Could peer to peer financial transactions be part of the iPhone OS 4.0 sneak peek? Seems strange that it should suddenly pop up online now.

I find the whole US patent thing a bit strange. It appears that anyone can patent anything, and then it’s a big free for all in court where the lawyers make out like bandits.

In any case Apple have patented their method for people to make person to person payments with their mobile phones. This is actually something that has been going on in Japan for years. I know because I used it when I lived there! Anyway, this should prove for an interesting escalation in Apple’s and Nokia’s future lawsuits if Nokia ever decides they want to do this too.

And we haven’t even mentioned Google and Android yet!

For those that are interested Patent WO/2010/039337 [wipo.int] was published today.

And the lengthy document with details of the technology and how it works is also here : [wipo.int]

The pictures, for those of you who have a life, are from page 167 onwards. And should give you the basics.

Briefly, looking through the details of the payment system a user can choose to pay someone with a credit or debit card, directly from their bank account or even via iTunes.

Do any of you remember how many credit cards Steve Jobs mentioned they have on file at his last keynote? It was a lot.

I wonder if this could be something that is touched on at the iPhone OS 4.0 sneak peak? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Last chance for bets before our Live Coverage here.