Today's rumor isn't directly related to just
the Galaxy S4 smartphone directly, but it does certainly involve Samsung's
future flagship. You see, it seems that Samsung and Visa have struck a great
deal which will allow users to make credit card payments via near field
communication (NFC). This will be a feature that will work on all future,
next-generation Samsung devices that have NFC chips. Neither Visa nor Samsung
mention what will be considered a "next generation" device, but it is
safe to assume that devices such as the Galaxy S IV and the Galaxy Note III fall
into this category.
 |
| Making things simple! |
The agreement between the two company's gives
Samsung access to Visa's PayWave system. This is a system that is
very similar to Google Wallet. The basic concept is that you can input your
credit card information on your phone and then just pay for stuff by tapping
your phone on a special pad at the store. Quite a handy feature isn't it?
Honestly, I dream of seeing the end of physical currency and somehow I vision a
day when mankind will have a common currency and be able to pay for everything
virtually. I see this as a good step in that direction!
 |
| Get ready folks! |
But enough about my silly ideas, let us focus
on what this agreement means for Samsung's Galaxy S4. As you can already
imagine, this is good marketing potential and it clearly gives the consumer the
knowledge that this a premium device. However, it is unclear whether or not all
the Galaxy S4 models in the USA will have this feature. The main problem is that
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have their own payment system called ISIS which
works in a similar way, and their devices block other apps that try to do the
same thing. A good example of this is the Google Wallet app.
So, what do I think about the whole Galaxy S4
Visa PayWave idea? I find it brilliant as you can tell, but I would not call it
the pride and joy of the device. However, this feature will, along with many
other software and hardware innovations that Samsung is expected to release,
certainly make the smartphone look much more attractive and, in the end, it is
always the little things that get us! After all, people are already going crazy
over the Galaxy S IV eye-tracking concept!
So, what do you guys and girls think?
