Seven years after launch, Google is ending support for Android Market on devices running Android 2.1 and lower at the end of the month. The Play Store never came to Eclair or below as it at least required Android 2.2.
The folks at AndroidPolice are on a roll today, as they just discovered, after examining the new Google Play Store APK, that the revamped Android marketplace now takes advantage of “smart updates.”
The 300 KB APK code previously revealed a wishlist and gift cards coming down the pipeline, and now it shows incremental downloads are live in version 3.8.15 of the Play Store. Those who need to keep an eye on their data consumption will revel in the update, because it means they no longer have to re-download an entire APK to get the latest version. Hereafter—Android devices will only download the changes between versions.
That is not all, according to AndroidPolice:
Here’s the good news: it should also work with earlier Play Store releases, like 3.7.15, as the change seems to be retroactive and server-side.
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Google announced it rebranded Android Market to “Google Play” today as a cloud-based digital entertainment destination.
“Starting today, Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore will become part of Google Play,” explained Director of Digital Content Jamie Rosenberg on the Official Google Blog.
Google Play lets users find, enjoy and share content, such as music, movies, books and apps, on the web and on an Android smartphone or tablet. Moreover, the cloud service stores all of the content online. Google Play allots free storage for up to 20,000 songs, and it has downloads for more than 450,000 Android apps, eBooks browsing, and rent options for thousands of movies, HD titles, and new releases.
The integrated destination replaces and extends Android Market as an attempt to create a stronger brand with enticing offerings and slicked purchasing for an all-around better experience that will “drive traffic and revenue for the entire ecosystem,” according to Kenneth Lui on the Android Developer’s Blog.
More information is available below.
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Your favorite custom keyboard for Android, Swype Beta, just updated with Ice Cream Sandwich compatibility (via Android Central). Sadly, this update still does not make Swype available on the Android Market, but you can download it from the Swype website. For those of you unfamiliar: Swype is a custom keyboard preloaded on a few phones that lets you drag a finger across the keyboard to type. It is very intuitive and definitely worth a try.
Besides seeing ICS compatibility, Swype Beta also saw an upgrade for improved word accuracy, new downloadable languages, and add-ons with DragonGo.
You can download the new Swype Beta from Swype’s website.
Google just announced on its Official Google TV Blog the “big announcement” for tomorrow. The Google TV crew announced an all-new YouTube app for the Google TV platform. The app features a smoother experience and bug fixes. The big feature here, however, seems to be a new feature called “Discover” that lets users view YouTube channels by different categories (as seen above).
The YouTube app will also gain the new channels that the desktop version of YouTube has seen. From there, you can navigate through users’ videos, favorites, and subscriptions.
When viewing a video, you can use the up and down arrows on your Google TV’s remote to navigate to the information screen. On the information screen, you can interact with a video by giving it a thumb’s up, adding it to your favorites or playlist, and leaving a comment.
The update should roll out to every Google TV user in the next few days from the Android Market. Oh, and I have to say that I am disappointed. Google overhyped this announcement.
The Sprint version of the Galaxy Nexus is the only variant to officially see Google Wallet. However, a new report from Droid-Life said the GSM Galaxy Nexus with an AT&T SIM card can download and access Google Wallet from the Android Market, which is a sigh of relief for many users. As you can see in the screenshot above, courtesy of Droid-Life, there are not any hoops–just a simple download.
Google Wallet gives users the ability to use the built-in NFC chip to pay for goods. Google Wallet was first introduced on the Sprint Galaxy S, and it saw a quick rollout to many retail outlets.
Last year, we broke news that Verizon Wireless was blocking the use of Google Wallet on its version of the Galaxy Nexus to later push its own payment platform. It was not clear if Sprint and AT&T would do the same. We now know that the Sprint version will come with it officially paired, and it can at least be downloaded on the GSM AT&T variant.
Valve Software’s official Steam client for Android devices has been available in beta since last week. Today, the stable 1.0 version was released on Android Market. You will need a Steam account to use the app that lets you chat and participate in the Steam community from your phone or tablet, get heads-ups on discounts, browse profiles, access latest news and more. Note that the program does not enable mobile purchasing of Steam games nor does it facilitate gaming on the go.
Steam is a digital rights-managed distribution system for cross-platform delivery of games, but it also provides support for features such as multiplayer, automatic updates and in-game voice and video chat. The Android version of mobile Steam client arrived on the heels of last week’s release of a companion Steam app for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.
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Google released updates today to three of its popular Android apps: Google Maps, Goggles, and Listen.
Google Maps was updated with a small new feature called “night mode” that will help you better navigate through tunnels. There is not much word on how exactly this feature will work, but it sounds cool nonetheless.
Google Goggles was updated to version 1.7.1 with a long list of updates. Goggles will no longer store inaccurate locations for queries in search history and it will not crash when loading large bitmaps. The app also features the usual performance enhancements and will now show the description field for user-submitted results.
Lastly, Listen’s update is small. It fixes an issue where Listen would improperly take audio focus from other apps while in the background. You can download these updates from the Android Market. (via Android Central)
Previously only available as an iOS and web application, Vimeo announced today that Android and Kindle Fire specific versions are available now. For the most part, the apps mirror the functionality of the iOS app, with the ability to upload, watch video, share, and view profiles, stats, and subscriptions. The only feature that remains iOS-only appears to be video editing.
When the app eventually lands in the Android Market sometime today, it will be available to all devices running Android 2.3 or higher.
TiVo and non-TiVo customers can now experience DVR on their Android-powered devices with the first—and free—TiVo application. Vice President of TiVo User Experience Margret Schmidt tweeted the release of the new app early Jan. 6.
“You can search, browse, discover and share without ever interrupting the show you’re watching,” announced the app’s description on the Android Market. “Quickly surface new content, view guides, schedule and manage recordings, get recommendations, or dig deeper into a particular actor’s entire resume—all using intuitive, gesture-based interaction.”
The app features many options, including: access to the channel guide and ability to record shows without exiting a running program; advanced screening of shows 14 days early; management and scheduling preferences for recordings; and, access to TV, Netflix, Amazon, and Blockbuster streaming content in an integrated view…
Have you ever wondered just how much being highlighted as a “Featured” application in any given category within the Android Market increases downloads for an app? According to one developer’s account, being featured could provide more than a 600 percent increase to daily average downloads.
The developer’s of the free fitness-tracking app “RunKeeper” were more than pleased to find out their app was featured in the Health and Fitness category of the Android Market. According to RunKeeper’s blog, the news came at midnight on New Year’s Eve, and three days later the app experienced a 637 percent increase in daily app downloads. It also catapulted from the mid 20s to No. 3 within the Health and Fitness category, and it currently ranks No. 288 in the Market as a whole.
According to Google Product Manager for Android Market Fernando Delgado, Google has a “team of editors and category managers that proactively look at new apps being released on Android Market. If an app is determined to have high potential, it is thoroughly reviewed to make sure it meets the high bar for being featured.”
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A new application available on the Android Market called “ICS Browser Plus” adds a bit more functionality to the Galaxy Nexus’ stock browser. ICS Browser Plus is currently available in beta on the Market and includes two main features. The first feature, as you can see above, adds a quick launcher to the side of the screen where you can reload the page, open a new tab, stop the page from loading, and add the page as a bookmark, and more. For those of you who have used Honeycomb, this will feel very familiar.
The second feature will allow you to change the user agent of the browser. In other words, you can tell a website you are loading the page from an iPad, rather than a Galaxy Nexus.
ICS Browser Plus is currently only available on the Galaxy Nexus and other devices that support Ice Cream Sandwich. The developer hopes to continue adding more features, but in the mean time you can download the free app.
Today is the last day to take advantage of Google Music’s blowout MP3 sale that has lasted for about a week now. Google is offering popular albums for only $4.99 and popular tracks for only $0.49. The lineup Google offers is pretty good, ranging from Lil Wayne to DeadMau5. Sadly, the sale does not include every offering on Google Music, but it has a decent list that you should browse through. Songs purchased will be saved to your Google Music locker and can be downloaded as an MP3. What are you waiting for?
In a clearing up the “confusion” around Andy Rubin’s recent numbers releases (here and here), the Verge spoke to a Google source on what constitutes an “Android device activation.”
We’ve now gotten some additional clarification from trusted sources on what Google considers an “Android device” for the purposes of counting activations (which would presumably apply to every activation count Google has released in the past). It’s actually really simple: you need to activate Google services on the device. In all likelihood, Google’s counter actually jumps the moment you sign into your Google account on the phone or tablet, whether that be the first time you turn it on or when you’re prompted after jumping into something like Gmail or the Android Market. And as Rubin says on Google+, it only happens once per physical device.
It turns out that Google is only counting activations it activates (I know!). It is not counting devices that use Android code, because it does not have control over -or no way of- counting like the Kindle Fire or Barnes and Noble Nook (I know!).
Perhaps Amazon, who is very transparent with its Kindle numbers, could help Google out there.
The MotoACTV was announced in the fall and is flaunted as the ultimate sports watch for those who are active. It ships with Android 2.3 and a custom skin on top, and one would not think the wristwatch could ever be rooted. However, like every other Android device out on the market, the MotoACTV was rooted with Revolutionary’s zergRush exploit. The root enables full Android 2.3 on the wristwatch. As you can see above with the Angry Birds start screen, users can even access the Android Market with the help of CyanogenMod. (via The Verge)
While we do not know if this is exactly useful, it is cool -nonetheless- seeing a tablet user interface run on a 1.6-inch display. The MotoACTV 8GB version is available for $209 on Amazon, and the 16GB version is available for $299. Check it out in action after the break:
Rest easy folks…Amazon’s Kindle Fire no longer blocks access to Google’s Android Market website through the built-in browser. The Kindle Fire saw some criticism recently for redirecting market.android.com to Amazon’s AppStore. The move raised many eyebrows; however, yesterday’s OTA update addressed the controversial issue. Nevertheless, there is still no way to download applications from market.android.com. Users can only browse the catalog.
The concern at hand can be viewed as a matter of principal. Does one want a company regulating the content viewable? It might make the process less confusing for some users, but others question whether Amazon has the right to regulate. GigaOm pointed out that users still receive a security certificate warning, but at least Amazon has rethought this strategy. (via GigaOm)
Archos unveiled a new tablet to their lineup: the Archos 70b. The Archos 70b is an updated version of the Archos 70 IT Gen 8 tablet, and it is priced at $199 to potentially compete with others. The Archos 70b packs a 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 7-inch 1024×600 pixel multitouch screen, and 3D graphics accelerator, 512 MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, front webcam, and Android 2.1 Honeycomb. It is not clear when the device will get Ice Cream Sandwich…if ever.
Most likely seeing some play at CES, the Archos 70b will release in January at $199. This will be a great competitor to the Kindle Fire, due to its front webcam and Android Market support, but most likely will not see sales even close to the Kindle fire that is off to a blazing start. (via CNET)
Those ICS early adopters who want to browse all the Internets, including the ones that are Flash enabled, got some good news today that Flash 11.1 is ready, right on time, for Android 4.0. Currently available in the Android Market, the release date actually says Dec 12th wich was a few days before the release of the Galaxy Nexus in the US.
Adobe of course shelved their Mobile Flash development earlier this year after a dismal earnings report and the need for cost cutting.
Google’s Vic Gundotra just announced on his Google+ page a host of new Hangouts features meant to “go beyond the status update”. In short, you can now hangout on any post (an invitation will be added to the comments), call any phone number in the world and conference in anyone (free outbound calls to US and Canada, international calling rates are “super, super low”) and initiate a hangout session from the official Google+ app for Android or iPhone by tapping the new hangout icon.
The executive also shared an interesting milestone for Hangouts on Air, saying “hundreds of people” whitelisted as part of their trial now have the ability to broadcast their hangouts to the world. “Our goal is to enable this for everyone on the planet”, Gundotra noted. Initiating a Hangout session from your phone requires a new Google+ app, which will be available in Android Market within a few days, Google said (“coming soon” to the App Store).
The official Google blog has more information.
The web version of the Android Market has been given some nice updates recently that both allow developers and users to easier connect, and users to better search for more relevant app reviews. The first update, a new “Email Developer” link within the “Overview tab” is self explanatory and located right under the app’s description. The new review filters are a little more in-depth, but definitely make it much easier to get accurate, and most importantly, relevant reviews.
It often happens that user reviews in the Android Market aren’t relevant to you and your device. For example, perhaps you’d like to only see reviews from tablet users. You can now filter reviews by devices, allowing you to select “All” or select an individual device linked to your account. You can also filter by app version, either “All” or Latest”, as well as search by a specific star rating. For instance, you can search for only reviews from users with a Galaxy S II that gave the app a 4 star rating. It will certainly make it easier to find the most helpful entrys for popular apps that have hundreds of reviews.
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Coby Electronics, the maker of cheap Android tablets and other electronics, has announced five new Android tablets that will run the new Ice Cream Sandwich. The tablet will come in five different screen variants: 7-inch MID7042 (4:3 aspect ratio), 8-inch MID8042 (4:3 aspect ratio), 9-inch MID9042 (4:3 aspect ratio), 9.7-inch MID9742 (4:3 aspect ratio), and a 10-inch MID1042 (4:3 aspect ratio). The tablets will be landing in the first quarter of 2012, after seeing a debut — presumably with a ton of other Android tablets — at CES 2012.
All five variants will pack a 1 GHz RM Cortex A8 processor and multi-touch capacitive touch screen underneath.Other specs include 1GB of RAM, expandable memory up 32 GB, Wi-Fi, and 1080P HD playback. There’s no word on if this device will actually have the Android Market pre-loaded or what the actual price will be. We’ve posted the full press release after the break. (via AndroidCentral)
Google Catalogs, an interactive way to browse shopping catalogs on your tablet (currently a U.S.-only thing), is now available for download in Android Market, the company announced in a blog post. Google initially launched this app mid-August on Apple’s iPad and later updated it with more catalogs and six new product categories, including Intimates & Loungewear. The Catalogs app lets you visually browse over 400 digital catalogs sporting your favorite brands such as Nike, Sephora and Nordstrom.
You can flip through the pages in a manner akin to reading electronic books on tablets and find products you’re viewing in nearby stores. Interactive features include pinch zooming images, tapping items to learn more, viewing and creating photo albums, using the unified search box to search across all the catalogs for a specific item and more.
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While Google said it would be days for the updated Android Market to roll out to users, users are already seeing the update hit their handsets (we’re not seeing it yet). The Market update includes the new Google Music which allows users to find new music to purchase straight to their handset and backup to their music locker. We’re waiting for the update to hit our handsets to give you guys a hands-on, but in the mean time try checking you’re own devices for the update. If you’re still not seeing the update try clearing your Market’s cache (go to settings>applications and tap on the Android Market app). Interested in seeing the rest of Google Music? Check it out after the break. (via AndroidCentral)
The day after Google Music was announced at an event in LA, Google has unveiled a new Music app for Google TV. The new app streams music directly from your music locker, getting rid of the need to download music or stream it from your computer. The app is as simple as signing in with your Google account and even works in the background as you use other apps.
As long as you have Android 3.1 installed on your Google TV, the Music app is available on the Android Market. Besides streaming music you can also purchase it directly from your TV.