Breakthrough in near field communications technology (NFC) can turn next-gen iPhone 5 into a digital wallet, so a customer will be able to use it with own iTunes account.

Near field communication, or NFC, provides simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices situated not far from each other (usually it is a few centimeters).

Many corporations, such as Samsung , HTC, Nokia and RIM, have already had smartphones containing embedded NFC chips that can send encrypted data a short distance to a reader located.

Shoppers who have their credit card in their NFC smartphones can pay for purchases by waving their smartphones near or tapping them on the reader, instead of using the actual credit card. Read more