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Android Auto rolls out to 6 more European countries
Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden, since you asked
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Although a bunch of cars now come with advanced navigation systems, these can rarely beat the simplicity and expansibility of Android Auto. Sadly, though, Google's in-car service isn't globally available, leaving many users unable to properly use their favorite services from their ride's dashboard. Thankfully, Android Auto is expanding to 36 more countries, making it seamless to get directions, play music, and interact with Assistant, thanks to native integration with your car's infotainment system.
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.
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.
Google Pay is now available for 25 new banks in 14 countries
Leave your wallet in your bag or pocket
Google Pay support is ever expanding among financial institutions, and that's both the case in the US and the rest of the world. As such, we've compiled a list of the latest international banks that have added their credit and debit cards to Google's contactless payment service, coming in at a total of 25 institutions across 14 (mostly European) countries.
Google Pay gains support for 29 new banks and financial institutions in 22 countries (Update: 11 more banks)
Because carrying a wallet is so over
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Google Pay is compatible with a wide range of cards from various institutions around the world. Sadly, there are still a bunch of them that don't work with the contactless payment service. Thankfully, it is constantly gaining support for new banks and financial institutions, including the below 29, spread across 22 countries.
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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.
Whether it's adding support for more banks or public transit cards, Google Pay is expanding, both in the US and across the world. The service continues to grow as fifteen more European, Asian, and Australian banks' payment cards now work with it.
After Google Pay's recent launch in Switzerland, the service is now further expanding its availability in already supported areas by adding new banks. This time, there is quite a variety of different countries, but most of them receive just one new bank.
Despite Google Pay already supporting around 2,000 banks and credit unions in the US and not nearly as many internationally, US support continues to grow at a pace greater than all other countries combined. Since we last posted about international Google Pay additions last month, nine banks in ten countries are now on the supported list.
Google Pay's international expansion is improving. Although not at the same rate as its US bank and credit union support, the mobile payment service keeps steadily adding more institutions and card options for its users around the world. So if you live somewhere where Pay has already launched but your bank wasn't supported before, take a look at the new additions and see if it now is.
There are many digital ways to consume our photos and memories these days — browsing on our phones, casting to a large TV, showcasing on a Smart Display like the Google Home Hub — but if you want physical copies of your pics to flip through and enjoy, you will need to print them. Google Photos offers a photo book service in several countries, and now it's expanding to 14 more in Europe.
So many times we hear readers complain about Google's focus being way too US-centered. Sure, the company started here and has a significant user base, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating when new products and services debut, only to be US exclusives. While that favoritism isn't going to vanish any time soon, little by little we see Google expand its offerings in nations abroad, and today we're checking in with the latest developments in the international world of Google Pay.
Google has been extending Android Pay into several new countries lately. The payment system arrived in Ukraine last month, along with the Czech Republic and Brazil this month. Earlier today, Google announced that yet another country is getting Android Pay - Slovakia.
The most common way to pay for content in the Play Store is with a good old-fashioned credit card, but carrier billing is also available to many of us. It just depends on whether or not it's supported on your carrier. Starting today, the Play Store supports carrier billing on several new international carriers, including for the first time ever in Mexico.
Direct carrier billing is one of the most convenient ways to buy apps and content from the Play Store. Instead of making sure you have a valid credit or debit card or trying to find gift cards or setting up a Paypal account, you can simply have the purchase amount billed with your regular mobile service.
Good news, everyone! Well, everyone in four very specific European countries, anyway. After stretching the Movies section of the Play Store today, Google is also spreading Play Music to Greece, Norway, Slovakia, and Sweden. Users in these countries should now be able to purchase songs and albums starting today.
Back in December, we noticed that a bunch of countries had been added to the list of supported areas for Google Maps Navigation. That list was promptly updated to remove most of them, but now it looks like they're (almost) all back and available for use right now, including Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovakia and more.