If you couldn`t tell from my last post on NFC, I find the idea of paying for things with NFC or doing anything with NFC an exciting prospect. Now a hack has appeared over at XDA Developers that allows Nexus S owners outside the US to set up Google Wallet on their phone. Hit the break for more info
To start with the hack requires you have root access to your phone. Luckily the place that has the hack is also one of the best places for information on how to root your phone, XDA Developers. Initially the hack required a full wipe and reinstall of your ROM but now all that is required is root access and the zip file, which is loaded through Clockwork Recovery. After some issues connecting my Nexus S to my Windows PC (Hint : PDANet from JuneFabrics had a driver that worked) I eventually got root access and installed the zip file containing the Google Wallet APK.
Now as part of the introduction of the Google Wallet service, Google are offering a $10USD prepaid credit card linked to your Google Wallet account to all who sign up, it`s this $10 credit that makes this hack work outside of then US, unfortunately once you use it, that`s it, there is currently no way to top up your account, but if anyone has a way to do it, I`d love to hear about it.
After all this, I can say I have used Google Wallet to make a purchase and it was Awesome! It did confuse the attendant a little but i`m sure this will pass once Google Wallet is introduced into Australia. Mastercard have actually released a PayPass Locator app that you can get here and use to locate business`s that have the PayPass Terminal. A bit of a shoutout to Twitter for finding me a terminal before I found the PayPass app. All the terminals I`ve seen so far support both Mastercard PayPass and Visa PayWave, but as Mastercard are providing the infrastructure at this stage, it`s Mastercard PayPass that we want, FYI the terminal I used looked like this :
I have recorded a quick walkthrough of the Google Wallet application so you could get an idea of what is in there (FYI I`ve changed the PIN since recording the video), I recorded this before I made a purchase and the purchase now shows up in the history section.
So now I just have to wait for Google to launch this in Australia or work out a way to recharge my account, hit the source link below to go to the XDA forum for the Google Wallet zip and instructions.
