When the Google I/O conference opens tomorrow, some foursquare users will have a new way to check in — using the NFC chip in their smartphones. Foursquare announced tonight that they’ve partnered with Google to launch a larger-scale test of NFC checkins that will allow users to simply tap their phones on foursquare posters around the conference to check in. And to encourage people to start tapping, they’re launching a Google I/O badge for the event.

NFC (or near-field communications) chips are still relatively scarce in the mobile phone market, but newer Android phones — especially the Nexus S — tend to have them. They’re expected to become much more common in the market soon, with Blackberry promising most of their new phones this year will carry the chips and Apple rumors pointing to their addition to the iPhone line either this year or next. At this point, Google I/O is likely to be one of the places where you’ll find the highest concentration of the chips, making it an excellent place to launch a test.

Foursquare has, of course, been testing NFC checkins in their office for some time, with a handmade sign near the elevator encouraging users to tap their NFC-equipped phone to check in. Next to the NFC sign sits a QR code, much like the one users without NFC chips will be able to use to check in and earn the badge during Google I/O.

It’s interesting that Google has partnered with foursquare to offer location-based checkins to the event, considering their competing Latitude product, which also offers place-based checkins and figures to be a prominent part of the I/O event. Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley (along with foursquare’s current head of product, Alex Rainert) sold Dodgeball to Google in 2005, but Google never did anything with it and the product was mothballed in early 2009. Foursquare’s staff includes a number of former Googlers, many of whom who maintain close relationships with their former colleagues.

NFC checkins are still in the early testing phases, but they’re likely to figure heavily into foursquare’s future. NFC has the potential to enable a whole host of technologies including checkins and mobile payments with a secure and convenient “tap” method for completing transactions. Crowley has said that foursquare is looking to speed up the checkin process and NFC chips could do just that. Once they make their way into more phones, it’s likely we’ll see NFC-enabled stickers, menus, bar coasters — you name it — at foursquare venues around the world.

Do you think NFC chips will make checking in more convenient?

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