05/18, 1:32pm
Carrier confirms ISIS support via Twitter
T-Mobile customers wanting to use Google Wallet are out of luck, as the carrier confirmed this week that it's blocking the mobile payment solution. Instead, T-Mobile wants its customers to use ISIS, a carrier-backed standard that is currently only available in two metropolitan areas. The confirmation marks T-Mobile as just the latest of the major carriers to block Google's standard as they prepare to roll out their own.
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10/16, 11:11am
ISIS mobile payments to arrive in Salt Lake City, Austin, on October 22
The ISIS mobile payment system is set to go live on October 22, according to some leaked memos from the carrier. Shared by TMoNews, the image reveals that the ISIS Mobile Wallet app will arrive at Google Play store on October 22. Those in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas, will be able to use the system as part of a pilot program.
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03/21, 4:35pm
Google Wallet said struggling
Google may be looking to implement major changes to Google Wallet after getting little support, leaks might have disclosed on Wednesday. Having only ever earned support from Sprint, the search giant was said by Bloomberg to be looking at a revenue split to get AT&T or Verizon offering support. The proposal would give a cut of Google Offers coupons and other deals.
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03/14, 4:55pm
PayPal demonstrates changes to Digital Wallet
As expected, PayPal has demonstrated its newly redesigned Digital Wallet service. Two videos outlining the thorough changes to the service are embedded below, made by the eBay Ink blog. The desktop interface sports a plethora of options of how user can user their money, pay for purchases, and even split it into different accounts, or "buckets" as PayPal VP of global product and experience Sam Sharuger reveals.
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03/09, 8:05pm
Plans added services beyond traditional payments
In February, PayPal provided new details on how it planned to roll out its in-store payment services. The subsidiary of eBay plans to demonstrate at the SXSW conference in Austin how it hopes to distinguish its consumer-side digital wallet service from the competition, including Google Wallet and Isis. PayPal hopes to expand its attractiveness by offering more payment flexibility, generating wish lists, and providing greater account control.
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03/05, 10:45am
Isis partners with payment hardware makers
Isis, which is due to kick off this summer, has now secured cash register and payment hardware makers VeriFone, Ingenico, ViVOtech, and Equinox Payments as partners. They have vowed to integrate the Isis Mobile Commerce Application wireless payments technology into their future products. Isis will use NFC technology for payments, digital couponing, location-based social media offers, and more. It's a competitor for Google's Wallet offering.
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03/01, 11:30pm
Target and Walmart join pact on NFC payment
Target and Walmart have joined in the development of yet another mobile payment system, insides gave out on Thursday. The two were said by Wall Street Journal's contacts to now be part of a group with about 24 member store chains hoping to create a standard that, though not directly named, would use NFC. Consulting firm BetterBuyDesign's Steve Mott corroborated the plan by revealing its involvement in the project, with word that big chains as well as drugstores, fast food restaurants, and vending machine firms were involved.
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03/01, 5:35pm
Expands tap-and-pay support to additional devices
Sprint will be adding to the number of its devices supporting Google Wallet. The wireless carrier used a panel discussion at the Mobile World Congress to reveal that it will offer support for the NFC-based mobile payment app on at least ten more smartphones or tablets during the course of 2012. Sprint currently has made the mobile payment system available on the Nexus S 4G and will support it on their soon to be released version of the Galaxy Nexus.
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02/27, 5:25pm
Chase, Capital One, Barclaycard first companies
Isis, the mobile commerce venture between AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have finalized their wireless payment standard for mobile devices, calling it Isis Mobile Wallet. It's due to launch this summer, with Chase, Capital One, and Barclaycard being the first banks to sign up and have their credit, debit, and prepaid cards be compatible with the system. The first merchants to support the system will be located in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas. Like Google Wallet, its major competitor, Isis Mobile Wallet let users securely pay for goods and merchandise with their handsets.
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02/14, 1:10pm
HP outs source code for Isis browser
HP on Tuesday released its open-source Isis browser in the wake of its recently opened-up webOS platform. Meant for developers and dubbed Isis Project, the web browser engine is said to be fast and comply with current standards. It's based on the Enyo framework for webOS and uses both QtWebKit as well as JavaScriptCore.
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12/06, 2:30pm
Verizon says Wallet block is security
Verizon on Tuesday denied blocking Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus. Spokesman Jeffrey Nelson claimed that the nature of the NFC-based payment system wasn't just top-level and had to be integrated into a "new, secure and proprietary hardware element" to work properly. He was adamant that, despite the app not being on the device or in Android Market, it wasn't a case of Verizon trying to censor apps.
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12/05, 11:15pm
Verizon may bar Google competition with Isis NFC
Verizon was accused Monday of deliberately blocking Google Wallet on its version of the Galaxy Nexus. Although the new Nexus has the needed NFC chip and is stock Android, 9to5 had heard that Wallet was being screened from Android Market. The objective would supposedly be to block a competitor to the upcoming multi-carrier Isis payment system due next year.
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11/04, 9:05am
We talk to Nokia's location head on Google, more
Google may have trouble competing with Nokia Drive once it rolls out to the broader market, Nokia's Executive VP of Location and Commerce, Michael Halbherr, told Electronista in an interview late Thursday. Despite Google Maps Navigation being a staple of Android, Google was a "new kid on the block." Nokia had the best map data and navigation in 90 countries, and automakers like BMW were relying on Nokia's platform.
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10/13, 5:05pm
3 amongst 26 new members of NFC advocacy org.
The NFC Forum has added some high profile vendors its ranks. Recently, Sharp, ZTE, and HTC joined the non-profit organization that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Other notable participants include Barclaycard and Isis, the mobile payment joint venture between Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T.
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09/27, 1:15pm
HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung, SE adopt Isis
The upcoming Isis mobile payment standard got a major lift on Tuesday with word that most major smartphone manufacturers planned to support it. HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson all promised to make their current or future NFC-equipped phones work with the standard. DeviceFidelity would also help add NFC to those devices that don't have it built-in.
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08/29, 4:55pm
Isis to get $100 million infusion from founders
The joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless that is mobile payment company Isis will get a more than $100 million investment from its founders, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. The private financing will help the company compete with rival firms that offer mobile payments, including Google. How much funding will come Isis' way depends on how successful the company is at bringing banks and merchants onboard, however.
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08/01, 3:25pm
Will offer PayPal-like service to customers
American Express and Verizon Wireless have announced they will integrate Amex's Serve digital payment and commerce platform onto Verizon mobile phones and tablets. Using Serve, Verizon subscribers will be able to make payments and redeem offers directly from their mobile devices. The two companies also plan to use Serve to offer subscribers online and mobile promos with participating shops.
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07/19, 3:05pm
Isis lands four major credit card firms
Isis on Tuesday said it had landed the top four credit card companies in the US for its mobile payment plans. American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa have all agreed to handle payments from NFC-based phones when the service goes live in the first six months of 2012. The approach may give it at least a temporary edge over Google Wallet, which is so far limited to MasterCard.
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06/22, 4:50pm
Joins Salt Lake City in early NFC service launch
Mobile commerce services provider Isis has identified Austin, Texas as one of its first target markets. Starting sometime in the first six months of 2012, Austin residents will be able make purchases at participating shops throughout the city by using an Isis-enabled phone with NFC instead of swiping a credit card. The team didn't say which specific stores or services would get the new support.
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05/24, 3:05pm
Google NFC service unveiling with Sprint soon
(Update: first stores) Google's rumored NFC-based payment system will be unveiled Thursday, three insiders leaked on Tuesday. The system would let those with a Nexus S 4G on Sprint use their devices to both buy goods and use coupons by waving the phone at a VeriFone-supplied terminal. Google hasn't the confirmed details provided by Bloomberg but is holding an event in New York City on Thursday that will likely discuss the NFC plans.
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05/04, 3:00pm
Isis members make NFC payment plan less advanced
Isis, the coalition of US wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to bring NFC payments on handsets to the masses, will not go forward as planned earlier, according to reports on Wednesday. While trials were due to start early in 2012, the three carriers have now purportedly agreed to change their approach and make it less advanced. Instead, they will create a "mobile wallet" that will link users' existing Visa, MasterCard or other major credit cards to the account, though this is not official yet.
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04/04, 8:55pm
Isis NFC trials start in Salt Lake City in early 2
Isis on Monday night set out a timetable for testing its NFC payment system. It now plans to start a trial in early-to-mid 2012 in Salt Lake City. The experiment will cover both paying for goods at stores as well as paying for UTA buses and trains.
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03/15, 7:45am
Google to trial NFC payment with VeriFone
Google is nearing a trial of an NFC (near field communication) wireless payment system of its own, tipsters claimed Tuesday. A test in New York and San Francisco would see VeriFone supply cash registers with NFC built-in so that owners of NFC-equipped phones like Google's own Nexus S could pay just by bringing the device close to the register. Bloomberg was told it might go beyond just payment to include gift cards, loyalty programs and coupons.
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12/01, 5:20pm
Samsung intros NFC chip with flash, wireless
Continuing on its technolgy launches today, Samsung has revealed a new near field communications (NFC) chip designed for smartphones. The design is the first to have built-in flash memory and can be upgraded on the spot. Making the change would let phone creators adapt the chip to new formats and prevent them from being locked in.
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