Not to be left out of the mobile payment game, Samsung is reportedly in development of a new smartwatch capable of processing payments and verifying a user’s identity via a fingerprint scanner, and a software platform by PayPal.
The South Korean electronics giant already has several Galaxy Gear smartwatches on the market, but the yet unconfirmed device is set to combine “fingerprint identification technology, relevant through cooperation with PayPal, and Synaptics, which is a global company specializing in biometric verification,” an unnamed Samsung rep told Business Korea. “By the earliest, the third generation smartwatch to be released early next year will have this new system in which payment is authorized immediately when users identify themselves through biometric sensors such as a fingerprint or login.”
Managing transactions isn’t the only trick up their sleeves; the device will also look to send users promotion notifications from nearby retailers based on their location. We don’t know if it will be Google’s Android Wear or Samsung’s Tizen operating system powering the device, but we could be see them hitting wrists as early as Mobile World Congress 2015.
