Earlier this week we reported that Google was gearing up to launch its Google Play gift cards in the UK, and we’ve now learned they’ll be on sale in the country from today – Wednesday.
The cards, available in denominations of £10, £25 and £50, can be bought at branches of supermarket giants Tesco and Morrisons, though it’s likely that more stores will start selling them before too long.
Check out the image (right) from a Eurodroid reader showing the shiny new cards looking rather comfortable alongside similar offerings from Apple and Facebook. Curiously, the £50 card is absent from the display, though presumably it’ll be up there soon.
The gift cards can be used to make digital content purchases from the web giant’s well-stocked Google Play store, which includes Android apps, music, movies, TV shows and digital magazines. The vouchers can not, however, be used to buy digital subscriptions, hardware or accessories.
Should you receive a gift card from a generous friend, credit can be redeemed in one of three ways:
– At play.google.com/redeem by entering the redemption code on the back of the card.
– During the purchase flow when you come to choose a payment method.
– By using the Redeem option on the Google Play Store app on your device.
Thinking about it, you wonder why Google didn’t have the means to roll these out before Christmas. With so many Nexus tablets flying off the shelves over the holiday season, these cards could’ve proved popular as an accompanying gift.
The Mountain View company launched its Google Play gift cards in the US last summer – partnering with Target, GameStop and RadioShack – where they’re available in denominations of $10, $15, $25, and $50.
At the current time, the cards are only available for purchase in the US and UK.
Below: Google’s news release.
Google Play gift cards now available in the UK
We’re pleased to announce that Google Play gift cards will be available in the UK from today [Wednesday, March 6 2013].
Gift cards make it even easier to buy apps, games, books, movies, music and magazines from Google Play, Google’s one-stop-shop for all your digital entertainment needs. Over the coming weeks, gift cards will go on sale in all UK branches of Tesco and Morrisons.
The gift cards will be available in denominations of £10, £25 and £50, and can be redeemed against digital contntent purchases on Google Play, including music, magazines, books, movies and apps.
With Google Play, you can buy books, apps, games and music, and rent or buy movies, on the device of your choice – be it a computer, Android phone or tablet. All of this entertainment is available across multiple devices – buy a book on the web, for example, and it’s instantly available on your phone or tablet. Consumers can access, purchase or rent this digital content in a variety of ways:
On Android devices: Android phone and tablet users can click on the Google Play store app to shop for books, movies, apps, games, magazines, devices and music. All content can be “pinned” to the device for offline use without a data connection;
On the web: Users of Chromebooks, PCs, Macs and all other computers can access their digital content online through the web version of Google Play (play.google.com). And now users can pay via Google Wallet or by redeeming a Google Play gift card.
[via engadget]
