Wired Wisdom: Thoughts on the Samsung Wallet, credit card, and Nuuk’s new Halo & more related News Here

Samsung Wallet has been doing this for years—for identity proofs, airline and hotel loyalty cards, and more. And plus, it allowed me to sync MasterCard and Visa cards thanks to seamlessly integrated Samsung Pay – no need to carry your card or even take out the card holder when paying at a store – scan a QR code or simply tap the phone on the payment machine, and away you go, gently rolling the shopping bag with one hand. Of course one could argue (and rightly so) that Samsung Wallet and Samsung Pay are limited to their own phones, while Google Wallet has broader appeal across all Android phones. Correct. But to its credit—Samsung has had the right approach, and they got it right before anyone else. In such a situation, the question arises whether we will ever get the facility of Apple Pay in India?

E-commerce platform Flipkart, in partnership with Axis Bank and payments platform PayU, has now integrated biometric authentication for card payments within the Flipkart app for Android phones as well as iPhone. That is, fingerprint or facial identity verification, which also eliminates the need for one-time passwords or OTPs to authenticate transactions. The Reserve Bank of India issued the circular ‘Authentication Mechanism for Digital Payment Transactions Guidelines, 2025’, aimed at reducing the risk of SIM swap or OTP fraud.

Another build-through emerging from similar RBI guidelines is ICICI Bank announcing the addition of biometric authentication for UPI transactions through its official mobile banking app iMobile. transactions above the value of ₹5,000 can be verified through facial recognition or fingerprint authentication. “For the above transactions ₹5,000, the customer will need his existing UPI PIN to authorize the payment,” the bank says.

There is so much more. Meta’s instant messaging platform and PayU have added a phone recharge option in the payments section, which is now easier to find. ₹” icon at the top of the app’s conversation screen. Prepaid connections from Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vi can be recharged for self or friends and family using UPI, credit cards or debit cards. WhatsApp also says the rupee icon makes it faster to access the UPI payment system within the app, including person-to-person transfers.

Speaking of tech, how about finding some good credit cards that reward tech purchases? BOBCARD, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Baroda, has extended the lifetime free signup offer for its premium credit card, Eterna. Otherwise it has a standard annual fee ₹2,499. I’m talking about this card because of the rare and unique 3.5% return on online shopping spend (that’s per 15 reward points). ₹100 expenses; This also includes travel, meals and international expenses).

These reward points can be converted into cashback that is posted directly to your card account to pay off part or all of next month’s statement. If you get the RuPay variant, it can be UPI linked. MasterCard or Visa variants work with the Google Pay app.

Last but not least, fintech platform CheQ and AU Small Finance Bank have a co-branded credit card that really shines. The Check AU Credit Card lights up via an embedded LED every time the Tap to Pay gesture is successful – an instant visual confirmation, with power delivered to the LED by the NFC area of ​​the payment terminal. They say the credit card does not require batteries or charging.

If only the rewards system didn’t have the complexity in which you earn CheQ points for spends made on the card (although understandable, the co-brand partnership is to attract users to the platform), and I would be concerned about the limited or often fluctuating value (inability to maintain any value) over the long term. is a one-time fee of ₹The LED version of this card is priced at Rs 999 ₹Rs 499 annual fee.

There was also HĀLO v2 before, but the main difference here is the smart connectivity integration. The NUUK app, available for iPhone and Android devices, allows remote control and management. Don’t just think of it as a floor fan, because if used correctly (as I did, and I’ll explain how), it’s powerful enough to cool a room on its own, and also increase the efficiency of the room’s AC. At its highest setting (fan speed up to 12), HĀLO [v2 LĪNKD] It’s barely audible even when you’re sitting mere meters away from it—there are three Japanese BLDC motors at work, and that’s the key. It is claimed to have an air throw distance of 20 feet, and my experience does not at all suggest that this is not the case. Depending on the direction of the AC’s cold air in your room, if you place it at the forward edge of that perceptible throw, hello [v2 LĪNKD] Can spread that cold air even further. For example, a 90 degree hall can benefit greatly from this.

There are touch controls on the device, but I should note that the response is inconsistent and they don’t always register a touch (and sometimes register two in quick succession). You’ll most likely be using the beautifully designed red remote or the NuUK app on your phone. The horizontal and vertical oscillations are useful in getting the direction of airflow precisely, but there’s no way to quickly adjust them – you have to go through the full sequence of 30/60/90/120 degree settings before getting the adjustment right (requiring some nifty remote work, which could have been avoided).

The app also gives you additional modes like Wave, Sleep, Sense and High, and these can work depending on the size of the room, distance from where you’re sitting and ambient temperature. Manual adjustments work better in my opinion. And the built-in mood lamp is a nice touch, with three light settings for warm, welcoming light (depending on light temperature). But ₹13,499, which many might initially think is a pedestal fan, NUUK has ensured HĀLO [v2 LĪNKD] Experience adds a lot to smartness and hence value. It looks good in the living room, and if you really want to go towards minimalism, Nordic White might be a better choice than Midnight Black, which I prefer for its nice contrast with the lamp lights.

Wired Wisdom strips away the glamor to take a closer look at technology and AI, with the hope of critically analyzing how it impacts you, the human. Would you like this newsletter sent to your inbox? Subscribe here.