Showing posts with label Android Market. Show all posts

What Is Smart Money, And Can You Buy From Google Play With It?


Smart Money is a payment solution that Smart Communications, Inc. developed close on the heels of Globe Telecom's G-Cash success. The concept is similar: send money or pay someone from a Smart Center or accredited partner, and the recipient will receive the credits via his Smart Gold, Smart Buddy or TalkN'Text number.

Today, however, Smart Money differentiated itself from G-Cash by partnering with BDO, providing MasterCard-based transactions, and then leaning heavily on its card-based services and making online transactions easier.

I've found a few great reviews about the use of their Smart Money accounts for online transactions, especially verifying their PayPal accounts, accepting payments as merchants, making Apple App Store purchases, and most importantly, successfully buying premium Android apps:


In general, though, finding reviews of Smart Money online is a little tough, as not a lot of people have made use of it. However, I managed to fish a couple of ReviewStream articles about Smart Money:


The Lady Programmer has also been able to use her Smart Money card to transfer funds from PayPal to EON to SmartMoney. She did this in order to do away with needing to endure the long lines in Unionbank Baguio.

The primary use of Smart Money, as I've found out, has been to verify one's PayPal account. Here are other resources on the different methods of verifying PayPal accounts, and also withdrawing one's PayPal funds through different means:


There were also a few discussions on users' experience of Smart Money, then another discussion on  international remittance methods and there was a very informative post on Txtbuff.com. I needed to fish out the discussion via the Google Webcache entry instead of viewing it directly, though. You may view or download the PDF of the discussion HERE.

The bottom line is that users' experience with Smart Money have been varied. I'm not sure whether it's the fact that these are mass Mastercard numbers, debit accounts at that, that cause some accounts to be denied. Another theory of mine might be that since this facility is in partnership with Banco de Oro, there may still be kinks in the system.

No offense to Banco de Oro, but there was a recent report about a BDO branch teller who stole from an OFW's account. Not only that, I have a "six-degrees-of-separation" (actually two degrees of separation) story of a BDO savings account being sapped of its funds. Not only that, the BDO Cash Card has been notorious for going offline on a constant basis (can you say, DAILY), especially during afternoons, as well as for having bugs in it like not really having a PIN, and other such banking-related horror stories.

Though I have not personally experienced losing money through my BDO Cash Card, these cautionary tales make a user wonder if the bugs in Smart Money, which had partnered with Banco de Oro, are due to the bank that they partnered with, and not MasterCard or its own system, per se.

But that's one for another story. The point is that, these are the reviews, these are the cautionary tales, and while I (and now you) have been thoroughly warned, I personally like experimenting and won't mind trying out a few transactions using my Smart Money Debit Card. I believe that the system may have matured by now (note that the successful Android Market purchase was made in 2011 yet), and thanks to the Lock/Unlock feature of Smart Money, no one needs to worry about losing funds. And do check the stories in the PDF we've made available for download. One gal who lost her cash actually got it back. Kudos to Smart Communications Inc. for that!

It is worth noting that there was only one very minor "horror story" I've personally experienced so far: the day I claimed my Smart Money MasterCard, the guard at the Smart Communications Inc., center where I claimed it asked me if I was going to make a "cash-in" or "cash-out" transaction. When I said that I was just going to claim my new card, he mused in relief and noted that their facility was offline. Not much different from BDO Cash Card, so I shrugged that off.

If you have been thoroughly scared about the inconsistencies in people's experience with the facility by now, I really do apologize. I aimed to make a very balanced, very honest overview of the payment facility, since I have not yet thoroughly tested mine.

No worries, I aim to reload my card as soon as I can, since I am itching to buy Pumpkins vs. Monsters power-ups because I'm stuck on Levels 15 of both Castle Tomorrow and Halloween stages. I'm thinking of blowing around Php 300 on Purple Lightnings, Ice Grenades and Grave Pumpkins to get ahead. A little insane, but it's taking SERIOUSLY LONG to earn just one ruby to play the Slots with and earn a few of these power-ups. The ultimate I've-Finally-Beaten-Pumpkins-vs.-Monsters review is long overdue, and for the sake of experimentation in two different Android-related transactions, I'm willing to part with a day or two of my living allowance. :p

Also, I've been itching to buy Easy Money, the app, so that I can make that review, soon. Though I hardly need it, as Google Docs suffices for me.

The thing is, I've presented to you the facts, the stories, the reviews. Now, it's up to you to decide how to move forward from here. Will you bite the bullet and start using Smart Money? Or will you hold off and see more people using it?

It's really yours to decide. :)

Before I go, here are links to another Android App payment method: Your Smart LOAD.

Smart Communications Inc. is piling it thick for its users and potential users, as it made an announcement of this payment method just last month. Check out the blog and press release:


For now, the surefire way to pay for your Google Play purchases would be through Google Checkout, using tried and tested debit and credit cards.

Thanks to reader Waterborne for asking the question on what Smart Money is. :)
Android How-To's
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Google Play Has Landed


It was a cloudy, blustery day in March when ominous news reached my Social Media-glazed eyes.

Well, I really don't recall the state of the weather then. And neither was the news totally ominous. I'm really just adding that factoid for drama.

But it was on March 7, 2012 that news broke out that the Android Market would be replaced by Google Play. Philippine Android Community founder, Android app developer and Android evangelist Charo Nuguid, broke the news on the Philippine Android Community, at 2:06 PM.

At 8:18 PM, Geekier Chick sent me the .apk of what was Android Market.

At 3:51 PM on March 8, 2012, Android Pub alerted me about the news.

And as of 7PM yesterday, March 11, 2012, my Cherry Mobile Nova's Firetrap Lollipop stock Android Market changed icons. And then I noticed that it was labeled Google Play store.

Google Play had landed on my phone.

What is the difference between Google Play and the Android Market, save for branding? Content.

Instead of hosting just apps, Google Play will host and store your:
  • Music
  • Movies
  • Books
  • Apps and Games

Not only that, you will be able to sync and store all your purchased content among your Android devices.

So how cool is that? Say goodbye to clunky moving from your PC to your Android and screaming and yelling at your Mac for not accepting your Android. Well, not really. Sync software for the Android and your Mac are readily available, even if Apple is suing the pants off of OEMs and Android in general.

More details on Google Play here:

And if you're into watching video tutorials and intro's:





How about you? Did your Android Market wirelessly (albeit somewhat intrusively) change into Google Play already? Are you liking it? Disliking it? No, it's not Cinderella's coach that will change back into Android Market at midnight.

Me, I'm itching to fill up my Smart Money and start buying books! Not to mention music!

Also, I'm thinking it's a great idea, one that certainly resurrected the old media platform of Google, Google Music. While that one certainly bombed, Google Play, being fully integrated into Android (though it does feel a little in-our-faces), is a better marketing strategy. Since it's all there, lazy consumers like me will be able to get my media fix at my fingertips, almost literally.

If before it was a headache for me to get signed into the iTunes Store (so many prohibitive things like credit cards and location limitations), Google Play promises to give me access to content I had been itching to have.

So again, how about you? How do you feel about Google Play invading our Androids?
Android Industry News
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Google Integration Like No Other

 Image by AppStorm

From search to mail to functional Cloud-based productivity applications. Google has created a very user-friendly, user-centric empire for itself. And now, Google as a company has grown so extensive, it now has a mobile phone platform to its name, the Android. 



We've been talking about the Android for a few days now. From its features, to its head to head competition with Apple, and even to the Android choices that China has to offer, we realize that this mobile platform has much to offer, and there's no stopping its growth anytime soon. 



Today, we'll talk about one exciting feature of this mobile device OS: direct integration with Google services.

Google, as we mentioned, has a whole suite of Cloud-based productivity software. From the standard Office suite in Google Docs (word processor, spreadsheets, presentations), to organizers and task managers in Google Calendar, Google Tasks, and even note-keeping software like the Google Notebook*, or the Bookmark manager in Google Bookmarks, Google has solutions for most of a road warrior's needs. Frankly, if you like keeping your software choices simple, everything that's worth using is actually on Google. No need to look elsewhere and scour the Internet for apps. It's all there on your Google Account.

If there's anything that is best-loved on a Blackberry, it is the push email. Thanks to the innovation of making your email act like an SMS, Blackberry-powered workers everywhere have been able to keep tabs with their email 24/7, and even during vacations. There is one big downer to the Blackberry push email technology, however: How to tether your email to your device.

The Blackberry was designed more for power users. And unless you had your unit configured by your mobile service provider, or you're a first-time user of the unit, chances are, you'd be in for a rather confusing time getting your push email to work. That's why more parents and grandparents are given iPhones by their family, and Blackberries are strictly for the young and the business-oriented.

On the other hand, the Android solution to push email, even Google integration, is painless. Just look for the Gmail app from the Android marketplace, install, add your account details, and you're done. Push email from Gmail for the win.

If you need Google Docs, there's also an available app by Google from the marketplace, as well. There is a plethora of other Android apps to sync with your Google accounts. All you need to do is to search the Android Marketplace for it.

The possibilities of an Android device are endless. We're just getting started showing you around.


Tip: When you install apps for your Android, make sure to take a look at who developed it. Choose the apps that Google Inc. itself developed. And when you install apps that are not from Google, always research on the companies who made them. This is to keep your Android from being infected with Malware.
Android
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