One of the features of the Apple Watch is that its users will be able to make purchases with it using the Apple Pay feature. This is something offered by Apple’s wearables that other companies have not included yet. However it seems that Samsung could be following in Apple’s footsteps in the future. According to a report from Business Korea, they have quoted an unidentified Samsung executive who claims that they are working on a new smartwatch that will allow users to make mobile payments. However they will be taking it one step further by integrating fingerprint authentication, thus making it more secure.
Critics can accuse Apple of following instead of leading with the arrival of NFC support in its latest hardware -set up to start facilitating mobile Apple Pay payments- all they want, but there’s at least one component of that project where Apple’s breaking new ground, making those NFC-based payments happen with a smartwatch. Sure, we’ve seen NFC-equipped smartwatches before, but not any so intimately tied to a payment system. But while the Apple Watch may be first, it won’t be the last, and we get word today that Samsung is developing a payment-equipped smartwatch of its own. An unidentified Samsung exec is quoted as saying that the company is preparing a watch that will marry fingerprint authentication with mobile payments to deliver a secure, eminently portable payment solution. This wearable could be ready for launch as soon as MWC 2015 in February, hot on the tail of Apple’s own watch making its retail debut.
