• Businessweek, Tuesday, January 4, 2011 1:49 PM

Sources tell Businessweek that Google might build a mobile payment service, which would let users buy physical products with the wave of their phone. The service, which could debut as early as this year, is based on near-field communication technology, which can beam and receive information wirelessly from up to four inches away. "Google joins a slew of companies that want in on the NFC market, which may account for a third of the $1.13 trillion in global mobile-payment transactions projected for 2014," notes Businessweek, citing data from IE Market Research.

Late last year, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile USA formed a venture called Isis to offer an NFC-based service in 2012. Also, Visa is reportedly testing contactless payments and planning to roll them out mid-year. Meanwhile, eBay's PayPal may start a commercial NFC service in the second half of the year, Laura Chambers, senior director of PayPal Mobile, tells Businessweek.

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