NFC Nearly Ready in Portland for Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Says Google

Google showed Near Field Communication capabilities in Android version 2.3, Gingerbread, will do in the near future with a new marketing campaign in Portland for Google Places.

Portland business owners can get a Google Places marketing kit with a interactive window sticker that has NFC built-in.  Owners of Gingerbread phones with NFC, the Nexus S, can touch their phones to the sticker to find out more information about the business.  Voodoo Doughnut is offering a free special treat.
Hotpot is a local recommendation engine powered by users and friends.  To encourage more reviews in Hotpot, Google is offering a poster contest with dinner prizes at local restaurants.

Google chose Portland as its first city to promote Google Places and Hotpot because of its thriving local business community.

Reports suggest that there will be other NFC uses, such as mobile secure payments and keys to open doors.