We know, we know! It sounds so boring. ”Near field communications,” yawn. ”NFC,” another acronym, double yawn.

But something happened last week that took this technology out of the dull realm of “hey maybe we could use this on the train instead of carrying our Oyster/Myki cards,” and into the realm of potential rapid innovation and delight.

What is it?

It’s so easy: it’s just a wireless technology. It’s a simple and secure way for two smartphones or devices held close together to transmit data to each other; and it allows them to read information from smart tags embedded in posters, stickers, and other products. That’s really it.

If you need a more technically-detailed summary of NFC, we recommend this one by Ars Technica.

Google Wallet: a ”single tap” payment system for smartphones equipped with NFC technology.

“The future of commerce starts today,” Google said last week, launching Google Wallet........

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