Google Hands Free, the App for Voice Payments

It is called HandsFree and for the moment it is only a Google experiment. It is a mobile application that, by using voice, will allow payments at the checkout of a supermarket, for example, with the smartphone in your pocket or bag. 

The declared objective by Big G is to speed up payments thanks to the phone, which can be left aside placidly, without having to use your hands to do something like take out your wallet. Said like that, it seems something extremely easy, but in practice, we need to see if everything happens as declared by Google, which is currently conducting the experiment in California. 

Google’s real objective, however, remains to increasingly ensure that mobile devices, specifically smartphones, replace credit cards and cash, not so much to streamline payments or, in any case, not only for this but also to accustom people to pay with their phones even for Apps and other services sold in Google’s virtual stores (Play Store) directly on mobile devices. 

Analysts swear that Google’s experiment will soon be followed by Apple, which certainly will not leave such a juicy situation in the hands of a competitor, even if at the moment there is no news about it, not even unofficial. 

HandsFree, however, needs other constants for it to be a project that moves from an experimental stage to large-scale production, such as those related to points of sale, which will obviously have to be equipped with devices or software capable of “intercepting” Google’s voice command and transforming it into a payment. A not insignificant operation, which will determine the diffusion and, therefore, the success of the experiment or not.