May

[Dolla Dolla Bill] Gmail Can Now Attach Money To Emails Via Google Wallet

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Google, News

One of the cooler new features of both Gmail and Google Wallet that didn't make it into today's three-hour Google I/O keynote is the new ability to send money to any Gmail contact. Just message or reply to someone, write something along the lines of "here's your money, dog," and click the Attachments paperclip icon. You'll see a new option among the expanding icons: a dollar sign. Click the dollar sign, and you can send funds straight from Google Wallet. You can literally attach money to an email. How cool is that?

Of course there are a few restrictions. At the moment you can only send money via Gmail on the desktop, and you need to have either credit in your Wallet account or a linked funding source.

Apr

Google I/O 2013: Google's To-Do List This Year

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, News

Last Updated: May 3rd, 2013

Google I/O is coming! We'll know about all of Google's new projects in just 2 ~~short~~ agonizingly long weeks. While we desperately count the days until May 15th, we thought it would be a great idea to take stock all of the things we've caught wind of lately.

Calling this an "I/O Preview," sounds a little too certain. I'm not predicting everything here will come out at I/O, this is just a list of everything we know Google is working on - their "To-Do" list. Just like any to-do list, Google could cross something off and release it, or endlessly procrastinate, or completely cancel something.

Jan

Android: A Look Back To 2012, And A Look Forward To 2013

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Editorials, News, Rumors

Last Updated: January 7th, 2013

Happy New Year! It's that time again; with the new year comes our new annual prediction post. I tackled this last year, and rather than do a bunch of crazy, pulled-from-thin-air predictions, I ended up with a link-filled research-fest for the year. It worked out pretty well, so that's what's on the docket for today. First though, I'll take a look and see just how many of last year's predictions and rumors came true, and provide some updates for the more important topics.

A Look Back To 2012

What a crazy year. 2012 brought us two versions of Jelly Bean: 4.1 and 4.2. We saw a complete transformation of Google Search with the Knowledge Graph, Google Now, voice output, and Google Goggles integration.

Dec

Google Play Redeem Page Now Live In The UK, Gift Cards May Not Be Far Behind

Posted by John Thompson in News

People in the UK have long been able to purchase apps and other goodies from the Google Play store using traditional methods, but as of yet there hasn't been an option to buy gift cards for redemption online like you can with other stores.

Fortunately, it looks like that could soon be changing; the Google Play redeem page now allows you to enter a redemption code from a gift card, although you can't actually buy the cards in shops yet. This could be an indication that gift cards are on their way, but we can't confirm this or speculate about a time frame just yet.

Nov

Google Support Confirms All Android 2.3+ Devices Will Work With Physical Wallet Card And Non-NFC Version Of App

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Applications, News

Corroborating some pretty hard evidence of the physical Google Wallet card's existence we revealed last week, TechCrunch noticed this morning that a definite reference to that card has appeared on Wallet's official support site. More importantly, though, this confirms my own suspicions about the future of the Google Wallet app in light of the physical card: near-universal compatibility.

According to the support page, the new non-NFC version of the Wallet app will be compatible with any Android 2.3.3+ device, which is pretty much the vast majority of Android devices out there. This is big. This is the "circumvention" of the carriers we heard rumblings of earlier this year.

Nov

[Weekend Poll] Will You Use The Google Wallet Physical Card?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Do You Prefer The Classic 10" Tablet Layout, Or The New Hybrid UI?

As we know by now, Google Wallet has been facing a lot of resistance. Major US carriers are blocking it while competition is getting intense. Google's fighting back, though, and word has it that new partnerships may be in the works. More importantly, Google is primed to introduce a physical Google Wallet card.

You read that right: the service that was introduced as a way to ditch your cards and cash in favor of just your phone is now resorting to using a card.

Oct

head-of-google-wallet-says-negotiations-with-other-carriers-are-underway-hopes-to-announce-new-partnerships-soon

[APK Teardown] Google Wallet's Next Big Features: Person To Person Money Transfers, And Paypal-Style Money Storage

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, Applications, News

It's time to go APK spelunking again. Today's target is Google Wallet!

Remember this Google Wallet Q&A? The Wallet team took to YouTube and fielded user-submitted questions ranging from "When will Wallet work on my carrier?" to "When will Wallet work in my country?" with the answer to just about everything being "we're looking into it." One exception in the non-committal answer-fest was person to person transactions, with the Walleteers saying to "stay tuned" and hinting that an announcement would be coming soon.

Well, after digging though the Wallet APK, "soon" feels a whole lot closer. It turns out there is a ton of code and images for sending money from person to person, and it's been hanging around for some time.

Oct

US Cellular Galaxy S III Update Today Brings Google Wallet - First Subsidized Wallet Phone Not On Sprint

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Device Updates, News, US Cellular

If you have a Galaxy S III on US Cellular, we're here to give you some good news: you're getting Google Wallet. And you can probably actually get it today if you download the update manually from Samsung. First, though, let's take a look at this leaked image showing the changes the update brings:

Basically, a lot of updates to stock apps, and various bug fixes you can see detailed in the image above. The real interesting part, though, is at the bottom: Google Wallet support. This is the first US Cellular device to get Google Wallet. In fact, it's the only subsidized smartphone outside of Sprint to be equipped with Google Wallet.

Aug

Head Of Google Wallet Says Negotiations With Other Carriers Are Underway, Hopes To Announce New Partnerships "Soon"

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

This morning, Google had a Wallet developer Q&A session on the Google Developers blog, featuring Robin Dua, the product manager for Wallet.

Dua hinted that person to person payments could be headed to Wallet soon, so be on the lookout for that. He also emphasized Wallet's focus on getting small businesses on board with the company's loyalty reward and offer platforms.

More interestingly, when asked in a viewer question why Wallet was only supported on a limited number of carriers, Dua responded that Google was in active negotiations with "a number" of carriers, and that he "hope[d] to have some new partnerships to announce soon." While clearly implying that there is a possibility of failure, the fact that Dua spoke to such negotiations at all is encouraging.

Aug

Google Posts Three New Videos For The Uninitiated Wallet User

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News, Videos

So, you've heard a lot about this Google Wallet thing, but how does it actually work? How do you add a card? Is it secure?

Those may be a few of the questions floating around in your head about Google's pay-with-your-mobile service. Never fear, though, Wallet Wonderers - Google just published three new videos to help you better understand how Wallet works and how easy it is to use.

So, watch the videos and hit the widget at the bottom to install Wallet... if your device supports it, that is.