New Google Wallet reportedly planned to take on Apple Pay

Google Wallet was one of the first mainstream mobile payment options in the United States, but the launch was marred by lack of broad carrier support initially. A competing platform, SoftCard, may have been partially to blame; it’s a service developed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon that competes directly with Google Wallet. Now, facing stiff competition from Apple Pay, Google is looking to revamp its Wallet initiatives with a new version, The Wall Street Journal said Friday.

Google is apparently hoping to relaunch Google Wallet during Google I/O in May, the news outlet said. The Wall Street Journal explains a few of the reasons why Google will continue to face headwinds, however, including Samsung’s new acquisition of LoopPay. With its own service on the horizon, Samsung may not be as quick to adopt Google’s option. “A person familiar with the Samsung-LoopPay deal said big smartphone makers envision few benefits from cooperating with Google Wallet,” The Wall Street Journalreported.

Google has already confirmed it wants a broad reaching wallet that offers more to consumers than the ability to tap-and-pay for goods at checkout counters. That probably includes expanding on its existing offering, which also allows consumers to store reward cards in their digital wallets. Banks may provide some of the support Google Wallet needs, however. The Wall Street Journal said now, with the deployment of Apple Pay, banks are also looking for an option to suit Android users. A recent rumor also suggestedGoogle is interested in acquiring Softcard, which could earn it quick partnerships with U.S. wireless carriers.

Google I/O kicks off on May 28 where, if all goes to plan, we expect to hear more on the Google Wallet front.

Comments

Samsung teases 'amazing' camera in new flagship phONE

Samsung teases 'amazing' camera in new flagship phone A month ago, I wrote about the iPhone's camera and how instrumental it is to many of the things that make that bestselling device so appealing. Today, Apple's most direct competitor, Samsung, has reiterated its long history of developing cameraphones and promised to deliver nothing less than "the future of cameras." In a post by Samsung's camera R&D chief DongHoon Jang, the company promises its 2015 flagship phone "will be intelligent and do all the thinking for users, allowing them to take amazing pictures under any conditions, without having to worry about anything more than just pressing the shutter button." Imaging technology has been a traditional strength for Samsung's flagship smartphones, and the latest Galaxy Note 4 has marked an appreciable upgrade after a couple of years of relative stagnation in image quality. Now Samsung seems intent to step things up another not...

Huawei P30 release date

The Huawei P30 and Huawei P30 Pro are set to be the next flagship smartphones from the Chinese brand, which has gone from strength to strength in recent years. The Huawei P20 and Huawei P20 Pro rivaled the likes of the Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9 Plus, Pixel 3 XL and new iPhones, and the P30 duo (or potentially trio) will certainly have the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus in their sights. We say potentially trio, as Apple launched three new phones back in September, and Samsung did the same in February, so we wouldn't be surprised if Huawei followed suit with a new trio of its own under the P30 name. Huawei has even teased the arrival of the handsets, with a video posted on Twitter confirming the March 26 launch date for the "P30 series" - suggesting we'll definitely see more than one phone with the P30 name attached to it. Huawei P30 design and display Hottest leaks: Almost no bezel A 3.5mm headphone port A 1080 x ...

How Samsung won and then lost the smartphone war

In November 2011, Samsung released the first of a series of ads that would define the company for the next three years. It started with a bunch of hipster-looking people waiting outside a mock Apple Store for the next iPhone. As the hipsters tick down the hours until they have the right to get Apple’s new iThing, they spot others on the street using something better. The phone, Samsung’s former flagship Galaxy S II, had a big screen and a 4G wireless connection, two major features that were missing from Apple’s new iPhone 4S. And unlike the iPhone, you didn’t have to wait around to buy a Galaxy S II. You could get it now. But you didn’t see anyone lining up to buy a Samsung, or anything other than an iPhone, in those days. Things started to change with the first “Next Big Thing” spot. Just like Apple poked fun at Microsoft with its “I’m a Mac” campaign in the 2000s, Samsung’s goal was to tap into the same strategy — a little guy taking swings at the dominant player in the ...

TECH BLAZZER

Search This Blog