There are some advantages to being the host nation for the Olympic Games and it looks as though getting Google Wallet may be one of them, with the search giant reportedly looking to bring its NFC payment project to London in time for the Games.
To be ready in time for the July/August sports fest, French newspaper Les Echos suggests that Google Wallet will land here in the first quarter of 2012 (January to March).
To this end, Google is currently said to be in talks with banks, distributors and retailer on our fair shores, setting up deals that will see contactless payments accessible to NFC-enabled handsets.
Taking the silver
Google Wallet first launched in the US in autumn of this year, after Google backed NFC tech by including it in the Google Nexus S - since then most smartphone manufacturers have followed suit except, notably, Apple.
Rumours that Apple will include NFC in the iPhone 5 have quietened down, but we wouldn't be particularly shocked to discover that Cupertino has a secret NFC lab beavering away on just that.
Meanwhile in Redmond, Microsoft told TechRadar exclusively that Windows Phone 7.5 already supports the technology, but none of the Windows Phone manufacturers have yet seen fit to enable it.
From Les Echos via The Next Web