VERIZON BLOCKS GOOGLE WALLET ON UPCOMING GALAXY NEXUS

Despite the Galaxy Nexus’s NFC chip, Verizon is blocking the Google Wallet payment system from the handset.

Verizon is shutting it out because of — you guessed it — money. The carrier is an invested partner in Isis, a competing mobile payment system. As is so often the case when software makers, hardware makers, and wireless providers collide, the wireless providers are having the last say.

If this is enough to make you hold out for an unconfirmed AT&T or T-Mobile Galaxy Nexus, think again. Those two carriers are partnering with Verizon on the Isis system. The only US holdout is Sprint, who also happens to offer the only official support for Google Wallet with their Nexus S 4G.

ISIS MOBILE PAYMENT SYSTEM TO WORK WITH MASTERCARD & VISA, SHELVES OWN SYSTEM

When AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon came together to create the Isis mobile payment system, they touted a standalone service, powered by Discover's payment network, that would revolutionize the way we make small purchases on the move. Well, the revolution is still on schedule, apparently, but the big trio is now being said to have made a concession in reaching out to the incumbent leaders in this field, Visa and MasterCard.

The Wall Street Journal cites multiple sources in reporting that Isis has turned into a less ambitious "mobile wallet" project that would seek to let you use your Visa or MasterCard account via your NFC-capable smartphone. As far as the consumer is concerned, it's still the same swipe-to-buy proposition, but the move was apparently necessary for Isis "to avoid falling further behind" in the race to corner this developing market.

AT&T, T-MOBILE AND VERIZON ANNOUNCE MOBILE PAYMENT SYSTEM

The big three, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, along with Barclay and Discover, have announced a new mobile commerce system: Isis. The system will use an app on your phone to send payments to a POS system using NFC technology. The Isis team thinks it has the "scope and scale necessary to introduce mobile commerce on a broad basis." [Engadget]