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Sprint Nexus 4G First to Receive Google Wallet OTA Update [Video]

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Google Wallet has officially begun to pop up in various retailers today but even if you were using the NFC equipped Nexus S 4G you couldn’t take advantage of the convenient NFC based mobile payment system. Thankfully, Sprint and Google are on top of the situation and are now pushing out the GWK74 “Google Wallet Update” exclusively for the Samsung Nexus S 4G on Sprint. If you haven’t been prompted for the update on your device, be patient and I’m sure you’ll be using nothing but your phone to purchase Slurpees in no time. Here’s a snippet from the Google Mobile Blog:

When we announced Google Wallet, we pledged a commitment to an open commerce ecosystem. We appreciate Citi and MasterCard for being our launch partners. And today, Visa, Discover and American Express have made available their NFC specifications that could enable their cards to be added to future versions of Google Wallet.

Our goal is to make it possible for you to add all of your payment cards to Google Wallet, so you can say goodbye to even the biggest traditional wallets. In fact, we’ve got a video of our first customer, someone who is ready to replace his famously over-stuffed wallet. We hope Google Wallet gives him “serenity now.”

This is still just the beginning and while we’re excited about this first step, we look forward to bringing Google Wallet to more phones in the future. You can learn more about Google Wallet at google.com/wallet.

[Via Samsung, Sprint and Google]

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

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22 Comments

  1. Lucky Nexus losers, er I mean users!! :)

      1. I wont be jelly until they get Visa on board …. then Ill be furious ;)

        1. I think that step would be a little more complicated, as “PayPass” is exclusively a MasterCard invention/service at the moment… It would take some serious implementations on Visa’s part for them to jump on board.

          For now, I’m glad Google thought of that prepaid Google card idea, for us “for-everything-else-I’d-actually-rather-use-Visa” folks. LOL

        2. I guess your “jelly” now, whatever that is… Visa just announced they are coming on board this morning

          http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/20/polyamorous-google-wallet-adds-visa-to-its-arsenal/

  2. So does the Nexus S on T-Mo no longer exist? Looks like I need to jump to Sprint.

    1. Considering Sprint announced their partnership with Google in regards to Google Wallet, it seems there has to be carrier support in addition to the usual NFC chip requirements. I could be mistaken… but Sprint is rapidly becoming the place to be in regards to having the best google support

  3. little irritated they are doing this only for the Nexus S 4g and not all variants of the Nexus S… I wonder what their rational was for this kind of roll out…

    1. I believe the rational is that only the S 4g has the NFC chip right now that is also being used by Sprint … the only carrier to announce adoption of Google wallet

      http://www.nfcworld.com/nfc-phones-list/#available

      1. The original Nexus S on T-Mobile has the NFC chip.

        1. No, what he was saying is that it’s not JUST the NFC chip. The carrier has to be down with Google Wallet too.

          So far the only carrier to jump on board with Google is Sprint. =)

          1. Why would a specific carrier be necessary? These are Nexus phones. Carrier unlocked. If i have an internet connection, an NFC chip, and access to the Android Market, this should not be an issue.

    2. blame your carrier…tmobile att and verizon all adopted through isis…pretty sure you’ll get it eventually…but just not through google wallet…they’ll prolly have an isis app that’ll integrate with your nfc chip

      1. …again, at least for GSM, this is a carrier unlocked phone. I bought it from a Best Buy and had to go to the carrier of my choice (first TMo and later switched to Cincinnati Bell). Carriers should have very little say in matters such as these because they are not subsidizing these phones.

  4. If you get pulled over for drunk driving just pull out your phone and say officer this is my wallet lol

  5. I like to know wat phones will be compatible with Google Wallet. And can I use it woth my Atrix?

    1. The Atrix doesn’t have an NFC chip, so unless Google sends out those NFC stickers, you’re completely hosed. If they DO send out those stickers, you might have a shot at very limited “NFC lite”

  6. still no update, have they given a time frame on how long the roll out would take to complete?

  7. interesting idea~ i hope they can develop this concept into other things. such as… (enter other concepts here)

    1. Magical Unicorn rides???

  8. still need a wallet for my drivers licence unless google is working on a dl app

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