After some leaks and rumors, Google is officially rolling out physical gift cards for the Play Store. The new cards will come in denominations of $10, $25, and $50, and they can be used for just about anything in the Play Store, including in-app purchases but excluding physical goods or app and magazine subscriptions. Over the next few weeks, Google says Target, GameStop, and RadioShack will all start offering the cards in stores, with Walmart to stock them online later in August. For now at least, the cards are available only in the US.
Code from a recent Play Store update suggests that Google will be adding wishlists along with gift cards, but we haven't seen this feature launch yet. Meanwhile, gift cards are another step towards the former Android Market's transition to a full-fledged content store, as well as a way to compete with Apple's iTunes and others in the physical retail store market.
Thanks sciwiz!