Samsung Wallet Is Just Like Passbook, But on Android

Whether you agree with it or not, Samsung gets accused of ripping off Apple just about every time they roll out a new marquee phone or tablet. On Wednesday, the company unveiled Samsung Wallet, a new Android app that looks and works a lot like Apple’s Passbook app for the iPhone. Like Passbook, Wallet is a designed as one central place to store your digital gift certificates, coupons, tickets, travel details and boarding passes.
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Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Samsung Wallet, a newly announced Android app that looks and works a lot like Apple's Passbook app for the iPhone, will surely add to the accusations that the Korean company rips off Cupertino at every opportunity.

Like Passbook, Wallet is a designed as a central repository for your digital gift certificates, coupons, tickets, travel details and boarding passes. And, like Passbook, it will be able to send location-based notifications to alert users when they're near, say, the cinema that they've purchased a movie ticket for. According to a report from The Next Web, Samsung said Wallet, which was announced in Barcelona at a Mobile World Congress, will integrate with apps from Major League Baseball, Walgreens, and Lufthansa -- all of which work with Passbook as well. Other compatible apps include Expedia, Hotels.com and Booking.com.

Of course, Samsung hopes all sorts of other apps will work with Wallet as well, which is why the company will release open API for Wallet on March 7 that will allow developers to do just that. At launch, the app won't work with the NFC chips built into Samsung's flagship phones, and other marquee Androids. But that may change in future versions of the app, Samsung told the Verge.

There's no word yet on whether or not Samsung will eventually make Wallet available for non-Samsung Androids, as the company has done with its ChatOn instant messaging app (which is even available on iOS). But, given that Samsung is set to launch its Galaxy S IV smartphone on March 14, we expect to hear more about Wallet very soon.