Well, well, looks like if you really want Google Wallet on your shiny new Verizon Galaxy Nexus it’s yours for the taking. This is despite Verizon and the Isis group from saying you can’t.
Images posted by tech site BGR allegedly show the Google Wallet software up and running on Samsung’s latest superphone. If you recall, rumor has it that the Galaxy Nexus was actually delayed because of a spat between Google and Isis, a consortium of three major U.S. carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile). Google wanted its mobile Wallet software to live on the device, enabling the phone’s NFC electronics to function as a virtual credit card.
Understandably Isis may have put the kibosh on Google’s plans since the carriers and Verizon specifically want to offer their own platform for lucrative mobile payments. If it is possible to get Google Wallet integrated on the Galaxy Nexus without too much of a headache, that could spell doom for Verizon’s grandiose payment plans.
Frankly, I feel that if you pay for a device you chose because it’s running Android’s latest and greatest, you should be able to get all the functionality out of it. Wireless providers, who have never offered compelling software of any kind, shouldn’t get in the way of innovation.