Hasta La Gadget!

Rumors that the forthcoming version of the iPhone will sport Near Field Communication (NFC) technology are back, after being shot down by a number of sites, earlier in the week.

Of course, we’re still a ways from a formal announcement for the handset (that will most likely come in the early summer months), so fittingly, the current batch of rumors are third-hand. Forbes is citing an “entrepreneur who is working on a top-secret NFC product” who is in turn citing “a friend who works at Apple.”

It wouldn’t be a shock, of course, were Apple to offer such a technology on the new iPhone–and Steve Jobs would, no doubt, present such a feature as though his company invented it. Google, as present, is pushing the mobile payment technology, having backed in the latest version of Android.

The technology gives users a simple way to make payments via their handsets without actually touching the phone to a retail terminal.