Just last week we reported that SK Telecom in South Korea had plans to introduce an NFC enabled SIM card, which would allow NFC capabilities on just about any phone. Perhaps not wanting to be left out of the loop, or maybe it’s the NFC craze catching on in South Korea, but another South Korean carrier, KT (formerly known as Korea Telecom), has been reported to have plans to roll out NFC services of their own along with an NFC enabled attachment for the iPhone 4.
Much like the rest of Apple’s products and their way of doing things, just because NFC is the buzzword at the moment does not mean that Apple has plans on buying into the trend, which is why the iPhone 4 does not sport NFC capabilities, and we suspect that its successors won’t either, although KT is optimistic that next year’s iPhone will feature an integrated NFC chip. What this means is that in order to give the iPhone 4 NFC capabilities, KT will be supplying iPhone 4 users (for a fee) what they’re calling the iCarte, which is basically a case for the iPhone 4 with NFC capabilities built into it.
Made by Canada-based Wireless Dynamics, this will see the iPhone 4 join the ranks of KT’s small, but otherwise growing, portfolio of NFC enabled handsets, among which is the Samsung Galaxy S2. KT’s NFC services will include a digital wallet along with a pre-paid transit card, which can be used for paying bus/train fares, much like how it is in Japan at the moment. Unfortunately there was no mention on the price of the iCarte, and just like the NFC enabled SIM card, we’ll have to wonder if the iCarte (or something similar) will be making its way to the states in the future.
Filed in . Read more about iPhone 4, Korea, Kt, NFC and South Korea.