The heavily backed Isis mobile payment system is set to take on Google Wallet this summer and will be available to 100 Million U.S. cardholders. Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard have all signed on with Isis to enable their credit, debit and prepaid cards to be placed into the Isis Mobile Wallet. Isis is a joint venture created by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless and is the reason why Google Wallet was blocked on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus (which is anti-competitive IMO but we have a fix for that).
While Siri seems to get all the attention when it comes to voice actions, Motorola wants to remind people that Android not only does voice actions, but does them extremely well, if not better. At least that’s the message we’re getting out of Motorola’s latest campaign pitting Android’s voice actions against its top contender Siri. Motorola runs through a slew of voice action challenges using three different Motorola phones and the results are impressive. I’m blown away by how fast both OS’s perform the tasks given and it’s an excellent reminder of the fact that Android has been perfecting voice actions for quite some time. I’m betting there are a lot of you that didn’t even realize your phone could do the things your about to see. Check out the videos after the break.
You may have noticed that Google likes to name its Android versions after delicious treats. Starting with Cupcake, Google has followed alphabetically with Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, and Ice Cream Sandwich. Are you drooling yet? Up next is the letter J and its been rumored that the next version will be called Jelly Bean. It makes sense considering the lack of J-lettered treats and it makes even more sense thanks to Google’s private meeting area at MWC.
Last year’s Android Booth at Mobile World Congress was quite the spectacle. They had a two-story slide, OS flavored smoothies, and a ton of Android related tech and swag. We can’t wait to see what Google has in store for us this year as they’ve been teasing us with a countdown to the unveiling over at Android site. With only a couple days left, we’re going to take a look at what we can expect to see from various manufacturers and what to be on the lookout for. It should be an exciting event full of amazing devices and even sweeter Android treats.
As promised, ASUS has begun rolling out Android 4.0 to Transformer owners in the US. It’s also been reported to be rolling out to Canadian users as well. As for the rest of the world, just be patient as ASUS is doing a superb job at delivering Ice Cream Sandwich to its users and you’re sure to be next. So go grab the update and start enjoying the latest and greatest Android OS.
