NFC one of several emerging technologies, study says

While near field communication payments may be several years away from becoming mainstream, the technology has garnered interest from Gartner's 2011 Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle.

The research firm evaluated nearly 2,000 technologies and provided a future outlook based on 76 specific categories. Along with NFC, activity streams, wireless power, private cloud computing and internet TV made Gartner's Peak of Inflated Expectations. The category analyzes technologies that garner a great deal of attention and high levels of hype, but that are believed to be on the verge of making a significant impact.

"Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies targets strategic planning, innovation and emerging technology professionals by highlighting a set of technologies that will have broad-ranging impact across the business," said Gartner vice president Jackie Fenn.

Gartner has been compiling its annual Hype Cycle report since 1995. According to its new study, mobile technologies are expected to play a significant role in the tech industry for the near and longterm, especially for NFC payments.

"Mobile technologies continue to be part of most of our clients' short- and long-range plans and are present on this Hype Cycle in the form of media tablets, NFC payments, quick response (QR)/color codes, mobile application stores and location-aware applications," said Fenn.

Last month, Gartner released another study regarding the global mobile payments market and revealed that NFC is still at least four years away from becoming mainstream, according to Gartner research director Sandy Shen.

"The biggest hurdle is the need to change user behavior by convincing consumers to pay with mobile phones instead of cash and cards," said Shen.

Overall, worldwide payment users are projected to reach 141.1 this year, increasing 38.2 percent from 2010. Additionally, the global mobile payments market is expected to surpass $86 billion, growing by nearly 76 percent from the $48.9 billion spent in 2010, according to Gartner.

Despite the rapid growth, the levels were actually less than the research firm had previously anticipated. One of the reasons for the slower growth is that companies in developed regions do not understand NFC technology.

Although mainstream adoption of NFC may be several years away, the online payment firm PayPal recently showcased its NFC platform on the Android-operated Samsung Nexus S smartphone at MobileBeat 2011. The feature is expected to be available at the end of summer.