Leaked screenshots show Google Wallet is getting a physical Google Wallet Card

Leaked screenshots of an update to Google's Wallet App that hasn't been pushed yet shows evidence that a physical Google Wallet Card will be made available for instances where you can't make purchases with your NFC-enabled Android phone.

Digital wallet services are flooding the market, despite the many barriers between them and consumers pockets. Apparently, Google is trying to alleviate some of this existing friction with a tangible solution. Android Police received an anonymous tip and series of screenshots showing off a Google Wallet app promoting a physical Google Wallet card. According to the screenshots, the Google Wallet Card will be a physical credit card used in lieu of the multiple credit cards you have in your physical wallet.

The screenshots might have been taken by someone who had early access to an updated Google Wallet app, and it shows off a leaked informational page explaining the advantages of a Google Wallet Card. The cards are likely intended for brick-and-mortar shops that haven’t adopted NFC reading terminals or even iPad-based solutions. 

The card is supposed to bridge the gap between the new and old payment systems we’re stuck in. On one hand it’s a credit card like any other, but it digitally stores all of your existing cards so you can leave the multiple pieces of plastic at home. Users will defer to the Google Wallet app to indicate which credit card stored on the physical Google Wallet Card they want to swipe.

There are a few advantages to this system. For instance, if you lose your wallet, you’re not forced to cancel all your cards. In fact, “you only need to cancel your Google Wallet Card (not every card in your wallet).” You’ll also probably be able to request a new Google Card with the press of a button in the Google Wallet app. Some bonus security measures appear to include 24/7 fraud monitoring, and the ability to remotely disable your card at any time.

The second part of the leak introduces withdrawing money or sending money to a “Wallet Balance,” which seems to be a debt-like account where you can store, send, or spend money. It may suggest being able to soon use the Google Wallet Card as a debit card itself, independent of the stored credit cards. Finally, the screen shot shows evidence of the ability to add a transit card, like a New York City Metro Card for instance.

Of course until Google gets back to us we’re merely speculating, but the screenshots are incredibly telling: Google is aggressively entering this market and competing with the likes of Square and even more so Apple Passbook.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Kim Dotcom teases Megabox in trailer, and a launch is just around the corner

Megaupload 2.0? Kim Dotcom's Megbox teaser trailer shows off some features and screenshots from the free service, and it looks promising.

Megabox, the latest venture from everyone’s favorite famed fallen entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, is coming soon. Dotcom has released a couple of teaser trailers for his very much alive music service that he says will revolutionize the music industry, despite the legal battles he’s currently facing over Megaupload.

His new platform will provide its users the option to listen to music for free without the need to pay for subscriptions like Spotify and Pandora. Instead, artists will be compensated for hosting free music that Megabox users would be able to download through a cut of the advertising revenue.

The ads aren’t just ads you’ll find on Megabox’s site, but the way Megabox will display ads is quite intriguing — and at the same time, it could anger some third party ad networks. Megabox will require that users download and install an application called “Megakey.” This application is similar to an ad blocker, but instead of getting rid of ads, Megakey will replace a small number of existing banner advertisements on any given site with Megabox’s own ads.

If you’d like to get access to free music, you’ll have to install the application. Otherwise Megabox will direct you to purchase its music instead.

There are some major artists on board with Dotcom’s latest endeavor. In the teaser trailer we recognized a few major names including Rusko, The Black Keys, Two Fingers, and Will.i.am listed under “Megabox Exclusive Artists.” However, when asked by Torrentfreak about these artists’ participation with Megabox, Dotcom declined to confirm their association with the service. But with the claim that Megabox will provide its participating artists with 90 percent of all earnings, the platform sounds like an attractive proposition that just might end up being a formidable competitor to the most popular music streaming services today.

Some user-facing features may include personal playlists, curated lists for discovering popular albums and songs, and tour dates information.

There also appears to be an emphasis on social interaction within Megabox. A “Who’s Listening” section seems to display, similar to Spotify’s Facebook integration, what your friends have listened to, and users may be able to chat in the app with friends.

Analytics might be an integral factor in the service, but we’re not sure if it’s a feature reserved for artists or the general community. From what we can discern, this feature will include not only the number of plays that a song has garnered, but also how many followers or other metrics about an artist’s social presence, and a sentiment level to display generally how users are liking the music.

We should expect to see Megabox as a platform supported across devices, so you’ll be able to access the service through your tablet, smartphone, and PC.

Megabox is expected to launch near the end of this year.

Check out the trailers below.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Firefox OS Marketplace screenshots reveal how Mozilla is approaching the mobile store

Screenshots of the Firefox OS Marketplace have leaked revealing for the first time how the app store looks like.

Previously known as Boot to Gecko, Firefox OS seems to be making significant progress towards its release in early 2013. Naturally, what you see here isn’t final, as the Marketplace will evolve as Firefox OS gets into a release stage.

Back to the marketplace at hand, it features a minimalist design focusing on app categories and quick app discovery by categories. The app details section is very neatly organized, too.

Just as the other popular app stores like the Play Store and the Apple App Store, the Firefox OS Marketplace allows you to view the apps installed on your device. Currently, there are only free apps available, so it’s going to be interesting to see how Mozilla will handle app purchases and refunds.

Firefox OS is expected to make its debut in early 2013 on devices manufactured by Alcatel and ZTE. Don’t forget to check out our hands-on of the Firefox OS running on the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com