Google Wallet mobile payments launch brave new world of shopping

Martin Keene/PA Wire

Google love to change the game and with the launch of Google Wallet today, they've just upped the stakes again.

Basically, smartphones are equipped with a chip that allows them to send payment details to a special reader in situ at a store's till, in the back of a cab or wherever. Today's roll-out will focus on San Francisco and New York, though the system should work anywhere internationally where there is a Mastercard PayPass sign if the user has loaded prepaid card details on their phone.