08
Jun
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Rumor: Sprint Releasing Its Own Mobile Payment Service Called "Touch," Google Wallet Now Left High And Dry

Posted by in Android OS, News, Sprint

Well, we knew it was a possibility, and given Google Wallet's painfully slow adoption rate (by carriers and payment processors), rumors today from NFCTimes that the service's sole remaining partner Sprint is coming up with an alternative aren't exactly surprising.

NFCTimes says the service will be called "Touch," and will utilize a "secure element" system like Wallet (a physical chip) in order to securely process mobile payments. Likely by necessity, this would mean the end of support for Google Wallet on Sprint handsets released after the launch of the new "Touch" service. Two embedded payment systems would be confusing to average consumers, and Sprint will have much more control over its own service (as well as revenue from it), as compared to no control with Google Wallet - undoubtedly something it wants.

24
May
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[Rumor] Throw Out Your Credit Cards And Grab A Nexus S 4G - Google May Be Rolling Out Mobile Payment Services Using NFC On May 26th

Posted by in Google, News, Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Rumors, Sprint

The tech world has been abuzz about NFC (near field communication) for the last several months, and it appears that Big Goog may be rolling out the mobile payment service that utilizes it in a couple of days. According to Bloomberg, Google has a press event set for May 26th, where the service should be officially announced. The initial launch is rumored to include five cities - New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C.

Once implemented, the system will allow owners of the Nexus S 4G on Sprint to pay and use coupons with a simple wave-of-the-phone.

09
Dec
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Google Starting Near Field Communication (NFC) Push In Portland, Oregon

Posted by in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju)

Wondering how and when that newfangled Near Field Communication (NFC) techology in the Nexus S will be put to good use? Thanks to a new post on the Google Mobile Blog, we now know where the Goog is starting off: businesses. Specifically, they're looking to help businesses use the nifty tech to share some info about themselves to curious people passing by.

How does it work? Google is sending out kits, complete with window decals, to businesses around Portland. The businesses can set up the kit, set up an info page on Google Places, and slap the decal on the window; if somebody is walking by and is curious about a business, the idea is that they can just briefly hold their phone up to the decal and additional information about the establishment will be pulled up on the phone.

07
Dec
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NFC In Gingerbread Is Crippled - It's One-Way-Only, And Not The Way We Want

Posted by in Gingerbread 2.3, Google, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung
Last Updated: February 9th, 2011

Update 2/9/11: Writing/transmitting via NFC is now possible thanks to the 2.3.3 update.

One thing that was very much anticipated in the Nexus S and Gingerbread in general was NFC (Near Field Communication) support, which is a feature we've never seen before on an Android device. In fact, the vast majority of us took it to mean that it will allow you to use your phone as a credit card, which would indeed be very exciting and insanely cool. Unfortunately, that's not the case here; rather, the technology will allow the Nexus S (and other NFC-capable Android phones) to act as a glorified barcode scanner of sorts.

15
Nov
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Eric Schmidt At Web 2.0 Summit: Gingerbread Coming "In The Next Few Weeks," Will Support NFC, Aim For Location And Payment Processing

Posted by in Gingerbread 2.3, News

Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, was scheduled to appear at the Web 2.0 Summit today, and while some speculated that he might finally announce Gingerbread to the world, I had my doubts about whether he would actually announce the update rather than talking about it on some tangent. Unfortunately, the truth ended up being somewhere in the middle, with Eric only brushing up on a few things and then going off about the general strategy.

Here's what went down, in my favorite bullet point style:

  • Eric came out and was asked about Android right off the bat.
  • He then pulled out a device that he said he was carrying with him for a while, which by the looks of it was none other than the Nexus S.