

Google Wallet - ssn
http://www.google.com/wallet

======
vaporstun
From the FAQ:

> Can I use Google Wallet with my phone?

> Google Wallet with tap and pay will be compatible with Nexus S 4G by Google,
> available on Sprint®.

Now I know they have to start somewhere, but I have doubts about their ability
to gain traction when they have compatibility with one device on one carrier
at launch. They'd better ramp up quickly if they don't want this to be another
Wave.

~~~
theBobMcCormick
This is more than just a simple app install. The phone has to actually have an
NFC radio, antenna, etc. inside for it to work. It's kind of a chicken and egg
problem. No handsets (except the Nexus S) have NFC hardware because currently
there's nothing your users can _do_ with the NFC hardware. Now there is, so
hopefully more handsets will start coming with NFC.

~~~
djackson
Actually, a lot of phones have NFC technology in them.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication#NFC-
en...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication#NFC-
enabled_handsets)

~~~
theBobMcCormick
I believe the only ones of those that are Android are the Nexus S and the
Galaxy S II (which apparently only offers it on some models, not others).

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nuclear_eclipse
Why does it matter what carrier my Nexus S is on? If all the Nexus S models
have NFC capabilities, what difference does it make that mine is the GSM model
on T-Mobile or a regional GSM/CDMA carrier vs a CDMA model on Sprint?

Edit: nvm, didn't see the other discussion:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2588380>

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minalecs
I'm more excited for the Google virtual prepaid card. For some reason, a lot
of credit cards don't offer one time use credit card numbers for online
spending. I know Citi does and at one time paypal did

~~~
mmt
Bank of America (from their purchase of MBNA) does as well, though possibly
not on all cards.

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tevans
I find it amusing that the logo looks like wave's. Actually, I'm pretty sure
I've seen that exact logo design somewhere else (not Google related, however).

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amalag
So the idea is this is more than credit cards, it is about using NFC to
replace keys, boarding passes, and whatever else you can think of. Not so
clear on the monetization for google. Well after my first gen iphone broke, i
still don't have a smart phone. Is this worth $30 a month yet? No, not to me.

~~~
pstack
I have no intention of ever owning a smart phone. When I buy a cell, I look
for the phone with the best battery and highest call quality. That's it. I
don't need to surf the web, watch videos, listen to music, or send text
messages. I'm not against the idea of using my phone as a payment device, but
I'm not going to get a data plan or a new phone for it.

Further, I'm not going to use a company for my _money transactions_ that
doesn't seem to have any way to reach a human being to get help when something
of theirs that you use goes wrong.

If Amazon did this, I'd be all over it. When I have a problem with Amazon, I
can call them directly with little or no hold time. Or I can email them and
get a reply within hours.

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closedbracket
How can the google wallet site not use sprites for the navigation images?
<http://cl.ly/77E8>

Oh, and the links don't work when you click on "How it works"
<http://cl.ly/76Vv>

TIL I could work for google.

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absentbird
Am I missing something? Why can't they just produce a Micro-SD card that can
run in card emulation mode? Wouldn't that allow a lot of people to use this
without new phones?

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bitsm
So, could this work between two phones? That would be interesting: Paypal
meets Square (and possibly disrupts both).

