Using your mobile phone as a universal remote control is becoming more of a reality than a concept.
MIT's Technology Review has a good article titled Your Digital Wallet
The technology inside smart cards and highway toll-taking systems is now making its way into cell phones. And, within a year or two, it could be changing how many of us get information and do business.
Near-field communications (NFC) combines two established technologies: radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, which are tiny chips with built-in radios, and wireless readers that pick up signals from the radios.
Near-field technology uses RFID tags with a range of about four centimeters, meaning a person would need to hold a cell phone quite close to a reader, in much the same way that barcode scanners work.
With NFC technology, phones could become like mobile wallets, yet with the added ability to swap addresses and share photos. People could also use the technology to download movie trailers from a movie poster, or to get detailed product information in the midst of shopping.