Google on Wednesday launched its digital wallet in India with local integration, almost two years after it relaunched the app as a digital wallet platform in the US

As TechCrunch reported last month, Google Wallet will run in India alongside the prevailing Google Pay app, which is able to remain the corporate’s payment app in the country. In February, Google replaced its Pay app with Wallet in the US.

“Google Pay isn’t going anywhere. Google Pay is our primary payment example,” Ram Papatla, CEO and director of engineering for India at Google, said at a press conference in New Delhi. “The wallet is specifically tailored to address non-payment use cases.”

Google Wallet will enable Android users in India to store and access boarding passes, gift cards, event tickets and loyalty cards. You can add all of it via a QR code, barcode or link shared in Gmail, or via the dedicated Add to Google Wallet button available in partner apps.

The app may also store public transport tickets and means that you can create passes from any image containing a barcode or QR code, equivalent to airline boarding passes, luggage tags or parking receipts.

Initially, Google Wallet will work with 20 brands including PVR Inox, Flipkart, Air India, MakeMyTrip, Pine Labs and Ixigo. It has also roped in local transport operators equivalent to Kochi Metro, Hyderabad Metro, VRL Travels and Abhibus. Additionally, the corporate has partnered with system integrators Wavelynx and Alert Enterprise to enable users to store and access corporate IDs.

According to the newest data from Counterpoint shared with TechCrunch, Android continues to dominate the smartphone market in India with a market share of 93%. In 2023, of the 152 million smartphones shipped to the country, 140 million were Android-based. The smartphone penetration rate this yr was 70%, up from 66% in 2021, in response to the research firm.

All this provides Google a solid reason to launch Wallet in India. However, it might face competition from Samsung Wallet, which the South Korean company offers as an all-in-one digital wallet and payments app. Apple also has a Wallet app for iPhone users in the country, although the app doesn’t have many local integrations. WhatsApp messenger also means that you can get virtual boarding passes and travel tickets from platforms like MakeMyTrip and state metro train operators.

will.i.am has at all times been one step ahead of the competition in relation to engineering and technology. The Grammy-winning artist even showed he believed in Tesla before Elon Musk took over.

Leader of the Black Eyes Peas brought his wealthy musical knowledge, business and technology in the NORE “Drink Champs” program. There, will.i.am talked in regards to the first investments he made in two corporations that “changed” his life for the higher.

According to the “Let’s Get Started” hitmaker, he received a stake in Tesla two years before Musk joined the corporate as CEO in 2008. By the time Musk took ownership of the automobile and clean energy company, will.i.am was already in his next enterprise, co-founding Beats By Dre a few years before Apple acquired the brand.

“I invested in Tesla in 2006, before Elon took over (the company) – around the same time,” he told NORE. “And then I used to be a part of Beats. And then Apple bought Beats from us. So you are talking about two corporations that modified my life. So I say each.

will.i.am played Drink Champs’ signature game of This or That when he answered whether he preferred Elon Musk or Steve Jobs in the tech innovation category. His interest in the industry comes naturally to a Los Angeles native who attended a highschool specializing in science, engineering and math.

He earned a number of money due to his natural passion for technology and business. He played his role in a personal investment group even him shares in corporations valued at billions of dollars, corresponding to OpenAI, Anthropic, Runaway and Hugging Face.

The “Scream and Shout” rapper/producer not only invests, but additionally invents his own technology products. will.i.am became an early entrepreneur at Viv Labs, which Google acquired for roughly $500 million. By 2015, he invested in OpenAI when it was funded by billionaires Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Amazon Web Services and other tech moguls.

Most recently, will.i.am ventured into FYI, an AI-powered productivity app that permits creators to collaborate and communicate on digital asset management projects.

“Everything will soon change and we will witness a social redefinition that will balance inequalities,” he says in regards to the evolution of artificial intelligence.

“People who have been underserved will be able to use these new tools and technologies to solve their problems and create new industries, and yesterday’s industries will collapse with the wave of transformation.”

On Monday, during its iPad event, Apple announced a new and improved Magic Keyboard, an iPad accessory.

The Magic Keyboard has been “completely redesigned” to be much thinner and lighter, Apple says, and now includes a variety of features for quick access to controls akin to screen brightness, volume control, and play/pause. Additionally, the new Magic Keyboard has aluminum palm rests and a bigger trackpad. Plus, it’s more responsive, Apple says, with touch feedback and a USB-C port for charging.

This is the first major version of the Magic Keyboard since its 2020 launch. And with the addition of a feature row, it’s on par with its Magic Keyboard Folio counterpart by way of features.

The new Magic Keyboard is on the market in two sizes – one for the 11-inch iPad Pro and one for the 13-inch model – and in two colours: black and white. It’s available for pre-order today for the same price as the previous-generation Magic Keyboard – $299 for the 11-inch version and $349 for the 13-inch version. It will probably be available in shops next week.

Other new keyboard accessories include the new Smart Folio for iPad Air. It attaches magnetically and supports multiple viewing angles, providing “more flexibility” than the old model.

The Smart Folio is on the market in charcoal, light purple, denim and sage, and is priced at $79 for the 11-inch version of the iPad Air and $99 for the 13-inch version.

Other announcements made at Tuesday’s event included a new iPad Air with an M2 chip and the first-ever 13-inch screen; new iPad Pro with an all-new M4 chip and stacked OLED screens for higher display quality; Pro version of Apple Pencil with new sensors; and a new version of Magic Keyboard. You can watch the entire movie here: