Is the HTC Incredible S the next Google Wallet enabled NFC phone, it just passed through the FCC

The HTC PH85110 better known as the HTC Incredible S NFC variant passes through the FCC, will it be the next Google Wallet ready phone?

We found out over the weekend that the HTC Stunning was actually the HTC Incredible S with an NFC chip. We were told that the phone was a China-only event and yet just a couple of days ago, the HTC PH85110 stealthily winged its way through the FCC. It wouldn’t be the first time an OEM has gotten FCC approval and not used it. Just take the Nokia N9 for example, but we have a sneaky feeling the US could see the HTC Incredible S NFC variant soon. HTC has said that it would bring us an NFC phone by the 4th quarter, and perhaps the HTC Incredible S NFC variant is what they had in mind. The phone appears to be a GSM variant and if the phone does get put on a network in the States, it can only be with AT&T or T-Mobile and we would imagine that HTC would want the phone to be Google Wallet capable to build in some value. However, both T-Mobile and AT&T are part of the Isis NFC payments joint venture and this will be a very interesting test case to see whether the MNOs will allow Google Wallet on their network and could even ensue some legal challenges from Google if it doesn’t.

FCC filing and specification details for the HTC Incredible S NFC variant

We can only get limited details from an FCC filing because they are only concerned with radios in any particular phone. However, model number PH85110, or the HTC Incredible S, boasts NFC in addition to Bluetooth (version unknown) and dual-band Wireless-N WiFi.  The HTC Incredible S NFC variant will support GSM bands 850 and 1900, as well as WCDMA bands II, IV and V.  The WCDMA band IV is used by T-Mobile in the United States, while WCDMA bands II and V are used by AT&T, so one or both networks may take on the HTC Incredible S NFC phone and we can’t define it further than that at the moment.  We can say that Sprint and Verizon are out though based on the lack of a CDMA version in the FCC docs.

Whereas the FCC documentation doesn’t give a lot of details about the HTC Incredible S NFC variant, we need look no further than the standard version to get an idea of other specifications. Below is what we know the HTC Incredible S without NFC under the hood.

HTC Incredible S specs

In case the HTC Incredible S is new to you, there is also a video below for you to have a peek at.

The fact the HTC Incredible S NFC variant has come through the FCC suggests we may see it hit the US soon, whether Google Wallet will be enabled is quite another matter.