Gartner: NFC payments reach top of 'hype cycle'

The market research firm Gartner has placed 76 new developments along its "hype curve" for emerging technologies for 2011. One of those at the peak of this expectation curve is Near Field Communications payments. Gartner said its hype cycle, which has been around since 1995, is designed to "highlight the common pattern of over enthusiasm, disillusionment and eventual realism that accompanies each new technology and innovation." The firm's study places NFC alongside activity streams, wireless power, Internet TV and private cloud computing as technologies that are eagerly anticipated but are yet to make the transition into market acceptance and widescale adoption. Release