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Google Is Testing Voice-Activated Payment App, Hands Free (cnet.com)
New submitter eedwardsjr writes: If you've ever wanted to pay just by saying something out loud, then Hands Free is the way to go. Google has released to the public a new app called Hands Free, which lets people pay for items in stores by simply telling the cashier, "I'll pay with Google." The app, available for Android and iOS, is only being piloted in a few locations in the San Francisco area, including some McDonald's and Papa John's restaurants. Hands Free works by tracking your location using Wi-Fi and other sensors in your smartphone to detect whether you're near a participating store. After you say "I'll pay with Google," the cashier confirms your identity by using your initials and the photo you've loaded onto the Hands Free app.
The headline in the story is misleading. It is not voice activated.
http://googlecommerce.blogspot.com/2016/03/testing-testing-one-two-hands-free.html
It allows you to pay hands free. When you say you're paying with Google, it's just so the teller can charge you through their system. The teller verifies you through your pictures/initials.
Why do all of their voice-activated prompts require me to repeat the name of the corporation, over and over?
Probably so that the on-device voice recognition can recognize you're talking to it, so that it doesn't have to send a live feed of your microphone to Google HQ, and also so it doesn't randomly hear commands in your regular speech.
Then why can't I set up my own phrase to activate the on-device voice recognition?
You can.