Android Smartphones to Become Big Fat Credit Cards

"Will Android smartphones finally bring m-commerce to America? Contactless payment technologies have been around for years, and buying goods with cellphones is commonplace in some parts of the world, but in the U.S., e-wallets haven't caught on. Android's upcoming Gingerbread OS update may change that. "This mode of payment has been crying out for more enabled devices," said Nitesh Patel, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.

"Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) will enable contactless shopping with a smartphone in its Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system, which is due to be released in a few weeks, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Monday at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

"In a discussion about new features Google is working on, Schmidt mentioned the inclusion of a special chip that could replace a credit card when consumers pay for goods and services."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• The New York Times: Open Wallets for Open-Source Software(Apr 27, 2005)