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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.
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.
Android Auto expands wireless compatibility to most supported countries
Only Japan and Russia are excluded
Some cars and head units are capable of displaying Android Auto from your phone wirelessly, but there are additional restrictions to the functionality — other than owning a compatible handset, you also need to live in one of the regions where the wireless connection is available. Luckily, the list of supported countries is expanding, and now you can use wireless Android Auto in almost all locations where the wired version is available, with only two exceptions: Japan and Russia.
Disney+ launches in the UK and more Western European countries today
Now you don't have to watch The Mandalorian through other means
Disney+ has been available in the US since last year, but it hasn't come to too many other countries so far. As expected, that has changed today as the service has launched in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. It was also supposed to come to France simultaneously, but the French government asked the company to postpone the launch, now set for April 7, for fears of coronavirus-related network congestion.
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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.
Along a slew of announcements today, Google glanced over the fact that its Nest displays will be expanding their availability and launching in new countries. The Hub is coming to three new countries, for a total of 15, and the Hub Max is doubling its presence from three to six countries.
Chinese manufacturers Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi are about to bring their first 5G phones to one of Europe's frontier battlegrounds for the new network technology: Switzerland. Swisscom is to launch sales of the OPPO Reno 5G from May 1 while Sunrise will sell the Huawei Mate 20 X (5G) and the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G starting May 2.
Switzerland is known for many things, such as its beautiful mountains, lovely villages, and high living expenses. To make it easier for the Swiss to spend their hard-earned cash, Google is launching its mobile payment system in the country today. Google Pay's support documents speak of a rollout for customers of Cornèrcard, Bonuscard, Swiss Bankers, Revolut, and boon. As usual, only credit or debit cards are supported as payment methods.
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.
Samsung has been slowly but steadily adding new markets to Samsung Pay, which is now supported in more than a dozen countries. That includes a few new ones today. Residents of Sweden (previously in beta) and the UAE can start making payments today. There's also early access (i.e. a beta) for Samsung Pay in Hong Kong and Switzerland.
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Hé, les Suisses, vous étiez jaloux des Français et de leur accès à Google Opinion Rewards? Bah maintenant, il n'y a plus aucune raison de rester envieux: Opinion Rewards est disponible en Suisse!
Of all the countries that get to enjoy Google Play Music access, only a select few have support for Play Music gifts. That means that there's a limited number of users who can send each other the gift of music, but that number is getting a bit larger now: Brazil, Mexico, and Switzerland have been added to the list of countries with access to Music gifts.
Remember that sweet 25% discount on the Pixel C tablet for "developers?" (Don't worry, you don't actually have to be a developer.) Originally it was only available to buyers in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, but as of today it's been updated to apply to a handful of new counties. Customers in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland can now take 25% off of the local currency price.
Google is often accused of having a heavy focus on the United States. That's certainly true, but come on - it's a US company. Nobody seems to mind that Samsung sells a ton of phones in South Korea, or that Japan gets the newest and hottest Canon cameras before anyone else. Can you really blame a company with limited hardware resources for prioritizing a new product launch in certain markets?
Today's a big day for Chromecast. Earlier today we reported that Google's little magic media stick was ready to stream shows to TVs in Japan and Austrialia. Now we see that the device has also arrived in Belgium, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland as well.
Google's steadily rolling out Google Play gift card availability to various countries around the globe. We previously reported that Austria, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland had all made the 'coming soon' list. Now all four have bumped to officially being available now. Not only can consumers find cards in local retailers, each country has its own gift card site. Here's Spain's below.
A few days ago we caught wind of the existence of Google Play gift cards in Austria. It was good news, though it came as a surprise as Austria's name was nowhere to be found on the list of countries Google sells gift cards in. Now it is, though oddly still listed as 'coming soon.' Nevertheless, Austria isn't the only country to make an appearance. Now we see that Italy, Mexico, and Switzerland have joined the list as well (with Spain also still listed as being on its way).