In Pictures: Hot or not, 10 tech trends for 2013

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HOT: Friction-free commerce

This year may finally see widespread adoption of mobile payment systems that let you leave your wallet at home. Visa, MasterCard, and Amex have all endorsed NFC (near-field communications) SIMs that fit inside your smartphone, enabling you to charge purchases sans plastic. MOO has demoed a business card with an NFC chip inside, which can be used to exchange information, share media, and (eventually) purchase stuff via NFC point-of-sale terminals. You may not even need to take it out of your back pocket. Instead of paying through the nose, we'll be buying with our butts.

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