[tech/nerd] I am so excited for Google Wallet.

Google Wallet debuted on Thursday, 26 May 2011. A quick lowdown:

• uses the proprietary NFC technology
• currently works with Google Prepaid Card & Citi MasterCard and the PayPass systems
• is an app that you download onto Android
• will be synced with Google Offers (Google’s answers to Groupon): so if you purchase something with Google Wallet and there is also a deal on Google Offers, you automatically get the deal!
• the only phone compatible right now is the Nexus S 4G from Sprint

Just one word: convenience. Carrying cash, while useful for those devious (European) vendors who only accept cash, is bulky and jangly. Carrying credit or debit cards, while decidedly less bulk, is still quite annoying, because to be safe, you need at least two different card providers (MasterCard, American Express, Visa, among others), in case a vendor does not accept one of them. Moreover, I hate bringing my huge wallet and fumbling with my cards–so whenever I exclusively go to Starbucks, I use the Starbucks Mobile Card on my iPod Touch, in which I can actually see and update my balance while earning ‘stars’ at Starbucks for free drinks, etc. So, Google Wallet and Google Offers synchronization? Slick.

If you cannot tell from the blog design, I am a minimalist at heart. If I am up for a day of city exploring, these are the things I will bring: credit card and phone. Not even a wallet. Just a credit card. Google has also said that this service could expand to IDs, boarding passes, tickets, and keys. Compacting everything into one device! My minimalist bees’ knees are quaking! I will never have to carry all these useless pieces of tree pulp, metal, and plastic again, and think I have lost them in my bottomless bag and cry for several minutes thinking I will never get into my house again. I lose track of things easily, and just having one thing to keep track of–my smartphone–will make things easier and less stressful for me.

However, before I run away with love for Google Wallet, I admit one of the first things I thought of was: what about security? All that financial and personal information in a gadget that is easy to lose?

There are two layers to the virtual card(s): the phone’s manual unlock, and the app’s PIN number. A spending limit can be set, and purchases over that limit will require text message or e-mail confirmations. The data of the cards will be encrypted by First Data, and the card numbers will never be fully displayed on the phone screen. When removed, physically tampered with or hacked into, the NFC chip will self-destruct.

Yet, I still have some reservations. From Google Wallet:

What To Do If Your Phone is Stolen or Lost

Even though the Google Wallet PIN and Secure Element protect your payment card information, you should still call your issuing banks to cancel your cards.

Cancel all my credit cards?! All of them?! Then that means I cannot put all my eggs in one basket and must still carry at least one physical card virgin from Google Wallet. Also, there is the possibility that the phone will break, I drop it into the ocean or a glass of milk, or just go haywire on its own, leaving me with no other method to pay (because really, with Google Wallet, the only thing I would carry from then on would be a phone). Concentrating all of this information into one device could be disastrous if anything averse to said device happens.

The Rambly Verdict: If Google keeps the app exclusive to Android, and is able to get partnerships with other banks who use MasterCard (cough, HSBC), I might actually be swayed to buy an Android as my next phone. I confess, my lazy self can be suckered in by promises of superlative convenience, even if it means just carrying one piece less of plastic. If Google is able to successfully have vendors adopt Google Wallet and Google Offers, this could be huge. Of course, ordinary people on the young side of the age spectrum will latch on, because paying by phone is such a cool novelty (at least in America, not in South Korea, China, and Japan!) that is worth the extra setup. For phones that do not have NFC capability, Google is working on a sticker that will allow them to make payments (but sadly, the stickers cannot connect with outside features like Google Offers). Right now, Google needs to focus on creating the partnerships, and the people will follow.

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Extra: Google also needs to focus on the lawsuit from eBay and PayPal over trade secrets used in Google Wallet, though it is unlikely eBay and PayPal will throttle Google Wallet before it launches officially.

[Gadget] Cr-48 (Chromebook!) quick list of good/bad

Argh. The profile picture that I can't change.

I have had this Chromebook since Thursday (today is Sunday), and for those who are curious about how it well or how badly it runs, here’s a quick run-down:

GOOD:

1. Fast boot-up, usually only takes a few seconds to turn on from a shut-down
2. Keyboard easy to type on, the simplified keyboard makes sense
3. Lightweight
4. Rubberized surface feels solid and can withstand a bit of damage or weathering
5. Sound is not ‘tinny’ but isn’t very loud overall
6. Battery does run for 8 hours
7. Google Talk widget is handy, and stays on the bottom on the screen, just barely peeking out as you move from tab to tab.
8. Verizon 3G works at normal speeds (around 1Mb/s)
9. It’s free! I’m a college student, so this is very important; also Google sent me a sticker to put on it, so double the points

BAD:

1. Flash stutters: I can’t watch Youtube or Hulu comfortably without all these annoying pauses
2. Flash loves crashing 3 out of 4 times.
3. Chrome gets progressively slower when you open more tabs, lots of pauses and halts
4. Google Talk is good on my end, but not so hot with the other end
5. Touchpad, even though I set it on the highest sensitivity, only registers my double finger taps for right click 2/3 of the time
6. Touchpad is just one large left click button, so the only way to right click is to tap with two fingers, which doesn’t succeed 1/3 of the time!
7. Verizon 3G set up took around 20 min.
8. Cannot change original profile picture that you take with the webcam
9. I used half of my free 100 Mb per month by watching one SHINee video on Youtube 480p
10. I have no idea where my pictures I download go; they’re not showing up in my Downloads folder for some reason

Verdict: It’s a netbook. Except the only thing on it is Chrome. A really buggy Chrome–I usually send a few bug reports every day. I use it mostly for browsing the web when I’m too lazy to carry my heavier Asus or wait for either my laptop or my desktop to turn on. In this way, I conform to Google’s purpose of a user using a notebook only to browse the internet. Yes, I have three computers now: Asus notebook, Chromebook, Dell Inspiron desktop. All squished into my dorm. I’m a nerdy kindergartener. I know.

Any questions you want me to investigate, let me know! :)

[lifestyle] My arm hurts. yes, I’m a survivor of a flu shot

Get your flu shot.

I just got mine, for the seasonal flu and the H1N1.  It’s one of the easiest things you can do to protect your health.  However, if you get a bad nurse (LIKE ME), your arm will be sore for a day or two.

I’ve had shots twice a week for a year because of my allergies, and they gave me the shot in my deltoid muscle as well, but they didn’t stick the shot RIGHT INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE MUSCLE.  It’s ridiculous.  So now I have a sore arm for no reason.

So when they offered me a sticker, I said HECK YES I NEED SOME COMPENSATION FOR THIS UNNECESSARY SORE ARM.