LG Nexus 5 (2015), next Flagship LG G5 to feature fingerprint scanner and Android Pay

After manufacturing Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 for Google, Korean electronics giant LG is now manufacturing another Nexus device for Google which will be next gen version of the 2013 Nexus 5. Although it is a “refresh” of Nexus 5, it will feature all the top technologies including Android M, Android Pay and a fingerprint scanner.

The Korea Herald reports that LG Nexus 5 (2015) will be the first smartphone from Google to sport the fingerprint recognition technology.  The fingerprint sensor will work with Android M which will offer native biometrics support and consumers will be able to use it for authorization in Google’s new mobile payment system, Android Pay. The report doesn’t mention any other specs except that the LG Nexus 5 (2015) is likely to have a 5.2-inch (13 cm) display.

After the fingerprint recognition technology is tested on Nexus 5 (2015), LG plans to incorporate it in its own future flagships, the next one probably being LG G5 if LG continues with its existing naming system. If an earlier rumor is to be believed, the LG G5 will also sport iris recognition technology. The rumored upcoming LG G Pro may also come with a fingerprint sensor.

Incorporating Fingerprint sensors will help LG to stay in competition against the likes of Apple and Samsung. Apple has the mobile payment system Apple Pay and Samsung is soon rolling out Samsung Pay but unlike both of them, LG will probably adopt Android Pay that will come with Android M.

The Huawei-made 5.7-inch Nexus phablet will also apparently have a fingerprint sensor as its prototype has allegedly appeared in a video showing a fingerprint sensor at the back.

The Korea Herald reports that LG Nexus 5 will be unveiled in October this year. If so, we can expect the release of Android at about the same time because Google is in the habit of launching a new Nexus device with the new version of its Android OS.

 

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LG Nexus 5 (2015), next Flagship LG G5 to feature fingerprint scanner and Android Pay

Android Pay Transaction Fee Might Be Waived Due To Standardized Security

Mobile payment will change the way that we make purchases in the future. With the mobile payment, all we need to do is to tap our smartphone to the payment terminal which is normally placed in the cashier. The only requirement is that our smartphone and the payment terminal must support NFC (Near Field Communication) in order for it to work. There is currently two big technology company which is pushing the mobile payment service into the market; they are Google with Android Pay service or Apple with Apple Pay services.

Apple will collect 0.15% of the transaction value for credit card transactions whereas for debit card transaction, it will collect 0.5%. It seems like not much, but then if there are millions of users, it can sum up to a big money. Android Pay, on the other hand, might not collect any transaction fee. It is because Visa and MasterCard recently is taking steps to standardize their tokenization security system which eventually preventing payment services to charge fee to its issuers.

The tokenization security works such that, it will generate a unique string of data to authenticate a customer in front of a trusted party. Therefore, the merchant will not know sensitive information about the customer when the card is swipe at the payment terminal. It is more secure in this way. Therefore, some of you might be wondering, how Google benefited from this service if the company does not charge transaction fee? The answer is from the advertising and marketing. Google plans to introduce coupons or promotions to attract users to use the service and it is also will bring more indirect income.

Android Pay Transaction Fee Might Be Waived Due To Standardized Security

Android Pay Lets You to Make Payment Conveniently By Just Taping Your Device to the Terminal

Google has made mobile payment method a lot simpler than it used to be when the company first launches Google Wallet. Instead of having to open the app and key in a PIN to use it, Google just need you to simply tap your phone on the NFC terminal to authorize a payment. This way of mobile payment feature goes by the name of Android Pay.

On top of that, Android Pay is designed such that it can be embedded in apps like Lyft, Grubhub as well as Wish. The way that it works is that it relies on a virtualized credit card which acts like a proxy to your credit card, therefore the credit card information is not shared by merchants. It is also reported that Android Pay will be working with more than 700,000 stores in USA itself which have contactless payment terminals. Furthermore, Google has also partnering with mostly major financial institution in order to make the Android Pay working for the consumer.

Apart from using it with the contactless payment terminal while you are in the physical store, Android Pay can also be used for in-app purchases from online retailers. For example, when you are ordering food from Chipotle or paying an Uber ride, you can also use Google’s payment system.

Android Pay requires Android KitKat to operate at the very minimum; therefore the fingerprint feature is optional. However, with the upcoming release of Android M, it comes with the native fingerprint recognition standard API which is available to developers.

Android Pay Lets You to Make Payment Conveniently By Just Taping Your Device to the Terminal

Here’s everything you need to know about Google’s new smartphone OS Android M

You might be wondering that the Android Lollipop released by Google last year is yet to catch the heat in the market, and it seems to be pretty soon that the Android M has been released. Google has finally made its official by announcing the Android M at the Google I/O Developer conference and it seems that with the new OS, Google would be largely focused on enhancing the user experience of the handset further. Google this time seems to be working a bit more on the code structure of the OS thereby bringing in all the features to its users. So let’s check out what the new OS Android M has to offer.

No more annoying app permissions!

Unlike its previous OS the Android Lollipop, which was a major design overhaul over it’s the then previous one (Android KitKat), Android M is majorly focused on improving the user experience. At the start of the event, Google first declared about the important changes to the app permission that seem to be pretty annoying. The developer preview of Android M, which would be available as Android Lollipop, users can see that they need to respond less often to the app permissions.

This means that suppose you are using WhatsApp and want to send voice message, you just need to grant the permission once, and after which you would never be asked to make use of microphone in apps again. This would apply to all the categories of permissions that have been simplifiedto be more comprehendable for things like “Camera” and “Location”.

However, in case you want to revoke this permission back, you will surely be able to do it through Settings Menu, that allows you to control that whether all the apps or few select only have the access to such permission.

Google Now gets even better

One of the biggest improvements in Android M actually have to do with Google Now — the search giant’s digital assistant. The service is arguably already best-in-class, but thankfully, Google isn’t being complacent.

Google’s digital assistance Android Now is getting an update with its new Os Android M. Even though the service is pretty fine and seamless, Google seems not to have got into complacency and has worked to add new features to the platform. Newly introduced ‘Now on tap’ service will help you understand your context in a much better way than earlier. This will help the Android Now to work even more smartly for e.g. a new message received on Viber that suggests you to go to the restaurant or any such reminder for that sake, will now be followed by Google Now. Just a Home button tap would summon this service which would set a reminder for dry cleaning and would also search for reviews of restaurants and apps that would help you reserve a table in the restaurant.

Such a functionality has been implemented to other platforms as well! For example if you are listening to a music track and you activate the Google Now feature asking for the artist behind the track, Google Now will automatically know whom you are referring to! Another example would be the Google Chrome where if you just highlight the name of the movie star and long-press the Home button to summon Google Now, it would serve all kind of information about him/her.

Android Pay with the native fingerprint scanning support

Well, it seems that Google doesn’t want to be left behind and so to put the competition straight with Samsung Pay and majorly with Apple Pay, Google along with the Android M brings its own wireless payment system called as the Android Pay. The Android Pay will be the extended version of the Google Wallet that would allow for the mobile payments in stores. Android Pay like the Apple Way, is to use the NFC mode with communication to the terminals.

In addition to this, Android M also includes native support for fingerprint scanners, which means that the handset manufacturers no need to make an extra effort to bake a new support. This feature is getting coupled with the Android Pay which is likely to give a boost to the Google’s new mobile payment system.

 ‘Dozing’ a special mode to increase the power efficiency

The battery life for the premium handsets has always been a matter of concern for the users. Manufacturers are constantly working on how to improve the battery life of their devices. The latest Google OS Android M is designed to focus on this aspect and have introduced a special ‘dozing’ mode that would activate various sensors of your device that would determine that you handset is not being used and would enter into the sleep mode. Don’t worry, as even ‘dozing’ being active, it wont stop the notifications and alarms from reaching to your.

With this, Android M would increase the standby time to 2x than that seen on the Android Lollipop. Moreover additional good information is that Google is extending the support for Type C charging ports public.

Direct Share

The gist of the Android experience has always been in easy way of sharing content however this feature needed some serious improvement in case there is a lot many information to be shared or lot many apps. Google seem to have worked on this matter and with its new Android M has also incorporated some smarter suggestions for sharing of content every time. This means that if you share most of the content with a particular friend of yours, Google will put that friend on the first priority as you are likely to share the content in future.

Google is still said to be working on this area and coming out with some very smart idea so that they can be implemented before it is released to its users.

Category wise volume control

One of the other great features of Android M includes the category wise volume control. This means that you can set different volumes for music, alarms, ringtone and similarly to other platforms. This means that there would be a sliding volume bar for all such groups allowing you to set the volume controls as per your need.

Here’s everything you need to know about Google’s new smartphone OS Android M

Softcard Support for Windows Phone is Terminated as Google Acquired the Technology

Softcard is a mobile payment service owned jointly by Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. Recently Google has purchased the technology behind this mobile payment service, however, just to be clear, Google does not purchase the company. This way is seen as Google’s way to compete with ApplePay which is provided by Apple. This process comes with a few changes. One thing that remains the same for now is that the app for Android will continue to work, therefore, users can continue to tap and pay at over 275,000 locations in the states.

It is recommended that Softcard users to download Google Wallet. Sadly, Google is planning to shut down the Softcard app and terminate Softcard wallets. However, the challenge is that Softcard users cannot easily switch to Google Wallet as personal information is not part of the transaction between Softcard and Google. Therefore,  after Softcard user has terminated the wallet service provided by Softward, the loyalty cards cannot be used.

On top of that Google announced that the tech company is also shutting down the Softcard Windows Phone app. There is no confirmation date on when the app will be closed.  Moreover, Google is expected to launch Android Pay at Google I/O. Android Pay is an API for developers who want to add a mobile payments option to their apps. Android Pay will be separated from Google Wallet.

Softcard Support for Windows Phone is Terminated as Google Acquired the Technology