Of course, it's too soon to know exactly what other usages might appear. Even Schmidt himself admits the idea is simply too new to predict what types of applications Google and others will invent.

While Google's NFC vision is taking center stage right now, other smartphone companies are taking steps toward implementing the technology, too. Nokia has said it plans to have on the market by next year, and to Apple quietly developing an iPhone-based NFC implementation for some time.

America's mobile carriers are getting on-board with NFC as well. Earlier today, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile announced the formation of a that'll be structured around NFC technology. The network, called Isis, will encourage retailers to provide NFC support in their businesses.

Ultimately, that retailer support may be key to NFC's success. No matter how many phones offer NFC and how cool it seems in theory, if stores don't have the sensors to enable mobile payments, it won't do much good in the real world.