Sometimes I just need to beat a point into the ground. It’s a drive that comes from deep, deep in my technologists soul. This month’s point is that your mobile phone will be the most important thing that you own in the relatively near future and that you should just get used to the idea of whipping it out for everything from opening your doors to paying for your double cheeseburger.

A few months back, Eric Schmidt made an announcement that only serves to confirm this– as Google goes, so does the world.

Soon you’ll be able to pay for goods in U.S. stores simply by waving a cell phone over a reader, or connect with other gadgets by tapping a phone against them.

But there’s a catch. Although new near-field communication (NFC) wireless chips will make it possible for gadgets with the technology to work with each other, the software applications being developed for these devices may not play so nicely together, making it potentially confusing for users.

Last week, Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced that the next version of the Android operating system for smart phones will support NFC technology. Such phones would also be able to transfer information—a credit card number or contact info, for instance—over a short distance. Nokia has said that most of the smart phones it releases next year will also feature the technology.

Read Your Next Wallet Is Calling (Via Technology Review) (Images)

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