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Google's unstoppable march continues: the company just won't rest until every financial institution on the planet can use the Google Pay mobile payment system. Over the last few weeks we've been cataloging additional banks added to Google's various support pages, and there's been a notable uptick in new entries. That's especially true for Switzerland, where more than eighty banks added Google Pay compatibility last week.
Samsung's watches now support ECG monitoring in 32 more countries
It still requires a paired Samsung phone
Samsung's Galaxy Watch3 and Watch Active2 both have hardware support for ECG monitoring, but it is taking a long time to show up for everyone, since the feature has to be approved by each country's health agencies. It was exclusive to South Korea until September of last year, when it was enabled for use in the United States, and now it's coming to 32 more countries.
Galaxy Watch3 owners in Europe can now access blood pressure and ECG data
Samsung Health Monitor app approved by EU, other governments
More governments are giving their mark of approval to Samsung's ability to read and monitor your blood pressure and electrocardiogram. The company has announced that its Samsung Health Monitor app — where those tracking features can be found — will be available in 31 new countries.
Google Pay adds support for 24 new banks in 23 countries
Forget your wallet, grab your phone — you've got Google Pay
Google Pay continues to expand its support to additional international banks. To help you keep track of which financial institutions have added their credit and debit cards to the service, we've compiled a list of recent additions. Since we last looked in July, Google's added 24 new banks in 23 countries.
Spotify has been working on proper lyrics support for ages. It likely takes this long to implement the seemingly simple feature in part due to licensing issues surrounding songtexts, which already led to a lawsuit against Google. Spotify seems to have finally found a suitable solution, as TechCrunch reports that the company is planning to roll out lyrics synced with music to 26 markets today. The US, Canada, and the UK aren't among these, though.
Google Opinion Rewards expands to Hong Kong and Malaysia
The move follows expansion to Chile, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates earlier this year
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Google Opinion Rewards had a rocky ending to 2019, with many users' credits expiring without warning or explanation. That was soon rectified by placing an expiration date beneath your balance, though the explanation for the whole debacle was too little, too late. Moving past the controversy, Google's forging ahead in the new decade by making Opinion Rewards available in Chile, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates.
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Google Pay already supports a plethora of credit cards from a multitude of banks all over the world, but there are still many institutions left that don't work with Google's payment system. It's great to see that the number of compatible banks is rising internationally, and today, we can report a whopping 62 newly added banks — though about half of these are savings banks located in Denmark.
After expanding to the Nordics a few weeks ago, Google Pay is taking a small trip across the Atlantic and going south to a much warmer country, Chile. The weather is great, the views are gorgeous, and now Chileans can sip on their Borgoña or Chicha then conveniently pay for them using their smartphone.
YouTube's paid offerings are expanding to more and more countries. After an initial launch in the US in June, they have now reached over 25 nations worldwide and don't seem to be slowing down.
We take the ease of billing on the Play Store for granted here in the US, but many other countries don't have as many or as flexible options when it comes to picking up apps, movies, books, or music via the service. But for customers in Colombia, Tanzania, Thailand, Chile, and Peru, new payment methods are now possible. Conversely, France and Saudi Arabia have lost some options.
With certain carriers, Google Play offers the option to charge purchases directly to your cell phone bill. That option is now expanding to three new carriers in three new countries: Smart Cambodia in Cambodia; Entel in Chile; and America Movil Peru in Peru.
Developers who wish to grant free access to paid content on the Play Store usually do so with a promo code. However, these codes aren't globally available, with Google instead having a list of 25 countries where they are. Google does add countries occasionally, though, and this time around, Argentina, Chile, and Peru have joined the list.
About two years ago Google announced the expansion of its Maps turn-by-turn navigation to 20 countries. Chile didn't figure on that list, but some of the country's Android users reported getting directions and a limited set of functionality on Maps. That seems to be expanded to full support now.
The last time we saw an expansion of Google Play Books was nearly a month ago when the service opened up shop in South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey. Since then, it would appear Google has been making headway in its continued effort to bring more of its services to as many countries as possible. This time around, the list of countries in which Play Books is available has been updated to include Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela.