Google has introduced one more thing your smartphone can do: pay for stuff.

Google wallet, in collaboration with Citigroup and Mastercard, has introduced a way to make purchases with just a wave of your smartphone so there is no need to reach for your wallet.

In the beginning, cell phones were just mobile phone. Then, it was outfitted with simple things like clocks, address books, calculators, and notepads.

Now, smartphones are minicomputers that are taking over many everyday functions.

It has cannibalized the sales/utility of GPS devices, MP3 players, mobile gaming devices, and cameras. It has induced newspapers, website owners, and now the credit card industry to play by its rules.

Like the personal computer before it, it’s taking over modern life. Soon, it could kill the physical wallet.

It’s already set to supplant the primary reason people reach into their wallets each day, which is payment.

It can eventually replace ID and keys – electronic IDs and keys are already commonly used for building entry, automobiles, etc.

Soon, smartphones may be the only accessory people need to carry with them.

This is just one way smarphones are taking over. Another is supplanting the PC as the primary device for surfing the internet in recreational settings.

There will undoubtedly be some who will be uneasy about the concentration of so much information and usage in one little device and rebel against the encroachments of the smartphone.

However, they will be in the minority. Meanwhile, the rest of the world – the consumers who want convenience, smartphone makers who want profits, and third party industries who want to be cutting edge – will all push for it.

That’s why the wallet-less world will probably become a reality one day.

Google Electronics