As the iPhone 6 announcement is now only days away, most of the smartphone's major features and specs have already leaked, supposedly. And one of those new features that a lot of people are talking about is the iPhone 6's inclusion of an NFC chip. NFC stands for Near-Field-Communication, and is a way for mobile devices to interact with each other and their surroundings, sort of like Bluetooth. 

Google has been including NFC chips in its Nexus phones for years now as a way of supporting mobile payments and device-to-device sharing of apps and files. Samsung co-oped this technology as well in its Galaxy phones with S Beam. And while Google and Samsung are very large companies, the rest of the world has been slow to adopt or even be aware of NFC and its capabilities. 

Enter Apple with the iPhone 6. It's already been reported that Apple has partnered with Visa, Mastercard and American Express to help make their new mobile payment system work with the iPhone 6. And certainly, if any tech company can get mobile payments into the limelight, it would be Apple. This issue remains whether or not people are willing to use it. With news of hackers gaining access to just about every form of sensitive digital data these days (ahem, iCloud anyone?), people have every right to be question the safety and security of putting their credit card information on their smart phones. 

Other Uses for NFC

Well, should Apple fail with getting America and the rest of the world to use its mobile payment platform, that doesn't mean NFC was a bust. According to Venture Beat, NFC chips all have three modes, or two additional modes than "card emulation" for mobile payments. These other two functions or modes include a peer-to-peer mode and a reader/writer mode. 

The P2P mode would allow the iPhone 6 to pair with another device (like a speaker or wireless headphones) simply by tapping the devices together. This makes even more sense when you consider Apple's most recent acquisition of Beats Electronics, as Apple could now push the iPhone 6's ability to connect to Beats headphones or a Beats Pill simply by tapping it with the phone. 

The reader/writer mode would allow users to hold their phones up to an NFC "tag." These tags contain commands that can cause the phone to react in whatever way was programmed into the tag. An example could be a food label. A user could touch their iPhone 6 to a food package and instantly the NFC tag would give the iPhone information on that item, and it its a retail item, the tag could automatically open a browser page to the user could instantly purchase said item. 

Foreign Markets Could Dictate NFC Inclusion

Venture Beat reports another possible intention by Apple for including NFC in the upcoming iPhone(s), and that has to do with mobile payments in foreign markets, specifically China. Apparently, mobile payments have been widely adopted in China, and Apple knows that by not including this feature in 2014, it could hurt their ability to move iPhone units in Asia. 

But, we'll all find out exactly what the iPhone can and can't do next Tuesday. Be sure to check back for our coverage of Apple's Sept. 9 iPhone 6 launch event.