Expat Village is edited and published by Iain Williams
in Caracas, Venezuela.
Speculation that Google is preparing an aggressive assault on the mobile
market has been given added weight by the emergence of a Google patent related
to mobile phone payments.
The search giant filed for a patent on its 'Gpay' technology last year but
its existence was only published last week, leading to a new round of rumours
over the company's mobile strategy.
The patent is for a "computer-implemented method of effectuating an
electronic online payment" triggered by a mobile phone text message.
However, a Google spokesperson played down the patent. "We file patent
applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with. Some of
those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't," a
spokesperson said
The mobile market has long been seen as a part of Google's wider strategy to
make the world's information easily accessible to everyone.
Google has struck
deals with mobile makers such as LG and Samsung to get its software onto
handsets, but analysts have predicted that the company is planning a more
ambitious move to take on Apple's iPhone with a so-called 'Gphone'.
Google has
so far refused to comment.
Expat Village is edited and published by Iain Williams
in Caracas, Venezuela.
