Apple Patent: Near-Field Comms iPhones to Revolutionize Cash Registers

We'd spotted Apple's interest in having near-field communications (NFC) in future iPhones, back in February. But two new patents from the company suggest it's really very interested in NFC for iPhone cash registers and in-home remote controls.

The earlier patent was an extension of how NFC works as you may have encountered it in your daily life--those short-range, radio frequency contactless subway tickets for example. But the new patents show that Apple's engineers haven't been content with...