as other Near Field Communications interactions .

Both NFC phone models offer a capacitive touchscreen, a 1.2GHz processor, and support HSPA+ 4G. The new Near Field Communication smartphones are scheduled to be available worldwide this summer.

It is hoped the new phones will help RIMs sliding share price and market share, which is currently being lost to both Apple and Google.

Google already has an NFC phone – the Nexus S – and it is rumored that the next iPhone will feature NFC technology in order to keep up with both Google and Blackberry.

It is not yet known when the latest Blackberry phones will be available.