'Mobile operating system (OS) providers will get in on the act next year, too. Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced in late November that the search giant is partnering with third-party payments processors to create “bump for everything” mobile payments technology that will be baked into the next Android release. And Apple has indicated that it wants the iPhone 5 to be an “iWallet.” ’
This is about a new wireless-payment technology, by which you could pay for something by “bumping” your mobile phone against some check-out computer; that is, you put your phone close to a device that processes and registers the payment, and you never need to use cash or credit cards any more. Schmidt wants to make this way of paying theoretically available for any kind of purchase, even in a supermarket.