Want Google Wallet on the non 4G Nexus S? XDA Developers cracked it

Want Google Wallet on the non 4G Nexus S? XDA Developers cracked it

I think we can all agree that today venumx over at XDA Developers gets the top person in NFC award after enabling Google Wallet in all Nexus S variants. Officially the only NFC phone that is capable of running Google Wallet is the Samsung Nexus S 4G on Sprint. All of the Google Nexus S variants have the necessary NFC chip and Secure Element, but because of Isis, Google hasn’t been able to provide the service on any other mobile network operator’s network. This has shrunk the potential user base of Google Wallet significantly and the three Isis joint venture mobile network operators have even been switching off NFC in other Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S II. They haven’t been switching off the feature because it doesn’t work, they have removed the NFC capability because they are not ready to monetize it with their own Isis NFC mobile wallet at this time, and they have feared exactly what has happened today.

Google Wallet enabled on All Nexus S handsets

The tech savvy members of XDA Developers have been playing around with enabling Google Wallet for all Nexus S owners for about two weeks now, but yesterday it all came together as member after member reported that they had successfully enabled Google Wallet and pocketed that sweet, sweet $10 that Google is giving away with every new account setup. So, yes Google Wallet payments are happening over Isis member networks this evening and there doesn’t appear a lot that anyone can do about it.

However, upgrade with caution if you are brave enough to try it at all. Quite a few people over at XDA Developers forum have had success installing and using Google Wallet, but there are more than a few who haven’t. The devs are still working through issues that are cropping up and knocking them down one by one. We think we’d wait for a more stable version, which at the rate they are going with this project, won’t take that long. Remember this only started 10 days ago and they have already got to the stage where users of the forum have successfully installed and are running Google Wallet.

We would bet that people on the Google Wallet team are attempting to hide a smile this evening as potentially hundreds and eventually thousands of new accounts are opened thanks to the hack. Whether this hack interferes with the security of the Secure Element is yet to be seen. However, at this time it appears that the clever people over at XDA Developers have merely found a way to circumvent the provisioning service that is set up for Sprint and the Nexus S 4G. If you are a Nexus S owner on another network, we would love to know whether you have been able to set Google Wallet up, and what happens if you are not in the States.