|
Google Wallet for kids will roll out in 2025. "Following the positive response of tap-to-pay on Fitbit Ace LTE devices, we're expanding tap-to-pay for kids to Google Wallet," Google wrote in a statement to 9to5Google, which first reported on it. Parents could approve credit and debit cards added to children's phones, and Google's Family Link would let them view transactions and easily approve or remove cards.
The service would build on the tap-to-pay functionality in Google's Fitbit Ace LTE kids' activity tracker. The expansion would make the Google Wallet app available for Android phone-using children whose parents have set up Family Link and approved access.
Any of the parents' existing payment cards in Google Wallet could be used for the kids' spinoff. When paying, children would have to approve tap-to-pay purchases using standard authentication options (fingerprint, facial recognition, PIN or password). At launch, the service is said to support gift cards and event tickets but not online purchases, identification or health cards.
Apple already has a similar take on children's purchases. Families in the company's ecosystem can let their kids use Apple Pay in stores and online or send money through Messages with
|
|
According to a new report, the next major revision of the Gemini model has some grand ambitions, including the ability to completely control the Chrome browser. That's according to The Information, citing unconfirmed leaks from deep within Google.
The system is allegedly codenamed "Project Jarvis," a clear allusion to Tony Stark's fictional and semi-sentient artificial intelligence from the Iron Man movies. This upgraded version of Gemini can apparently control Google's Chrome browser with screenshots and virtualized mouse clicks, similar to what Anthropic recently unveiled with its Claude AI system.
According to the leaked info, the end goal is a system that's sophisticated and reliable enough to be used to order products from online stores or even arrange and pay for plane tickets. That would be a serious step up from the somewhat basic attempts at automation currently seen from Google and its competitors. But Google's deep hooks in the browser and search space would certainly make it possible, if not easy.
Google is expected to unveil an early preview of this capability in December, though that's allegedly subject to change. A small initial beta test to work out the kinks — and boy, there would be some concerning kinks in any system expected to autonomously spend regular users' money — would then follow.
We can't independently confirm The Information's, um, information.
|
|
