Google [3] was already a "Principal" member of the NFC Forum, an industry body with a mission to advance all the different aspects of Near Field Communications wireless tech. But it has now confirmed [4] that it's bumping its membership status to "Sponsor," which is the top level in the organization. Already at this level are familiar names like Intel, MasterCard, Visa, and Qualcomm--along with Samsung. Samsung recently signed a deal with Visa [5] to include the payment company's PayWave NFC wireless payment system in all future NFC-compatible Samsung smartphones.

Speaking at MWC last week, Visa's head of mobile Bill Gajda noted that for a long time it was "always going to be next year that NFC was going to take off." The close-range wireless technology is most closely associated with future payment solutions where users will wave their phone (or perhaps their smartwatch) over a sensor pad at a merchant, but it can also transfer data and is commonly in use for transport tickets. It's long been rumored [6] that Apple would include the technology in its iPhone, but so far it hasn't done so. Google, which has recently been losing some of the limelight [7] to its Android partner Samsung, may be trying to seize the initiative.

[Image: Flickr user oddwick [8]]