Why so aggressive with Bluetooth 4.0, Apple?

Gil's answer: Bluetooth 4.0 is and an alternative to NFC.

For starters, Bluetooth can go into ultra-low-energy mode, passively making connections and transferring the information necessary to conduct a financial transaction. And it can make those connections at much greater distances than NFC can -- up to 160 feet -- eliminating the need for a customer to go to a checkout counter to use an NFC reader.

Everyone has been waiting for Apple to announce the beginnings of a digital wallet system, followed by years of development, rollout and evolutionary acceptance.

But the Bluetooth 4.0 theory means that Apple could announce iWallet software -- an app, backed by a new service from Apple -- and the program would come into being overnight.