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Google unveils new Android smartphone OS
REUTERS, Nov 16, 2010, 10.34am
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc's next version of its Android smartphone software will support a technology that lets people use their handsets, instead of credit cards, to pay for goods at restaurants and stores.
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt showed off a yet-to-be-released phone with a special chip that allows consumers to quickly pay for items by tapping the phone against a special terminal.
Schmidt said support for the technology, dubbed Near Field Communications, will be integrated into the next version of its Android software, " Gingerbread", which he said will be introduced in a few weeks.
"One way to think about it is, this could replace your credit card," Schmidt said, speaking at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco.
Google had no immediate plans to develop any of its own mobile applications to take advantage of such payment capabilities, but Schmidt expected other companies to do so.
"My guess is that there are going to be 500 new startups in the mobile payment space as these platforms emerge," Schmidt said. He added that Google would partner with traditional credit card industry players, like payment processors, rather than compete with them.
While NFC technology has been available for years, interoperability with Google's Android software should make the technology more widespread. Google's Android was the second most popular smartphone operating system in the third quarter, according to industry research firm Gartner, behind Nokia's Symbian and ahead of Apple Inc's iOS software, which is used on the iPhone.
In a roundtable briefing with reporters, Schmidt said Google's ability to marry its smartphone software with Internet-based services enabled features like turn-by-turn driving directions and real-time foreign language translation, which distinguished it from rivals' offerings.
REUTERS, Nov 16, 2010, 10.34am
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc's next version of its Android smartphone software will support a technology that lets people use their handsets, instead of credit cards, to pay for goods at restaurants and stores.
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt showed off a yet-to-be-released phone with a special chip that allows consumers to quickly pay for items by tapping the phone against a special terminal.
Schmidt said support for the technology, dubbed Near Field Communications, will be integrated into the next version of its Android software, " Gingerbread", which he said will be introduced in a few weeks.
"One way to think about it is, this could replace your credit card," Schmidt said, speaking at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco.
Google had no immediate plans to develop any of its own mobile applications to take advantage of such payment capabilities, but Schmidt expected other companies to do so.
"My guess is that there are going to be 500 new startups in the mobile payment space as these platforms emerge," Schmidt said. He added that Google would partner with traditional credit card industry players, like payment processors, rather than compete with them.
While NFC technology has been available for years, interoperability with Google's Android software should make the technology more widespread. Google's Android was the second most popular smartphone operating system in the third quarter, according to industry research firm Gartner, behind Nokia's Symbian and ahead of Apple Inc's iOS software, which is used on the iPhone.
In a roundtable briefing with reporters, Schmidt said Google's ability to marry its smartphone software with Internet-based services enabled features like turn-by-turn driving directions and real-time foreign language translation, which distinguished it from rivals' offerings.
Now they also got your credit cards when they swiped your phones! Thieves will celebrate Google? 
