MasterCard has just released an "User Interface Software Development Kit – or UI SDK" to help app developers on Android and BlackBerry simply integrate PayPass NFC (Near Field Communication) payments into apps. As if there was any doubt that MasterCard was putting their weight behind NFC payments, this pretty much secures it. The idea of the UI SDK is to take out some of the guesswork...
While some folks roam the world with their devices unprotected, there is countless others out there who prefer to not leave such things to chance. Personally, I don't use cases normally but every now and then something interesting comes along that brings some new added functionality to a plain jane case that makes me want to give it a go. Such is the situation with the new PowerSkin NFC...
Although we've seen the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE pop up several times now in training material and various other leaks, Sprint and Samsung have now officially announced the device. Arriving on Sunday, September 16 the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE will lighten your bank account by only $100 after a $50 mail-in rebate. For that money, you'll be getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich...
The last big update to Google Wallet allowed users to add whatever credit card they wanted to the NFC payment app for Android. Google proudly proclaimed today that usage of the app has more than doubled since then. Though users can add any card, Google has been gently prodding credit card companies to optimize their own section for the Google Wallet app, like Discover had recently done...
If you're looking to give CyanogenMod 9.1 a go, you'll find something new built into the ROM's. As noted on the CyanogenMod blog, CyanogenMod 9.1 compatible devices with NFC will bring integration with Tapp powered by SimplyTapp. The joint partnership was born back at the beginning of CyanogenMod 9 and is now being introduced to allow payments from your smartphone with just a tap:...
If you've got a Discover card and want to get in on the Google Wallet action, you'll be happy to hear that you can now save your card for easy access on your Android device. Just head on over to the Discover page to link your card, and before you know it, you'll be tapping, paying, and earning rewards from your phone. This is the first public partnership to use the Save to Wallet API,...
The Black Hat conference takes place in Las Vegas this week, where hackers, security experts and representatives from major companies meet to discuss all things relating to information security. If you're following the news out of the conference today, you may have come across reports of a new security vulnerability in Android (and NFC-enabled Meego phones) that could allow a malicious...
In Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Android Beam -- that's the NFC-based device-to-device transfer service -- has been augmented to support sending photo and video content. This is done from within the Gallery app, and can be activated by holding two NFC (Near-Field Communication)-supporting Jelly Bean devices back-to-back while one has an image or video open. Then, when prompted, tap the screen...
Here's one of those good news/bad news stories. Google Wallet has gotten itself an update today for "Support for new device form factors," "prepaid top-up improvements" and "security enhancements." Sweet. The bad news is that it still doesn't work on the Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE, and that's still no good. The EVO is one of the top two phones in Sprint's lineup right now, and Google Wallet'...
Google I/O has been jam packed full of new, and exciting Google software and technology. While the headline acts are no doubt the arrival of the Nexus 7 and Jelly Bean, there has been some pretty interesting stuff going on in the developer sessions. One such session, dedicated to Google Wallet, unveiled a new feature, called Save to Wallet. Initially for offers and payment cards, it is...
Looks like it's time for NFC tags to hit the big time. Samsung tonight announced TecTiles, its own rewritable NFC tag solution. For those of you new to the game, NFC stands for "Near Field Communication" -- think of it as very short-range wireless data transfers where you literally tap your phone against something to initiate the transfer. NFC tags are little stickers that, when...
Last week we heard that Sprint was developing their own NFC-based mobile wallet application, and today an insider has passed along to us a couple presentation slides to let us know that it's real. We don't yet have any specifics about participating financial partners, but based on the screens we see McDonald's, Barnes and Noble, Macy's, Target, Best Buy and others look to be on board (...
NFC Times is reporting that Sprint is currently working on their own NFC-based mobile payment system, which would put them at odds with the rest of the US telcos and Google. Until the Samsung Galaxy Nexus appeared at Google Play, Sprint was the only carrier to ship phones with Google Wallet, though it was relatively easy to install on other devices with the proper hardware. If the news...
Although Google Wallet had some issues the other day and went down for a while it looks like there might have been a good reason for it. The app itself has just been updated and according to the change log there is improvements to the prepaid top up process but also support for "new device form factors". The new form factor support entry is a rather interesting one, kind of makes you...
After three short days on the shelf, Virgin Mobile's LG Optimus Elite is already up for a promotion: Google will credit your Google Wallet account with $25 when you activate the NFC-service within 7 days of activating your Elite. LG's Gingerbread-powered Optimus Elite is the prepaid carrier's first NFC-capable device, and Virgin isn't wasting any time putting the service to good use....
If you're looking to get in on a budget friendly Android device that also packs a little punch, Virgin Mobile USA has now opened the doors on their pre-orders of the LG Optimus Elite. Available on May 15th for only $150, the LG Optimus Elite will be the first device in the Virgin Mobile USA lineup to launch with both Google Wallet and NFC enabled. As for the specs, here is what you'll...
While the show down here at CTIA doesn't officially open until tomorrow, the folks at MasterCard held an event this evening to let us in on some of their big news that they have coming. It has become very obvious that people want to be able to quickly and easily pay for things, they want a one click payment and a quick in store experience and that is exactly what they have landed here....
Voting for the 2012 Webby Awards has come to a close and the winners have been announced. A few of our favorite Android apps inlcuding Google Wallet, SwiftKey X, and Evernote all brought home awards. Last month, we mentioned how close Google Wallet and SwiftKey were in the Experimental & Innovation category. It turns out Google Wallet prevailed and was handed the Webby Award for...
The other day when preorders for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Sprint went up a lot of folks got lost in the happiness of knowing the device would finally be arriving and instantly laid out the $199 for it requested by Sprint. That said, there were some details missing from the announcement. Some great details actually, if you're looking for some cash back on the that investment. Get $...
A couple of our favorite Android applications are head to head in the running for a win in the 16th annual Webby Awards. Google Wallet currently has a slight edge over keyboard app SwiftKey X. At the time of this writing, Google Wallet is up 42 percent to 39 percent -- a little interesting since the NFC payment app isn't all that widely adopted yet. Swiftkey, meanwhile, was our 2011...