By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

NFC is making a name for itself. After a number of high-profile trials last year and early this year, what is being heralded by many as the first commercial rollout of the near field communication technology launched recently with bus passengers in Hanau, Germany.

Why Germany? "There was no deeper reason in choosing Germany than that we had good contacts with Nokia," said Holger Kunkat, program manager for mobile secure NFC solutions with Philips Semiconductors.